Touchscreens :( (box, iPhone, smartphone, blackberry)

[bulmabriefs144]

Computer, tablet, and cell phone sellers like to be like "this thing has touchscreen, isn't it great?" Short answer, no.

First off, the devices could do with more features, like a better way to highlight (currently, I need to hold it over a word, and then click an arrow thing moving it down before the time is up and it selects a random passage, clicking on a word and dragging across as it reading would be more intuitive), a collapsible keyboard (it takes up too much space when I don't want it, and takes to long to appear when I do, my phone needs a keyboard) which while we're at it, less wasted space on big buttons, and and more little buttons (keyboard, mouse and hand), slightly better at determining whether you want a selection box or to enlarge the page, one finger moves the cursor while two fingers move the screen, other stuff, and most importantly, the ability to customize for personal style at startup. The touchscreen should recognize your fingerprints, and use them for left and right mouseclicks (the first two of each hand (and determine what to do in the case of missing fingers), as well as a majority of them (or toeprints as bckup) to activate user mode (like allowing a second user) and voice commands that don't activate by accident.

This is alot of work. And I'm sure it's not all. Which is why I'm gonna open the floor. What else? Btw I'm currently typing this on my cellphone touchscreen so it's not horrible just frustrating.

[harry chickpea]

Reading fingerprints on the screen when in use would be a major technical jump. I've always disliked the touch screen interface. Fingertips are not an ideal input device. Stylus input attempts a better solution, but IME keyboard still rules for most applications.

[eddie1278]

I always hated touchscreens but we are pretty much forced to use them. I prefer physical keys because once you press the key you know it went through. No pressing the same key twice like you sometimes have to on a touch screen because it didn't respond the first time.

[nightlysparrow]

They get so greasy. Even most cellphone screens become a gunk fest in no time

You realize we already tried tablets and smartphones with stylus-based input, right? They sucked and were a total failure in the consumer market.

We also tried phones with physical keyboards and trackballs and assorted things. They also sucked and were a total failure in the consumer market.

Building the fingerprint reader into the screen would be a nice addition though, provided costs are reasonable. Figuring out where a finger is poking is a lot simpler than mapping out the ridges on someone's finger.

[thelopez2]

Originally Posted by JasonF

You realize we already tried tablets and smartphones with stylus-based input, right? They sucked and were a total failure in the consumer market.

We also tried phones with physical keyboards and trackballs and assorted things. They also sucked and were a total failure in the consumer market.

Building the fingerprint reader into the screen would be a nice addition though, provided costs are reasonable. Figuring out where a finger is poking is a lot simpler than mapping out the ridges on someone's finger.

Palm, Blackberry, I wouldn't call them total failures, they were in high demand at some point. Blackberry sued to keep an iPhone keyboard off the market a couple of years ago.

[Nepenthe]

Writing, editing, copying, pasting, moving text, etc. is poorly implemented. Constantly frustrating. Bluetooth keyboard helps *a little* but many basic word-processing functions are still extremely clunky.

I much prefer the stylus-based resistive screen on my Wii U gamepad to my Kindle screen or Blackberry screen or my girlfriend's iPhone 5S screen. Much easier and more enjoyable to use.

I much prefer the physical keyboard on my Blackberry to having to use any touchscreen for actual typing, but word-processing still sucks on it.

The form factor / ergonomics of most handheld computers are also cr@p. I'm a human, so a hard, thin, metal rectangle and a touchscreen with zero feedback doesn't exactly conform to my fleshy parts. The Wii U gamepad gets this so much righter than almost every other handheld computer. It's actually comfortable to use and shows its designers have actually seen human hands at some point.