Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Introducing the HP TouchShmuck
This is the HP TouchSmart. I gather they’re available for around $1150. I would offer you a price comparison to non-touch-screen monitors of comparable size, except I can’t determine the size of this thing from HP’s description. Here’s the thing in action.
Explain to me, please, why a touch-screen monitor is a good idea. I guess the idea of stowing the keyboard would appeal to people with limited desk space, but really: who wants their monitor covered with fingerprints?
But my main objection is a good deal more practical than that. When you use a keyboard, your fingers are in motion, and your wrist serves as the fulcrum. Same thing happens when you use a mouse. If you use a touch-screen monitor, you’ll be putting the fulcrum at your elbow, or possibly your shoulder.
There’s a principle in surgery that says you want the shortest distance possible from your fingers to the fulcrum. Longer distances magnify tremor (which we all have to some degree) and larger muscles are recruited to do things smaller muscles ought to be doing. You’ll end up with a whole lot of strain.
The TouchSmart makes no ergonomic sense, that’s what I’m trying to say.
But beyond that, why would I want such a thing? Why do I need a different way to move stuff around on my screen when the old ways work just fine? There’s nothing novel or sexy about touch screens — it’s not like this is some kind of new technology. In contrast, flat panel monitors are GREAT. I like being able to pick up my monitor with one hand! I think it’s a plus that my little lightweight monitor can’t double as a murder weapon!
See, I’m not a Neo-Luddite; bring on those flat panel monitors. Please.
But keep your paw prints off of ’em.
D.
hm. i played with one of those in staples. i liked it. it was fun! but yeah. the drawbacks are significant. but it’s fun!
That’s dumb. I spend ages wiping sneeze off our monitor so I’m not going to be pleased about smudgy fingers.
Part of rehab for rsi’s of the hand and wrist (carpal tunnel syndrom and teno-synovitis) involvr learning to do thingsd in differnt ways. A lot of people blow out their hands through typing, and mousing. They have to find a different way to do it, or give it up completely. This would be yet another option for those people.
I understand, noxcat, but my concern is that such folks would go on to blow out their elbows and shoulders, too — and in much less time than they blew out their hands.
The future IMO is in voice recognition. Last time I tried it was ’98 (Dragon Naturally Speaking) and it was laughable. 95% accuracy sounds great until you find yourself correcting every 20th word. Nowadays they claim 99% accuracy. If folks can do it for a word processing program, they can do it for the rest of our computer needs.
“Open Firefox. Go to YouPorn.”
What could be easier?
Oh — hey — Dragon claims it CAN control my computer:
It could help people who’ve lost all but one finger in a tragic bacon slicer accident, who also happen to have laryngitis regularly.
If you relied so heavily on voice recognition, could you not wipe half your files away if you happened to say something to the wife as an aside? It’s a bit like Star Trek – I always wondered how the ship’s computer knows when the crew are actually talking to it and not amongst themselves… I reckon I could forge a good comedy sketch out of that…