Slashdot Mirror
Will Touch Screens Kill the Keyboard?
CWmike writes "Next-generation touch-screen devices will embed more haptics, or touch-based feedback, into virtual keyboards. 'A lot of companies are really getting into haptics, [using] source feedback and a sense of touch to try to replicate a keyboard on a display,' says Bruce Gant, a mechanical engineer at Product Development Technologies, which integrates touch screens into cell phones and other devices for manufacturers. 'If people really get that down and nail that experience, [virtual keyboards] could replace mechanical keyboards on laptops.' Don't tell that to Motorola, which just introduced the Atrix 4G, and dual-core 4.3-inch smartphone that docks to a laptop with, you guessed it, a physical keyboard."
Keyboard is a lot cheaper, more easily repaired if something goes wrong.
Big media: quit saying "XYZ is dead" every time you're starved for attention.
No matter how good a smartphone gets, that doesn't mean that old technology people still benefit from should suddenly disappear. My phone has a built-in keyboard; I can text so fast it startles people and any flashy features my phone doesn't have would be all the better with it. Give us more functionality, not tell us we should settle for less.
And I will only let go of it when they pry it from my cold dead hands!
Seriously, try using a touchscreen for more than a text message. Use a bunch of on screen keyboard variants. Swype, android, apple, and any other one you care to try.
You'll be happy when you are back to a machine that has a real keyboard. Even a mobile with a real keyboard.
Keyboard ON the screen == bad: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/G/gorilla-arm.html
Keyboard away from the screen and horizontal, no problem. But then, what's the point in virtualizing it?
"And the meaning of words; when they cease to function; when will it start worrying you?"
MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft require the kind of precision and sensory feedback that only standard keyboards can provide.
If touchscreens do kill the keyboard (and I am very doubtful), then it'll just be another milestone for the trend of crappier and crappier keyboard input devices. Back in the day, the mechanical switch and the buckler keyboards were fantastic. They had the weight, they had the tactile response, they had the satisfying click you get when you press down a key, plus they were nigh indestructible. Then, everyone moved to the quiet keyboards that use the rubber sheet and the dielectric, and it had less of a tactical response. Then people started moving towards those awful chiclet keyboards (are they called Island keyboards?) and they make it so frustrating to type something. If touchscreens take over, it'll just be the next logical step towards crappier keyboards.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
Touch keyboards cannot keep speed with physical keyboards due to a lack of tactile feedback, space requirements, and hand-strain when typing due to jamming your finger into a solid surface repeatedly (guess its not much different than laptop crappy keyboards, but still). That's assuming you've overcome the software limitation of slow processing that plagues most touch keyboards.
That being said, they will probably replace keyboards for applications(such as mobile phones) where a keyboard would be a waste and inefficient use of space while not being very effective anyway.
But in a laptop? God no unless you're going for lightweight style rather than a useful work space.
Disclaimer: Typed on my model-m.
You never realize how much manually made unmanaged "linked" lists suck, till you have src.link.link.link.link...
If there's anything Apple have taught us, it's that an awful lot of people don't do any real work on their computers.
For those who do, real computers with real I/O devices will remain.
Scotty: "how quaint"
Touch screens have been around for a long, LONG time. There are various places where they are used quite a bit too. Point of sale terminals often use touch screens, and have for a long time. They are useful in some situations, but not generally useful. The reason is because having a touch screen involves having your hands on your screen. This means you occlude part of your view, and of course in a desk environment means that either you are stretching your arms up, which is uncomfortable, or you are hunched over a display.
The keyboard and mouse endure because for a sitting working environment, they are generally what you want. I want to be able to easily enter text while looking at a display that is in front of my face at a comfortable level.
Basically touchscreens will be used where they make sense. This can be in things like phones where space is a premium, and you want as big a screen as you can get, or in specialty applications. However they are not going to be the be-all, end-all.
I thought it was because Steve Jobs told people that's what they wanted.
Saying Android is a family of phones is akin to saying Linux is a family of PCs.
And Shit Cap. :-P
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Something that would turn any space or surface your vicinity into a keyboard. It could sort of be like air guitar. Having a keyboard on the display device can be awkward, cramped, and dirty. An "air keyboard" could help with carpal-tunnel. You could warp it such that you only move the fingers, never the wrist or forearms.
Ever tried to type on an on screen keyboard?
Its bad enough having to use one for your username and password...
For all the users who don't type much (that is for about 95% of all users) the touchscreen will replace the keyboard, no doubt. Devices without keyboards have less buttons (good), you can press, drag and touch where you're looking (good), there are no moving parts (good), the devices are much easier to clean (good) and the devices look better (good). For the typical user a real keyboard is ugly, complex and hard to use. Most people just forget all the effort they had to invest to learn to use it.
Those who type much and fast will still use keyboards. They're a minority, but a loud one.
Next question please.
This all reminds me of that silly bit from Starship Troopers where Drill Seargant Clancy responded to "but it's a push button world now" buy disabling the recruit's ability to push buttons.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
What exactly IS that windows key for?
I don't know about Windows or Mac, but in Linux you can configure the windows key to be a extra mod key, kinda like Shift and Alt.
A lot of keyboard oriented windows managers (which I personally enjoy using) require that you press a certain key to activate the window manager's commands.
For example, Ctrl-t on Ratpoison or StumpWM or the Alt key on Xmonad. In those cases, you can use the windows key instead of those.
Or you can just learn emacs and start complaining that you need MORE keys on the keyboard
Okay seriously I've just run out of pointless things to say.
Try 0.95%.
The average user types quite a bit. This is why QWERTY keybards came about on phones and why the BB/Nokia E71's are so popular with users who do a lot of emailing and messaging.
On computers it's even worse. Just typing out this comment would be painful, if not impossible. Touchscreens are slower, more inefficient and error prone than keyboards and this is readily evident to the average user.
Quick explain.
Thought not. Just because Steve says it's better does not make it so.
Physical buttons provide many advantages over on screen buttons. they are tactile, responsive, don't move and their function never changes. The last one is important, on my PC the Delete button does what it needs to, the F1 key too. On my Android phone the back button always takes me back to the last application/page I used and terminates the application as opposed to backgrounding it (which is what the home button does). Believe it or not, but such simple things are not beyond the capacity of the average user to figure out on their own.
Ye gads,
Where did you learn to type, The ministry of silly computing habits.
All typing tutors and instruction I have received tells me you're meant look at the screen (output) not where your hands are. This does make typing faster and allows you to pick up on those annoying typo's so much earlier.
Typing at 30 WPM+, moving keys are not a feature anyone will find useful.
Because mechanical KB's are breaking left, right and centre. NOT.
My keyboard has to be the most reliable one of things in my house. I have a 20 yr old KB's that are still in perfect working order (albeit not AT ports on my gaming rig). My last KB died after 9 years of service, a victim of a poorly placed Jacks and Coke.
Moving parts != unreliable. On the other hand software frequently breaks due to bad code.
A physical keyboard is much easier to use, faster, more ergonomic, more responsive and a lot more accurate. Considerably less stress on the users wrists and not having to look at the keyboard to find a key makes typing much faster.
Where do you get your idea's about HCI and HMI from?
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
I just don't like my fingers being in front of what I'm trying to see. That is why I will never use touchscreens. I am no luddite though. I'm waiting for cybernetic implants or nano-bots technology.