Interfaces

Just getting a little pet-peeve straightened out here: A lot of folks on the net (you know where this is headed) are raving about how the iPhone is the most brilliant touch-screen interface out there and the best examples of Haptics in a consumer device.

Unfortunately, they are mistaken. While haptics is indeed defined as the study of touching, it is about the sense of touch and not merely the act of touching. That is, haptics studies the physiological and psychological effects of feeling and communicating information via the sense of touch.

For an interface to be haptic, touch must be its output. And unless I am mistaken, there is zero haptic feedback to actions on the iPhone, e.g., slight vibrations when the virtual keys are pressed.

That being said, the iPhone is the most brillant example of a touch-screen interface in a consumer device.

[Edited] Duh, there’s a whole Wikipedia article stating this too, just by removing the “s”. In addition, it links to a very nice Flash piece demonstrating these concepts.