It's time to think outside the box again. These office-oriented pointing devices aren't working very well. Kids are commonly coated with stuff. That includes abrasive grit, conductive liquid, and opaque liquid. Mud and food are particularly common.
The touchpad fails with conductive liquid. Remember that people do not have equally sweaty hands, even in an equal environment. What works for you, or in a cold office, won't work for everybody. Now add mud and food. Using a stylus unsurprisingly requires a stylus. This is not good. If the stylus were to be a primary input device, it would need to be in relative mode. Anything pressure-sensitive is going to encourage heavy pressure with sharp objects, leading to damage. On the positive side, at least it works fine while filthy. The touchscreen is first of all just plain inadequate. It lacks the ability to hover, which is used throughout sugar. It is inaccurate. Depending on mechanism, it has either the touchpad or stylus problems. The really terrible thing is screen damage. Screens will not last long if kids are rubbing them with filthy fingers. Mud contains grit. This could work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_stick It might be possible to mold it right into the keyboard, preventing entry of liquids or grit while cutting costs. This could work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_stick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GameCube_Analog_Stick.jpg It's especially good for tablet mode, assuming that gets kept. _______________________________________________ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel