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Disclosure: friend of the author and article submitter Let's say there are three use models for Windows 8: -- pure tablet mode (horizontal touch only) -- pur

by jpxxx 14y ago

Disclosure: friend of the author and article submitter Let's say there are three use models for Windows 8: -- pure tablet mode (horizontal touch only) -- pure desktop mode (keyboard and mouse+trackpad only) -- hybrid mode (vertical touch with keyboard and mouse+trackpad) The first crop of machines designed specifically for Windows 8 are enabling that third "hybrid" mode. It's not just something they -can- do, it's one of their key selling points: traditional input PLUS vertical touch in a laptop-like form factor. Gestures, multiple-finger touch, the whole shebang. Unless vertical touch is not going to be used whatsoever in hybrid mode, it's going to invoke a kind of physical strain that hasn't been seen in typical personal computer use. So! Vertical touch is potentially problematic and it's only seen in two real-world scenarios: iPad+keyboard and (soon) shipping Windows 8 hardware.

dpark 14y ago
> Unless vertical touch is not going to be used whatsoever in hybrid mode, it's going to invoke a kind of physical strain that hasn't been seen in typical personal computer use. I don't think so. Switching between the touchscreen and the mouse/trackpad breaks up the repetition, and should probably reduce repetitive stress injuries. Instead of always reaching for the screen or always reaching for the mouse, you can do both, and more importantly, you can do whichever is more comfortable. In a vertical form factor, use of the touchscreen will undoubtedly be lower than use of a traditional pointing device, because it's not comfortable to reach for the touchscreen constantly. It is however comfortable to do so intermittently, and for some actions, direct screen manipulation feels more intuitive (especially on laptops when they're actually in your lap, and the "reach" is much smaller). I'm sure that some people will get repetitive stress injuries from touchscreens, but it's definitely not a given that it will happen.
- jpxxx 14y ago
  I agree with all that. It will definitely be interesting to see how Windows 8 shakes out: there's no larger real-world test that can be run.
dromidas 14y ago
So if Acer comes back with a new machine that they call the uShoot where it runs windows 8 and has a large revolver pointed at your head. The operating system is set up so that there is a big button on the touch screen that says 'fire'. Would you then blame Windows for being an operating system in which some 3rd party manufacturer could use it in a way that would injure customers? Microsoft has made sure (as noted by the main thread poster) that it's directly created windows products are ergonomically sound.
- jpxxx 14y ago
  Disregarding whatever is happening with that metaphor - All that's being put forth here: vertical touch has a different ergonomic profile, potentially a negative one, and it hasn't extensively been deployed in this industry until now. The sole novel input scenario with Windows 8 and its first generation hardware is that it enables vertical touch. If nobody uses it at all, then it's just another laptop and no harm's done.
  - dromidas 14y ago
    It's not that nobody uses it. I was meaning more that 3rd party vendors are the ones responsible for making sure it is safe if they put it in designs that Microsoft didn't officially support. Unless the main author was intended it to be a PSA type thing to let consumers know that the more commonplace touchscreens will allow them to create ergonomic nightmares and that they should be as aware of it as they are of keyboard/mouse placement and chair height (In which case I agree whole heartedly.)

by jpxxx 14y ago

dpark 14y ago

> Unless vertical touch is not going to be used whatsoever in hybrid mode, it's going to invoke a kind of physical strain that hasn't been seen in typical personal computer use. I don't think so. Switching between the touchscreen and the mouse/trackpad breaks up the repetition, and should probably reduce repetitive stress injuries. Instead of always reaching for the screen or always reaching for the mouse, you can do both, and more importantly, you can do whichever is more comfortable. In a vertical form factor, use of the touchscreen will undoubtedly be lower than use of a traditional pointing device, because it's not comfortable to reach for the touchscreen constantly. It is however comfortable to do so intermittently, and for some actions, direct screen manipulation feels more intuitive (especially on laptops when they're actually in your lap, and the "reach" is much smaller). I'm sure that some people will get repetitive stress injuries from touchscreens, but it's definitely not a given that it will happen.

jpxxx 14y ago
I agree with all that. It will definitely be interesting to see how Windows 8 shakes out: there's no larger real-world test that can be run.

dromidas 14y ago

So if Acer comes back with a new machine that they call the uShoot where it runs windows 8 and has a large revolver pointed at your head. The operating system is set up so that there is a big button on the touch screen that says 'fire'. Would you then blame Windows for being an operating system in which some 3rd party manufacturer could use it in a way that would injure customers? Microsoft has made sure (as noted by the main thread poster) that it's directly created windows products are ergonomically sound.

jpxxx 14y ago
Disregarding whatever is happening with that metaphor - All that's being put forth here: vertical touch has a different ergonomic profile, potentially a negative one, and it hasn't extensively been deployed in this industry until now. The sole novel input scenario with Windows 8 and its first generation hardware is that it enables vertical touch. If nobody uses it at all, then it's just another laptop and no harm's done.
- dromidas 14y ago
  It's not that nobody uses it. I was meaning more that 3rd party vendors are the ones responsible for making sure it is safe if they put it in designs that Microsoft didn't officially support. Unless the main author was intended it to be a PSA type thing to let consumers know that the more commonplace touchscreens will allow them to create ergonomic nightmares and that they should be as aware of it as they are of keyboard/mouse placement and chair height (In which case I agree whole heartedly.)