The I hate touch screens thread

[stuart.reinke]

Ok so hate might be a little strong but I do strongly dislike touch screens. Cell phones in particular. My office is a 4x4 pickup truck and my hands are usually dirty which meant that my phone screen was always smeared up with whatever was on my hands. I was thrilled when my touch screen phone got fried by its charger and I could replace it with a BlackBerry. Now I don't touch the screen at all.
Just my opinion. What do you think about touch screens?

[BrokenKingpin]

I don't like them either. I like my phones to have a slide out keyboard and analog button. I like to have a physical response when I press a button.

Touchscreens are starting to get more popular on monitors now as well, and I just don't see the point. Mouse + Keyboard is far more usable than a touchscreen.

[hhh]

+1000 on the hatred. I am forever wiping fingerprints from everything.

[malspa]

I'm not a fan of touch screens, either. I don't mind them so much on things like ATM monitors, though. I wouldn't get a phone with a touch screen.

[Gone fishing]

Me too buying a netbook that you have to touch the screen whats that going to look like in 6 months?

[KdotJ]

I agree about some touchscreens, by that I mean those that are rubbish and have very bad response. I have an iPhone 4 and the touchscreen is super amazing, perfectly quick and a great response. I have a clear film over the screen for dirt etc, even though the iPhone screen is scratch resisitant, and finger prints are no problem at all

[Grenage]

I used to hate them, until I got an iphone. When you get a good system behind them, they rock.

[whiskeylover]

I have a Samsung Captivate with an AMOLED screen. The touchscreen response is just amazing on it.

[ratcheer]

I strongly dislike touch screens because I have poor vision and I hate the fingerprints and smears on the screens. I try to clean them with microfiber cloth, but many of the smudges seem to be permanent and will not come clean to my satisfaction.

Tim

[markp1989]

im not really a fan of touch screen phones, i got a mobile with a slide out keyboard so i could use that for typing.

i find typing needs some tactile feedback, which a touch screen doesnt offer

touch screen is ok for menu browsing, but i cannot type with them.

on a pc, you really need a interfece designed for touch screens, problem with most touch screen pcs is that the software has just been adapted for touch screen use, never written for it from the get go

[beastrace91]

Me too buying a netbook that you have to touch the screen whats that going to look like in 6 months?

It looks perfectly fine. Proud owner of an Asus T101MT.

~Jeff

[kamaboko]

Hate them too.

[Ric_NYC]

Finger Condoms for All Your Touch Screen Needs

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/8840/030209szphonefingers.jpg

[limestone]

I like to have a physical response when I press a button.

The physical response should be solid.. otherwise you could always try to imagine a response... :P

[lee shore]

Ultimately for me it depends on the hardware application being used, I think there's a place for TS but to apply it right across the board to include monitors I have'nt been convinced as it seems to reduce funtionality, especially on the monitor side. but I'm more than happy with the iPhone and would'nt want it without TS.

[alexfish]

ok so hate might be a little strong but i do strongly dislike touch screens. Cell phones in particular. My office is a 4x4 pickup truck and my hands are usually dirty which meant that my phone screen was always smeared up with whatever was on my hands. I was thrilled when my touch screen phone got fried by its charger and i could replace it with a blackberry. Now i don't touch the screen at all.
Just my opinion. What do you think about touch screens?

briller than brill................:p

[Austin25]

The only thing I don't like is the lack of driver support, and recently it's been gaining that. Sorry.

[aysiu]

Wow. I'm the exact opposite. I love touchscreens!

I even turn off "haptic feedback" (which gives you a tiny vibration to confirm each time you press a touchscreen button or key), because I find that annoying.

The autocomplete on the Android keyboard has gotten really good (details here (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntucat/the-pros-and-cons-of-the-android-keyboard/)), so I don't mind typing on it at all.

[pricetech]

I'd be curious to see what the age bracket of respondents is.

Old geezers like me tend to dislike touch screens while the young whipper snappers in the crowd usually like them.

My Grandkids think their the s*** !!!!!

[uRock]

I've been using touch screens since before they really hit the civilian market. They have their uses, but I prefer using a keyboard and when it comes to phones, then I definitely prefer the number pads.

[KiwiNZ]

I like them, and the good quality ones are finger print resistant. But when prints eventually build up a good quality antistatic cleaner like Belkin Display Cleaner and good quality lint free cloth and all is good as new.

[oldsoundguy]

Dislike the touch screens in general as I still feel the need for RESPONSE somehow .. now if there was an audible "click" that might suffice.

