“It Gives Great Demo”

There’s that famous video of Steve Jobs explaining why they don’t didn’t make touchscreen MacBooks: We thought about [a touch screen MacBook] years ago. We’ve done tons of user testing on this and it turns out it doesn’t work! Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical. It gives great demo. But after a short period of time, you start to fatigue. And after an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off. It doesn’t work. It’s ergonomically terrible. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal […] that’s why we’ve perfected our multitouch trackpads over the years. I’m not going to weigh in on the new MacBooks. But what I find specifically intriguing in this video — and broadly relevant — is that phrase: “It gives great demo.” Damn, that is a great line for so much of technology. “It gives great demo.” Something that looks amazing when it’s presented to you, but in practical day-to-day use you discover, “Actually this is kinda terrible.” Demo is everything nowadays. Whatever can garner…

Commenting on Bubbles has been removed. Why? If you want to talk about this post, write to the author, use the comments on their blog if it has them, or reply with a "RE:" post on your own blog. Suggestions? feedback@bubbles.town