[Discuss] [OT] iOS from a power user's perspective

[abreauj at gmail.com (John Abreau)]

I would agree that touchscreens cannot compete with a standard keyboard and
mouse for most things. However, I find touchscreens on smartphones far less
awkward than the tiny keyboards that are small enough to build into a
smartphone. .

For occasions where lugging a laptop is undesirable, a smartphone is
certainly better than having no Internet access at all.




On Sat, Jan 5, 2013 at 11:03 PM, Rich Pieri <richard.pieri at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've used several versions of iOS (on iPod Touch) and several versions
> of Android (on HTC Incredible and nook Color). I hated all of them. I
> have problems with touch interfaces in general. I don't like them, and
> some of the problems with them are insurmountable.
>
> One of my little psychoses is that I hate fingerprints and smudges on
> the screen. They drive me nuts. It doesn't matter how lipophobic the
> glass treatment is, because if I touch it then it will get smudged.
> Repeat until I get so frustrated at it that I wipe it down, and repeat,
> and repeat again, and again....
>
> They lack precision. It doesn't matter how good the pointing and
> selecting assist is. No human finger can beat a mouse or a stylus
> and a mediocre digitizer plate for precision. Heck, a Nintendo DS is
> more precise than iPhone 5 or Galaxy S III. Which means handwriting
> recognition isn't going to happen ever again that I can foresee. Which
> is a great shame because...
>
> You can't touch type on a flat surface. It's simply not possible.
> There's no touch to ensure that your fingertips are lined up on the
> keys, no feedback to tell that you've actually typed something. If you
> have to look at where you are typing then it isn't touch typing.
>
> Given all that I find that I want Microsoft's Surface to succeed.
> Despite my bugaboo about smudges there are time when I feel it would be
> useful to be able to "grab" something on the screen and quickly move it
> somewhere else. Surface can do that. It's a best of everything, with
> keyboard and mouse for general use and touch screen for those occasions
> where gross gestures are quicker or easier.
>
> A virtual Power Glove using the webcam as input would be better
> mechanism permitting a full range of motion for input. Which actually
> exists:
> http://eviacam.sourceforge.net/index.php
> http://www.neurotechnology.com/npointer.html
>
> There are some superior versions that use the Kinect's multiple cameras
> and depth-sensing capabilities for more accurate input. It's a pity
> that this probably won't ever go mainstream.
>
> --
> Rich P.
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at blu.org
> http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>



-- 
John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
PGP KeyID: 32A492D8 / Email: abreauj at gmail.com
PGP FP: 7834 AEC2 EFA3 565C A4B6  9BA4 0ACB AD85 32A4 92D8