> And the current Squeak interface is made for a mouse. There would have to be a serious UI redesign to make a nice touch-based Smalltalk development environment.

I think there is a place for touch-screen interfaces:  Like in-car
navigation systems or airport kiosks, or libraries, etc.

However, I think they really are a downgrade in user-interface power.
Most obviously, the power of pointing is gone.  *Pointing* at
something provides a non-mutative way to interact with another entity
(person or computer).  You can't do that with an iPad -- you can only
"click" (e.g., agitate the interface).

I think this is one reason I find Android / iPad so inherently
non-intuitive to learn and use.  I can't "hover" over the icons for a
description of what they do -- I can only click on them and, if it
isn't what I wanted, frantically look for the "back" button before I
get signed up for something I didn't want.

Which leads me straight to the other big problem I've noticed with TS
interfaces:  Modality.  Regardless whether there are multiple programs
running, all I ever SEE are people looking/working on one thing at a
time.  Shit we've gone back to the days of 8-bit computers with all of
this modality.

Also, with touch-screen interfaces, the back of my hand is constantly
occluding the UI itself and the screen gets finger prints.  This
reduces immersive effectiveness by reminding you that you're just
looking and interacting with a *screen*, not the world of objects
rendered on that screen..

Apple made touch-screen interfaces "take over the world" even though
they're bad on several levels.  But, like I said, I think they're
appropriate for in-car nav or limited-path apps.  Not creative
development though..

  - Chris