Touch takes hold, but it's no mouse-killer: The iPhone is leading a touchscreen revolution, but don't eBay your old computer just yet

See innovations in computer mouse gadgets.

Guy Clapperton The Guardian

As reported a few weeks ago in these pages, the market is being flooded with touchscreen phones - and this time there's no controversy over whether they've succeeded: sales of the iPhone surprised even its most ardent admirers from day one.

Meanwhile, the desktop market is showing signs of adopting similar technology. Both Apple's next operating system and the next version of Windows will contain "hooks" for touchscreen technology, if installed on the right hardware.

This has led to speculation about the future of the keyboard and mouse. "We already have well-integrated touch technology on consumer electronics, from Apple's multitouch devices (iPhone, MacBook Pro, the new Mac operating system), games consoles (Nintendo DS) and now PCs and notebooks," says a spokesman for HP, which has now released the TouchSmart, a desktop system with a touch interface. And this month, Dell released a module to turn its Latitude XT Tablet computer into a full-blown touch-operated system.

All of this adds weight to comments from respected research house Gartner, which last week said the day of the mouse, if not the keyboard, may well be numbered. Speaking to the BBC's news website, the organisation said the mouse would last three to five years tops, to be replaced by gesture-based computing and other technologies, such as gesture recognition, which are emerging in the home entertainment market.

It could be that there's more going on than a few product launches, but there will be practical issues. Richard MacKinnon, a business psychologist for the people assessment company Talent Q, has a postgraduate diploma in ergonomics and says touchscreens are unlikely to be suited for use over long periods of time. They also inadvertently promote poor posture, and reduced productivity through reduced typing speeds. "Touchscreens can have a place in entertainment scenarios, but in the office environment? I don't think we're there yet," he says.

Dumbing down?

Other academics concur. "It all depends on the ease of use of the technology, whether or not it's fit for purpose, and how well it maps to people's mental model of their tasks," says Chris Clegg, professor of organisational psychology and deputy director of the Centre for Organisational Strategy, Learning and Change at Leeds University Business School. Future generations may also adapt better than the current Qwerty-bound people. "I couldn't have imagined taking to texting, and I still don't find it friendly, but a lot of people use it extensively."

Non-psychologists also have reservations. Pete Bennett, chief executive of the training provider Learning Resources International, has doubts about the quality of the information available to non-keyboardists. "Nobody wants to sound like a luddite, of course anything can happen and things can change - but I can't see it being anywhere near anything other than basic functions," he says. "Our background is in designing learning materials and if you're only using a finger, there isn't much action involved."

Fingers acting as a mouse is one thing, he says, but a mouse doesn't type. "The interaction of typing helps people read the words, retain the words and I don't see how a touchscreen can replace that requirement. It's a bit dumb, in a non-insulting manner." It could be great for some applications, he says - shopping and anything involving lists - but for anything requiring thought and which is challenging there's a need for more interaction.

Let's assume some sort of change is on the way. The next question for everyone will be how quickly it's going to happen - and therefore how soon to eBay those old non-touch screens. "As we've seen with Office and Vista, people can be very resistant to changes in their technology that are two steps ahead of the previous version," says Darren Van Laar, principle lecturer in psychology at the University of Portsmouth. "If it's incremental versions then people don't mind - if they have to unlearn too much then it gives them a problem." This is presumably why Microsoft is reportedly considering several mini-releases of Windows next time around rather than a single larger launch.

Reactions are bound to be mixed early on. One user of the HP Touchsmart, which is the first mainstream computer to be released based on touchscreens outside the Tablet PC (which is pen- rather than finger-sensitive), enthused at first. "It's a terrific box, loving the integrated DTV and dead easy to get going with," she said. However: "We don't use the touchscreen, though. Partly old habits, but mainly due to the fact that it gets intolerably grubby after use. Should come with a box of wipes, really."

Fingering the problem

If this is typical - and it's anecdotal rather than a scientific sample, of course - then the dawn of the touchscreen age may have a slightly bumpy beginning. Add to this the fact that at a pre-launch event another HP spokesperson pointed to the screen's value as a kitchen computer - eliminate all those recipe books, have demonstrations of cooking techniques on tap as well as static pictures, went the patter - and the idea of dirty fingerprints all over it becomes less of a small problem than an epidemic. Particularly when the current models retail for more than £1,000.

