The Right Place, the Right Tool

Due to the success of iPhone, people are wildly excited for touch interface. And some guys talk about the death of mice. It's a bit exciting for me since I've been in this field for several years. But I'd like to point out that talking about the death of mice is confusing. Rather, I think it is time that each machine has its right tools to interact with men. I list my opinion on appropriate input devices for different computing devices:

• Desktop PCs: Keyboards and mice are enough.
• Tableotop or surface computing: Human hands (touch), pens, and pucks.
• Mobile phones: For normal phones, keypads are sufficient. Touch and pens are good alternatives for feature-rich phones with larger display (> 2.8"). Multi-touch is feasible for displays larger than 3.5" (Think iPhone).
• Tablet PCs: They are for multi-touch and accurate pen input devices.
• Humanoids: Voice and image recognition are essential. I don't think that such "natural interface" is not natural in desktop computing. As you don't talk to your notes or typewriters, your PC doesn't need to listen to you.
• Other types of robots: Keyboards, mice, and joysticks.

Musings inspired by

• Financial Times article on gestures
• No, the mouse isn't going away

See also:

• Gestures will force the mouse into retirement
• Say goodbye to the computer mouse