Do you touch your screen?

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When I have my Kindle, I use touch on the screen.  On my iphone or on an iPad, once again, touch is the preferred method. Obviously because all of tho
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Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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scoobydoo, WCHS

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No… I have it disabled on my screen.

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Wasn’t the coming of the “Touch Screen” heralded by Win8 and 8.1 for MS? Someone at Redmond had decided that “Touch” was the future for devices hence the unfortunate Metro Apps, which despite being an eyesore and lack of “Start Button” in Win8, was actually a good stable OS as a worthy successor to Win7; although with appalling Window dressing.

I Never had the urge to use Touch Screen in Windows disliking the “Grubby paw prints” all over the screen that seemed to need a thorough clean weekly. Yet I think nothing of pawing my cell\Mobile phone no matter how “grubby” that gets.

I suppose when I am either using MacOS\WinX its generally detail work where the smallest detail overlooked causes confusion on work Correspondence etc. Sort of makes detailed work difficult when looking at a screen with the opacity of a Stained Glass window, I have seen some screens “delaminate” over the years after hard use or the human propensity to “poke” ever harder on an unresponsive App or Prog.

That, and a life time of using Keyboard shortcuts and a mouse to speed things up is a hard habit to break.

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teuhasn2, Charlie

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I briefly tried/used touch with Windows years ago on a Surface Pro 3 that had Windows 8.1 (Pro). It was terrible to use as a tablet with touch and was much better and more productive to use it like a laptop with the type cover keyboard, especially once I discovered Classic/Open Shell to replace that horrible Metro interface. But even on a traditional laptop or desktop I have always preferred to use the keyboard in order to take advantage of various keyboard shortcuts that can increase productivity. But also because I have always disliked the glossy display that is often used for touch systems, I prefer a matte display instead.

As to smartphones I’ve been using the Samsung Note series since 2012 (currently a S22 Ultra) and use its S Pen 95% of the time instead of touch as it’s not only more precise but also helps to keep the screen clean of fingerprints/smudges.

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scoobydoo, Cybertooth

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+1!

I also like to sit back away from the screen where I can see what is going on and I don’t have to hunch over it. With my dual 27″ screen setup it would be almost impossible to use touch and see what was on both screens while working, if it it even works on dual screen setups (anyone know, just curious?).

On top of that a screen that is marred with finger prints deflects the light and is hard on the eyes. I’m constantly wiping the screen of my S22 Ultra on my shirt so I can see it clearly.

When I use my Kindles it’s almost the same on the Fire I’m constantly wiping the screen with a water spritzer and micro fiber cloth and with the Paperwhite I’m careful to tap in the bottom right corner to turn pages.

On my iPad I use a Logitech pencil most of the time, except when just opening it for a quick task.

Then again maybe I’m just an “Old Dog” who doesn’t want to learn new tricks.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

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Kirsty, schwabel_ronald

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I have not purchased any new laptop without touch since it became available at a decent price, and I even bought a bar to place at the bottom of a non-touch laptop screen to enable touch on that laptop which I rarely use.  Also bought a touch screen 27″ monitor and a 16″ portable touch screen to take on trips where I could not take my 27″ monitor.

I use touch extensively and love it.

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I touch screen my iPhone, iPad, Apple watch but will never touch PC screen.

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Kirsty, teuhasn2, BobbyB

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Touchscreens don’t really lend themselves to use with non-handhelds. The screen on a laptop on a desk or in a lap is about arms’ length away and oriented close to the vertical along the Y axis, and a desktop may be a bit more than that (but is again oriented vertically along Y). If a user were to do any significant amount of touchscreening with such a laptop or desktop, the arms will tire quickly from being held out in front parallel to the floor. This leads into what has been called “gorilla arms syndrome.”

By contrast, a touchpad (usually right under the keyboard on laptops, though not always), pointing stick (mostly a Lenovo thing, best I can tell), or mouse is in a position where the arm need not be suspended by the shoulder muscles alone. You can use a mouse or touchpad for hours and still not have the fatigue you would get in a few minutes of gorilla arm.

On top of that, the transit time to move the arms from the typing position to the screen is significantly longer than moving to a mouse or touchpad that is right next to the keyboard. If you are going back and forth a lot, it can add up.

I know there is an overriding belief that phones are peak computing cool and that that desktops (including laptops) should follow their lead, but “cool” should not be a factor here.

Phones and tablets use a touchscreen because they are meant as handheld, ultraportable devices, and that form factor does not work well with any other pointing device. The parameters of a touch-centric UI and OS that are built for such a device invariably lead to a familiar pattern and appearance. The pared-down UI with oversize, hiding UI elements (with most options either removed or hidden behind layers of menus) is (in varying degrees) necessary on phones, but it’s not in any way superior to a well-designed UI for a PC.

A pointing device with the potential for single-pixel precision and distinct pointing and selecting stages (allowing hover effects) is superior to the touch UIs that were produced to work around the inherent limitations of phones. This trend of trying to make one UI to rule them all (that ends up being either great on one form factor and terrible on the other, or is just equally lackluster on both of them) is making computers less usable, with poorer intitiveness about the options that are available (information scent) and more steps required to do just about anything, all in the name of making PCs more like phones, because phones are cool.

