I am super fascinated with the emergence of ‘touch’ devices. That technology has been getting smarter each day is evident and inevitable. But Steve Jobs (God bless his soul) really hit the spot with touch. In one fell swoop, he took all the fantastically complex technology and put it behind a simple piece of glass. That’s it. And our world will never be the same again.
Touch is the most primal of human instincts. We’ve discovered our world with our hands. Sure, our eyes are what we see the world with – but our hands are what we use to manipulate, control and manage our world. When the lights go out suddenly, you instinctively raise your hands to feel your way around in the dark. Infants explore and discover the world with their hands. Your daily routine would be unimaginable without your hands.
And when Steve Jobs takes high technology and simplifies it to primal touch, he also completely eliminates the sense of intimidation that we all feel when confronted by cold, unfeeling, seemingly complicated machines . Not everybody could use a desktop computer or the older VCR’s. A lot of older tech tended to be exclusive. You needed to know, to be proficient in the use of, have knowledge of…But anybody – child or aged folk, educated or illiterate, rich or poor, smart or stupid – anybody can use touch. There’s nothing to it really. You touch it, it comes alive, it asks you to swish and slide and tap, and you’re on your way. Simple
It has been said that highly advanced technology can be indistinguishable from magic. Touch is exactly that – magic. Magic does not expect you to understand, just to believe.
SAMEER NAIR 