IT Kiosks Ride Touch-Screen Wave
Sales of touch screens worldwide continue to rise on the iPad tide that has already raised Apple's worldwide mobile PC market share to 12.4 percent (up from 4.8 percent without the iPad), according to a recent DisplaySearch report. Touch screens for kiosks were already in widespread use, such as at American Airlines Admirals Club lounges, which use HP's TouchSmart PCs with NextWindow touch screens. The new wave of touch-screen mania triggered by the phenomenal success of Apple's iPad, however, has touched off not only a competing tablet frenzy—like HP's Slate and Samsung's Galaxy Tab—but is also prompting IT organizations worldwide to start offering NextWindow-based public information centers in the increasingly familiar touch format.
The NextWindow 1900 Series Touch Screen installed on the HP TouchSmart All-In-One PC turns it into a giant touch-screen tablet.
"The most appropriate context for touch screens is consumption of information rather than creation," said Geoff Walker, marketing evangelist and industry guru at NextWindow. "Touch is best used for intermittent access to information where the use of a keyboard and mouse is not convenient."
Dell, HP, NEC, Samsung and Sony are now marketing all-in-one touch-screen PC models that IT managers are using to supply information to the end users in kiosks—such as at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World Resort—as well as to corporate employees in common areas.
"One of IT's tasks is to make information available to users wherever they need it. This includes all employees, not just the management and knowledge workers," said Walker. "Touch PCs located in company common areas are forming the basis of these employee-information systems. In the past, this kind of system has often been conceived as a one-way information flow using digital signage, but adding interactivity with touch makes this kind of system much more able to meet employee information needs."
Source: Smater Technology
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