It seems that touch screen technology is upon us now more than ever and is not likely to end any time soon. With the Apple iphone on everyone's wish list back in 2007 to touch screen panels in grocery store check outs, banks and even the postal delivery service asking you to kindly sign the touch screen. What is the latest in touch screen technology?
Touch screens have found their way into cars. With no physical keyboard necessary, a touchpad keyboard is built within the screen, allowing the driver to touch the screen and control functions by touch. Of course there are several disclaimers addressing the owner and operator of the vehicle to only use the buttons while not driving, bringing up issues of accidents- drivers playing around with controls while they are suppose to be driving.
Other smart function of these little computers is how they are connected. If it looks like several cars with computers inside them are converging in one area over another, the computer may suggest going a different direction in order to avoid traffic congestion.
The GPS system- once seemed to signify a high tech gadget in automobiles is becoming a standard. Now, computers in cars which include GPS systems offer more than just an interactive compass. Computers being built for the next year's model cars will replace some of the current buttons we have all come accustomed to. Soon, more small screens built in as part of the dashboard or just to the right of the steering wheel won't provide the shock factor they once used to. Starting in 2009, Volkswagen will be installing computers in all of their new cars, whether people ask for them or not. These computers will be replacing the controls for heating, air conditioning and trip computers all within the car's own computer.
Who knows where we will find touch screen technology next. We went from having a computer mouse with touch pad technology similar to using a touch screen to laptops with their own touch pad and now touch screens on computers and other screens that let us move things around using strictly our fingertips. Cars are more technical then they have ever been and it takes a lot more skill to be an auto mechanic then it used to. Even though computers on our dashboards may seem like the cool new feature now-perhaps some day we will wonder how we ever drove a car without them.
