2007 seems to be the year of touch computing. It started at MacWorld with the Apple iPhone announcement. Then, HTC introduced a touch phone that runs Windows (before the iPhone made it to market). Now, Microsoft has come up with Surface – a table that runs Windows using a touch-screen interface to very good effect.

I’m not really sure that this is a product that’s going anywhere fast (and I’ll spare you the Bill Gates demo – the Associated Press one is less likely to send you to sleep) but Microsoft is constantly being criticised for a lack of innovation and as a concept, Surface is certainly interesting. Personally, I can’t wait. Not to have an expensive coffee table upon which to bore people with digital photos (I can already do that with the TV!) but because I can feel a return to the “Space Invaders” tabletop video games of my youth coming on!