Unearthed Connection

I know this post is pretty late, but none the less I had to blog about it :).

Apple's iPad finally got to make an appearance this Wednesday. Here's how it looks:

Technical specs can be found on Apple's website here.

Mostly I was disappointed at how the tablet turned out. For most in the tech industry Apple's tablet was about making strides in the industry, however we were left with, well, an oversized iPhone that (a) can't make any calls, (b) doesn't have a camera, (c) can't multi-task to where you're listening to pandora while typing up an email. (d) Can't play flash (Web Standards) (e) I could keep going but oh well, you get the point.

For some reason towards the end Steve Jobs did an unthinkable thing. He mentioned "analysts" and their assumptions that the device would cost a $1,000. Now this struck me as very odd. Steve Jobs, hates rumors, hates the media, hates the analysts. Why would he mention them?

And then it kinda struck me. Analysts predicted that this device would be a useful addition to their lives, hence the $1,000 price point. But since it can't do all the afore mentioned things... Apple decided to price it as an "accessory" rather than a "useful device".

How convenient Apple... but this time, I'm sticking to my iPhone...

Resistive Touchscreens

 

 

A resistive touchscreen panel is composed of several layers, the most important of which are two thin, metallic, electrically conductive layers separated by a narrow gap.

When an object, such as a finger, presses down on a point on the panel's outer surface the two metallic layers become connected. The panel then behaves as a pair of voltage dividers with connected outputs.
This causes a change in the electrical current which is registered as a touch event and sent to the controller for processing.

Resistive touchscreens deliver cost-effective, consistent and durable performance in environments where equipment must stand up to contaminants and liquids, such as in restaurants, factories, and hospitals. Disadvantages of Resistive technology include only 75% optical transparency and the fact that a sharp object can damage the resistive layers.

Contrary to what many think Resistive touchscreens can also support Multitouch.

 

Capacitive Touchscreens

 

 

A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO). Since the human body is a conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in distortion of the local electrostatic field which is measured as a change in capacitance.

Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location can be passed to a computer running a software application which will calculate how the user's touch relates to the computer software.

In general use when a user touches the screen, some of the charge is transferred to the user, and makes the potential difference on the screen. After the panel controller recognizes that, the controller will send the X-Y axis information to the PC port.

The advantage of this technology is that it transmits almost 90% percent of the light from the screen. The energy efficiency of capacitive touchscreens gives them a better battery life in comparison to resistive technology.