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Posts: 631 | Thanked: 1,123 times | Joined on Sep 2005 @ Helsinki
#150
Originally Posted by benny1967 View Post
it's not so much the stylus as a physical accessory. i'm used to buying add-ons each time nokia ruins this device.
the real problem isn't the hardware. it's the software. once you decide you'll only support finger use, you'll need to create a UI that's less powerful. you'll need to re-design existing desktop applications only because of the UI, even if they'd run without any change technically. (look at the preferences-screen of Xchat. i cannot imagine this within a fingerpainting environment.)
what makes the tablets so powerful is that they're so close to a standard GNU/linux desktop system that even GUI applications can run without a lot of change. this is the only reason why i'm using a tablet. i'm afraid this feature will be lost.
Once you decide that you support finger use, you need to change your paradigm from desktop applications to mobile applications. They will be "less powerful" in terms of not having the breadth (and the depth) of their desktop counterparts, but they will be more powerful and more usable in the selected mobile use cases than simply trying to utilize the desktop UI into a small device.

It's like Henry Ford, but in the opposite direction: We have a desktop application, a horse. Trying to maintain the current desktop/stylus UI's as such is as like breeding smaller horses. Yes, you can perhaps breed a small horse, and it might superficially look cute on a small screen, but using it reminds you all the time, and rather painfully, that it's ultimately a crappy experience compared "to the real thing". It's not a strong or fast or easy to ride.

Trying to compete with desktop computing on its terms will fail. The devices have small screens, cramped input methods, less power, less storage etc, poor mouse adaptation etc.

Mobile devices need mobile UI's, taking use of the strong suits of the device, instead of trying to emulate the strong suits of the desktop environment. You need to create dogs (or choose the useful pet of your personal preference), not smaller horses.
 

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