Click: A generational marker

Martin Belam makes an interesting point when he writes The word “click” will become a generational marker.

He writes:

I’ve been working on a project designing for tablet devices, and I keep finding I have to correct myself, and say “touch” or “tap” when I’ve just uttered the word “click”.

…

Rather like grandparents fondly referring to the wireless, my generation are going to carry that word “click” in our vocabulary to describe interactions long after anybody last used a mouse.

I was thinking about this myself. Now that we have touch screens, how much longer will the mouse or touchpad be considered essential computing gear?

Personally I love touch on phones and tablets. Yet having to constantly lift my arm to touch the 36-inch screen on my desktop iMac would be an ergonomic disaster.

Touching and clicking

Belam may be wrong. The mouse, or at least the touchpad, which needs a click, could be around for many years to come.

After all, desktops and laptops still come with keyboards. It is rare for anyone to buy a Microsoft Surface tablet without a keyboard.

As an aside, I never considered the Windows, Icon, Mouse, Pointer interface intuitive – touch technology gets closer.

Speaking of generational markers… have you been around long enough to remember when people referred to the Windows, Icon, Mouse, Pointer interface as Wimp?

Thought not.