Coffee Tables from Beyond

It's not a late night movie, but rather the future of computer interface. It's called multi-touch technology - a new digital manipulation platform best illustrated in this jaw-dropping clip. Hey, who need an old fashioned plasma flattie hanging on the wall when every household surface is brimming with fingerstroke gadgetry straight out of a bootleg Jetsons episode? Right now, Microsoft is peddling the technology to corporate partners, but the possibilities for this new realm of tactile computing are truly staggering. In video circles alone, editors like myself are salivating at the prospects of abandoning the world of point and click for a chance to bend, spindle and twist our media clips into a timeline both space-age and old school. Even Microsoft acknowledges their emerging technology works best with photo sharing, maps and menus. That, my friends, is editing - a now rather sterile discipline accomplished with the help of a clunky keyboard and mouse. Soon, however, multi-touch technology could invade the edit bay, making the art and science of video assemblage feel like happy hour at the fingerpaint cafe. Sign me up...