Computers with their keyboards and mice are still intimidating to too many people. That’s one of the main reasons HP is committed to continuing to lead the way for touch-enabled computing. Ask anybody who has a TouchSmart PC in their home or business and you’ll hear them say that even people who are fearful of computing find the touch interface downright inviting, even fun. It’s no surprise if you consider our growing comfort with kiosks that print boarding passes, share bridal registry information and, of course, dispense money from our bank accounts. And with the right user interface to hide the underlying complexity, it’s a natural! How much more natural can you be but to use the pointing device you were born with!
I was recently asked if I saw touch technology as the only input method for computing in the future. My answer was no. I believe that touch works well with many applications, but writing a book or creating a complex spread sheet is probably still best done with a keyboard and mouse. One of the challenges today is the lack of tactile feedback from typing on glass, which makes high-speed, long-session touch typing on glass a challenge. To improve this experience, HP Labs has been doing research on flexible display technology and the future of touch on next-generation displays that I think will offer an incredible ergonomic experience. And check out this article on how HP is working to simplify the traditional keyboard.
Not all touch is equal. Saying you have touch in your product is not enough -- what are you enabling with it? What we're excited about is the software experience that allows the user to interact with technology without the traditional complexity. We've been putting significant effort in this area because we think it plays to our strengths and shows how we serve customers in ways nobody else can. And by bringing together hardware and software innovations, we believe we can deliver an “insanely simple” and unique experience for our customers.
What do we mean by “insanely simple?” Our goal has been to create a user interface that is so simple that it levels the playing field for the non-tech savvy population. So we’ve been studying physical touch and gesture languages -- what do users do “naturally” in their culture/region? -- around the world and looking at a possible future where touch-enabled devices are able to recognize cultural and personal variances and reduce the learning curve for people who use the interface. For example, in some countries it’s rude to point with a single finger, so two fingers are used instead. Customers shouldn’t have to adapt to technology products; technology products should ideally adapt to customers.
All of this is built on a long history of research and product development. HP first introduced touch technology in 1981 with the HP 2700, which included a touch-enabled graphics tablet. In 1984, we followed that up with the first touch enabled PC called the HP150 (also please see this YouTube Video.) Today, after more than three decades of research, the HP TouchSmart PC sets the standard for touch-enabled computing, and I believe HP will continue to be the undisputed leader in the space for a long time to come.
- Phil
