Poll: Touchscreen or Buttons (E-ink)

[OtterBooks]

Poll incoming, if I do this right.

In case it isn't clear, the spirit of the poll is to determine whether you find touchscreen navigation preferable, or detrimental to your e-ink device experience. I did not include a "I prefer it fully had both" option because few existing touchscreen devices allow for complete disregard of touch interaction. I think you get it.

Whoops, I was gonna put a "no preference" option. Can't edit polls it seems. Ah well.

[booklover6]

I liked the touchscreen on my ebookwise 1150.

[DiapDealer]

I'm all for touch screens... as long as there's still a way to do every single little thing with physical buttons also. Otherwise, I hate them.

Which means given the poll choices, I chose; "Keep your paws off my display."

[AnemicOak]

I don't mind touch, but it depends. I went and tried a Sony 950 last night (since Best Buy has them for $199 right now) and pretty much hated it. I like to read one handed a lot of the time and found I didn't like having to swipe to turn pages. On the other hand on my Galaxy S I can just lightly tap the edge of the screen to turn pages which I don't mind.

For the way I use my reader(s) I don't see touch as any kind of advantage really.

[ardeegee]

I think that the current Sonys get things just about right-- buttons for page turns and calling up functions, touch screen for navigation. I originally intended to keep my 300 as a backup when I bought my 350, but within only a couple of days with the 350 the navigating with buttons on the 300 started looking like an intolerable kludge.

[Anarel]

Paws off my display!

I get it, I really do. Touch screens are cool. But my ipod touch drives me crazy when I'm trying to take short little notes on it and I know no one has ever said this before, but I hate fingerprints on the screen! ... To completely make my post original, I also like tactile feedback.

I know it wouldn't be exactly the same on an eink screen but still... I don't want to have to swipe a finger across the screen to turn the page when I could just rest my finger on a button and press when I need to change the page...

To add to that, people get violent when they find out a device has a touch screen, poking and prodding and stabbing at the screen when an action isn't met quickly enough... I'd be REALLY scared of breaking the screen by treating it too roughly.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Anarel

...and I know no one has ever said this before, but I hate fingerprints on the screen!

No, people say that all the time. It isn't an issue for me, though, because I never use the pad of my finger. I touch the screen with the tip of my fingernail. Your nails too short? Curl your finger slightly inwards and touch with the edge of the face of your fingernail. I understand that less responsive technologies like are used on the iPad and smartphones actually require you to use the pad of your finger (either because of poor sensitivity or a need for electrical conduction) but that isn't an issue with the technology used on the new Sonys, Nooks, and Kobos. For those, you can use anything reasonably small that interrupts the path of the IR beams. Finger pad. Finger nail. Stylus. Swizzle stick. Trained flea. You don't even have to actually touch the screen-- the sensors are millimeters above the surface. I expect in the future more and more products to use the same (or a copycat) IR technology used in the Sony, Nook, and Kobo and dumping the inferior techs that they use now.

[Anarel]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

No, people say that all the time. It isn't an issue for me, though, because I never use the pad of my finger.

That, Serrah, was sarcasm.

[Bikeridr]

How about touchbuttons

Touchscreen on a tablet - Yes!
On my e-reader - go play in the traffic!

I voted your paws off. I can't see any practical use for touchscreen and fingermarks all over my reading screen.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I don't mind touch, but it depends. I went and tried a Sony 950 last night (since Best Buy has them for $199 right now) and pretty much hated it. I like to read one handed a lot of the time and found I didn't like having to swipe to turn pages. On the other hand on my Galaxy S I can just lightly tap the edge of the screen to turn pages which I don't mind.

For the way I use my reader(s) I don't see touch as any kind of advantage really.

I read one-handed at times with my 650 -- I turn pages pushing the FORWARD button with my left thumb. If I held the device in my right hand, I'd use the touch screen, but they're quite sensitive, so a small swipe with the right thumb would be about as much effort, if not less so, than a button.

[OtterBooks]

Good responses. Obviously it's not a better/worse issue; preference is preference. I've seen discussion of touch vs. anti-touch in numerous threads but the opinions seemed so evenly divided that I was curious to see some numbers.

At this point in the market it's tough to determine what features are driven by popular demand, and what features are there as experimentation or to set the device apart. We're in a phase where consumers are still figuring out what they like as the technology changes, imo.

[SensualPoet]

I will find out in a few weeks ... in the meantime, paws off. I read the Kindle 3 one-handed using my thumb to turn pages. I can manage that with the Kobo as well, if I'm in the mood. The advantage (for me) of touch is the ability to more regularly interact over wifi using a virtual keyboard. So, we'll see.

[jersysman]

I am touchscreen all the way. With my Nook Color I have bought screen protectors, which take care of the issue of fingerprints. I never read a book one-handed, so reading with an eReader one-handed seemed odd to me. The motion of turning the page on a touchscreen is very similar to turning the pages of a book.

[DiapDealer]

I think it has a lot to do with what type of user you are. If you like to keep your entire library on your reader and constantly fiddle with the folders/collections/tags (whatever your device uses) to perfect your organizational master-plan--and are constantly doing dictionary lookups, or lots of highlighting/note taking, or occasionally using the browser to check your email... then sure, you're probably going to see an advantage for touch menu-navigation.

But if you are a "buy book, read book, buy another book, read another book" kind of user--who never has more than a handful of books on their device at any time--then that touch-screen navigation starts to look less like an advantage and more like over-kill... one more thing that could go wrong.

Throw in the fact that many have been raised to believe that touching a screen of any kind with anything other than a soft, non-abrasive cleaning cloth is an offense against God and Nature... and you have battle-lines. These taboos are harder to get over than you might think.

So I think the issue boils down to the difference between those who just want to read--plain and simple; and those who want to read and play a little. I'm sure the former group is small enough that they can be safely ignored in the evolution (or extinction) of the dedicated ereader... and that's kind of sad.

[dwig]

Chose "Keep your paws off my display" on the assumption that by specifying "e-ink" in your description you intended the poll to be about dedicated ebook readers and not general purpose tablet computers.

For tablets I would want touch, preferably with additional hardware buttons for "mouse button 1" and "mouse button 2" to be treated as page turn buttons by ebook software.