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A history and future of Touchscreen Technology

These days, most people use electronic devices as a necessity in life. They always carry at least one electronic item with them, everywhere. It is hard to live without any electronic device in this world. To have computerized skills is very important to not be left out of society today. Anything we do in our life, requires some kind of electronic devices. I was a student for about 12 years, and I could feel that the use of electronic devices for learning increases every year. Most of the assignments, course materials, and homework are in online which people back then did not experience. The importance of the electronic devices has already become a generally known fact and they are still in the process of developing. As they develop, touchscreen technology grows to be one of the most significant technologies in the twenty-first century since it is necessary for most of the electronic items.

Most of the devices, such as smartphones and laptops, apply touchscreen technology. It makes it easier to use those devices because it only requires touching on the screen to control the devices, which majority of people can do. Not all great technologies are usable for everyone. Some technologies require some kind of digital experience in order to use those technology. For instance, if a person wants to use a laptop, he or she has to know how to use computer, be accessible to internet, and other computer skills. However, touchscreen technology is really simple so that anyone can use it. My grandmother does not know how to use any electronic devices, but she always uses touchscreen technology. In order to open the door of our house with the code, she can type it on the touchscreen since the household door lock has a touchscreen. When we change the lock into the touchscreen lock, she had to take the time to get used to it. Since she has not use a smartphone, touchscreen was not a common technology for her. It did not take so long to practice it, she just needed to touch the screen, not push it. As we can see, touchscreen technology is easy to use for everyone even for people who do not know how to use electronic devices and they need it in everyday life.

Touchscreen technology started even before when the first cell phone came out. The touch sensitive synthesizers were developed in the music field in the 1940s, and that is when touchscreen technology began. However, it did not grow until 1965 when E. A. Johnson made a radar screen for air traffic control. The most significant inventions among electronic devices, cell phones and computers, also graft touchscreen technology. In 1983, HP released the first computers with touchscreen technology and in 1993, there were the first touchscreen cellphones from IBM and BellSouth. Starting from the 1990s, until now, touchscreen technology has become a common feature that many electronic devices use.

I believe, in a few years, we will not have to touch the screen in order to access the functions of devices. There are two possibilities for using devices without touching the screen. First, we could use our eyes to maneuver the items on the screen instead of using our fingers. There are some devices that already included the technology that we can unlock them with our irises. However, the device cannot catch the movements of eyes yet. Probably in the future, we could only use our eyes to control the device. Second, we will still use the fingers, but not actually touch the screen. It is a similar idea to show people the direction. People will move their fingers above the screen, and the device would be able to track the fingers' movement. This advanced technique will make using the device more convenient even for people with disabilities.

Works Cited

Ion, Florence. “From touch displays to the Surface: A brief history of touchscreen technology.” Arstechnica, 04 April. 2013, https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/04/from-touch-displays-to-the-surface-a-brief-history-of-touchscreen-technology. Accessed 25 February 2018.

Infante, Andre. "The Evolution of Touchscreen Technology" MUO, 31 July. 2014, https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/evolution-touchscreen-technology. Accessed 25 February 2018.