On Thursday at the CeBit I’ve also been at Microsoft’s booth (’cause Apple wasn’t there). It was indeed one of the most interesting booths with a load of cool exhibits. But one of the things I was mostly interested in was Mircosoft’s Surface. The media had already covered it in their news last year and this year again and everyone talked about the XXL-iPhone, so I wanted to get my hands on it, too! Luckily, a Microsoft-guy was sitting right next to me while I was at the Multitouch-table and was able to explain how all the stuff works. But what he said made me wonder why Microsoft made this thing so damn expensive  (11,000€, with developer licences 30,000€ ~ 40,000$)! Because the technique is so simple and so not groundbreaking at all that you could actually build your own Surface at home!

Microsoft Surface - a screen at the booth's wall on which you can see the actual table

First of all: The Multitouch-technology is simpler than the one in the iPhone. Instead of some complicated sensor-surface-stuff it has five infra-red cameras integrated which shoot what your fingertips are doing on the table. I’ve already seen that in a YouTube video:

Now, I thought – well, the Multi-Touch technology isn’t innovative, but the communication with things that are put on top of the table is cool! For example: If you put your camera on it, the camera’s photos burst out immediately. If you put your cash card on it, you can see how much money you’ve got in your account or what the heck – stuff like that, you get the idea! So, I thought there’d be sensors spread all over the table which recognize these things and somehow connect to the chips integrated in cameras, cards, whatever. But Nope! It’s way simpler: These things (cameras, cards, …) have some kind of “Barcode” underneath - in this case a “Dotcode”. The cameras inside the table can recognize the code and with it identify the thing that lays on top. If the cameras recognize the code for a camera “Surface” connects to it via integrated Bluetooth, downloads the photos and shows them around the camera.

Barcode or Dotcode - Surface

So, everything’s done with these cameras in connection with Bluetooth. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t doubt about the new possibilites which are opened up with “Surface” and I like the the simplicity of the technique – the easier the better! But what annoys me is: Why the hell does it cost more than 10.000€ although there’s no expensive high-tech built in?! They could make it so much cheaper! And with a lower prize they could adress more than just the few business-people! …

And another thing! “Surface” runs on Windows Vista… and you were able to see that: It wasn’t able to perform quick animations smoothly, it has always juddered a bit… (oh, macintoshy spitefulness, how gleeful I am right now…!)