NEWS: Why ‘screenagers’ are driving the touchscreen PC market

SCREENAGERS: The younger generation has grown up with their parent’s finger-controlled devices and are eager to extend this multitouch experience to their PC computing. — Relaxnews

A NEW report states that by 2015 more than 50% of personal computers purchased for consumers under the age of 15 will have touchscreens.

On the other hand, businesses and organisations will be much slower to adapt to and implement the new technology in the workplace. Less than ten percent of organisations are expected to include touchscreens in their PC purchases in 2015 predicted market researcher Gartner in a press release.

While businesses and older generations have had to learn how to adapt to touchscreen devices after years of mouse and keyboard computer interaction, the younger generation, or “screenagers”, have grown up with their parent’s finger-controlled devices and are eager to extend this multitouch experience to their PC computing.

Videos of toddlers playing with iPhones and iPads have spread across the Web as viewers look on amazed at how easily the child can interact with a touchscreen product they have never seen before.

“What we’re going to see is the younger generation beginning to use touchscreen computers ahead of organisations,” said Leslie Fiering, research vice-president at Gartner.

Next generation touchscreen laptops, tablets, mobile phones and TVs will be enhanced to provide younger users with the media content they crave on their devices — movies, magazines, e-books and entertainment.

As prices drop touchscreen device makers may find their products being sold to educational institutions en masse as students put finger and pen to digital screen instead of paper.

Innovation in touchscreen business applications may lag behind, maimed by slow adoption within organisations.

“As with many recent technology advances, touch adoption will be led by consumers and only gradually get accepted by the organisation,” Fiering said.

“What will be different here is the expected widespread adoption of touch by education, so that an entire generation will graduate within the next 10 to 15 years for whom touch input is totally natural.” — Relaxnews