In Mobile Mag on Thursday, they ran a feature on the pros and cons of touchscreens cell phones. Their first line is, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the biggest trend in the cell phone world today is the touchscreen."
So what do you think? Are touchscreens the way of the future? Will they replace phones with keypads?
If the touchscreens are improved, maybe.
If I were a really heavy text or email user, the iPhone wouldn't cut it. The Blackberrys and Windows Mobile devices I've had previously were far better for typing. The iPhone is just better at everything else. The lack of fixed keys provides limitless possibilities and that flexibility is why it's such a phenomenal platform.
There are rumors that the new Blackberry Thunder is going to provide some type of tactile feedback for key 'presses.' If that's true, maybe it will be enough to eliminate the need for keyboards.
I don't know that the tactile feedback would be very different or more useful than what LG touchscreen units do. When you touch the screen on those units, the unit performs a very short (quarter second or so) vibrate, so it feels like the unit has acknowledged the touch. I like it, though others don't and think it just feels weird.
I'm with teej on the texting capabilities of touch screens... I have just hated it, though I don't like trying to bang out long messages on my Curve either. The LG enV and Voyager have had the best solutions for text-heavy users in my opinion, though those fold-out phones really add bulk to the form factor.
Here's a description of the particular feedback that's supposed to be implemented in the new touchscreen Blackberry Thunder (from Crackberry.com):
Tactile Response - when you press on the Thunder's screen, it pushes in "just" a little bit (the whole screen is sort of like a big button) and you get immediate "real" feedback - you hear an audible clickety sound, and can feel a buzz in your finger where you actually pressed on the display.
That certainly peaked my interest, I can't wait to try one out. I've actually never used any of the touchscreen LGs, but this sounds quite a bit more advanced.
It'll be a big feature in a lot of new phones because it's an easy way to navigate through options. But in the end some people still want some sort of keyboard if they're going to be doing a lot of typing, so I doubt that phones will completely go with touchscreens only.
I like having a touchscreen. I'd also want it to have a physical qwerty keyboard though. If I had to choose I'd pick a real keyboard over a touchscreen anyday.
Funny you guys were talking about this.... the New York Times just ran an article saying how much more popular touch screens are getting.
Cell phones were a big part of the article (along with touch screen laptops)
