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Development and usage
Virtually all of the significant touchscreen technology patents were filed
during the 1970s and 1980's and have expired. Touchscreen component
manufacturing and product design are no longer encumbered by royalties or
legalities with regard to patents and the manufacturing of touchscreen-enabled
displays on all kinds of devices is widespread.
The development of multipoint touchscreens facilitated the tracking of more than
one finger on the screen. Operations that are only possible with more than one
finger are possible. These devices also allow multiple users to interact with
the touchscreen simultaneously.
With the growing acceptance of many kinds of products with an integral
touchscreen interface the marginal cost of touchscreen technology is routinely
absorbed into the products that incorporate it and is effectively eliminated. As
typically occurs with any technology, touchscreen hardware and software has
sufficiently matured and been perfected over more than three decades to the
point where its reliability is unassailable. As such, touchscreen displays are
found today in airplanes, automobiles, gaming consoles, machine control systems,
appliances and handheld display devices of every kind.
An ergonomic problem of touchscreens is their stress on human fingers when used
for more than a few minutes at a time, since significant pressure is required
and the screen is non-flexible. This can be alleviated with the use of a pen or
other device to add leverage, but the introduction of such items can sometimes
be problematic depending on the desired use case (for example, public kiosks
such as ATMs). Also, fine motor control is better achieved with a stylus, a
finger being a rather broad and ambiguous point of contact with the screen. When
a touchscreen monitor is mounted vertically a condition often called "gorilla
arm" can occur, because holding your arm out horizontally for a prolonged time
causes your arm to feel heavy (like a gorilla's).
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