One of the most striking effects of Apple's success with the iPhone is that it has made us think of touch as a natural and efficient way to interact with our electronic tools. So far, the touch revolution has been limited mainly to phones and other handheld devices, but it's coming to computers, and it is going to make a big difference.rnTouch- sensitive screens have been around for some years, but until the development of a technology called capacitive touch-the sort used on the iPhone-the displays were intended for use with a pen or stylus. Capacitive touch gives reasonably precise results even when poked with a fat finger. And, more important, the new screens can sense multiple touches at once, enabling sophisticated ways of interacting, such as using your fingers to stretch or shrink images on the screen.rnTouch will come to PCs in a big way this fall when Microsoft launches Windows 7. The latest version of Windows includes extensive support for multi-touch screens, but while test versions of Windows 7 are readily available, hardware to run it is scarce.
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