New interfaces are tough to come by. I spent several days recently with Apple’s iPod Touch. It has an entirely new interface, which it shares with its more press-worthy sibling, the iPhone, which we are still waiting for in Canada.

For both the Touch and iPhone, Apple has developed an interface they are calling Multi-Touch. It is a touch screen that also understands gestures. For example sliding your finger will cause a different action than merely tapping. This opens up entirely new concepts of navigation and control.

One of the frustrations I have with the whole computing scene is the fact we are for the most part interfacing with our computers exactly the same way we did back in the late ‘80s.

Think about it, Apple (through Xerox) released the Macintosh (after the failed Lisa) and the graphical user interface was delivered to the mainstream. We were introduced to the mouse, to the desktop, to “point and click”, and ease of use became the buzzword.

Hold on to your monitor, that was 22 years ago! Could we not come up with a new interface in 2 plus decades? 22 years and no significant improvements to how we use our computer; how we interface!

So when something new comes along it is cause for celebration, and the iPod Touch is worthy of some credit and notice.

You might wonder why I am excited about the iPod Touch interface, when the original iPod had a new interface with the clickwheel, which allows you to spin back and forth and jog from menu to menu. Is the Touch more significant than that? Am I going to write this entire column in Questions? Yes to all of the above!

The iPod Touch might seem to be just another iPod, but under the music player exterior lurks a very powerful computer. It is not a simple MP3 player; you kiss this frg and a prince of a PC appears underneath. Apple built the Touch with the same OS as their Macintoshes, so we will see many more applications and additions come on both the iPhone and Touch.

The MultiTouch interface allows us to manage the new iPod through gestures as well as touch screen; swiping your finger quickly scrolls through song or album lists. If you are looking at a photo, touching the screen with thumb and forefinger and pinching or spreading your fingers either zooms in or out on the photo.

When you start to consider the iPhone version you can begin to imagine the hours you will log on the device; it will be all things - a Personal information manager, a phone, email system, iPod, movie player and game platform. And you will manage all functions with your touch!

Several other manufactures have come out with fresh interfaces; some are viable, others are dogs. The good ones include the clickwheel popularized by RIM for their Blackberry, and improved on with their trackball “Pearl” on the current generation of Blackberrys. These are all good, but the Apple interface once again sets the standard for innovation, for ease of use and for elegance. I guess we have come to expect nothing less from Apple, but still, 22 years is a long wait.