4 ms·

I'm still looking forward to the UI revolution due to touch screens on computers becoming mainstream. Too bad the big PixelSense screens never took off in the m

I'm still looking forward to the UI revolution due to touch screens on computers becoming mainstream. Too bad the big PixelSense screens never took off in the mass market. But bendable screens... meh. I wanted a flat screen, only got a curved screen. And still never felt the urge to unbend it.

NonNefarious 4y ago
That's not going to happen, because touchscreens on computers suck. Waving your arms around in front of you all day is a shitty way to work, and takes up way more space than a mousepad. Not to mention: Why would you want your hands and arms blocking your view of the stuff you're trying to manipulate on-screen? Entire companies have already come and gone because the "Minority Report" UI has no legitimate use case.
- Teever 4y ago
  and yet millions of people place their orderd at McDonalds or self-check out their groceries with this every day.
  - NonNefarious 4y ago
    What fantasyland do you live in?
  - Nextgrid 4y ago
    If your work's complexity is equivalent to placing a fast-food order, it might be appropriate, but even then, you will likely get tired if you had to do this all day.
- rcarr 4y ago
  > Entire companies have already come and gone because the "Minority Report" UI has no legitimate use case. Guess you’re talking about Leap Motion? I reckon they might have been 7 years too early to market. I could see this kind of thing picking up traction when AR/VR really becomes mainstream, maybe not as the main input source but I could see it for less commonly used actions.
  - NonNefarious 4y ago
    Yeah, I think that was it. I respect that they tried, but I can't even see these things being used for air traffic control. 3-D? For sure. But big transparent panels?
- archi42 4y ago
  I think that's a misconception. For context: I have a strong preference for keyboard use, mouse is only an optional accessory that's sometimes useful. I already use touch on my XPS 13 and it's just another nice accessory, which I often prefer over a mouse (especially for mobile use). If I move from keyboard to mouse to click a button, I can also just touch it. Or lazily scroll a page. But it's a mistake to assume it should replace all other input methods instead of augmenting them; forcing that on a user sucks, yes. Edit: Oh, and I just played "Root" on a 43" touch screen sitting on a table. Works well, except that I need to integrate it into the table.
schwartzworld 4y ago
You want to use your TV as a touch screen? We used to have physical buttons on the TV that we used to change channels and control volume. Getting up to interact with the TV was a giant pain in the ass.
- boltzmann-brain 4y ago
  ahahah i remember having 4 buttons on a drawer that pulled out to display 4 tiny plastic potentiometers that you had to turn if you wanted to check out any of the other channels once there were any - and yeah, you're right. god no but i guess it's nice for laptops and stuff
- cesarb 4y ago
  > We used to have physical buttons on the TV that we used to change channels and control volume. And I'm annoyed at the current trend of removing these buttons. It's not rare for the remote control batteries to be empty, or the remote control to be broken (with some buttons not responding to presses), or even the remote control to be lost somewhere in the house (to be found only days later). Having a fallback way to control the TV, at least power/channel/volume/input and preferentially also full access to the configuration menus (using the channel/volume/etc buttons as arrows and confirm/cancel), is essential. Ideally with capacitive buttons, which in my experience do not get broken as easily as normal physical buttons.
- archi42 4y ago
  I never said I wanted to do that ;) I was just really into the NUI/TUI hype back in the early 2010s. (I still like proper buttons, especially in my car) I wouldn't hang a screen like that on a wall, but put it in/on a table. Just came back from playing the "Root" tutorial on a 43" touchscreen, btw. Quite nice, looking forward to see how it fares with when playing with friends or using it as a virtual tabletop for pen&paper RPGs. Still need to integrate it into a table, and I think it needs a tilt mechanic for better ergonomics when playing alone.
  - ForHackernews 4y ago
    > but put it in/on a table. Microsoft tried that. It didn't go great https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY

NonNefarious 4y ago

That's not going to happen, because touchscreens on computers suck. Waving your arms around in front of you all day is a shitty way to work, and takes up way more space than a mousepad. Not to mention: Why would you want your hands and arms blocking your view of the stuff you're trying to manipulate on-screen? Entire companies have already come and gone because the "Minority Report" UI has no legitimate use case.

Teever 4y ago
and yet millions of people place their orderd at McDonalds or self-check out their groceries with this every day.
- NonNefarious 4y ago
  What fantasyland do you live in?
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  If your work's complexity is equivalent to placing a fast-food order, it might be appropriate, but even then, you will likely get tired if you had to do this all day.
rcarr 4y ago
> Entire companies have already come and gone because the "Minority Report" UI has no legitimate use case. Guess you’re talking about Leap Motion? I reckon they might have been 7 years too early to market. I could see this kind of thing picking up traction when AR/VR really becomes mainstream, maybe not as the main input source but I could see it for less commonly used actions.
- NonNefarious 4y ago
  Yeah, I think that was it. I respect that they tried, but I can't even see these things being used for air traffic control. 3-D? For sure. But big transparent panels?
archi42 4y ago
I think that's a misconception. For context: I have a strong preference for keyboard use, mouse is only an optional accessory that's sometimes useful. I already use touch on my XPS 13 and it's just another nice accessory, which I often prefer over a mouse (especially for mobile use). If I move from keyboard to mouse to click a button, I can also just touch it. Or lazily scroll a page. But it's a mistake to assume it should replace all other input methods instead of augmenting them; forcing that on a user sucks, yes. Edit: Oh, and I just played "Root" on a 43" touch screen sitting on a table. Works well, except that I need to integrate it into the table.

schwartzworld 4y ago

You want to use your TV as a touch screen? We used to have physical buttons on the TV that we used to change channels and control volume. Getting up to interact with the TV was a giant pain in the ass.

boltzmann-brain 4y ago
ahahah i remember having 4 buttons on a drawer that pulled out to display 4 tiny plastic potentiometers that you had to turn if you wanted to check out any of the other channels once there were any - and yeah, you're right. god no but i guess it's nice for laptops and stuff
cesarb 4y ago
> We used to have physical buttons on the TV that we used to change channels and control volume. And I'm annoyed at the current trend of removing these buttons. It's not rare for the remote control batteries to be empty, or the remote control to be broken (with some buttons not responding to presses), or even the remote control to be lost somewhere in the house (to be found only days later). Having a fallback way to control the TV, at least power/channel/volume/input and preferentially also full access to the configuration menus (using the channel/volume/etc buttons as arrows and confirm/cancel), is essential. Ideally with capacitive buttons, which in my experience do not get broken as easily as normal physical buttons.
archi42 4y ago
I never said I wanted to do that ;) I was just really into the NUI/TUI hype back in the early 2010s. (I still like proper buttons, especially in my car) I wouldn't hang a screen like that on a wall, but put it in/on a table. Just came back from playing the "Root" tutorial on a 43" touchscreen, btw. Quite nice, looking forward to see how it fares with when playing with friends or using it as a virtual tabletop for pen&paper RPGs. Still need to integrate it into a table, and I think it needs a tilt mechanic for better ergonomics when playing alone.
- ForHackernews 4y ago
  > but put it in/on a table. Microsoft tried that. It didn't go great https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY