Will Windows 8 be a turning point Industrial/ Manufacturing Operational Interface? Yes !

How influential will the launch of Windows 8 be in the industrial, manufacturing market?

I believe while it is not the first one with concepts (Apple did that) because of the size and market share in the Industrial Space, and the combination of other market, demographic factors (outlined below) that this is a significant mile stone in the Industrial Supervisory experience transformation.

 

In my original blog on the" operational experience transformation" (Perfect Storm), I outlined one of the transformations is the shift from " click" to "touch". (Referred also to as "multi touch" or "gesture" driven interfaces).

This transformation started with Apple iPhone, accelerating with the Ipad in the personal world. The real transformation is likely to happen over the next 3 years, as delivery of more devices, mobile, and desktop that adopt Windows 8, enabling people to redesign their supervisory application for Generation Y and the new operational team paradigm. 

Windows 8 launch this week, is a paradigm shift for Microsoft, in many aspects bigger than the windows 3.11 to windows 95 (with the introduction of icons vs tree lists). Apple does not lead the industrial PC market with HMIs etc, it is Microsoft that dominates here, and it is this reason that will see this as the one of the defining milestones, dove tailed with multiple other transformational drivers:

1.   The expectation of being able to continue working, while walking in a roaming state

2.   The explosion of high performing, low powered, but rich, effective mobile devices.

3.       Generation y that has just swallowed up the " multi touch" experience the expectation of doing anything anywhere It is this market, landscape discontinuities that when lined up at once will drive on a large scale the transformation to "touch"

I have heard people this week say “it will be slow to adopt touch in industry” I think that is narrow minded.

As the “PC” suppliers deliver the touch desktops (which will still support mouse driven "click"), but with screens that enable the Multi Touch. Why purchase a new HMI PC that does not support both "touch" and "click"? Especially as Windows 8 does take the experience to a new level, while still supporting the classic windows 32 and "click" applications.

For a number of years, we have investigated multi touch relative to industrial landscape "day in the life", leveraging a Microsoft Surface Device.  Very positive reception  was  received when a scenario of collaboration situation, where analysis is being done and then results are “pushed” to remote workers for sharing and bring them in to virtual discussion. This lines up with the other transformational driver in the industrial world that of the operational team vs individual operations. When showing this to customers, and thought leaders it is surprising to see the acceptance and realization of the new dimension of value.

Invensys and others will accelerate the delivery of applications that leverage the Multi touch, for use in the Industrial market.

Remember it is not just up to us vendors, I mentioned earlier in the year in a blog that applications designed for " click" do not work well in "touch", but "touch" designed applications work well in "click". So as, you look forward and design your operational interfaces take this into consideration, example "pop ups" are a struggle in the "touch world".

So yes last week with windows 8 launch, I believe it is a significant milestone in the “industrial, operational” experience transformation, even if not for tomorrow but within the next 2 to 3 years.