Monitor? Mouse?

[--Pete]

Hi,

Where touch interfaces shine is where the environment or workspace is not keyboard/mouse-friendly, and where you need a simple system that's easy to use (like the self-checkout lanes popping up in grocery stores). Gamers and techies need more buttons, not less. I still miss my Top Gun joystick with 50 different triggers and doodads!
[right][snapback]106700[/snapback][/right]

And I still have (and lovingly maintain), my Thrust Master HOTAS and rudder pedals. All upgraded with the latest chip set, years after TM went under :)

The one place that that touch pad would shine is as a replacement for the board in a lot of board games. One of the rail games? Let it do the counting of rail you can place, let it keep track of the money you have, and all the other boring details. War games? You could bring back Wooden Ships & Iron Men and actually play a scenario in under ten hours if you didn't have to fill out all those forms. And range calculations without counting hexes -- heaven. Even for something simple like Carcasone or Puerto Rico, it could give you standings without having to spend minutes looking through what your opponents have, and it would make the game final totals a snap.

As a replacement for the mouse and keyboard, it is a step down. But as a replacement for a chunk of cardboard, It has the potential to be something I've talked about and wanted for about 30 years.

--Pete