Try reaching your hand up to touch your monitor and hold it there for a minute. Now try pretending you’ll do this for an 8 hour workday.
It’s a useless feature in search of a use-case.
This was true until just now. The use case is right at the end of OP's quote. These laptops now run iOS apps that are designed with touch as their primary or only interface. It is weird to include the functionality to run these apps but not the functionality to interact with them properly.
And once they do, others will follow. Except Google or Facebook, which will remain website-only because their whole businesses is based on ad networks across the web.
I don't think iOS apps that have poor UX on the Mac will be allowed in the Mac App Store long term.
I think the opposite form factor would make more sense: an iPad Pro that runs macOS. You could have a laptop style dock but allow it to be used in tablet mode too.
“It’s a useless feature in search of a use-case”
Sometimes it’s going to be easier to pinch to zoom, for example, than do the same thing with a keyboard or mouse.
Touch is no longer an expensive feature to add, so it makes sense to add it for certain use cases.
Also imagine a Mac being used in a kiosk situation where an iPad isn’t big enough.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually get a Mac that is essentially a giant iPad in form factor which can operate in both modes. On a stand to act like a desktop, or on the table, to act as a giant iPad. It would make little sense to disable touch when in upright mode.
I too assume touch based Macs are coming at some point. But I expect them to live alongside conventional laptops for as long as people continue to buy them. Whenever I’ve tried different kind of convertibles they’ve felt like compromises. The tablet and the laptop seem like the best version of each.
Orientation matters a lot.
> Try reaching your hand up to touch your monitor and hold it there for a minute. Now try pretending you’ll do this for an 8 hour workday.
This is asinine and you know it. That's akin to arguing that we shouldn't use mice or touchpads by saying "just try typing with an onscreen keyboard all day using point and click."
Why do you think we use mice and keyboards instead of touchscreens for serious work? Gorilla arm syndrome has been known since the Apple 1.
"Serious work" is determined by the value it provides, not the way it's produced.
I frequently use an iPad on a keyboard stand. I frequently switch controls depending on what I’m doing. Sometimes just to induce variety to help avoid RSI.