Beneath the Surface

I got to hand it to Microsoft. There are some cool applications for their latest hardware endeavor, “Surface”. It is a table top, touch screen computer system. While the idea didn’t originate with Microsoft, they have certainly shown its place in a business environment. Jefferson Han has been demonstrating his technologies for years, but most of the technology seems to be proof of concept. I don’t know where I can get a Han powered machine.

In the screenshot above, credit cards are placed on the table at a restaurant, and the check is split by dragging your items to your credit card.

With Microsoft actually shipping a hardware model in Winter of this year, I think this can really get people thinking about the future of computers. The paradigm of what an operating system is can finally make the jump from Hollywood to reality.