Putting actual touchscreens on PCs only encourages the makers of the OSes for these devices to continue to make compromises to accommodate touchscreens, and that invariably moves them farther away from the ideal of a UI that is written and designed strictly for discrete pointing devices, with no apologies or compromises. Outside of a few niche environments, I can’t imagine many people choosing to get gorilla arms on a laptop rather than just use the conveniently placed touchpad or mouse.

The problem for me that has arisen in the past is that the laptop I may want may only come with a touchscreen. It adds extra cost, weight, screen glare, and power consumption, for no benefit. (Actually, having a piece of Gorilla Glass on the screen may help protect against inadvertent scratches, but it’s a costly way to get a screen protector).

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AlexEiffel, schwabel_ronald, teuhasn2, BobbyB, Steve S., Charlie, WSbobby-p, Cybertooth, RetiredGeek, JC Zorkoff, wdyblash, WCHS, SB9K

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@ascaris says it all.

I understand gorilla arm, but didn’t know what you call it, and for that reason I’ve always found a mouse more convenient when using my laptop.

Speaking of glare, my touch-screen laptop suffers from it so I work in a room with the blinds down, which I don’t really like. Is there some safe way you can put something on/over the screen to reduce the glare, yet keep the screen viewable?

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teuhasn2

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Biggest downside to touch screens, is you need to look at them to be able to control them. Sure some look at the keyboard when typing, but when is the last time you looked at your mouse when working on a computer?

Automobile industry is starting to move back from touch screens. They’re ok for the multimedia system, but they distract you from where your attention should be > on the road.

Also I’m typing this while sitting in the sofa, looking at my TV, I’m not going to get up, walk over to the TV and touch it, we invented remotes for a reason.

So there’s a use case in touch screens for sure, but on a desktop certainly not, laptop maybe for some, not for me..

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schwabel_ronald, BobbyB, Charlie, WSbobby-p, Cybertooth

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When booting or loading an operating system for the first time, whether replacing some other operating system or when turning a new device on for the first time, the very first question that should appear on the screen should be: “Will you be using any touch screen applications or expecting to use touching the screen for any reason on this device during your work or other use?” — with only two response options, yes or no. If the answer you choose is no, then a version of the operating system that was never designed to accept touch screen input should load, even if an immediate reboot is required. If the answer chosen is yes, then a second version of the operating system that has been specifically designed for touch screen use should load. It was always a major mistake for Microsoft to attempt to design an operating system that could be used for either type of use, with favorability shown for touch screen use, since that was the coming thing for hand held devices. It’s what I hated the most about Windows 8 and 8.1; those screens full of tiles were horrendous. And Windows users should never have to depend on installing third party applications just to get the user interface to do or look the way they want. The operating system should have those options built in and selectable upon first boot. From my own experience over the past fifteen years or so, it seems like Microsoft has been ignoring users who just want the operating system that is specifically designed for the desktop computer/workstation without touch screen functionality in favor of trying to compete with operating systems like those used on smartphones (Google’s android and Apple’s iPhone/iPad). They should have always expected to make a separate operating system for that endeavor. I don’t ever want to use touch screen, or a device or software designed for touch screen, unless it is for something I’m holding in one hand while touching the screen with the other.

 

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windbg, Steve S., Cybertooth

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The only time I use the touchscreen on my Surface Pro is if I happen to be reading a long text article in profile mode and have pulled the keyboard. Other than that the Touchpad is just too good at controlling the screen.

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I use touch on my iPhone and iPad – both designed for touch.
My Kindle is one of the first – has the keyboard and the page turning keys on both sides, no touch (and I can’t find a reason to replace it, works great and the battery still lasts a couple of books).

Thank goodness my Macs (desktops or laptops) and my Windows machines (desktop and laptop) don’t have touch screens. Keyboard, mouse and touchpads are faster. And I don’t think I could stand the mess on the screen!!

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AlexEiffel, Kirsty, Alex5723, Cybertooth

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Susan Bradley wrote:

But what about you? Do you use touch with Windows?

The only touch screen I have is my Android phone.  If I’m at my computer, I use Phone Link, and don’t have to touch my phone screen, using my keyboard instead.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

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Kirsty, BobbyB

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No I do not touch my windows desktop screen. You are supposed to keep a desktop monitor at arm’s length, so it’s not really convenient to touch the screen. I always thought that desktop makers started making touchscreens so that they would have one more line of advertising copy, that might impress some potential customer. And to make us think they were keeping up with the smartphone and tablet world. Matte screens are so yesterday you know.

Touchscreens can’t be matte, so they bring the glare problems with their gloss surfaces. There are films you can apply to cut the glare, but they also cut the image quality.

At least Apple has kept touchscreens out of the Mac line (so far), but they use gloss screens anyway, and have glare problems in some environments.

