Touchscreens are already becoming mainstream with mobile devices. However in actual desktop, laptop and netbook computers they are still far to be found.  Undoubtedly it will create a huge revolution when it becomes popular. But what are some of the advantages and disadvantages of combining netbooks and touchscreens?

The Digital Home says it’s more intuitive, the interface that can be used with your hands makes tasks easier to do. It’s definitely not a fad. The functionality of most netbooks is limited to surfing websites, checking your e-mail, writing documents or going into powerpoint. Basic functionality. For these kinds of tasks you don’t need a very precise advanced interface. Therefore a touch screen will work well.

However, just think about some of the disadvantages. Touch the screen with dirty or greasy hands and the screen is smudged. Typing a long document or letter will not be easy, as most tablet netbooks will not include an actual keyboard but only a virtual one. Except for the Asus Eee PC T91 ofcourse. Also, is the software ready? Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 includes multi touch support but are the apps up to date? Not a lot of apps support multi touch now.

Also, Google might be hitting it big with its operating system Android on touch screens. Acer just announced an Android-based netbook. It has full support for multi touch screens and has loads of applications already working with multi touch. It could just be the operating system to make touch screens in netbooks big.