OK, before you kill me: I know it's not the same thing and Apple actually brings value to the table with their products (even if sometimes it's 'just' polishing the UI/UX). What I don't like is that most of the world will gladly accept everything that Apple sells as Apple's fantastic and groundbreaking ideas, forgetting about the prior art.
It's a shame that keyboards with programmable key images didn't get more widespread usage beyond Optimus [1]. I currently have a Corsair K95 RBG keyboard and it's programmable 18x3 keys [1] are near unusable because I can never figure out what G1 or G2 does. But if I had programmable key images...
"Widespread usage" at a $1500 price point? I don't think so. Plus, how the hell did they reach that price? The keyboard looks pretty bland: https://youtu.be/A2RhpllpDn4.
I could just add a few hundred bucks and buy a new Macbook.
Kind of cool, but I'm trying to think of what this offers over just eye candy. Maybe it could aid key combinations, e.g. pressing the meta key illuminates other parts of the keyboard for completion. Finger DDR, whack-a-mole?
As others have mentioned, looking at the keyboard is generally something to be avoided. The premise for this is sort of a workflow antipattern.
What I find amusing is that through the series of videos, the "keyboard" slowly morphs from something with plenty of tactile feedback, moving keys, and other "physicalness" to a tactile-less flashy touchscreen thing that I would not want to be typing on for any length of time. Nevermind the fact that the keys can show images that change; to me, a good keyboard is one I can operate effortlessly and comfortably without looking at it.
I've been using a Das Keyboard Ultimate for the past couple of years, I love the feel of it. I've got the Cherry Brown switches so it's a tad quieter than the full clicky ones, too. They're very vulnerable to liquids, though - one teaspoon-sized splash of water on mine and the 'w' key stopped working. In the end I pulled it apart and swapped the switches around (who uses scroll lock anyway?) and it's fine again, but I was surprised how little it took.
I would guess that the problem is with the angle at which you would have to bend your neck to look over there. But it would be interesting to see a laptop with two integrated touch screens and the keyboard in between the two.
Apple (used to be) very good about getting developers to adhere to the standards. Failing that, I'm hoping for an intermediate layer where developers expose the actions but users can customize the presentation.
Icons are on the way out anyway, precisely because unless there's a strong analogy with a widely familiar physical object, an icon really can't unambiguously convey what it does. They'll still be used for applications but the "replace textual menu entries with little pictures" trend is rightfully dying out.
I own a Thinkpad X1 second generation with a touch bar, its not as sophisticated as this or the new MBP but I really hate it.
It lacks feedback when pressing the button. Trying to find the correct button without looking to the keyboard is quite difficul since the virtual buttons dont have relief.
I find it as well quite annoying since moving your sight down makes you feel out of place
If you check online the Thinkpad X1 2nd gen is one of the most hated Thinkpads, because of the touchbar and the trackpad...
It's a cool concept, which might help a bit with productivity but it didn't leave the research phase at Microsoft so on this one Apple got there first because they delivered.
I'd assume now that it's out there other manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell and HP will try to copy them.
It's more a case of someone on HN reminding everyone that Apple didn't really 'revolutionise' the keyboard and that everything old is new again. Lenovo did this (adaptive keyboard strip) when they replaced the function keys on the X1 Carbon with something similar to what Apple are doing now. FWIW I absolutely hated it.
Edit: Added lenovo.
OK, before you kill me: I know it's not the same thing and Apple actually brings value to the table with their products (even if sometimes it's 'just' polishing the UI/UX). What I don't like is that most of the world will gladly accept everything that Apple sells as Apple's fantastic and groundbreaking ideas, forgetting about the prior art.