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schwabel_ronald

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I’m one of those unfortunate individuals who suffers from “Zombie Finger” so touch screens are a PITA for me to use… I normally have to touch them 4-5 times before they’ll “read” any of my fingers 

Because of this, I bought a special active stylus from my local Walmart (USB rechargeable) which works really well whenever I encounter this issue – provided I “remember” to take it with me.

So, other than my cellphone and tablet (where I always use that stylus), I’ll never be using a touch screen for a PC.

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Cybertooth

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I have a touchscreen laptop, touch was the first thing turned off.

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I ordered this P15s laptop used – Didn’t know if it would be touch screen. turns out it is. don’t know how to shut it off in Mint. I google and see solutions but they don’t work. So I just ignore it. I agree – worthless on a PC.

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Never on laptops or desktops, always on phone and Kindle. I also try to do as little as possible on the phone given the error rate one gets in touching things including the tiny keyboard. The goofs by Microsoft on this parallel their other interface goofs (the 2007 revision to Office comes instantly to mind). I attribute it to most of their ideas coming from bright young engineers with little to no experience in the usages their designs are suppose to improve. In the early days of assembly lines and other human-machine interfaces, the intelligent designers did time-motion studies to figure out what would work best and most efficiently. Windows 11 interface design is just the latest in the Microsoft approach to never having heard/considered that.

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windbg

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I put it in my kids and grandkids very early on that if they touch the monitor or TV screen I’d break their fingers. Couple of side-eye looks seems to have driven the point home. I LOL when someone goes to point at the monitor and they yell “No, PawPaw will break your fingers!” 🙂

They know I wouldn’t, of course, but they do know it’s verbotten.

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schwabel_ronald

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When I had a tablet, I used touch for non-productivity uses – like browsing the web, watching videos, checking emails. Even those were a pain because of UI inefficiencies. But when I wanted to do anything remotely productive – like spreadsheets, word processing, photo editing, etc. – I would dock it and use a mouse and keyboard. I gave up on the whole endeavor because it was just not time efficient for me.

I no longer have a tablet.

For my desktop – no way would I ever want touch. My monitor is 32″ curved. My secondary monitor is 27″ flat. They both sit about 2.5 ft away from my keyboard and mouse. I have the mouse calibrated so I can move the pointer fully from the edges of the screen to the opposite edge with only the movement of my fingers and a slight movement of my wrist. Speed, accuracy, efficiency and comfort are the result.

The main obstacles to these results turn out to be “touch-centric” UI design choices that have crept into the OS, apps and programs I use. Frustrating to say the least.

 

Win10 Pro x64 22H2, Win10 Home 22H2, Linux Mint + a cat with 'tortitude'.

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Nope

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My work computer I rarely use the touch screen. Typically to find the curser.

The home computer I always use the touch screen. Don’t even have a mouse connected & rarely use the touchpad.

I think the difference is where I use the two computers. Work is at my work desk with a second monitor (non-touch) and a wireless keyboard.

My home computer is much closer, on table right in front of me or in my lap.

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My experience with my wife’s Lenovo Yoga tells me that I’d prefer a laptop with touch, especially in situations where it was inconvenient to use a mouse (I’m completely inept with touchpads). I’d be willing to pay for it.

That same experience tells me I’d appreciate a hybrid environment for a desktop, in which I was doing some things by touch. For all my complaints about Microsoft’s focus on touch for Windows, I’ve found navigating things such as Settings much faster with touch – because they were obviously designed that way. That said, I’d be much less likely to pay the premium for touch displays for desktop use.

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wavy

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Using the touchpad is a skill… I am sure you could pick it up!

I am completely ambidextrous when it comes to using the touchpad. I am just as fast and capable with it using my weak (left) hand as with my right. Using an actual mouse doesn’t work at all in my weak hand.

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No.

Wait, there are the times when Bluetooth just quits, disabling my mouse, and I need to reboot.

That’s it. Really hate having to clean my screen after those incidents.

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Susan Bradley wrote:

Do you touch your screen?

I don’t touch the screen unless cleaning or locating a single pixel. I avoid touching the lenses of my glasses, too.

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WSbobby-p

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Ascaris wrote:

I am sure you could pick it up!

A kind sentiment, but I think I’m a lost cause in this regard.

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My experience started with a cheapy laptop with 8.0; the tile/metro thing was a bloody nightmare…then came the free upgrade to 8.1, only a tiny bit better; all this with a mouse-and the OS intended for touch screen. From that nightmare to Dell India to replace the motherboard. Someone there sold my info to somebody in India. 30 min after talking to tech there I would get a “followup call”. Give me a mouse for REAL work. Our church now has a “mickey magic mouse”. Really makes appreciate Windows. Steep steep learning curve with Apple. But it does find the screens every time. Something that Win just could not do; with software written for iOS. Touch to me will be kids playing with their phones for quite some time to come. Been using a mouse at a work station for 20 yrs now; and I am good with that!

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Bought an ASUS trans when W 8 came out to learn. Never did much w/ it (terrible viewing angle and sloooow). Visiting the low country in SC I brought it and found when using it I did use the touch screen, some times it was just faster. The glide pad is like Will nearly useless for me. My awkward seating arrangement that put the Mouse and touch screen on more equal footing had some part in that.

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