Thinkpads used to be able to survive this, as the keyboard area had drains built in.
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Iām not a fan of trackpads full stop*. But that mock-up does look incredibly useful, itās the kind of thing thatās surprising it isnāt in use on most laptops.
The only one iām aware that does have that is this one: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade-pro
*to the point iāve actually disabled the trackpad on my thinkpad laptop, i find the little joystick thing in the keyboard far superior plus i use a wireless mouse most of the time.
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[quote=āfailquail, post:84, topic:53305ā]
The only one iām aware that does have that is this one: Gaming Laptops - Laptop Computers for PC Gaming - Razer Bladeš» | Razer United States
[/quote]Thatās really close to it! Thatās what I love about PC systems, you can find just about anything out there. Want a giant 20" laptop? You got it!
Unfortunately, that trackpad is very low resolution (800 x 480) and itās located in a terrible spot to the right of the keyboard. Thatās exactly where oneās right hand and wrist will often be blocking the view of it (one wonāt be able to see notifications easily) and it forces the usage of the right hand instead of being able to use either hand. No cigar.
The marketing materials donāt show how the two modes work in detail. They really need someone to show how it works in a video and/or offer better, clearer presentation material on their website. The changeable buttons above it are neat, but Iād rather see that real estate used for a larger LCD trackpad. But, then again, for the most part this is obviously geared towards gamers and not also the general public, unfortunately.
Theyāre off on the right foot, but the execution is terrible, in my opinion.
Edit: I found a good video showing it in action here:
After watching the video, I see that they do have it work with video editing, photoshop, etc. ā Iād love to get my hands (or, er right hand only) on it and test it out in person. But, again, I donāt like its position on the right. I think it should be in the middle below the keyboard.
But, ughā¦ againā¦ their marketing is crappy. I want to see a video of someone actually using the LCD trackpad in Photoshop, video editing, etc. ā I shouldnāt have to dig all over the place looking for it and only finding crappy demos like this or longwinded, amateurish stuff on YouTube.
But, I did also find this:
The video does a good job of pointing out its flaws. The texture of the glass is all wrong. The implementation is buggy, etc.
Iād love to see Apple do this rightā¦ along with putting it in the middle below the keyboard, etc.
iāve actually disabled the trackpad on my thinkpad laptop
I donāt blame you. PC trackpads tend to suck. However, Mac laptop trackpads are vastly better overall. It also depends upon your workflow. For some projects I donāt touch the trackpad or mouse for hours. For other projects, itās integral.
That said, I know people that canāt stand even basic staples of gesturing, such as 2-finger scrolling. They use the arrow keys instead and I notice that tends to slow down their workflow, but they wouldnāt have it any other way.
I enjoy 2-finger scrolling, itās always felt very natural to do and it increases the speed of my workflow for the most part. Iāve mastered using Inertia settings and nudging to stop, etc. and Iāve also got Hover Scroll wired (via Smart Scroll Iāve been using for about a decade). Using the arrow keys to scroll seems stunted and medieval to me in comparison for a lot of workflows.
But, for some it comes down to personal preference even if it does slow them down.
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The Razerās trackpad is positioned to the right of the keyboard for a reason. Itās because itās on a gaming laptop, and itās more ergonomic when using the WADS keys for movement to have the mouse/track pad spaced as close to shoulder width apart as possible. Theyāre trying to emulate the setup of a PC gamerās keyboard and mouse. Albeit, there are limitations in how ergonomic you can make a laptopās keyboard and trackpad locations thanks to the small space allocations.
I have had this idea, too, so assumed that Apple was on it and just waiting for the touch screen price to drop low enough to make it feasible. Your mock-ups are beautiful, though.
Heh, they said ātaptic feedback.ā (an unrelated aside.)
I once tried the Wacom Cinque, or what ever they called it, and found that I felt my hand was in the way of seeing what was going on, which I had never felt with actual drawing on paper. Having another screen echoing the display might make it workable.
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Doesnāt work for my setup. I use the cursor and number pad keys with my right hand, and move my mouse to my left. I use my mouse right-handed for everything else!
I have a Razer Hydra setup as well, but havenāt become skilled with it.
Itās almost like you insist on being an odd duck 
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Bwuh? Thatās a lot. It might not seem like a lot if youāre using the Watch as your primary deviceāor, rather, pretending to use the Watch as your primary device, as it needs to be tethered to an iPhone. Thing is, though, if youāre using one of those functions more frequently or for a longer period of time, at some point you might want to switch over to the phone. (Iām assuming that there will be some function to stop receiving notifications if, say, youāre having an IM conversation, or stop streaming music through the Watch if youāre listening to a longer jam.)
