Re: tlug: Re: Need info. about Japanese and Linux (OFF TOPIC!)

[Jonathan Byrne - 3Web <jq@example.com>]

On Tue, 10 Nov 1998, Fredric Fredricson wrote:

>I don't like touch screens. They get dirty after a short time and are
>expensive. 
>But, I have to admit that I have no experience in the field so this
>might be just prejudice on my part.
>I really don't know how good/bad cheap/expensive they are.
>I assume they require special monitors and that the objects that
>the user manipulates (buttons, scroll bars etc.) must be quite
>large.

The ones I'm thinking of are color LCD touch screens.  I also have no idea how
much they cost, but they are in wide use in Japan for ATMs (all banks and the
gigantic postal banking system use them).  The only dirt issue is basically
fingerprints, and I don't really know how often they clean them (at least
once a day, I'm sure), but it can't be more difficult than spray and wipe.

As far as button size goes, the smallest ones are not much larger than
fingertip size (these are digits for entering amounts and your ATM code
number).

>We have a competitor that use a touch screen for their
>interface. They never advertise this, though. Maybe it is a
>weak spot... (just speculations)

Find someplace you can try out one of their screens and see, if possible.
In so far as an LCD has no moving parts to break and very few other parts to
fail (compared to a CRT), all other things being equal, a touch-sensitive LCD
should yield a higher level of uptime than either a touch-sensitive CRT
monitor or a combination of regular monitor, keyboard, and pointing device.
Any environmental problems such as dust and vibration that could be present in
a factory would probably also have a greater negative effect on a CRT +
keyboard than they would on an LCD display.

One of the biggest questions might be whether or not the control and trouble
screens of the device are simple enough to be handled by a touch screen.  How
many choices are there on each screen? Is the keyboard used to enter commands,
or merely to make simple choices from a numbered lettered lists?

Does anybody know if there is an existing body of X or SVGALIB code for
dealing with touch screens under Linux?

Jonathan Byrne
Media and Content Section
3Web - Your Internet Solution! <URL:http://www.threeweb.ad.jp/index.en.html>
3Web Channel <URL: http://www.3web.co.jp/index.en.html>

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