I have a touch screen Logitech remote for all of my AV items and it took some time to get used to .. and I had to screw with the sensitivity BIG TIME!

I use an old stylus from my PDA on my phone .. and, of course a stylus on the PDA itself. (big fingers .. too small buttons .. designed for kids and women, not grown men.)(I even have big issues trying to use a laptop .. yet alone a netbook! .. hate the "press one key and accidentally hit a couple more on the process! When laptops and netbooks finally go touch screen as a standard .. MAYBE I might get one.)

[blur xc]

I'd be curious to see what the age bracket of respondents is.

Old geezers like me tend to dislike touch screens while the young whipper snappers in the crowd usually like them.

My Grandkids think their the s*** !!!!!

that's funny you mention that. My in-laws have a really hard time with touch screen devices. It's totally unintuitive to them. But then my 3 and 5 yr olds grab my wife's iphone and rock on like it's nothing. They had simple stylus/touchsreen toys when they were little- pixters, leapsters, etc., but when they got dsi's and the game they were playing relied more on the 4 way controller- they were like, huh? and couldn't wrap their head around it. It's really funny... imo.

And on a phone, I'd pass on the slider for a good touchscreen. Sliders are fixed, static, lame. Touchscreens allow a variety of interfaces to be designed the suit the task at hand. And there's a variety of touch keybaords out there with varying degrees and auto-complete predictive text magic-ness to them. Can't do that w/ a slider.

Now, personally, in most cases I'd rather have a dumb phone w/ t-9 texting vs. a qwerty slider. It's only a problem when you come across proper nouns that it refuses to learn no matter how many times you try to add it the the phones dictionary. Really annoying. My baby is named Jayden, and no matter how many times I program it in, it always inserts Layedo or Laydeo. I gave up. When I text my wife, his name is just one of those...

BM

[Jesus_Valdez]

I have an Ipod touch and I like the touchscreen, but I'm not sure about a touchscreen phone, I fear tha the battery will drain faster or something like that.

On the other hand I would love to have a touchscreen netbook/laptop, one of those that the screen can be turned and became a tablet, it would be great for some tasks (ok, I want it for reading comics).

[uRock]

I truly hate the touch screen on my thermostat, I prefer switches and a dial.

[BigCityCat]

I hate them too. Don't like looking at a dirty screen.

[3rdalbum]

For my phone, I really don't find much wrong with the touchscreen. I am a little faster on my old E63s QWERTY keypad, but Android's word recognition helps close the gap.

Also on my Desire I can't even see the fingerprints unless the screen is black.

I just wish people would stop touching the screen when I am touching it, or that it could tell the difference between fingers from different people. Nothing like accidentally zooming in on the ants in Google Maps because someone else touched the screen and Android thought that you were pinching.

[andras artois]

I don't understand how people can't like them. People have always been looking for a more direct way to interact with things and a touch screen allows that. Admittedly typing on one is bit horrid but for just interacting with the phone they're way better.

Would you rather pick up something with your hands or guide a mechanical arm to pick it up with a joystick or something?

[NCLI]

Since getting a Nexus One, I've been in love with touchscreens. Just keep your fingers clean, not much to ask.

[gemmakaru]

I have never use a touch screen which worked reliably or accurately, maybe that has jaded my opinion of them. Maybe I would like a good one. I was glad to get rid of my last touch phone, now I have a nice dum one with buttons. As for touch monitors, that would be tiring to use all day, but ok for ocasional use. Long live the mouse.

[LMP900]

I'm a fan of touchscreens. They allow for more space for better web browsing and media playback, as well as allowing the device to be much thinner. The text input is currently problem, but technologies like Swype is making the experience much better.

BTW, the Samsung Galaxy S is surprisingly smudge resistant.

[Tristam Green]

lol, like them or not they're pretty well on the way to being the rule, rather than the exception.

[BrokenKingpin]

I used to hate them, until I got an iphone. When you get a good system behind them, they rock.
Hahaha. Reading this lightened my day.

[aysiu]

I'm a fan of touchscreens. They allow for more space for better web browsing and media playback, as well as allowing the device to be much thinner. The text input is currently problem, but technologies like Swype is making the experience much better.

BTW, the Samsung Galaxy S is surprisingly smudge resistant. I tried both Swype and ShapeWriter, and I'm not a fan. I realize those are good systems in theory and that a lot of people like them, but holding down my finger the whole time takes a lot of concentration. I'd rather hunt and peck a few first letters and then let autocomplete take care of the rest.

