Lenovo's new T400s feature a touch screen with four-finger multi-touch
Lenovo's new T400s feature a touch screen with four-finger multi-touch
People who have started using computing devices in the recent past may not have heard of the term 'gorilla arm', which was used to define a problem with touch screens in the 80s. Those days, your touch screen was a bit like the computer screen on a desktopu2014if you used it for a while, your arm would feel quite sore.
But the arrival of small-form-factor devices like the iPhone changed all that. Touch on the iPhone, especially while using two fingers to zoom an image, is quite easy to use. And now, since Windows 7 is supporting touch in a big way, you will soon be using it extensively on laptops and tablets.
But just because laptops and palmtops have eliminated the gorilla arm problem hich will, however, continue to persist on desktops doesn't mean that there are no problems with touchpads. Here, we will list some features that are good, bad, or ugly.
The good
One of the nicest things happening with touch today is that the number of fingers you can use is increasing. While many have had a two-finger touch technology for a while now, Lenovo has introduced four finger touch with the T400, which means that you can do a bit more. Right now, what it means is that you can zoom two images at the same time, and perhaps play some games differently.
But think of the near future, when no doubt people will come up with ways of using all ten fingers at once while it is hard to think of what one can achieve with this right now, no doubt somebody will think of applications that need such a capability when the technology is ready for prime time.
The bad
Let's face it can you type an article like this using touch? Perhaps not. Can you enter figures into a spreadsheet? Again, one thinks not. While touch is interesting, it is not today conceivable to think of a future where one can replace the keyboard completely with a touch screen.
In fact, the keyboard is so much a part of our lives that even devices like the iPhone come with a virtual keyboard so that you can send an SMS. As long as touch has these limitations, the keyboard and the mouse will rule and this is bad because while these exist, touch will at best be a peripheral input device.
The ugly
Let's face it, the moment you touch your screen, you leave your fingerprints on it and smudge it. Will tomorrow's heavily-touched screen come with something like a car windscreen wiper to get rid of all those greasy marks? One hopes so!
QUICK TAKE
>>Lenovo has introduced a laptop with four finger touch
>>It is just a matter of time before you get ten finger touch
>>Programmers should start working on compelling apps that require such features
Will it help security?
The system of using passwords is easily broken, while fingerprint and other biometric methods don't work under all circumstances. Touch screens may enable security by automatically reading your fingerprint and then authenticating you. This means that, if you walk away from your PC without locking the terminal, nobody will be able to do anything with it. A laptop using this technology could also be programmed to only permit handling by the owneru2014if anybody tries to steal it, it could emit a shrill noise to deter the would-be thief.
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