Do you want a touch screen on the OQO

[Guest]

[Stuart]

I cringe a little every time I hear "I want an OQO touch screen".  To me, there are very few regular Windows apps that will work well with a touch screen, especially on such a high DPI device. I've found on other touch screen devices, that the convenience of a touch screen is great, but the accidental touches are annoying.  With so few apps on a OQO utilizing a touch screen, the annoying side will come out much more.

So, IMO I only want a touch screen if it can easily be turned on and off, preferrably automatically based on app focus (but that would probably require a 3rd party app and an SDK ), and if the active tablet doesn't go away.

What do you think?

[KosherCoder]

Touchscreens are inferior to what we have now. Much lower touch resolution and more difficult to write. Why go backwards?

[dlach]

Touch, especially Multi-touch is interesting.  Especially in light of how Apple has made it work well for the iPhone.   I agree with Stuart that I'd want to be able to disable it easily.

I am torn, I philosophically love the O2's active digitizer but I don't have Tablet software nor have I seen it work especially well for general purpose interfaces the way that touch is starting to be.  Moreover, unless someone makes a fingertip pen, there are plenty of times I simply can't use it (still hoping for Stuart's gesture mods for the touchscrollers so I can use the OQO to pick music while driving).  Even with a fingertip pen it is kind of inconvenient compared to just touching.

Ideally we'd have both active and passive easily switchable and able to be associated with and automatically invoked by application.

[stuartguthrie]

I'd love to see some sort of multitouch capability in the OQO without the need for a pen. It would be great to navigate the device without having to slide it open. I believe that many companies like Apple, HP and HTC have proven that the concept works well. On the topic of accidental input, didn't Apple create a technology that ignores this? If yes, I'd imagine that the talented guys and girls at OQO could implement something similar.

Stu

[Dave P]

I would suggest what is needed is a heavy touch screen. Touch screens vary depending on the amount of pressure needed for a touch to be recognized. A screen which responds only to heavy touch (and turns off in the presence of a Wacom pen) would be useful.

[hxpii]

I would love the option of multi-touch screen if it could be switched on and off easily and doesn't replace the quality pen capability. Also it should not grow to a ginormous size. Cheers. 

[Stuart]

I believe that many companies like Apple, HP and HTC have proven that the concept works well.

I completely agree that touch and multi-touch can be great as the iPhone demonstrates, but the iPhone and HTC devcies don't have full Windows UI at a high DPI.  That's the key difference that I think makes it less useful.

Now, if companies making specialized field apps for the OQO make them with big buttons, etc, then it would make much more sense for OQO to add it than for an individual user like most of us (my guess).

[PlacidoDomenech]

I believe that many companies like Apple, HP and HTC have proven that the concept works well.

Now, if companies making specialized field apps for the OQO make them with big buttons, etc, then it would make much more sense for OQO to add it than for an individual user like most of us (my guess).

I'm working in one of this software companies specialized in field apps, and say 'PLEASE GIVE US A TOUCHSCREEN'. All the user / customers say the same ... 'don't touch it?' 

In actual and successful next wave software the key is User eXperience... how can obtain it without touch screen? 

[Stuart]

In actual and successful next wave software the key is User eXperience... how can obtain it without touch screen?

I don't disagree that it is becoming more important, but for at least the next several years I still want to turn it off most of the time.

[PlacidoDomenech]

Yes, the best option is it would be optional.

But iPhone multitouch option is so attractive for developers that Windows contender must reaction soon... How many time for a MID / Internet Tablet PC launch from Apple that OQO hardware will compite with?

[Stuart]

Agreed that (multi)-touch is coming to Windows, but it'll take a while to be prevalent on your machine.

When it's really useful and *all* the usuability kinks have been worked out in both Windows and apps, then I'll want it.  Maybe O4 or O5.

[Dave P]

Yes, the best option is it would be optional.

But iPhone multitouch option is so attractive for developers that Windows contender must reaction soon... How many time for a MID / Internet Tablet PC launch from Apple that OQO hardware will compite with?

Touch would be useful for gross cursor movement and scrolling. There are certain things that multitouch would be useful for but, for the most part, the only thing I would often use multitouch for is zoom. Note that zooming also makes touch useful for selection. This leads to a question:

Could the scrollers on the OQO be programmed to zoom if both were used at once?

[Stuart]

Here goes the SDK issue again.  I want to support touch scroller gestures from both simultaneously, but so far I've only been able to get messages from one at a time.

[PlacidoDomenech]

I don't want to be pessimist, but have yo seen the response of my last post in this SDK topic?

http://www.oqotalk.com/index.php/topic,2946.msg22828.html#msg22828

I start to think OQO SDK is an utopia

[Stormbringer]

I would prefer a touchscreen instead of a digitizer. Touchscreens are easier to use since you don't need to use a funny pen for it. I liked for example playing the piano on my old touchscreennotebook... with my fingers, just like a real piano.