The Technological Development of touch screens through History

19Mar09

Before the industrial revolution, everything was pretty much performed mechanically. There were no fancy gadgets and there were no buttons that performed specific tasks. For example, if a child had to draw, he/she would simple take a rock and carve something out on a tree or a smooth rock surface. Back in those times, people were used to storing information like that. Men had to build machinery by hand that would execute a task, a task that provided its audience with some sort of output. Additionally, to summon someone, people used birds as their messengers, they also sent letters to each other, or people delivered information themselves on feet. During the industrial revolution, a major change in technology came about. Classrooms were built and instead of writing with rocks or charcoal, people used chalkboards and chalks. Now children had their personal mini chalkboard on which they could draw or write anything. It was efficient for the society because it was portable. It was lightweight and it had an eraser on it, which made it easier for people to erase their mistakes instead of starting all over again. Moreover, during the industrial revolution, telephones were being built with the round bulky dial through which any phone number would be connected. This was especially convenient for our society because now from the spin of their dial, they could hear a person over the phone and did not have any inconvenience while delivering a message. Towards the end of the industrial revolution, phones with individual buttons started to appear which marks the evolution of machinery. Providing an input into a certain machine was getting progressively easier. Presently, providing some sort of input into a machine has gotten far better. The concept of touch screen wiped out every possible button, or coloring book. For example computers, games, and other technology has been turned hassle free. In this day and age, phones with one button are being launched; eliminating the button pressing each time someone dials a number. The Iphone is a prime example of a touch screen phone. It includes features like gaming, listening to music, and storing data. Now with a touch of the screen, a child can pick a color and draw a picture by just guiding his/her finger across the screen. This is all the more efficient because people do not have to put any effort into carrying writing utensils when they can punch it all into their phone by tapping on the numbers and letters on the screen. Children find it interesting to virtually color a picture rather than using crayons. Technology is evolving along with the mind of a human being. Parents, especially take interest in buying their child a touch screen computer rather than simply getting them proper stationary supplies to write and color with. Pretty soon, it is predicted, that instead of service desk, self-service kiosks would be built which would let people manage their questions through a touch-tone machine. With new applications exuding themselves from the creative minds of digital signage developers, we’ll see touch screen PDAs, mobile phones, kiosks, and digital signage, come together to create customer experiences like never before.

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