This is, in fact, how I used my current smartwatch, a Pebble (original Kickstarter edition), which is much less capable than the AW will be but does allow me to get notifications, control music on the phone, have a watchface thatās readable without reading glasses, etc. In effect, what it does is function as a filter, letting me check out phone calls and messages and notifications without necessarily having to pull out the phone and bring up whatever app.
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I use my good hand for everything, but then again, I canāt play fpses, anything with painful graphics, anything with reflex demands, etc.
I keep forgetting that a Apple Watch is useless without a iPhone. Silly me.
It is kind of silly to discuss something in detail if you donāt know how it actually works, yes. (And it will tell time without a phone presentāsame with the Pebbleābut thatās not its primary purpose, really.)
Good thing thereās 700 million of them out there, I guess. Appleās really limiting themselves here.
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A good summary of why the Watch isnāt an iPhone, including mentioning something called āhandoffā that is what I was talking about upthread WRT switching from doing something on the Watch to something on the iPhone.
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It actually changes how the user interacts with it, and what sort of power profile is appropriate for the deviceā¦
Er, okā¦
Well, thereās also a reason the vast majority of laptop trackpads are located in the center underneath the keyboard as Iāll explain below.
Itās because itās on a gaming laptop
Iāve already addressed this in my post above directly and itās expanded upon within the videos I linked to. Itās mostly billed as a gaming laptop, but not entirely.
They also market it and attempt to implement it for other purposes (see their Twitter app, Gmail, etc. for the trackpad) and they fail with that, in my opinion, for various reasons.
Thatās why Iād like to see a better, less esoteric version from Apple that will work with more general usage, as I previously stated. The fact you wonāt be able to easily see notifications pop up in a right-hand trackpad is one I already mentioned, but thereās also ergonomic issues that I thought should have been obvious.
itās more ergonomic when using the WADS keys for movement to have the mouse/track pad spaced as close to shoulder width apart as possible.
I donāt think youāre looking at the bigger ergonomic picture.
For example, they had to scrunch the keyboard to the left. This situation causes a shift to the left with a twist of your shoulders and slight twist of your spine (very bad) when you type with both hands. Thatās no good.
If youāre in a swivel chair while youāre working, youāll need to very consciously rotate your entire body to shift to the left each and every time instead of twisting your shoulders and spine (which is more likely to happen subconsciously). Considering a lot of people work on laptops above their laps (using a lap desk, for example), pivoting the entire body isnāt going to happen in those cases at all. This is no good.
With the superior mockup design, you merely pull your elbow back slightly and your hand will naturally be in proper position over the trackpad when you do so. Simply shift back again and youāre into a proper typing position.
This will be the same with either hand you choose to use (which is very important overall). With their poor design, you must always use your right hand each and every time and youāre forced to do much more overall movement to reach it which can contribute to shoulder strain, etc.
This is one of the reasons why the vast majority of laptops (both PC and Mac) have their trackpads located center and below the keyboard.
Theyāre trying to emulate the setup of a PC gamerās keyboard and mouse. Albeit, there are limitations in how ergonomic you can make a laptopās keyboard and trackpad locations thanks to the small space allocations.
Thatās why you put the trackpad center and below the keyboard.
I mean, I see what theyāre trying to do, but itās not practical for most usage. A trackpad center and below would work just fine or even better with games as well. If they still want to do the fancy lcd buttons (which I think are overkill for various reasons anyway), make them narrower and wider and put them between the trackpad and keyboard.
Thank you for your critical response. It certainly addresses questions people might have with my choice of mockup.
Assuming the pattern holds. This has been true for watches-as-jewelry for years, and I guess thatās reason to assume this will continue to be true. On the other hand, their value as jewelry is arbitrary (thereās no functional reason to get a mechanical watch) and importantly high end mechanical-watches-as-jewelry have not long existed in the same world as smart watches. This is a legitimately new situation, historically speaking. If smart watches catch onā¦ what, are people going to buy high end mechanicals so that they wear two watches? Who knows.
I agree Appleās prices are high for a quickly obsolete item, but thatās true of smartphones and computers as well. I donāt buy the comparison to ātraditionalā watches. It is a very different product
Mechanical watches have been technically inferior since quartz watches became a thing, and in the early days of digital watches they were status symbols in their own right.
People in the market for high-end mechanical watches typically own more than one watch, anyway, so itās not really an either-or proposition.
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