Discussions

I sometimes think that there are no such things as new ideas in technology--only old ideas that nobody's figured out how to make work yet. That's surely true of one of the hottest concepts in computing today: touch-screen PCs. The earliest ones appeared more than a quarter-century ago, and new takes on touch (and related technologies such as pen input) have surfaced ever since. But for all the enthusiasm that the industry has shown for the idea, nearly all consumers have chosen to stick with good old QWERTY-and-mouse input.

As I write this, word on the street is that multiple major PC makers are going to release touchscreen PCs in the coming months. Which makes sense given that the iPhone has shown the world just how cool touch can be. The new touch PCs will also be the first to run an OS designed to work well with touch input--Microsoft's Windows 7. If there were ever a time when touch PCs had a shot at mainstream success, it's now.

Even so, touch isn't anywhere near a slam dunk. Here are seven things I think the PC industry needs to get right to give the new machines a fighting chance of being more than a fad:

1. Start with great technology. For now, that probably means a capacitive touchscreen--the same technology used by the iPhone. It provides a more natural, responsive feel than the resistive screens used by some phones and PCs.

2. Build a great touch PC around it. One with top-notch industrial design, a solid set of features, and sophisticated integration of touch and traditional capabilities. It'll also be important to figure out what size will be most appealing to most people. (The WePC.com community members who have chimed in on touchscreen size haven't come to any consensus, but a bunch of them think that 15 inches makes sense.)

3. Build different touch PCs for different folks. Some people, like Mighty Girl, are just never going to warm up to touchscreen keyboards. They need machines that retain a QWERTY keyboard. Others will be happy with true tablet-style devices which use touch as their one and only input technique. For now, at least, PC manufacturers need to offer both styles of system.

4. Consider making special-purpose PCs. I'm not sure if general-purpose computing tasks really cry out for touch, but there are certainly specific environments and tasks where it would be handy. As Anandtech's Anand La Shimpi points out, touch would make a lot of sense for a desktop designed for use in the kitchen. It could also shine in a portable computer designed primarily for the consumption of content--music, video, e-books, and Web stuff. The WePC.com community has some more suggestions.

5. Build the fundamentals of touch support into the operating system. If the OS we're talking about is Windows, Microsoft has this handled--Windows 7 is the first version that was built with touch input in mind, with a full complement of gestures that let you accomplish anything you can with a keyboard and mouse.

6. Build an outstanding demo or two into the OS, or at least bundle them with new PCs. Microsoft keeps saying that touch is deep in the DNA of Windows 7, which may be true. Oddly enough, it's a little hard to tell, because the OS doesn't include any outstanding touch applications. (I thought it might rewrite apps such as Windows Media Player and Paint to use touch input to spectacular effect, but no such luck.) The closest it's come is with a product called Windows 7 Touch Pack, which may come bundled with some touch PCs--it's got some truly nifty demos, such as a version of Virtual Earth that you control with your fingertip.

7. Work really hard to convince third-party software developers to build great touch apps. There's nothing inherently enthralling about touch input--it's innovative software that's going to get folks excited about finger-driven input. Both operating-system companies and PC manufacturers need to give software developers every incentive to add touch features to existing apps and design new, touch-centric programs from scratch.

That's my take on touch--what's yours? Would you seriously consider a touchscreen PC as your next computer? If not, what would make you change your mind, if anything? Lemme know--and don't forget to check out WePC.com's contest for a shot at winning a new gaming PC, laptop, or netbook.