Don’t Touch My Screen!

touch screen

“To touch or not to touch that is the question?”

I thought I would put an article together on the use of touchscreens. I recently tweeted about the use of touchscreen on laptops and desktops and how people are having to lean forward to use the touch screen and then back to type and then forward. Which might be great exercise but may also cause health problems.

The question is has Microsoft seen the mobile revolution and thought this is great for the office and laptop market and not thought this through? I must admit I sit at home in an evening and have my phone by my side and my tablet PC. I use the touch all the time and rarely change my position.

But when I work at my desk I use a standard desktop computer, keyboard and mouse and have done for years. Now, the for years argument, is not one I normally use because if that was the case we would never have changed anything and we would all still be using telegrams to send messages.

However, in this case I wonder if the future interaction is purely touch and voice activation and typing will be a thing of the past?

One article I read online from my friends at IT Portal said,

“In my research leading up to the Windows 8 announcement, I never heard people voice a desire for touch as a way to navigate among apps. They were quite comfortable using a mouse and track pad as they had been doing for years. Even now our research shows that many folks feel that lifting their hands off their keyboard or mouse to touch the screen is unnatural.”

Of course this doesn’t mean that we have to stay the same as we have always been, but some thought in how these things are forced upon us maybe necessary. Apple has not yet put touch screens on their MacBook’s or imac’s.

What are your thoughts on this?

What should you carry around with you, A Window, an Android or an Apple?

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Yes that’s the burning question today, the mobile smart phone market is heating up for the next round of devices and various manufacturers are hedging their bets on one of the above.

Nokia have got into bed with Microsoft and have launched their next range of mobile phones with the new Windows 7.5 mobile on board, Samsung have launched some windows based offerings as well. Google have upped the pace by purchasing the mobile side of Motorola so all Motorola offerings in the near future should be running Android and with the launch of Jelly Bean and there is Keylime Pie in the wings. With this latest version the stakes are greater than ever before.

Apple have launched the IPhone 5, with the 5S rumoured as I type, but are experiencing battery drain where some people are reporting it only lasting half a day of usage. Is a phone even a phone anymore?

It is no doubt that this is a lucrative market and an article I read recently said that 60% of the UK market had smart phones. They do so much more than just telephone people and have revolutionised the way we browse the Internet and get fed information. You only have to look at any news broadcast to see the effect that social media via smart phones is changing how we get our information. People even interact with their favourite Television shows via social networking on their mobile phone while watching the television. Instant comment and voting.

So what does the future hold? Well we can look forward to even smarter devices and the more interactivity than ever before. But will you opt for the Window, the Android or the Apple as they all fight for market share and each one trying to top the others dominance of the market. Of course there is even talk of new OS’s coming into the phone market, with Blackberry and LG etc. testing them.

I will try and keep you informed as much as we can with the changes as they happen.

Happy Mobiling

Ian Thomson

Founder/Trainer/Consultant