New laws for new interfaces

While tablet PCs are not new - in fact, Acer was recently quoted as saying the tablet PC platform had failed and would not see revival in their lineup - Apple may well be able to establish touchscreens more firmly beyond the stylus. However, Apple also stands to lose one of the most frequently quoted and patent-protected benefits of its interface - the placement of the application menu along the screen edge. With finger-tapping on a screen, there is no longer any special significance to the screen edge, so while Apple has resisted changing its interface even as screens grew larger, conveniently favouring the widescreen format (where the upper edge of the screen would always be a little closer, although plans to make the Mac a movie platform would have also influenced that decision), it may soon find itself on an open playing field. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the season of big buttons. (Oh, and someone calm down the trekkies when they get into Fitts of joy!)