Editorial: Google’s multitouch dilemma
As anyone who’s seen the last Engadget Show knows, we were incredibly lucky to have Google’s Erick Tseng as our guest. Erick is product manager of Android at Google, and he’s one of the sharpest, brightest, funniest guys around — it was great having him on the show, and I sincerely hope we see a lot more of him as time goes by. It’s obvious that Android is in capable hands.
Of course, the problem with having someone as funny, sharp, and bright as Erick on the show is that they tend to come in extremely well-prepared, and Erick was no exception — he’d read the many comments where you all asked for solid answers regarding the state of multitouch gestures on Android, and he had his answers ready and polished to a high shine. Like we’ve been hearing for months now, Erick told us that Android now supports the recognition of multiple touch inputs — the basic definition of “multitouch” — and that the real issue is actually how multitouch is implemented. It was a fascinating exchange that I encourage you to watch, but here’s the main quote:
When people say ‘why doesn’t Android have multitouch?’ it’s not a question of ‘multitouch’… I want to reframe the question. We have multitouch — what people are asking for is specific implementations in the UI that use multitouch, like pinch-to-zoom, or chording on the keyboard.
That’s a solid, respectable answer, and it was delivered with confidence, poise, and charm. There’s just one problem: it’s not actually an answer, because the semantics don’t matter. No matter how you look at it, the lack of “specific multitouch implementations” is still a huge issue with Android — one that’s become a growing distraction.
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Editorial: Google’s multitouch dilemma originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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