The next level of hell below touch screens
I have to admit here that I have problems with any kind of voice activated stuff, as I am usually unable to speak, following throat surgery. I silently screamed when I found that accessing voice messages on my mobile phone required me to say my name. Are people really so lazy that they want to "command" their digital servant, instead of the arduous task of getting up and pressing a button?
My mobile phone actually irritates me a great deal. Despite being an electronics engineer, I have real trouble working any kind of touch screen. Texting is very useful, with me being mute, but typing any kind of coherent English on the touch screen is an exercise in frustration. No wonder people resort to barely comprehensible l33tspeak abbreviations.
Now that touch screen technology is with us, hardware and software developers like to exploit it to their advantage. It basically allows new devices to be invented, without making new hardware. But I am not sure the interface benefits users as much as it does developers. And the trouble is, touch screen metaphors are encroaching on to desktop user interfaces, which I find confusing.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
