Apple presented the new Touch Bar to us as a revolutionary technology, and as one of its many "innovative ideas" in the new MacBook Pro.
Really? Via Twitter, user @bjorndori shared a fascinating article from the Microsoft Applied Sciences Group:
“What idea might interest the Microsoft Applied Sciences Group for a decade? Adaptive hardware: input devices that can change visually, even potentially, based on the relevant context.
1999: The concept is born. A keyboard could display active action keys and hide irrelevant keys for a specific application, in the application's mode and state
The article traces the evolution of the concept from the idea in Steven Bathiche's 1999 book to a series of prototypes, one of which (from 2009) was "a large, touch-sensitive strip at the top of the screen with key indications."
Context Aware Interfaces by Microsoft Applied Sciences Group from 1999-2009 https://t.co/rxpb66oKiu
— bjorndori (@bjorndori) October 27, 2016
Today, of course, Bathiche is reportedly actively involved in the development of Microsoft's Surface line.
All of the above is subject to a cross-licensing agreement for patents that Apple and Microsoft have signed since the 1990s. These patents, of course, continue to produce dividends for both companies.
The above post refers to the Touch Bar idea and that it has existed since 1999. Of course, Apple's Touch Bar could not be the same 17 years later, as it is now possible to add new technologies.
