Widespread Touchscreen is coming

A few weeks back, ComputerWorld published an analysis of what five top PC makers are planning for the touch-screen market. I found it to be eye-opening. Here are some highlights from the article:

• Lenovo Group plans to release a touch-screen model soon after Windows 7 goes into production release.
• Acer is planning three touch-screen models for Windows 7.
• Micro-Star International (MSI) is planning a Windows 7-enable netbook.
• Sony announced earlier in August that the Vaio will be available in touch-screen enabled models for Windows 7.
• Asuste - which is already in the touch-screen game with several Linux models - is planning a Windows 7 version.

Notice a theme?

Of course, all of these manufacturers - which collectively represent 60% of the global PC market - are linking up with the release of Windows 7 to help push this market forward. My perspective is that this is a welcome development. Touch-screen technology has been pretty good for too many years for it to be so rare in the market. It will, of course, have an impact on consumer-facing application development. And it will open up a plethora of opportunities for creative solutions to pesky user-interface issues. Not the least is how technology can be used in mobile environments, such as delivery trucks, military vehicles, and even airplane cockpits. I also think about kiosk applications at health clubs, banks, hospitals, doctor's offices; the list goes on and on.

I'll be keeping a close eye on this over the next six months. It's going to be impossible to ignore the implications.

Here's the article from ComputerWorld:
The OS that launched 1,000 touch screens