A touch screen you can feel

Toshiba is at this very moment developing a solution to typing on a touch screen. Why do I say solution? Because, as smart phone users all know, the current method of input used -- typing on a virtual keyboard you can't touch -- is a step down from what we enjoyed in the Nokia-generation of the early 2000's: Actual buttons.


We can forgive the industry for not coming up with this right away. A technology needs time to mature, and with the first generation iPhone prominently showing the world what a touch screen-powered mobile device could do, the next four years supplied the industry with the investments necessary to bring us buttons... in a touch screen!

A technology that, like 3D, will be challenging to advertise.

Just as how Nintendo's 3DS will play an important role in introducing the public to the concept of glasses-free 3D, so, too, you can expect some sort of pioneer model showing of what this "electrotactile" technology can offer. Whatever the case, by the time this kind of technology is ready to be released, you can be sure Google will have Android up and ready to make use of it.


To round off our discussion on technology pioneers, let me ask you this question:

Would you buy the first iteration of a new technology like the 3DS or a 3D TV, or would you wait for later models that have ironed out some of the kinks? In other words, are you an "early adopter", or a member of the "late majority"?