If you’re over 30, you’re going to feel your age a bit after reading this.
I read a quick article about Apple OS X Lion where tech journalists are – and there’s really no other way to say this – bitching up a storm about Apple’s new OS being too overly heavy with its iOS influence. What caught my eye however is a comment made on that article, which read in part:
I heard some woman on the radio talking about how her ten year old son thinks keyboards and mice are for old people.
Sometimes all it takes is a little comment like that to really slam home the idea of what "Post PC Era" truly means – and that, dear readers, is it.
The vast majority of us (meaning the over-35 demographic) wouldn’t entertain the idea of using a 100% touch-based device as our primarily means of computing.
Kids today however have a completely different perspective because they use touchscreen devices a lot more than we do and prefer it over keyboard+mouse. You also have to bear in mind when a kid sees a PC, he or she thinks "gaming console" and not "the computer box to do actual work on". Kids like their games, after all, so that’s understandable. When I was a kid, I never saw a Commodore 64 as a computer. To me it was just another gaming box just like my NES. Obviously I know better now, but back then I didn’t.
The future of the operating system is "works everywhere"
Presently there are huge differences between a desktop operating system and a mobile one. Apple with its OS X Lion is trying to challenge this notion by having an operating system that somewhat looks and acts the same whether on the desktop or a mobile device. In the future however there will be no difference. What we know as "desktop" and "mobile" versions of an OS won’t exist. Instead there will just be "The OS", and it will run on any device – or at least that’s the idea.
Existing computer geeks absolutely hate this idea with a passion, but before I get into that, in order to have an OS that looks and acts the same everywhere, the interface has to follow suit – and that means all of it will be touch-based. You can’t exclusively point the blame at Apple for this one as Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 will also go very heavy on a touch-based interface.
Will existing computer geeks accept the transition to all touch-based?
Easy answer: Flat-out no.
The PC as we know it is 30 years old. Keyboards have been around the entire time, and mice for roughly 25 years of it as far as ones we could use in the home.
It should be obvious to anyone with a brain that you can’t take a quarter-century of an established means of inputting data into a computer box and chuck it in the trash like yesterday’s newspaper.
At this point it’s very indeterminate whether people will accept touch-based input as the norm for everything to do with computer input whether desktop or mobile. There is the chance it may completely flop for the simple reason it’s not as efficient as a keyboard is when it comes to workflow…
…and not to mention touchscreen-based typing can easily make us look really, really stupid.
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I like touch screens, but it will not replace a mouse and keyboard to me. There really isn’t a better way to interact with a computer. A touch screen may be sufficient to “replace” a mouse as a pointing device, but it can’t replace a keyboard. It can only substitute.
I would like to see anyone try to type at 70 words per minute with a touch screen. Additionally, a mouse requires less hand movement. Newer does not always necessarily mean better plus it depends on the user interface.
I think that I would stick with a keyboard just to save screen real estate. Adding a touch screen keyboard would take up at least 25% of my monitor. Why would I want to do that. Not to mention the ergonomic drawbacks. If all I did was type messages, maybe. but working with spreadsheets and Quicken, I need to see as much as possible.
Now the mouse, that’s another story. I can see the mouse going the way of the dinosaur, being replaced by a touch screen as Aaron stated. In fact, I probably will.
Epic fail.- All the way to the recycle bin.
I don’t believe an ios-touch interface will ever take over in the corporate world.
It’s retarded, for texting kiddies, and nerds.
Real work is done on a REAL keyboard and mouse
Im 13 and I would use a desktop computer over a touch screen device (such as an iPad or XOOM) anyday.
I can’t type on a virtual keyboard fast to save my life, and typing on a keyboard I type maybe 45 words per minute at the best… I would prefer a keyboard and mouse over a touchscreen anytime, plus when I game I play big games not the mobile games and with that I would need a mouse. There are no 3 easily accessible buttons on a touchscreen and your arm in the way would obstruct your view, even in a simple game like Portal that would be hazardous. I’m gonna stay with my keyboard/mouse for a while.
I can’t type on a virtual keyboard fast to save my life, and typing on a keyboard I type maybe 45 words per minute at the best… I would prefer a keyboard and mouse over a touchscreen anytime, plus when I game I play big games not the mobile games and with that I would need a mouse. There are no 3 easily accessible buttons on a touchscreen and your arm in the way would obstruct your view, even in a simple game like Portal that would be hazardous. I’m gonna stay with my keyboard/mouse for a while.
I am 12 and I like the mouse and keyboard better than dads iPhone!
Touch screen interface definitely has its place. It’s been around for ages in industrial machinery and it works very well in an environment where the operator has to enter little or no data at all and mostly has to touch controls on the screen. It is easier to secure when the user interface is Windows-based like many industrial machines are these days. It also works well for small devices like smart phones and portable devices. But to do real work such as generating long documents, it will never replace a keyboard. At least not with current technology. Its biggest drawback is that ir requires visual contact with your hands because there is no tactile feedback the smotth surface means you cannot find your way around just by touch. It is all but useless to skilled typists and to blind people.