TOUCH Issue 8: Touch Technology: Friend or Foe?
TOUCH TECHNOLOGY:
Friend
-OR-
Foe?
Why Touch Screens Actually Diminish Your Touch Vocabulary.
By Daniela Goode
In
a world of ever-changing
technology, it is amazing to see how
phones, televisions and computers
have evolved over time. Gone are
the days where everything had to
have a cord that attaches it to a
power-source, cable, or network
connection. The need to press
buttons has even become nearobsolete, as touch screen phones,
televisions and computers have
now become common place.
It really is wonder ful to see how
many different things can be done
from such small devices with a
simple tap or swipe on the screen.
What is interesting though, is how
these touch-screen devices have
also diminished our experience of
the many dimensions of touch.
I remember learning to type as a
child, and figuring out how to find
the āFā and āJā keys on the home
row of the keyboard, using the
raised surface as an indicator. From
there, I learned the location of all of
the other keys spatially, to the point
of being able to type full words,