Best pointing device in the world is our fingers. Everyone will agree to it. Even Steve Jobs will. It all started with the general human tendency to point anything through their fingers and slowly got engraved in our technology too. Smartphones adopted it initially and now it seems that no part of the technology will be untouched with the “touch”.
Pointing through fingers is basically effortless. You take out your smartphone, tap an application and its running next moment. This could not have been easier. With Qwerty phones the problem is half of the screen is occupied by the keypads itself, giving user-interfaces less scope to change according to the applications. On the contrary, touchscreen phones take the advantage of the entire phone screen, allowing user interfaces to change accordingly.
Once the touchscreen technology was whole heartedly adopted by the smartphone arena, it made its way towards our other computing devices, i.e. Laptops, tablets, smart-watches.
In a way we have been using the touch technology on our previous generation laptops too. In the form of track pads. The vision was lately realised by the Intel and we started talking to our laptops through our fingers.
It was few months back when i used the touch screen laptops for the first time and “loved it” wont be enough to describe my experience. I started playing games (such as Subway surfer) more on my laptop then on my smartphone.
Looking back, we never thought touch screen will be able to effect and ease our lives in so many ways. Be it your smartphone, or the ATM machine, at the end you require your fingers to make it work. The ease which the touch technology comes with is simply addictive. The joy of toggling of interfaces from one program to another application is more than overwhelming.
Personally, when a picture gets clicked by just tapping on my smartphone, i consider myself the boss of everything. When i connect to my family members through a tap of my finger, i really feel thanking to the technology.
In a sense, touch technology has completely evolved and simultaneously changed the way we use technology. It is because touch, we have been embracing technology like never before.
The way we looked at our devices has changed. Its no more the same integrated mechanical machine to use. We interact with it with feel as if it was also a living being .
As i write this blog post on a touch screen Windows 8 machine, i am going to save and publish it through touching the menus, just to make myself more connected to it and also feel more personal.