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Years and years ago I bought a Wacom Graphire 2 4×5 tablet. Every now and again I hook it up and look for drivers. A few weeks ago I dug it up again from the lurky boxes of unused electric gizmos and gadgets (it’s quite a large box). Photoshopping is just so incredibly much better with a tablet than with a mouse. Since then I’ve had three input devices connected to my iMac; an Apple keyboard, a Logitech mouse and a Wacom tablet… And I just noticed something – I haven’t touched the mouse since!

This means I’ve used the tablet not only for Photoshopping, but also for using the OS, as well as text-editors, internet browsing etc. Tasks you’d probably not think a tablet would be particularly useful for!

I have to say I am amazed at how little I’ve actually missed the mouse during this time. It makes me want to invest in a bit of a better (or at least newer) tablet, as the Graphire 2 was quite a cheap one even back when I bought it – yet still it’s still just as sharp as ever. The only sign of usage it has is a slight crack in the plastic pen, which I have very MacGyver-ishly fixed using duct tape.

But the most important and interesting epiphany I had about this is that I have so far always thought that the tablet PC:s that are appearing on the market as of late are little more than gimmicks without any real practical use. Now I actually want one! (The fact that I want an electrical gizmo is in itself not news in any way…)

I don’t see this happening with “normal” desktop computers, though – as the vertical and usually high screen would be quite uncomfortable to use, but a touchscreen laptop (or a Wacom Cintiq) would actually be sweet, and I would much prefer a touchscreen to the trackpads found in laptops today, which I hate with a passion.

One issue people always mention with touch-technology equipped computers (even cellphones before it became mainstream with touchscreen phones shortly after the unexpected success of the iPhone) is the fact that the screen would become incredibly cluttered quickly. I don’t see this as a problem. First of all, few of us walk around with very dirty fingers (as long as you don’t take the Discovery Channel approach and inspect your fingers on a microscopic level, at which we are all dirty, filthy slobs all the freaking time…). The only thing you’d need is a screen that is durable and stable enough to not take a beating from a microfibre cloth wiping.

Luckily I’ve just bought a new laptop, otherwise I might just head out and get myself a touch laptop and paid an arm and a leg for it… (the new laptop, BTW, lasted a whole two months before it gave up and is now spending some time in rehab, a.k.a. service…) But as with all other things tech things get cheaper at a record speed, and one of these days these touch-enabled devices will be the norm and not a luxury (or geeky) add-on.