On Wednesday, May 30 (coincidentally my birthday), Microsoft unveiled their newest attempt to expand the company’s consumer electronics business with Surface, a touch-sensitive computing system that somewhat resembles an old pac-man table-top video game (a relic of the 80’s that can still be found lingering in a few bars and pubs). While Microsoft has made previous attempts to leap from the confines of the personal computer (some more successful than others), Surface is perhaps their most intriguing venture yet.

Resembling the “Multi-touch” system first unveiled over a year ago by Jeff Han at NYU, the Surface screen allows multiple input points to be active at once. For example, if you want to enlarge the size of an image, simply put one index finger on a corner of the image, put your other index finger on the opposite corner, and move your two fingers apart. Magically, the image will grow to fit the dimensions of the imaginary rectangle formed by the diagonal distance between your two fingers. Likewise, move your two fingers together, and the image will shrink; pretty cool.

Microsoft has taken this idea even further by allowing Surface to not only interact with our hands, but also other types of peripheral gadgets that we may be fond of. To transfer songs between two MP3 players (Microsoft Zunes, perhaps), simply place the devices on the Surface surface (?) and begin dragging files between them with your fingers.

Another neat demonstration of Surface’s potential involves paying the check at a restaurant: you place your credit card on the table and your date places their credit card on the table (you’re going Dutch tonight) and you move pictures representing the food you’ve ordered onto your respective cards, thus divvying up the tab.

While this mode of interaction seems to open up a new world of possibilities for how people exchange information, I’m having trouble thinking of scenarios where I could immediately benefit from this technology. Myself and Mike, another developer here at Spunlogic, were considering ways we could use this device around the office. While I sat at my desk and Mike sat in the little papasan across from me, we couldn’t define a way that Surface would allow us to be more productive (as we were sitting around talking about Surface while at work, it’s safe to say that it has so far proven counter-productive).

Thus, I fear that Surface may become the Segway of computers; a really cool idea, perhaps too novel and ahead of its time to be immediately useful. I certainly see Surface providing a medium for the elusive convergence between devices that electronics manufacturers have been seeking for some time now, but until an ecosystem of Surface-friendly devices become available, it may not have much of a leg-up on the plain old PC.