Having seen how covered in paint, plaster, glue etc some people's CTs get... I hope this touch button screen can hold up to years of being scrubbed clean..
I think I see the membrane plastic starting to crack and split before it made it thru the photo shoot

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Modern production and inventory systems use RFID tags, so FS may just use a choice they already made to build upon for new features.
yes, they are everywhere, not that it's a great thing, but if it means you have to have the latest hoses for it to work it's a problem. What if you have old hoses, or hoses from a different manufacture, etc. You don't want to end up like Kerig putting RFDI tags in coffee pods to lock out 3rd parties. Or what if the tag isn't molded into the hose but is stuck on it someplace. Then folks do the normal thing and remove them like you do anytime you have a tool apart, now suddenly it doesn't work.
From what I understand, the "touch screen" on the CTM Midi allows you to select the size of hose attached so that the airflow detection required for M Class works correctly.
Looking at the picture I don't see a button to select the suction, only a selector for hose diameter.
Is that an improvement?
Just wait for the North American version, instead of 50, 36, 27, 21 we get 1-24/25 1-2/5 , 1-1/16 etc. I'm still looking for a tape measure that will read out 7-2/3" so I can set the rear stop on my MFT/3 per Festool's manual.
I just don't get this design verses a knob.
Also when you press the "Man" button, does he show up right away, or how does this work, and can there be a Woman button? I know the big CTs say "man" too, but I don't think they were space constrained here. More than one person is going to get busted on from their buddies for pressing "the man button".