Android's autocomplete has gotten a lot better.


Hahaha. Reading this lightened my day. The iPhone touchscreen interface is extremely well-thought-out and responsive. I'm hoping Android can get there for Gingerbread. Even in Froyo, there are still text boxes that, when in focus, do not bring up a virtual keyboard. That's a usability no-brainer.

If there's a text box that's in focus on a phone with no physical keyboard, always automatically bring up the virtual keyboard.

If there's a text box that's in focus on a phone with a physical keyboard, and that keyboard is a slideout keyboard that isn't slid out, always automatically bring up the virtual keyboard (and if the user slides out the physical keyboard, take away the virtual keyboard).

[whiskeylover]

I tried both Swype and ShapeWriter, and I'm not a fan. I realize those are good systems in theory and that a lot of people like them, but holding down my finger the whole time takes a lot of concentration. I'd rather hunt and peck a few first letters and then let autocomplete take care of the rest.

Android's autocomplete has gotten a lot better.

The iPhone touchscreen interface is extremely well-thought-out and responsive. I'm hoping Android can get there for Gingerbread. Even in Froyo, there are still text boxes that, when in focus, do not bring up a virtual keyboard. That's a usability no-brainer.

If there's a text box that's in focus on a phone with no physical keyboard, always automatically bring up the virtual keyboard.

If there's a text box that's in focus on a phone with a physical keyboard, and that keyboard is a slideout keyboard that isn't slid out, always automatically bring up the virtual keyboard (and if the user slides out the physical keyboard, take away the virtual keyboard).

The swype keyboard is amazingly fast. At first it feels slow and awkward, but if you're persistent, and keep trying for a couple of days, you can start typing real fast on your cell phone. Trust me, give it a try.

[aysiu]

The swype keyboard is amazingly fast. At first it feels slow and awkward, but if you're persistent, and keep trying for a couple of days, you can start typing real fast on your cell phone. Trust me, give it a try.
My problem with Swype isn't the speed of it, it's the physical awkwardness of it. I don't want to hold my finger on the screen and keep moving from letter to letter.

With the stock Android keyboard, I can usually type only the first two or three letters of the word I want to type and then I can tap the autocomplete to fill in the rest for me.

[llawwehttam]

Ok, here are my views on them as they are at the moment.

Personally I think they need a lot more work. The surfaces could do with a coating that prevents grease marks and are less likely to chip or scratch. I would also like if the surface was somehow slightly textured but kept the same level of display quality and didn't get dirty.

I think they will play a huge part in IT in the future though.

[scouser73]

For Phones and other mobile devices I think they are great, for the likes of touchscreen monitors I think it's going to be a pain. For touchscreen monitor support by using your hand you can do far better with a mouse, but that's just my take on it.

[uRock]

For Phones and other mobile devices I think they are great, for the likes of touchscreen monitors I think it's going to be a pain. For touchscreen monitor support by using your hand you can do far better with a mouse, but that's just my take on it.
I agree, the FBCB2 system that I used in the Army had touch screens and they usually became so scratched that we couldn't see through it.

[Stancel]

I like touch screens. Obviously they're not meant to be used with greasy and dirty hands. That's like complaining that laptops aren't waterproof.

[pwnst*r]

I loved my iPhone and now that I also have an Evo, I love it too, although the iPhone's response is a tad quicker.

[Mike_tn]

Count me in on hating touch screens. And don't be shy about the word hate, it's a fine word when used well. It just means to love less.

A photographer could not love a touch screen. There is nothing iHate more than fingers smearing or scratching my monitor that I use with GIMP, UFRaw, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro and ViewNX. It's enough that I have to wipe occasional micro-spittle dots off of it. The only reason I have a desktop and laptop is for a hobby of photography editing and sharing the results in the creative commons on Flickr. I make no money with the hobby either. And I don't pay for Internet, instead I take the laptop to a library or cafe, for unsecure open wireless. And I do not use a cell phone for anything except phone calls. Imagine, a phone for phone calls alone. So no Internet on my phone....no need for an iTouch anything.

What concerns me is if all the interfaces end up with these touch screen looks. You know what I mean. The giant Unity and Windows 8 icons. I have no use for them. I suppose I would just end up being an exception and find my needs met somewhere or just quit photography and computing entirely. I do have a liking for the computing behind digital photography and is almost a hobby unto itself because it keeps changing. It's very interesting. But it makes me scream.

[oldos2er]

And back to sleep.... Closed.