You'd think status would be a nice feature for apps people like to use in full screen. Maybe send notifications there when in full screen? Using it to just not clutter up the main display seems worthwhile, at least for some.
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Touch Bar discussion [merged]
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You'd think status would be a nice feature for apps people like to use in full screen. Maybe send notifications there when in full screen? Using it to just not clutter up the main display seems worthwhile, at least for some.
scrubbing videos and Touch ID is where I think it will be best. It will really be a novelty and not change the way people use their laptops. Like others said, it is going to make your arm tired the same way a touch screen would if you try to use it just for the sake of using it. Using CMD+ shift, etc is still going to be more productive.
The touchbar is more user friendly for those that do not use cmd functions.
The touchbar is more user friendly for those that do not use cmd functions.
It's only the beginning, I'm pretty sure.
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One thing that it'll be really useful for is emoji. I chat a lot and use emoji a lot, currently it's a pain.
emoji is a pain, I agree. I don't know if that is nearly enough of a reason though. It is pretty bad IMO when that is the thing that is most useful.
It's really to early to say. People were pessimistic about iPads too. I mentioned emoji because it's one thing that I saw as very useful right away, and the video scrubbing. I'm not a DJ so...
Touch ID is the only part I find useful. I Can do video scrubbing via the arrow keys. Don't even have to look away from the screen. You'd be surprised how fast you can find something using right for +10sec and up for +1min.
It's really to early to say. People were pessimistic about iPads too. I mentioned emoji because it's one thing that I saw as very useful right away, and the video scrubbing. I'm not a DJ so...
And people were mostly right about iPads though. Of course billions of dollars was still made on them despite their generally useless nature.... but they never touched the phone in terms of revenue and have slipped back below Macs.
I think you'll get tired of looking down at the bar and then back up at the screen. I've played with the Windows touch screen computers where you keep your eyes on the screen and touch the controls and navigate through menus. It's very intuitive and you really don't need to use the trackpad. I wish Apple had gone this route instead of the touch bar.
I know a lot of people here don't think it would be useful, but I think it has enormous potential. There is a lot of great things you can do with it and it will only grow from there. It's only a matter of time before the entire trackpad area is an OLED display.
People are always fearful of something new and I have a hunch that nearly everyone will love it after developers integrate into it and folks have a chance to use it for awhile.
People are always fearful of something new and I have a hunch that nearly everyone will love it after developers integrate into it and folks have a chance to use it for awhile.
i am sure once i type this plenty of people here will prove me wrong, but i honestly don't know very many people that can touch type beyond just letters, some punctuation, and some numbers... much less the function keys.
the only reason why i memorized numbers (i'll use a keypad when i can) and some function buttons is because i spent a good three years of my life as an excel monkey. and really, outside of excel i have no idea what any of the functions button do in other programs.
so yeah, if the touch bar can simplify a layer of interaction predicated / based on function keys i'm all for it.
the only reason why i memorized numbers (i'll use a keypad when i can) and some function buttons is because i spent a good three years of my life as an excel monkey. and really, outside of excel i have no idea what any of the functions button do in other programs.
so yeah, if the touch bar can simplify a layer of interaction predicated / based on function keys i'm all for it.
I'm already hate that you can't use an external monitor as a sole dedicated display. When I'm docked at home I always lose the pointer off the side of the screen and onto the dark, unused laptop screen. Windows does this much better.
That would be fine on the trackpad DOWN HERE but not UP THERE above the keyboard. Crucial difference I think.
Only 2/3rd of the new MBPs have the task bar. Macbooks don't have them, and would jack up the price by at least 1/3rd if they were to come to the macbooks. How will this be integrated into the desktop line? $300+ keyboards?
This is a solution in search of a problem and will be far from a universally part of the Mac experience. Force touch has been part of the iPhone for two generations now, and where are the AMAZING must have features that can only be accomplished with it? How are apps revolutionizing their interfaces due to integrating force touch into their apps?
Yes, the task bar is new, different and has some potential. But it's also expensive, unasked for, and won't be universal in the mac environment for a long time to come.
If apple didn't give us "unasked for" new hardware features from time to time imagine where we'd be.
Given that Apples developer guidelines state all touch bar functions must be accessible via on screen menus and such, it's usefulness is limited to just providing a quicker way to access some of that. There won't be any unique functions that are only accessible via Touch Bar.
