5 ms·
"And who wants a touchscreen desktop, anyway? (Nobody.)" This is the same kind of tripe that pundits always say. "No one would ever want a touchscreen phone",
by geuis 12y ago
"And who wants a touchscreen desktop, anyway? (Nobody.)"
This is the same kind of tripe that pundits always say. "No one would ever want a touchscreen phone", etc. Its the kind of thing people say until suddenly everyone wants it.
I have little love for Windows 8. Its a horrible kludge of bad interfaces and confused priorities. One of the most frustrating experiences I had in the last 2 years with a new product was doing the initial unboxing and setup of a Surface RT device.
That all being said, there was one time where the entire Windows 8 paradigm made sense. It was on a touchscreen Dell desktop that I played with at the Microsoft store in San Francisco. After just a couple of minutes, several of the normal Win8 annoyances like swiping from the sides to reveal UI panels felt natural sitting at a desk.
I don't think Microsoft's approach is going to be the clear winner. But they may be on to something, and it will take a few generations to figure out what its supposed to be.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoIts pretty clear that touchscreen + desktop is a loser. For a phone/pad the screen/keyboard/buttons are all within hands reach, using fine motor skills to manipulate. The desktop is usually a large landscape screen(s) some distance from the viewer. The keyboard is conveniently located at arms reach in front of the user. Combining them cant be done without losing much from one or the other.
- slantyyz 12y agoI find touch with the Windows desktop interface to be fine (with my Surface Pro, at least). I mainly use touch for scrolling, cursor positioning and app switching when in desktop mode. I find it's actually better than using a touchpad or mousing around. I'm primarily a Mac user (and more of a keyboard user than a "mouser"), but having a touchscreen on a laptop or desktop makes a lot of sense to me.
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoI'd dispute calling a Surface a 'desktop'. A development station wants several screens; a designer wants a mouse and keyboard etc.
- slantyyz 12y agoI have also tried touch on the 20" Sony all in one, and I thought it was fine. I am not saying it is suitable for all use cases, but if you are a single screen desktop user, it really isn't a horrible experience at all.. Provided that you look at touch as a supplementary interface as opposed to a primary one. I used to mock the idea of touch displays with Windows 8 myself. When I actually tried it, I found that my initial assumptions about how bad the experience would be were misguided. Of course, YMMV.
- actsasbuffoon 12y agoI don't think it would translate well to a desktop. I've got a Cintiq, and it's great for drawing. I can't stand web browsing with it, as my arm gets tired after a few minutes of poking the big screen. Touch works for phones and tablets because they're already in your hand. Holding your arm up to touch a 20+ inch monitor several feet away gets physically painful within 5 minutes. There's also a difference between the motions you make when drawing (hands spend 90% of the time in the same area, a few sweeping motions to change drawing tools) versus normal computer use where you're scrolling around, clicking buttons, and navigating menus. That's a lot of strain on shoulder sockets when the screen is large. I think multi touch trackpads are the closest we're going to get until someone has a breakthrough idea.
- slantyyz 12y agoIf you are looking at touch as the primary method of interacting with a desktop, then sure, it doesn't work. As a supplementary method to a keyboard and mouse, however, it can work quite well.
- xanderstrike 12y agoTouchpad + Laptop on the other hand is making some surprising strides.
- snowwrestler 12y agoTouchscreen desktops have been around for years and not many people buy them.
- geuis 12y agoTrue. But most haven't been done well.