Ever since I got my hands on the very first iPad Pro all the way back in November 2015, I’ve gotten used to a certain type of computer interaction that Steve Jobs once decried as “ergonomically terrible”: working with a keyboard, but sometimes also touching the screen. Of course, that interaction became even more common when Apple introduced the Magic Keyboard with trackpad for iPad Pro in 2020: by that point, I was fully alternating between trackpad control and direct touch input on a tablet that allowed me to “rip off” the display and walk away with it whenever I wanted.
Steve Jobs was right about many things, but I’ve long disagreed with his take on the “terrible” ergonomics of touchscreen laptops. Sure, you don’t want to be forced to interact with a laptop display that sits perpendicular to the keyboard at all times. But for the occasional interaction that benefits from direct manipulation of content – whether that’s zooming on a picture or rotating a 3D object or game character with your fingers – it’s nice to have a secondary input method that does not rely on a UX abstraction such as a trackpad. Think of it as motion controls on a Nintendo Switch: you primarily play games with a controller and physical buttons, but, sometimes, it is nicer – and easier – to rely on the gyroscope for motion controls.
John
