i understand your dislike of the touch bar if you think the above is a better solution (or even a solution to anything at all).
they were considering how to incorporate touch into osx.. the first method is obviously touch screen.. i don't doubt at all r&d has a hobbled together touch screen mac/macOS.. they also considered making the trackpad more like an iPhone screen down there (which would also be pretty cool imo but at the same time, probably not very usable
).. their solution to adding touch was via replacing the function keys with a dedicated touch screen.
what's it a solution to? it can essentially increase the size of your laptop screen.. application canvases can grow because the icons won't have to be on the main screen anymore.. instead of a row of icons at the top of the display, they'll now be at the bottom of the (essentially extended) screen.. further, the advantages of being able to touch icons (which is the main advantage of touch in the first place) has been enhanced by placing those icons where your fingers already are..on the keyboard.
touching icons instead of clicking them is beneficial because your mouse doesn't have to leave the workspace.. if youre in the middle of a command which can accept further commands, you'll no longer have to move your mouse away from the point, click something else, return the mouse to where you want it.. you can just touch the other command.
it basically allows all you people who prefer to work through menus/icons instead of keystrokes to now work in a more beneficial way as you'll still get the visual recognition you're accustomed to at the speed of a shortcut user.. as well as gives keystroke & command line users more&faster options as certain things will become one touch calls instead of X_amt of key presses.
but your idea fails imo because it doesn't eliminate mouse clicks or keystrokes* and instead, potentially adds to the amount.. also, not only do you still have to move the cursor away from your work, you're risking the canvas gets visually shielded by this 'template bar' with buttons and tabs.. cursor isn't where you want it and you can't see where you want it anyway.
idk, the thing is most certainly innovative.. whether or not you understand the design or like the design or will make use of the implementation is one thing.. if you don't like it then cool.. there's pretty much nothing that everyone likes.. but don't make the mistake of you not liking/understanding something as the determining factor as to if something is or isn't innovative..
the thing will most certainly change the way people work with laptops in a positive fashion.
*-which as i've attempted to outline around here time and time again are the single biggest slowdowns of anyone's (creative) workflow.. not ghz or mbs.. it's the freaking slow ass mouse and keyboard.
(ie--
dec'13 ,
apr'14 ,
jan'14 ,
jan'16)
