Is Touch The Future Of Computing?

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you must already know that the iPad – apple’s latest innovation – was launched on January 9th, changing once again the computing industry game. While HP’s Slate, a Windows 7 based Tablet, is expected to be the ultimate iPad killer, HP is still struggling with the price : a $549 vs Apple’s $499. Microsoft Surface’ finger+stylus concept is something appealing. I know that the whole concept isn’t new, but it strikes me how much potential these new gadgets have shown. Does this really mean that the future is Touch? Are we moving into a minority report kind of world? I’m still a little skeptical though when I hear people like Marc Benioff say:

I stick with Tim Bray when he says:

“We haven’t learned yet where touch wins and where it doesn’t.”

Some heavy Geeks even think it’s a step backwards. I wouldn’t go that far but I really think it’s a bit too early to dub the Touch as the future of computing. Maybe it’s one of those things…

“we didn’t know we needed… but suddenly can’t live without.” - John Doerr.

I guess All we have to do is wait and see… So what do you think? Do you really believe you can use these gadgets beyond casual surfing? While this toddler is feeling pretty easy with them.