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"I think it's important to separate the advent of the touch screen interface from the form factor of a tablet." I think you're kind of missing the point then.

"I think it's important to separate the advent of the touch screen interface from the form factor of a tablet." I think you're kind of missing the point then. Apple didn't invent touch screens, touch screens have been around for a loooong time. You need to borrow an iPad and a 2 year old, and then watch the 2 year old interact with the iPad. Heck, I've seen 1 year olds playing with them. Now I'm not suggesting that a 1 year old is doing anything more than going "look at the pretty stars"† Now imagine that you're using a touchscreen on your desktop Minority Report style. It's alright if you pretend to be Tom Cruise, I'll wait. Okay, now hold your arms out at maximum extension and move them around in little circles for a while. Now back and forth. Now up and down. Now go back to circles. Have you done 15 minutes yet? Liar! Do 15 minutes of that. Okay, now that your arms are on fire with pain, imagine doing that all day long. Yeah. Now you know why we're not gonna see touch-screens as a practical input method on a desktop for a while. Conclusion: don't make the mistake of under-rating the form factor as part of the experience. †Free upvote if you get the reference. :D

zmmmmm 16y ago
Ironically I have a 3 year old and a 8 month old and also an iPad. It's exactly from their use of the iPad, my parent's use of the iPad and my own and my wife's that I make these observations. Re: form factor - I agree that these things are linked - but I'm saying the touch screen is the killer innovation. Yes, the form factor allows the touch screen to be used comfortably, but people don't really care about the form factor per se. Lack of a keyboard doesn't enable me to flick photos to browse my photo album, or to pinch to zoom on them, or to draw with my fingers on the screen - the touch screen does. A device with a slide out keyboard would do that just as well. It's just that there are significant design challenges in building such a thing so we haven't seen a convincing version of it yet. But we might.

zmmmmm 16y ago

Ironically I have a 3 year old and a 8 month old and also an iPad. It's exactly from their use of the iPad, my parent's use of the iPad and my own and my wife's that I make these observations. Re: form factor - I agree that these things are linked - but I'm saying the touch screen is the killer innovation. Yes, the form factor allows the touch screen to be used comfortably, but people don't really care about the form factor per se. Lack of a keyboard doesn't enable me to flick photos to browse my photo album, or to pinch to zoom on them, or to draw with my fingers on the screen - the touch screen does. A device with a slide out keyboard would do that just as well. It's just that there are significant design challenges in building such a thing so we haven't seen a convincing version of it yet. But we might.