How did the desktop conspiracy get started, anyway?
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| albinard Oct 15, 2011 10:27 AM EDT |
Okay, 'fess up: who started the idea that a touchy-feely interface would work on a big ol' monitor? |
| tmx Oct 15, 2011 11:50 AM EDT |
Its not, its supposed to be for tablet. Hopefully there should be a way to set classic view by the user or otherwise someone will create a custom version or disable it. I still think Microsoft is more sane than the Gnome and Unity developers on this matter, atleast you still have classic desktop to fallback. |
| Grishnakh Oct 16, 2011 4:55 PM EDT |
albinard wrote:Okay, 'fess up: who started the idea that a touchy-feely interface would work on a big ol' monitor? Minority Report, I believe. Or possibly other sci-fi movies before that. Also, Star Trek: The Next Generation, where all the computers had flat-panel displays. Doesn't mean it's a good idea though, at least not without some other technological advancements. In Star Trek, for instance, they don't really mention it in the show, but IIRC the technical manual written by the show's FX guys claims that the flat panels achieve tactile responsiveness like a normal keyboard using miniature repulsor fields or something like that. tmx wrote:I still think Microsoft is more sane than the Gnome and Unity developers on this matter, atleast you still have classic desktop to fallback. Agreed. Unlike the Gnome fools, MS has to worry a lot about corporate adoption, also also corporate defection. Their OS is used on millions upon millions of corporate desktop systems, and businesses are loathe to change something that works. Asking them to adopt a cellphone-like UI is not going to go over well, so they're hedging their bets by having both options, because sticking with the traditional desktop, they believe, is not going to help win new users from the younger generation that thinks email is obsolete and Facebook is the way to handle all your communications, even private business communications or even top-secret government information. |
| JaseP Oct 17, 2011 8:51 AM EDT |
Quoting: In Star Trek, for instance, they don't really mention it in the show, but IIRC the technical manual written by the show's FX guys claims that the flat panels achieve tactile responsiveness like a normal keyboard using miniature repulsor fields or something like that. Disney (of all companies) has been working on a thing where electrical resistance provides feedback, similar to what you're talking about. |
| Grishnakh Oct 17, 2011 8:53 PM EDT |
@JaseP: Do you have a link for that? There's no way that electrical resistance translates into something you can feel. I have read about someone working on something using vibration, like the mice that have vibrators built in to make you "feel" when your pointer is moving from one window to another, but that's not going to result in a very convincing facsimile of a physical keyboard IMO. |
| JaseP Oct 18, 2011 8:54 AM EDT |
OK, Not resistance, but a static charge... Here's the CNN article on it... very cool technology,... Too bad its Disney working on it... http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-08/tech/tesla.touch.disney_1... |
| Grishnakh Oct 18, 2011 12:17 PM EDT |
@JaseP: Very interesting (thanks for the link), but still doesn't solve the problems with touchscreens: lack of tactile feedback. It seems like all this does is change the way the screen feels (and allowing it to feel different in different parts of the screen), so that some parts feel like sandpaper, other parts feel smooth, or whatever. That's nice and all, but that doesn't actually simulate the action of a keyboard button in any way. You need something that resists the downward force of your fingers to do that, and the only way I see to do that on a touchscreen is with a miniature repulsor (opposite of a tractor beam), and obviously those don't exist yet. |
| JaseP Oct 18, 2011 12:21 PM EDT |
If it were programmed to cause the feel to change in response to a touch event, there's your tactile feedback. |
| Grishnakh Oct 18, 2011 1:50 PM EDT |
@JaseP: Sorry, no. Changing from smooth to sandpaper-feeling doesn't simulate a keypress in any way. To be usable, it MUST simulate a mechanical keypress, nothing less. Even most modern keyboards don't do this very well. |
| gus3 Oct 18, 2011 3:13 PM EDT |
One user's usability is another's hindrance. There is no "must," only "can." |
| JaseP Oct 18, 2011 4:42 PM EDT |
You know Gris, at that point I'd just have to tell you to use a keyboard, not a tablet... |
| Grishnakh Oct 18, 2011 6:55 PM EDT |
@JaseP: Yep, that's my plan. But people like the Gnome devs keep telling me I need to get used to doing all my work on a touchscreen and that keyboards are obsolete.... |
| JaseP Oct 19, 2011 8:47 AM EDT |
They are,... but there are a few dinosaurs still around that use them,... ;) |
| helios Oct 19, 2011 9:20 AM EDT |
DINOSAURS HAVE FINGERS!!! |
| JaseP Oct 19, 2011 9:51 AM EDT |
Sure they do,... but fingers are so,... Triassic. And, when all my OTHER projects are done, I'm going to work on getting my multi-media/home control network to use a wireless neuro-feedback control... Who needs fingers when you can think your computer into action?!?! |
| DrGeoffrey Oct 19, 2011 5:33 PM EDT |
Quoting:Who needs fingers when you can think your computer into action?!?! Now that might be an interesting development, except that it would mean someone/thing would be able to read my mind. . . Staying out of padded rooms has long been an objective of mine. I think I'll pass. |
| JaseP Oct 20, 2011 9:32 AM EDT |
@ DrGeoffrey: Oh, don't be so paranoid... You have to actually manipulate your brainwaves to get it to work... Look here: http://store.neurosky.com/products/mindset And, no, I don't work for the company,... I just bought one to try neurofeedback. And, it will be a great thing for the handicapped, when this technology is developed further. |
Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]
Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!