Who wants multi-touch? I think I just might.

TalkBack 13 of 35:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Wrong on all counts...

It is also incredibly telling that the only multi-touch gestures that the iPhone supports are for zooming and rotating pictures, both of which require 2 hands.

Neither require 2 hands, just a thumb and forefinger. I know about 25 people with iPhones and NOBODY double-taps to zoom in. You have very intuitive, granular control of zooming on the iPhone. This is a must for any mobile device where screen real estate is limited.

So far, the only example people can give is that you can use 2 fingers to scroll the page. This is incredibly unintuitive and all non Apple laptops have a far more intuitive approach: single touch gestures on the bottom and right side of the trackpad let you scroll the page.

The two finger scroll gesture allows you to scroll without moving your whole hand, which is much more efficient and user-friendly. Additionally, none of the touchpad space is wasted with a stupid, unnecessary dedicated "scroll pad". The "scroll pad" is just an awful extension of the horrible scroll bar interface.

In fact, Apple's latest design is to do away with the mouse button altogether. It's a great design choice. I'd rather I could ditch the vestigial mouse button on my MacBook Pro for more touchpad space.

One only need to look at multi-touch on the iPhone to realize that just because a feature can be implemented, doesn't mean that it is actually useful.

The zoom control alone is a wonder of elegant functionality, and the first truly natural feeling interface I've ever used. Already, there are a slew of games and apps that are using multi-touch in interesting ways. See, that's how progress works. You create a great idea and implement it, then more people can grow and expand the idea.

It's only the worthless crank who sits alone grumbling, "What do I need that fer?"

Posted by: dkawalec   Posted on: 11/06/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• The True Costs of Virtual Server Solutions VMware In an economic environment that is repeatedly heralding the message "do ... Download Now
• INNOV8 2.0: A Business Process Management Simulator IBM Innovate your business' process model, play against the market, compete ... Download Now
• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now