touchscreen?! Yes or No

[cacian]

yuck noooooooo!!!!:bawling:
please bring back the old keyboard I enjoy listening to the tapping as I scribble my ideas/messages down:crash:


yes!
more of the same I cannot get enough of it. I love it !!!!:thumbsup:




you?

[stlukesguild]

And before your tapping keyboard there was the even louder typewriter and before that we had the hand written manuscript. My art sketchbooks are laden with hand-written notes... as well as sketches... but honestly I prefer the keyboard for any longer writing. Still I have no problem with the touch screens on my ipad and iphone... and quite like the ability to dictate short notes or web-searches through SIRI.

[Maximilianus]

I have no problem adapting to the new ways of technology. I recently acquired my first touchscreen smartphone and I'm smoothly getting used to it. In my phone you can activate a sound that plays every time you type a character on the virtual keyboard, emulating the sound of keystrokes on a physical keyboard, and I think you can do the same on most modern devices of the kind. It's the same to me, as long as I can type whatever I need.

[JBI]

I grew up with the keyboard, and have had a computer at home since I was 3, which is also when I started to use it (my sister would play games and I would watch). By grade 1 I had pretty much mastered the thing (windows 3.1.1 by then, an upgrade from Dos, as my father upgraded to the windows 95 and the house got his old one). I still remember the old blue-screen word perfect for dos, and typing on that thing. The old dos box was still in the house until 97 or 98 when it finally bit the dust, and couldn't even play vintage games anymore. The keyboard, in a sense is ingrained into me, and has become second nature to the point where I don't even sound things out before I type - it is as if my mind skips from the thought of the word to the word on paper, without needing to articulate the word.

I have used the 10 digit phone to type messages, and found this slightly slower, yet still just as powerful as the touch keyboard. In general 10 slots, on a tiny pad with one finger is faster typing than 2 on the little touch screen. I cannot figure out how to use the ipad, as I do not like to hover over it, and I pounce too hard on it to type with 10 fingers (I need to support it with my hands), and this too is inconvenient.

In general, without the bounce, the strain on the fingers is significantly higher. IF you type properly, you will know what I am talking about - having to manually lift your fingers ever time you hit a key is just such a pain, and increases the strain from long typing binges. As for the keyboard, I still don't know why the big split keyboards really didn't take off - sure they are bulkier, but oh so much free room with your hands split on a different angle. I guess most consumers have small hands.

Still, could I ever use one of those digital things without the bounce? Well, sometimes I have to on the phone, and I manage to get lots of replies off on these forums that way. But I realize when I am at the keyboard, with the right bounce, on the bigger pan, I just get so much more out of it. Especially since I do not enter my numbers from a different menu, but like a pro use the numpad, A habit I picked up on playing old math-based education games when I was a child, and trying to beat the clock (Math Rescue was it?). The keyboard is still lightyears ahead.

[almonde]

Touchscreen for ebook readers please! However, I like having actual keys on my phone. :)