Nonetheless, the HP spokesman's original point - that we've adopted touch for phones and games consoles happily enough - remains valid. In January 2007 Apple launched the multitouch screen for what would evolve into its iPhone, while in February 2006 a professor from New York University demonstrated a full screen using touch technology (The hands-on revolution, January 18, 2007). Following a year in which the iPhone and iPod Touch enjoyed a near-monopoly, touchscreen products are now arriving on the market en masse. At this stage it looks unlikely that keyboards and mice will actually be displaced in people's affections, but they may find they have a new, touchy-feely running partner in the right niches before long.

No, the mouse isn't going away

Keep your mouse hand warm this winter.
Mouse Hand Wamer coming soon!

from UserNomics

A response to an earlier article ... "There's a silly BBC article making the rounds that proclaims the imminent extinction of the computer mouse.

It begins: It's nearly 40 years old but one leading research company says the days of the computer mouse are numbered. A Gartner analyst predicts the demise of the computer mouse in the next three to five years. Taking over will be so called gestural computer mechanisms like touch screens and facial recognition devices.

"The mouse works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it's over," declared analyst Steve Prentice. The article goes on to quote an opposing view from Logitech but in a rather dismissive way ("Naturally enough those in the business of making mice are not wholly in agreement that the end is nigh.").

I think touch and gestures are great, and their use will continue to grow for appropriate applications, but there are some very good reasons that mice won't be going away any time soon.
The mouse is still the most efficient pointing device as measured by the standard test using the Fitts' Law paradigm (and it really is the standard test now as defined by the ISO). Mice generally perform a bit faster and more accurately than touchpads. Of course there is a lot of variability among devices and the technology is improving, but it's quite possible that the difference is due primarily to the fact that we use different muscles to move a mouse compared to moving a finger on a touchpad.

Touchpads are also difficult for some people to use because they require precise finger motion, and some people just plain don't like them. Portable mice for notebook computers are still very popular.

Touchscreens might beat mice in a Fitts' test comparison (I don't know offhand, though I'm sure somebody has done this test), but your arm will likely get tired using one for any length of time and you'll also take more time to move your hands from the keyboard to the screen and back."

Psych - Computer mouse heading for extinction - NOT

The article below written by Guy Dixon made quite the stir online with bloggers throughout the world. But, it didn't take into consideration the ergonomics of a large, face-to-face touch screen for day-to-day activities. Sure, the touch screen is ideal for palm held devices, but consider reaching over your desk for a few hours trying to complete daily tasks! I think your arm and shoulder would get pretty tired really fast. My mouse is my buddy! Over the years we have acquired a closed relationship, and there's no way I'm going to let go of my ergonomically correct, optical mouse anytime soon.

Actually, if the keyboard is predicted to stay, then the mouse should stay, too. Maybe the mouse's job would change somewhat and not be used 100% of the time, but try to vision a mouseless day, only using a Wii pointer remote control, facial recognition and a touch screen by reaching over your keyboard to a desk top screen.

The use of touch screens on palm held devices and small laptops makes sense. But, many of us sit at a computer for ten hours each day. I'd be lost without a mouse. I don't think the human body is built to handle some of the predictions in Dixon's article.

Like many others, we disagree. The Computer Mouse is not heading for extinction. There are new technologies on the rise, and advancements will include touch screens and facial recognition, but kill the mouse? We think NOT!

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from VnuNet

Humble input device being usurped by touch screens and facial recognition

The computer mouse is set to die out in the next five years and will be usurped by touch screens and facial recognition, analysts believe. Gartner said that innovations from electronics firms creating new interactive interfaces for gaming and smartphones are driving the demise of the mouse.

Steven Prentice, vice president and Gartner Fellow, told the BBC that devices such as Nintendo's MotionPlus for the Wii and Apple's iPhone point the way to the future, offering greater accuracy in motion detection. "With the Wii you point and shake and it vibrates back at you so you have a two-way relationship," said the analyst.

"The new generation of smartphones like the iPhone all now have tilting mechanisms or you can shake the device to do one or more things." Prentice also highlighted home entertainment efforts from Panasonic which employ hand and facial recognition techniques to display information in place of a conventional remote control.

However, while the mouse's 40 year-old reign is coming to an end, the keyboard is here to stay, according to the analyst. "For all its faults, the keyboard will remain the primary text input device. Nothing is easily going to replace it," he said. "But the idea of a keyboard with a mouse as a control interface is breaking down."