Touchscreen vs non-touchscreen

[floomby]

I'm talking primarily about touch screens on phones.
Personally, I hate touch screens.

They provide no tactile feedback, i.e. you can't feel when the button has actually been pressed.
Also, they only seem to work half the time you try to press them.

Lastly, all that touching of your screen makes it end up with smudge marks and you are forever cleaning the thing.

What do you guys think?

[ash.gti]

I don't know about most touch screens but I have zero complaints about my iPhone 3GS.

I don't mind the lack of physical feedback on the button press, in all the well designed iPhone apps there is enough of a visual or audio queue to let you know its responding to your touch. The 3GS has a new coating to help with smudge marks, its way easier to clean and keep clean compared to the old 3G/touch.

[lulzfish]

All they do is smudge stuff, and I still can't type for shit because they're too small.
And the iPhone is even worse with its "HEY CHECK OUT MY KINETIC SCROLLING GUI BITS" and it makes you wipe your finger across the screen.

Fingers should not be wiped across glass. It's like wiping your nails on a chalkboard. It just doesn't work most of the time, and it's a fucking disaster when it doesn't.

[floomby]

And the iPhone is even worse with its "HEY CHECK OUT MY KINETIC SCROLLING GUI BITS" and it makes you wipe your finger across the screen.

Yes, I forgot about that. Isn't it much simpler just to press a single button to flip through the photos?

[peter]

I don't have a problem with my iPhone. I find the "keys" on it to be bigger than those super-small buttons on a keyboard phone.

Have those of you who don't like a touchscreen used the Storm's "SurePress" screen? Do you like it more, less?

[Vault]

I'm beginning to think of a touchscreen as almost inevitable on a mobile device. The things are trying harder and harder at emulating a computer, and 6 buttons to control it just isn't enough. The main issue I think is the GUIness (gooeyness) of them. Smartphones need some form of pointing device, and a finger seems like a natural thing to use. (My uncle had a phone at one point that had a ball on it that was driving a mouse, it wasn't too pretty). The alternative is a menu based layout, which limits the types of applications that can be run on the phone, defeating it as really being a "smartphone".

Of course even if I'm completely wrong with my ideas about interface trends, the touch screen is still going to be the biggest trend for a while, what with trendiness of them and all.

I personally want to see a "command line phone".

[Endless Mike]

I could barely tell the screen was smudged on my original iPhone when it was on, and it's even harder to tell on my 3GS.

Seriously, 70% of iPhone complaints I've ever seen come from people who haven't actually used one for longer than is needed to say "SEE I'M RIGHT!"

[wst]

Until I can touchtype on a touchscreen, I won't like them. Luckily, technology is in the works that will allow this shortly (thanks to Belial for pointing that out to me). I just like being able to, when calling a callcentre or some moron robot thing, to be able to 'Press 1' without having to stare at the device like a mug.
I have used a few iPhones/iTouchs and I have found that the smudging issue is still visible, but it's like a smudge on a TV, you only see iti n the dark scenes or at certain angles. It's bearable. My hands sweat quite a bit and I don't like having to lock the screen just to wipe it clear, and then immediately smudge it again when I unlock it (I password my shit).

[Endless Mike]

I don't like having to lock the screen just to wipe it clear,

You don't have to do this.