Rumor: The touchscreen iMac may be in testing

That setup looks very bad for a typical computer user. Cocked wrists while typing mean wrist damage.

The pictured viewing setup would come from a dock.

A 20" inch iPad that ran iOS and OSX would be awesome. It could be placed in the dock for landscape or portrait viewing. I would use it out of the dock in my lap for drawing, painting, surfing and most other uses. I would use it for all the uses made of the current iPad. For me it would be a great replacement for my iMac.

It would only be in the dock when I was going to be essentially viewing rather than doing, not using it for a period of time and or when shutting it off at the end of the day.

As the only way to interact with a desktop computer I don't think it'll fly.

As an available alternative, in addition to more traditional controls it would be awesome.

I'm a photographer and I can think of all kinds of cool things a multi-touch screen would let me do. Coverflow browsing, two (or more) finger cropping and resizing, super easy sorting of photos just like you would on a physical desk, etc.

For other visual artists, just being able to draw on the screen instead of a tablet or using the mouse. We've already seen what can be done with an iPad, imagine if you had the power of a full desktop. Sure Wacom makes the Cintiq, but it's $1000-$2000 just for the screen, single touch, and you have to use the stylus.

Presumably it would sit there like a normal iMac, and you wouldn't freak out, and you'd use a keyboard and mouse like a normal iMac, still not freaking out over ergonomics or screen smudges or how you HATE IT SO MUCH BECAUSE IT'S STRANGE AND NEW AND I DON'T WANT IT, and then when you, as a graphic designer or artist or engineer or student trying to diagram something or something like that, want to use manual or stylus input, you can pivot it down flat and do that, and then put it back and continue not to freak out.

How's that sound to everyone?

What if only part of the OS is touch? Like just the icons in the dock? Or maybe icons on the desktop. But then we'll b mousing and touching. Just doesn't sound reasonable. Not buying it. And I don't see Apple getting into the kiosk business.

go to work today and stare at your fingers all day - then get your neck fixed.

go to work on Monday and touch your screen everytime you want to move the pointer - how long before you want your mouse back?

i don't know about you guys, but I can handle finger schmootz on my ipad/phone.. but i'm very picky about the cleanliness of my display.

desktop? no.

a kiosk is possible, but do you really need capacitive multitouch? a kiosk is meant to give you info quickly.. you're not going to use it to zoom in on "that sweater" to see detail.. especially when you're IN THE STORE, with hundreds of those sweaters laying around so you can not only touch them, but, you know, try them on too?

POS terminal? like the ones they use to swipe your card? yeah.. 20" for those of us who want to sign... with a fist instead of a finger, or a broom handle instead of a stylus. what business is going to pay 1500-2000 for a credit card slider thingy anyway?

20" is too big to be mobile so we're not looking the ipad's big brother the islab....

a 20" TouchBook is intriguing. same performance as the 17" but no thicker than the Air.. 20 hours battery under load, unibody, maybe even a carbon fiber chassis to save weight but maintain structural rigidity, a 20" IPS Retina touch capacitive display for presentations/portfolios and media consumption.

AND

the ability to fold the keyboard under. think big ipad where keyboard doubles as a stand so you could prop it up or lay it flat depending on the task.

yeah. i'd buy.

I'm sure Apple has been testing this for a long time which is why they probably came out with small form factors first. I don't think other PC manufacturers have had too much success with their similar devices. Apple i'm sure knows this.

" Would you want to hover your arm above that thing all day long? I'm not sure I would"

few people would. and Apple likely knows this.
This patent is either a business focused idea (POS terminals, kiosks in stores, museums etc) or simply to score licensing from those that might try to pull it off

Kinda large - and maybe overkill - but it could serve as a great point-of-sale terminal. I'm waiting for an iPad app to implement that concept

Well, I have a standing desk so it would actually work quite well.

The only problem I have right now is cleaning my iPhone. Such a pain to have to constantly clean the darn thing so I can see the screen better. There is no way I would own a gigantic version of that.