News November 27, 2009

Touchscreens and fingernails, can we ever win?

Gear Diary Touchscreens and fingernails, can we ever win? photo

While I am not a “girly” girl, I do like to make myself look nice. This usually means a semi-regular visit to my favorite nail salon to get a manicure and a pedicure. Now, I am also a computer engineer for my day job. This means I am typing on a computer for large parts of the day, when I am not in a datacenter playing with network equipment on a rack.

What does all of this have to do with touchscreens? Plenty. Because of my nails, I have the most god-awful time trying to use anything with a touchscreen, whether its the Fluke network meter at the office, or my iPod Touch. I also cannot upgrade my phone to one of the new touchscreen models because I can’t make it work properly.

The two quick answers I get on this topic are : 1. Get a stylus or 2. Cut your nails down some.

Well, I would use a stylus if I could. Manufacturers of the new touchscreen devices are using the capacitive touch screen. This means that a finger will work; styli or other devices (even a pencil eraser) will not. If I want to use an iPhone, a myTouch 3G, a Droid, I have to use my fingertip to make it all work properly. I miss the days of the older Windows Mobile devices that included styli as input method.

And as for cutting my nails down, they are already short enough so that I can type properly. If I cut them any shorter, what is the point?

This is just my minor plea to the manufacturers, or even some of the software developers of devices with touchscreens: Can we please make it so that users can have the choice of using their finger or using a styli or alternative method (keyboards not withstanding)?

Thanks for listening!

If anyone has some other ideas or have encountered this problem themselves, let me know. Maybe we all can find a way to solve this major minor problem.

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About Amy Zunk

View all posts by Amy Zunk

http://getsomehairapy.wordpress.com Aura Mae

Sister, I feel your pain.

I love it when I am approached by an iPhone evangelist who thinks I (and everyone on earth) should have one. It only takes a second for me to show them how I can’t work it with my nails. They are always stunned, because they usually don’t know a capacitive screen from their arse.

I have used resistive screens for years and they have gotten more responsive, requiring less pressure and have provided a great user experience for this girl. I too am concerned about my next phone. I have a crush on the HTC HD2, but I have to give the screen a try. (I did read that they will be releasing a stylus that works with it soon.)

My cry to all the phone designers has always been to please let some girly-girls test your phones before you send them to market! (I am ready $ willing…)
http://www.geardiary.com Carly Z

What about something like the Pogo Stylus? http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/b8dd/?cpg=froogle
then

Long live resistive screens! There are quite a few nice high-end smart phones with resistive screens out there.

Recently I had a long conversation about this problem with a Samsung rep. I was astonished when he immediately understood my requirements for a good touch phone; he took a look at my nails and said “You want resistive, right?”.
Normally you always have to do a show and tell before they get the problem.

BTW, I’m willing to help Aura Mae out if she gets too many phones to test.
bluemonq

Carly Z has the right idea. Those Pogo styli – tipped with a conductive material – have been around for a while to deal with gloved hands and the like, but should be the solution to your problem.
then

But it feels really stupid to have to use a stylus when you have your own, built-in tools, i.e your nails – it’s faster to use them and you never risk losing them.
bluemonq

Well at least Amy’s problem is solved, since she didn’t know about styli that are capacitive-compatible Capacitive screen technology requires a conductive surface; nails just don’t provide enough conductive surface. And screen tech isn’t at the point where one can cram both a resistive and capacitive touch system into a phone.

I dislike resistive screens because of a trade-off that has to be made: either you have one with a soft, easily scratched surface, or one that is less responsive.

If using a mass-market product bothers you, you can look into making your own stylus with conductive thread. Making a circle about 1/3 of an inch in diameter should be enough.
Amy Zunk

Yep. I had no idea those type of styli were available. I saw styli that claimed to work, but I didn’t trust it. But, if I can find ones that are capacitive compatible, you just opened up a new world for me. Thanks!
Dave P

If you want a top of the line smartphone with a resistive touch screen, you might try the Nokia N900 which just came out. While it doesn’t yet have the range of apps that the iPhone has, it is a Linux based OS which means there are a wealth of apps waiting to be ported over.
bluestar

It’s so good to hear other women talk about this issue! Men give me the lamest excuses when I shop for phones and complain about this. I also keep my nails rather short, but they still go just past my fingertips. It’s enough to make tapping those little tiny letters with my actual finder tip a nightmare. I don’t really find a stylus to be a viable option, but it’s so great to just use my nail. I wish there was a special nail polish that could transform a fingernail into a stylus! My husband recently got a phone with capacitive touch and I’ve really tried to get better at the tapping with no luck. However, I have found that I am actually pretty good with the Swype method, where you just slide your finger across the keyboard to the next letter.
Nick

capacitive touch screen are conductive, meaning they use electricity to complete the circuit. Also known as your finger tip or any conductive material.
Coin’s, fingers, conductive stylus or rings all work.