The only problems are:
1. For using the laptop with a monitor and external keyboard and mouse there is no usefulness.
2. For those who never look at the keyboard, doing so may actually slow you down. That is until you have muscle memory where you can use the Touch Bar without looking.
The only problems are:
1. For using the laptop with a monitor and external keyboard and mouse there is no usefulness.
2. For those who never look at the keyboard, doing so may actually slow you down. That is until you have muscle memory where you can use the Touch Bar without looking.
Some are of obvious benefit, and some are not. Given the non-ubiquitous inclusion of the task bar, I'm leaning towards the latter.
I'm pretty confident that by this time next year we'll see the Touchbar put to better use (same with the larger trackpad). Right now, the touchbar is little more than a neat trick to show off. The best use for the Touchbar that I've seen so far, is Photoshop. The ability to control colors in real time as you airbrush is very cool and could be useful (Kinda reminded me of the Microsoft Surface Dial for the Surface Studio).
Using the Touchbar to do actions that can easily be done on the Trackpad is pointless. For example, the demo for Final Cut Pro was not convincing at all IMO. What developers need to do is use the Trackpad to do actions that would normally take 3-4 or more mouse clicks to get to. That's when using the Trackpad will become useful and speed up workflow.
Also, as I've said multiple times before, we really need a developer to create a way to make your own Touchbar buttons. Think of MagicPrefs, but for the Touchbar. As a 3D artist, I use Maya a lot. I would love the ability to create a Touchbar button based off of my hotkeys. Then you could name the button, assign a color and place it on the Touchbar for quick use. Whenever the program is open, the touchbar buttons will appear. If / when the software is updated with official Touchbar actions, you can choose to display the official ones or your custom ones. Really this is something that Apple themselves should implement (if its not already in the system settings). It will immediately make the touchbar more useful for "Pro" users and it prevents the Touchbar from becoming a waste of space if software companies don't support it.
So please, someone who is smarter than me, make a way for us to create custom touchbar buttons!!!
Using the Touchbar to do actions that can easily be done on the Trackpad is pointless. For example, the demo for Final Cut Pro was not convincing at all IMO. What developers need to do is use the Trackpad to do actions that would normally take 3-4 or more mouse clicks to get to. That's when using the Trackpad will become useful and speed up workflow.
Also, as I've said multiple times before, we really need a developer to create a way to make your own Touchbar buttons. Think of MagicPrefs, but for the Touchbar. As a 3D artist, I use Maya a lot. I would love the ability to create a Touchbar button based off of my hotkeys. Then you could name the button, assign a color and place it on the Touchbar for quick use. Whenever the program is open, the touchbar buttons will appear. If / when the software is updated with official Touchbar actions, you can choose to display the official ones or your custom ones. Really this is something that Apple themselves should implement (if its not already in the system settings). It will immediately make the touchbar more useful for "Pro" users and it prevents the Touchbar from becoming a waste of space if software companies don't support it.
So please, someone who is smarter than me, make a way for us to create custom touchbar buttons!!!
This isn't Force Touch -- not sure why you're comparing apples to oranges.
I think it's fair to ask people to actually try it out before criticizing it so harshly.
It will absolutely be integrated into the entire Mac line as time goes on.
I watched the Photoshop section of the keynote a couple times and I'm convinced you're better off using keyboard shortcuts. Consider opacity - let's say you want to paint at 50% opacity. With the touch bar she had to locate the icon for opacity, then use the slider to find the desired level, then there was a little x to close the slider to be able to move to something else. OR I could just hit the number 5 on the keyboard for 50%. 3 steps vs. 1.
You overall idea is good terminator-jq, but it only works if you combine the two. How many 3+ key combos are there in complex applications? Having a developer pick the 3+ key combos of THEIR choosing will not benefit the user all that much. Being able to define your own, no matter what application, would be great. But now you are attempting to basically add scripting everywhere. Given that the tool bar will take a while to see wide customer usage(is this going to appear in all apple keyboards from now on???), this is adding a lot of complexity for saving a couple keystrokes.
I'm not seeing a ton of benefit, especially when I typically see professionals seeking exact colors/timeframes/etc... rather than a rough guess like the width of a finger on a 6 inch range.
I'm not seeing a ton of benefit, especially when I typically see professionals seeking exact colors/timeframes/etc... rather than a rough guess like the width of a finger on a 6 inch range.
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