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The consumer electronics industry has shipped hundreds of millions of touch screens in the last few years and i've not seen a single article complaining that th

The consumer electronics industry has shipped hundreds of millions of touch screens in the last few years and i've not seen a single article complaining that they opened up their new tablet/phone to find it mis-calibrated and that their touches were off my such a huge margin. Why are voting machines apparently subject to calibration problems that other touch screen devices are not?

ryanhuff 14y ago
Miscalibrated devices shipped to consumers get returned, resulting in extra costs to the retailer or manufacturer. Miscalibrated voting machines don't.
danielweber 14y ago
1. Because they probably have to standardize on an older model and can't push out newer models at will. 2. Because these machines are open to the general public who are hitting the screens with their meaty fingers all day.
eli 14y ago
Most likely it's the difference between capacitive versus resistive screens. If you purchased your phone based on the lowest bidding vendor, I'd bet there be a lot more problems with it too.
avolcano 14y ago
Not all touch screens are created equal. I remember the old Nintendo DS touch screen, which was resistive, required user calibration where you would press on the corners of the screen. If you missed the corners (which, with the relatively thick stylus and the relatively thick bezel on the original DS, wasn't uncommon), the accuracy of your touch positions would be very notably off, to the point that using touch-screen keyboards in some games would be difficult. Obviously I don't know for sure if this was the exact case with this voting machine, but the point being, some touch screens do require calibration and there is a chance for error. Or, of course, it could simply have been a factory mistake. Either way, I doubt there's any malice behind this error.
jerf 14y ago
I have owned a ton of touch screen devices. None of them were miscalibrated, even after years of use. I have used a ton of touch screen devices in public. I've encountered quite a few that were miscalibrated. Public devices put up with abuse that your private devices do not.
- TwistedWeasel 14y ago
  Honestly curious - what kind of abuse could cause a calibration error? My kids abuse my iPad pretty heavily but generally smacking on the screen with their hands and fingers a lot but I still have never seen it mis-calculate a touch.
  - georgemcbay 14y ago
    iPads used capacitive touchscreens which aren't prone to the same sorts of calibration issues that resistive touchscreens are. I don't know much about electronic voting machines but I wouldn't be surprised if they mostly used resistive touchscreens (which are historically much cheaper to produce).
  - zerohp 14y ago
    iPad uses a capacitive touch screen. Older technologies are very prone to mis-calibration, even if they are not in heavy use. I recently had to help my mother recalibrate her sewing machine's touch screen.
ceejayoz 14y ago
If you ever used a Palm Pilot, you've seen this sort of calibration issue. Given the state of government procurement, they're likely using that cheaper, crappier tech in most areas.
InclinedPlane 14y ago
This is an example where technological ignorance is dangerous because it leads to the wrong conclusions. Multi-touch screens as used in smart phones use capacitive touch sensing technology, they do not require calibration. Cheaper, older touch screen systems (such as those used with ATMs or voting machines) use resistive touch technology, they absolutely require calibration.
tedunangst 14y ago
Don't fly much I'm guessing. It's the rare checkin kiosk that is accurately calibrated.
stevenwei 14y ago
The touchscreens you see in modern consumer electronic devices are capactive touchscreens. I think the iPhone was the first major device to ship with a capactive touchscreen, prior to that, resistive and infrared touchscreens were a lot more common (and cheaper). If you've ever interacted with a touchscreen at an ATM, mall kiosk, or airport kiosk, it's likely that they were resistive or infrared based, and more susceptible to calibration errors.

ryanhuff 14y ago

Miscalibrated devices shipped to consumers get returned, resulting in extra costs to the retailer or manufacturer. Miscalibrated voting machines don't.

danielweber 14y ago

1. Because they probably have to standardize on an older model and can't push out newer models at will. 2. Because these machines are open to the general public who are hitting the screens with their meaty fingers all day.

eli 14y ago

Most likely it's the difference between capacitive versus resistive screens. If you purchased your phone based on the lowest bidding vendor, I'd bet there be a lot more problems with it too.

avolcano 14y ago

Not all touch screens are created equal. I remember the old Nintendo DS touch screen, which was resistive, required user calibration where you would press on the corners of the screen. If you missed the corners (which, with the relatively thick stylus and the relatively thick bezel on the original DS, wasn't uncommon), the accuracy of your touch positions would be very notably off, to the point that using touch-screen keyboards in some games would be difficult. Obviously I don't know for sure if this was the exact case with this voting machine, but the point being, some touch screens do require calibration and there is a chance for error. Or, of course, it could simply have been a factory mistake. Either way, I doubt there's any malice behind this error.

jerf 14y ago

I have owned a ton of touch screen devices. None of them were miscalibrated, even after years of use. I have used a ton of touch screen devices in public. I've encountered quite a few that were miscalibrated. Public devices put up with abuse that your private devices do not.

TwistedWeasel 14y ago
Honestly curious - what kind of abuse could cause a calibration error? My kids abuse my iPad pretty heavily but generally smacking on the screen with their hands and fingers a lot but I still have never seen it mis-calculate a touch.
- georgemcbay 14y ago
  iPads used capacitive touchscreens which aren't prone to the same sorts of calibration issues that resistive touchscreens are. I don't know much about electronic voting machines but I wouldn't be surprised if they mostly used resistive touchscreens (which are historically much cheaper to produce).
- zerohp 14y ago
  iPad uses a capacitive touch screen. Older technologies are very prone to mis-calibration, even if they are not in heavy use. I recently had to help my mother recalibrate her sewing machine's touch screen.

ceejayoz 14y ago

If you ever used a Palm Pilot, you've seen this sort of calibration issue. Given the state of government procurement, they're likely using that cheaper, crappier tech in most areas.

InclinedPlane 14y ago

This is an example where technological ignorance is dangerous because it leads to the wrong conclusions. Multi-touch screens as used in smart phones use capacitive touch sensing technology, they do not require calibration. Cheaper, older touch screen systems (such as those used with ATMs or voting machines) use resistive touch technology, they absolutely require calibration.

tedunangst 14y ago

Don't fly much I'm guessing. It's the rare checkin kiosk that is accurately calibrated.

stevenwei 14y ago

The touchscreens you see in modern consumer electronic devices are capactive touchscreens. I think the iPhone was the first major device to ship with a capactive touchscreen, prior to that, resistive and infrared touchscreens were a lot more common (and cheaper). If you've ever interacted with a touchscreen at an ATM, mall kiosk, or airport kiosk, it's likely that they were resistive or infrared based, and more susceptible to calibration errors.