Comments on: Multi-Touch on a PC: Love It , Hate It, or Clueless About It

By: Rob Enderle

Rob Enderle — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:39:19 +0000

It is one of those things you do have to play with for awhile before you see the benefits and it will appeal, initiall, to those of us there are a bit more visually creative.

I used an early version of multi-touch years ago in a surface like device and it helped a great deal in the way physical objects could be defined and designed.

It clearly has a "wow" factor if done right as Apple continues to showcase. Though I wonder about the "kids" comment as I can see people who are not currently comfortable with a mouse finding a multi-touch screen less intimidating.

The problem with the table computer is you can't live on touch becasue as soon as you get back to the office you probably use a regular monitor and a mouse so most of us that had tablets didn't develop the skill set. If they can, and if is a big word, get touch to work on existing monitors this could go.

But Ian makes a good point on the tablets, though I agree with Lynn. I want one...

By: Lynn Marentette

Lynn Marentette — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:16:22 +0000

I think multi-touch applications would work well on mid-size displays mounted on a flexible form that can adjust horizontally, like a table, vertically, like a flat-screen TV, and anywhere in between, like an adjustable drafting table.

For an HCI project, I worked on a touch-screen prototype to support collaboration between two or more people for travel planning, using photo-overlays on Google Earth that linked to videoclips of various vacation spots. It was fun to play with, and travel agents liked it, too. We used a single-touch display, since we didn't have access to a multi-touch display at the time. (This was before Microsoft shared the Surface with the world.)

A flexible "surface" would work in classroom, museums, tourist information centers, libraries, convention centers, malls, etc. Displays can be controlled by hand-held devices, like PDA's, and of course, Wii Motes (if you've seen Johnny Chung Lee's videos, you'll know what I'm talking about!).

I'm not a young kid, and I want my multitouch!

By: Jason Howard

Jason Howard — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:46:39 +0000

Touch screens will take off when you can use them as the whole interface, just like some of the sci-fi movies like Minority Report.

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:41:34 +0000

Rob,

A touch-screen on a phone is one thing, but on a desktop PC I just do not see it taking off. In fact, Tablet PC's haven't really taken off much either. Does Dell or Sony even sell them??

Like hardmanb said, it will be determined by the kids, not us. Personally, until I see touch-screen friendly websites or applications, I will remain a skeptic. At some point you will need a 30-inch monitor just to browse the web using a touch-screen lol.

By: hardmanb

hardmanb — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:22:42 +0000

Rob, I don't know if your musings or mine see clearly. Multitouch involves enjoyment of the user and intuitive use. Is it true improvement, more efficient leading to increased productivity, or a pleasing toy-like effect?

Will it catch on, much less dominate in the future? One thing is clear…the question will not be decided by us…but by the kids.

By: Harry

Harry — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:45:08 +0000

Multitouch will definitely be a hit.
It will replace more then 50% of the current single touch screens. Because of this new technology people start the rethink the environments they can use touch screens in, even if single touch screens would have been suffice, people see now opportunity because it is multitouch. But like said, every application has it's purpose. Multitouch will not be suitable for every application, but it will definitely have a big impact.

By: Rob Enderle

Rob Enderle — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:06:15 +0000

It kind of depends how you use the screen. For some things it is handy like navigating through pictures or a web site. But are so well trained to use a mouse and clearly tablet PCs could have done better, I think it will depend on the applications. For instance actually drawing with a mouse or digitizer isn't natural for me and actually working on the screen is much easier.

What makes the LaserTouch thing new is it is an inexpensive addition to an existing monitor or could be added to production screen for a trivial amount at least partially getting around the cost problem with tablets and touch screens.

We all thought touch screen phones were worthless until the iPhone. But I do agree that, thanks to our affinity for the mouse, getting people to acutally use the screen will be difficult and to your point, even on the TouchSmart I use the mouse more often than not.

By: James

James — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:55:52 +0000

That iMac Touchscreen video you linked to is pretty cool. I can definately see Apple trying to do this. A system like this would be good if it was a living room PC used to check weather, store music etc.

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:53:04 +0000

Rob,

Have to disagree with you a lot on this Rob. I think touch-screen displays are a terrible product for desktop PCs, at least for general use. Can you imagine all the sore arms out there? What an ergonomical nightmare! :)

The LaserTouch technology Microsoft just announced is actually pretty old. I remember seeing it a few years ago tied into a Sanyo projector and displayed in a mall of all places. Kids were kicking around these projections of rubber balls on the floor. This would be good technology to use for giving presentations though. I think it just goes to show how far ahead we really are technology-wise, and how these big corporations like Microsoft try to stunt it's growth with product timelines in an effort to squeeze every dollar they can from it.

The HP TouchSmart PC is a cool product, but most people from whom I have spoken with, still wind up using the mouse, and to be honest, forget it has a touch-screen alltogether sometimes. It seems more novelty than anything.