- Jul 27, 2002
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Let's face it, touch is intuitive but it's primitive. Babies start learning things buy touching and licking, but eventually they learn to speak, write, and use tools.
I remember years ago when I had a BlackBerry with hard keyboard. I used to type with one hand incredibly fast, without looking at the keys. Dialing and texting while driving? It was no more dangerous than, say, having a cigarette in one hand and the other on wheel.
But phones now do more than simply dialing numbers and typing SMS. Which means screen estate is at a the highest premium (no room for hard keys). Aesthetics are more important than ever. And again, touch is intuitive and it's how we started learning things. Thus it is also a very egalitarian interface. Techies are obviously fit for it, but so are seniors and kids, without much trouble. My dad never learned typing after years of trying but he picked up touch right away.
However, as I use more and more touch devices their shortcomings start to show. Everyone knows that it is not very pleasant to type on touch devices, thus keeping most touch devices at "consumption" devices for the most part. Accuracy, fluency, speed, multi-tasking suffer. And touch makes a mess on the screen and impose strict ergonomics on devices. Currently touch devices are still limited in their functions so touch may be good enough, but I think the time will come soon enough when touch is no longer adequate for portable devices.
So what's next?
- Voice command/recognition: An obvious contender. Accuracy is low currently. But if accuracy improved to the point of perfection, it has a potential to be the fastest of all. May not be the most optimal interface for multitasking. Devices can be any shape or form.
- Digitizer and flexible (read
aper-like) screen: Old-fashioned in a new form. Should provide greatest accuracy of all. Multitasking potential is high. Extreme portability may be possible (fold it or roll it) But inter-operability with other devices might suffer. And we don't know how soon techs necessary to achieve these will be ready. Form factors are likely to be restrictive.
- Some sort of virtual sensory mechanism: Detects your fingertips and motions afar. Coupled with voice, it could be the most versatile and multitasking-friendly. Achieving accuracy will be difficult, and most susceptible to environments including security threats.
- Something else altogether
Thoughts?
I remember years ago when I had a BlackBerry with hard keyboard. I used to type with one hand incredibly fast, without looking at the keys. Dialing and texting while driving? It was no more dangerous than, say, having a cigarette in one hand and the other on wheel.
But phones now do more than simply dialing numbers and typing SMS. Which means screen estate is at a the highest premium (no room for hard keys). Aesthetics are more important than ever. And again, touch is intuitive and it's how we started learning things. Thus it is also a very egalitarian interface. Techies are obviously fit for it, but so are seniors and kids, without much trouble. My dad never learned typing after years of trying but he picked up touch right away.
However, as I use more and more touch devices their shortcomings start to show. Everyone knows that it is not very pleasant to type on touch devices, thus keeping most touch devices at "consumption" devices for the most part. Accuracy, fluency, speed, multi-tasking suffer. And touch makes a mess on the screen and impose strict ergonomics on devices. Currently touch devices are still limited in their functions so touch may be good enough, but I think the time will come soon enough when touch is no longer adequate for portable devices.
So what's next?
- Voice command/recognition: An obvious contender. Accuracy is low currently. But if accuracy improved to the point of perfection, it has a potential to be the fastest of all. May not be the most optimal interface for multitasking. Devices can be any shape or form.
- Digitizer and flexible (read
aper-like) screen: Old-fashioned in a new form. Should provide greatest accuracy of all. Multitasking potential is high. Extreme portability may be possible (fold it or roll it) But inter-operability with other devices might suffer. And we don't know how soon techs necessary to achieve these will be ready. Form factors are likely to be restrictive. - Some sort of virtual sensory mechanism: Detects your fingertips and motions afar. Coupled with voice, it could be the most versatile and multitasking-friendly. Achieving accuracy will be difficult, and most susceptible to environments including security threats.
- Something else altogether
Thoughts?
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