How many times have you seen on the web a mention of the great invention of the touch interface that Apple gave us with the iPhone? I have seen it so many times that I almost ignore it now, and that’s not a good thing. Touch screen interfaces on devices have been around for a long, long time. Long before Apple’s iPhone. Admittedly Apple improved the technology quite a bit with gestures and other features but they did NOT invent touch on gadgets. Heck, Apple’s own Newton was produced years before the iPhone and it had touch. It wasn’t the first gadget with touch either as far as that goes. Devices were produced by Palm and others with touch interfaces long before the iPhone so let’s quit saying how Apple invented touch. Please. Even big publications who should know better make the Apple invention claim, like a recent item by Gearlog:
Touch was a revolutionaryconcept when it debuted with the iPhone, in part because it wasimplemented so well with gestures.
Not even close to being correct. Does anybody know what was the very first mobile gadget with a touch interface? If you do then chime in and let’s set the record straight.
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