4 ms·

I have never used one, but I will never understand in what situations does a touchscreen on a desktop or a laptop make any sense at all. Maybe if I used one it

by favaq 4y ago

I have never used one, but I will never understand in what situations does a touchscreen on a desktop or a laptop make any sense at all. Maybe if I used one it would click for me but I don't get it. I imagine myself poking the screen of a laptop, the whole thing wobbling, all full of greasy fingerprints... it makes me cringe.

newaccount74 4y ago
I thought the same until I got a surface studio. The touch screen itself is useful when multiple people use a computer. Much nicer if everyone can interact with the screen vs. asking the person holding the mouse to scroll down a bit. But the real game changer is the stylus. Annotating PDFs, signing contracts, kids doing school worksheets, the whiteboard app... It's amazing how much more naturally you can interact with a computer if you can just draw on it. I love my big iMac, I just wish it came with a stylus.
- Dalewyn 4y ago
  >But the real game changer is the stylus. Annotating PDFs, signing contracts, kids doing school worksheets, the whiteboard app... It's amazing how much more naturally you can interact with a computer if you can just draw on it. This is understated. Sometimes, you need to sign documents electronically, and let me tell you all: Trying to sign with a mouse is fucking miserable. I say that as someone who knows and breathes computer, too; the common man finds it downright intolerable. Scribbling with a finger, let alone writing/drawing with a freaking pen, is an astronomical leap in intuitive usability.
jeroenhd 4y ago
It just makes sense sometimes. We're at the point where every web page and operating system control is large enough to be hit with a finger anyway, why go through the effort of getting a virtual pointer to hover over it when you can just tap it? The button is _right there_! For most of computer history, we've used tools to simulate putting our fingers on something (cursors becoming hands when tapping interactive elements, for example) and to get there, we've used a virtual finger controlled by a mouse, touch pad, track ball, or anything else that gets two dimensional movement across to the screen. We're finally at the point that we don't need the intermediate technology anymore, except perhaps for precision work. Windows 8 has had excellent gesture support since Windows 8 and if you enable the right settings (tablet mode, for one) browsing the web becomes quite tablet-like on a laptop. On a desktop I don't think it would make too much sense outside of a digital artist's environment. If your laptop has a flimsy hinge or a screen that stains easily, it probably won't make sense to use its screen as a touch screen (unless it folds all the way back). However, in my experience, most laptops that aren't designed to be as thin as possible will hold up quite nicely if you touch their screens. Our phones are perfectly usable when we put our greasy fingers all over them, so why would a laptop screen be any different? You don't need a lot of force to operate a touch screen, we're not constantly flinging our phones across the room when we need to tap something. It's just a matter of mounting and treating the screen right. If your screen gets to a reasonable brightness, you probably won't even notice the finger grease. Touch screens on computers aren't for everyone, but most people that have tried them don't seem to want to go back. I haven't used one for an extensive amount of time myself, but I can definitely see the appeal.
- favaq 4y ago
  >We're at the point where every web page and operating system control is large enough to be hit with a finger anyway, why go through the effort of getting a virtual pointer to hover over it when you can just tap it? The button is _right there_! Because moving my wrist a little bit is much easier than moving my entire arm. If the way you position your laptop allows you to not have to move your entire arm then you don't have a laptop, you have a tablet, and that's another discussion altogether. Also having mouse interfaces allows for interface elements to be smaller, thus showing more information at the same time.
  - Dalewyn 4y ago
    Look at it from the perspective of the commons: It's easier to poke at a screen than to use a mouse or touchpad. It's easier to see and read bigger text and interfaces than small environments for ants, especially as one advances in age.
    - favaq 4y ago
      Apple already sells an apparatus for the commons, it's called the iPad.

by favaq 4y ago

newaccount74 4y ago

I thought the same until I got a surface studio. The touch screen itself is useful when multiple people use a computer. Much nicer if everyone can interact with the screen vs. asking the person holding the mouse to scroll down a bit. But the real game changer is the stylus. Annotating PDFs, signing contracts, kids doing school worksheets, the whiteboard app... It's amazing how much more naturally you can interact with a computer if you can just draw on it. I love my big iMac, I just wish it came with a stylus.

Dalewyn 4y ago
>But the real game changer is the stylus. Annotating PDFs, signing contracts, kids doing school worksheets, the whiteboard app... It's amazing how much more naturally you can interact with a computer if you can just draw on it. This is understated. Sometimes, you need to sign documents electronically, and let me tell you all: Trying to sign with a mouse is fucking miserable. I say that as someone who knows and breathes computer, too; the common man finds it downright intolerable. Scribbling with a finger, let alone writing/drawing with a freaking pen, is an astronomical leap in intuitive usability.

jeroenhd 4y ago

It just makes sense sometimes. We're at the point where every web page and operating system control is large enough to be hit with a finger anyway, why go through the effort of getting a virtual pointer to hover over it when you can just tap it? The button is _right there_! For most of computer history, we've used tools to simulate putting our fingers on something (cursors becoming hands when tapping interactive elements, for example) and to get there, we've used a virtual finger controlled by a mouse, touch pad, track ball, or anything else that gets two dimensional movement across to the screen. We're finally at the point that we don't need the intermediate technology anymore, except perhaps for precision work. Windows 8 has had excellent gesture support since Windows 8 and if you enable the right settings (tablet mode, for one) browsing the web becomes quite tablet-like on a laptop. On a desktop I don't think it would make too much sense outside of a digital artist's environment. If your laptop has a flimsy hinge or a screen that stains easily, it probably won't make sense to use its screen as a touch screen (unless it folds all the way back). However, in my experience, most laptops that aren't designed to be as thin as possible will hold up quite nicely if you touch their screens. Our phones are perfectly usable when we put our greasy fingers all over them, so why would a laptop screen be any different? You don't need a lot of force to operate a touch screen, we're not constantly flinging our phones across the room when we need to tap something. It's just a matter of mounting and treating the screen right. If your screen gets to a reasonable brightness, you probably won't even notice the finger grease. Touch screens on computers aren't for everyone, but most people that have tried them don't seem to want to go back. I haven't used one for an extensive amount of time myself, but I can definitely see the appeal.

favaq 4y ago
>We're at the point where every web page and operating system control is large enough to be hit with a finger anyway, why go through the effort of getting a virtual pointer to hover over it when you can just tap it? The button is _right there_! Because moving my wrist a little bit is much easier than moving my entire arm. If the way you position your laptop allows you to not have to move your entire arm then you don't have a laptop, you have a tablet, and that's another discussion altogether. Also having mouse interfaces allows for interface elements to be smaller, thus showing more information at the same time.
- Dalewyn 4y ago
  Look at it from the perspective of the commons: It's easier to poke at a screen than to use a mouse or touchpad. It's easier to see and read bigger text and interfaces than small environments for ants, especially as one advances in age.
  - favaq 4y ago
    Apple already sells an apparatus for the commons, it's called the iPad.