Apple macbook touch bar may be an improvement, but not an "innovation"

[PCgamer324]

 

 

Apple's new macbook pro lineup features a new method for interacting with first party and partner applications.  However, the concept of a multifunction, display-based function row has already been seen on laptops as far back as 3 years ago.  Case and point, the Lenovo X1 carbon Gen2: 

 

 

 

Apple macbook:

Spoiler

What do you know?  Is that a fingerprint reader AND a touchscreen for the function keys? Must be a patent infringement... I'm not going to get too salty here, but I did find it odd that something Apple claims to be an "innovation" in computer interaction has already shown up on Windows laptops.  It is important to add that a laptop such as the X1 Carbon Gen 2 has not and will never see the application support and functionality of the new MacBooks' touch bar, but it was still there none the less.

 

Image Credit: The Verge, Notebook Review

 

[79wjd]

Innovation doesn't have to be something new, it can be something old that's executed far better. The execution on the carbon was poor due to a lack of support. 

 

What is the difference between innovation and invention?
The words innovation and invention overlap semantically but are really quite distinct.

Invention can refer to a type of musical composition, a falsehood, a discovery, or any product of the imagination. The sense of invention most likely to be confused with innovation is “a device, contrivance, or process originated after study and experiment,” usually something which has not previously been in existence.

Innovation, for its part, can refer to something new or to a change made to an existing product, idea, or field. One might say that the first telephone was an invention, the first cellular telephone either an invention or an innovation, and the first smartphone an innovation. -Webster

[goodtofufriday]

but muh power button is now tough id!!! 

 

Like thats not going to back fire for the worse. So stupid to not have a physical power button.

[PCgamer324]

5 minutes ago, goodtofufriday said:

but muh power button is now tough id!!! 

 

Like thats not going to back fire for the worse. So stupid to not have a physical power button.

yeah good luck using the new MacBooks with anything other than OSX...

[FalconPDX]

5 minutes ago, goodtofufriday said:

but muh power button is now tough id!!! 

 

Like thats not going to back fire for the worse. So stupid to not have a physical power button.

pretty sure the touchid part is a physical button, like the home button on the iphones

[goodtofufriday]

1 minute ago, FalconPDX said:

pretty sure the touchid part is a physical button, like the home button on the iphones

As far as we know its a touch sensor with a haptic feedback like on it iphone 7

[2FA]

Apple always claims innovation as by definition of the word, it is an improved version of previous technology. Therefore Apple isn't claiming to come up with new technologies.

[CookieMaster]

My Bosses old laptop had touch bar stuff on it, and that is 5 6 years old. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

It doesn't matter who came first. Whoever executed it better is going to be remembered as the "inventor" or "innovator" of said feature.

 

I mean, Apple claims a lot of things a lot of things, but that doesn't mean you should take them seriously. macOS is the "most advanced operating system"? Okay, where is its 20+ years of practically native backwards compatibility that Windows 10 boasts? Or the near universal hardware support Linux has? And then there's the whole "we added hundreds of features to this update" when a feature could be as mundane as "we enabled the FTP service by default".

[Blade of Grass]

Please review the posting guidelines for the Tech News and Reviews section before posting 

Moved to Laptops & Pre-Built Systems

[PCgamer324]

1 hour ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

Apple always claims innovation as by definition of the word, it is an improved version of previous technology. Therefore Apple isn't claiming to come up with new technologies.

[79wjd]

11 minutes ago, PCgamer324 said:

"New method" implies a different/better implementation. 

 

Also, scroll down a bit further and they're so kind to explain the nuances between innovation and invention. Apple's OLED bar (assuming it gets good support, which it probably will) is an innovation; it is NOT an invention.