Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Are touchscreens really good for PCs?

I came across a good question about the touch user interface for PCs at DisplaySearch Blog: Does Touch Make Sense on the PC Platform?

 

My opinion:

Current Desktop PC interface is not designed for hands, fingers, and even pens. And this is why table PCs are not so popular today. The first thing to do is totally redesigning desktop user interfaces, which should be done by major OS manufacturers such as Microsoft and Apple. MS Surface is a good way to start.

2 comments:

Garrick Infanger said...

I am skeptical that touch will replace the current keyboard/mouse interface. While touch can be designed to be intuitive and reactive, the simple fact remains that 1) I don't want to hold my arm up to the screen for any period of time and 2) My fat fingers obscure too much of the viewing area. The simple mouse cursor can be amazingly precise while my arm rests on a desk.
Adding the touch capability is excellent for terminals, kiosks and mobile phones, but for desktops and laptops I think the device will evolve before touch becomes dominant.

Touch User Interface said...

So am I. In desktop computing environments, touch may have the position of mouse scroll-wheels at most. I think every input device has its own home ground. Desktops and laptops are not for touch.
- The Right Place, the Right ToolAnother good place for touch is tabletops. They are taking the first step in the market today - MS surface is well known. And in the future, we may have a truly digital desk that needs pens and touch as primary inputs.
- DigiDesk: Desktop for Future Information Workers

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