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Touchscreen PCs Will Surely Pave the Way for More Multitouch Innovations
Posted 10/09/09 at 09:02:31 AM by Paul Lilly
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The future looks bright for touchscreen computing, which will get a boost from Windows 7's built-in support for multitouch technology. And in case you haven't noticed, touchscreen PCs are beginning to gain steam. But is the world ready for touch computing in its current form?
"The question is, can we rethink the touch interface as a first-class citizen and provide a fresh approach to the desktop?," says Anand Agarawala, founder and CEO of Toronto's Bumptop. "Not only is touch a more natural way to interact with your desktop, but it also adds to your productivity."
Up to now, there hasn't been much motivation to focus on touch. According to Display Search, only about 3 percent of desktops and notebooks currently come with a touchscreen. Touch technology is much more prominent in the smartphone market, so the first step is getting the hardware out there. Then there's the task of making touchscreens easier to use and functionally relevant.
"PCs with touchscreens look cool, but what do you do with them?," says Jennifer Colegrove, a director at Display Search. "When it comes to the iPhone there are 50,000 applications that use touch -- but what do you do on a PC with touch?"
That question might be answered sooner than you think.
Image Credit: V12 Designs
Touch is icky
Submitted by Raspop on Sat, 10/10/2009 - 1:08am
The sooner this tech evolves into something a little more hologrammy, the better. Yuck.
Use a mouse
Submitted by Danielt876 on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 9:37am
If you really think that a touchscreen would be that bad then you could just use the mouse and keyboard like always, and save touching for games or something else.
Nah...
Submitted by 1337Goose on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 2:19pm
Touch is definitely better. Think about it, it's more natural. We're used to interacting with the physical world through touch. We push objects and they react. Touch is so much more intuitive.
Give a mouse to somebody who has never seen a computer a mouse and she/he may eventually figure out how it works. A touch screen, however is just an extension of what we do in our every day lives. Also with multitouch devices, we could be interacting with multiple items on our desktops at once.
We grew up with mice and keyboards, so it feels natural to us, but I think tomorrow's generation will find mice clumsy and cumbersome.
~Goose
Submitted by Raspop on Sat, 10/10/2009 - 1:18am
Have you seen the sample touchscreen monitors at places like Costco? Finger prints and mysterious crud all over them.
Of all the things in your house that you wouldn't expect to smell bad....
A sensor (Nintendo Wii-ish) that recognizes gestures would be better/cleaner than touch.
Submitted by 1337Goose on Sat, 10/10/2009 - 9:01am
Yeah, definitely. But until we can get something like that to work effectively, I still think touch beats the mouse.
~Goose
Submitted by Raspop on Sat, 10/10/2009 - 6:15pm
A mouse can go way faster than touch. It's a matter of how far and how fast. Whole arm vs a finger click.
I do see touch being neat for some things, but it's still just a novelty until it has a specific function that it does faster/better.
Submitted by 1337Goose on Sat, 10/10/2009 - 9:14pm
I see where you're coming from, but I think we just prefer the mouse because we're old enough for it to be second nature to us.
Did you know that having the brake pedal on the right and the accelerator on the left would reduce accidents? And I'm sure we're all aware of the advantages of dvorak keyboards to QWERTY. Where am I going with all of this? It's simple, touch is simply more intuitive. A mouse requires us to co-ordinate our motor skills to better interface with the computer. A touch screen doesn't require any more calibration than our hands are accustomed to in the real world.
Additionally, let's not forget multitouch. There's no such thing as a multitouch mouse. Multitouch technology would allow us to interact more naturally with a multitude of objects on our screens.
Does this mean that the mouse will go the way of the dodo at the mercy of the touch screen? Absolutely not, or at least I don't think so. As long as there are users who prefer the mouse, there will always be mice attached to computers. I just think that the touch screen will lend itself to a greater number of uses in the future.
~Goose
Submitted by TheFreeman on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 9:24am
I think that if we try to put touchscreens into desktops without changing anything else that it won't be too great. Desktop monitors are supposed to be situated where the top of the screen is at eye level and it should be about an arms length away. Orienting the screen so that you are able to touch it would mess up the ergonomics of it.
I can see where touchscreens make sense for laptops because they are already not very ergonomic as far as your neck goes (in general). The screens on laptops are closer than a desktop screen would be. Because of this it makes it easier to use a touchscreen on a laptop than it would on a desktop.
If desktop touchscreens are going to be made practical for desktops I think we would need to see a significant change to the way that the average desktop is setup in order to make it ergonomic.
i could see multi touch
Submitted by nekollx on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 9:05am
i could see multi touch replacing the mouse and keyboard but the idea of a horizontal touch screen and a vertical display seems wasteful to me...
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Submitted by quantumnerd on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 9:51am
You do realise that two displays would make a laptop usable as a two sided book reader?
Also, I've been thinking about OLED displays or something, and macbook style squarish keys. If each key was an oled display, and each key could be fixed in a "down" position, the second display could have a keyboard AND be a screen.
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