The other day I wrote about Jeff Han’s innovative new “Media Wall” and I advised people to not get discouraged over the $100,000 price tag. This was because it is my opinion that due to the accelerating pace of technological change—especially in semiconductor and sensor technology—the price will drop precipitiously over the next few years.
Well, earlier today Microsoft unveiled a new multi-touch display that acts in much the same way as Han’s Media Wall. Only instead of setting you back a cool $100K, Microsoft researchers jury-rigged a laptop computer using off-the-shelf technology. To be sure, it is nowhere near as slick or professional as Han’s technology, but my guess is that these differences will fade over time. More importantly, I am confident that the price of this technology will drop sooner rather than later. If you “jump the curve” to 2009 the price might be around $5000, and by 2012 the technology may even come as a standard feature in a $1000 flexible laptop computer/display.
Of course, this is all the more reason to begin contemplating how this new, more inter-active media could transform the worlds of education, advertising and publishing.
Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future trends, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and associations.
