Understanding iPhone and iPad touch interaction

The iPhone and iPad use a multitouch-capable capacitive touchscreen. Users access the device by tapping around with their finger. But a finger isn’t a mouse. Generally, a finger is larger and less accurate than a more traditional pointing device. This disallows certain traditional types of UI that depend on precise election. For example, the iPhone and iPad don’t have scrollbars. Selecting a scrollbar with a fat finger would either be an exercise in frustration or require a huge scrollbar that would take up a lot of the iPhone’s precious screen real estate. Apple solved this problem by allowing users to tap anywhere on an iPhone screen and then flick in a specific irection to cause scrolling. Another interesting element of the touchscreen is shown off by the fact that a fingerThe iPhone and iPad use a multitouch-capable ca