Touchscreen Accuracy: iPhone Compares Favorably to Other Smartphones

[distortedloop]

The video seems to show that visibly similar (if not actually identical) testing was done on all the phones involved in the test. No, it doesn't meet the strictest scientific repeatability standards, but somehow I doubt the guy has access to a multi-million dollar lab with the equipment necessary to reach that standard. Then again, if having that equipment were actually necessary to perform reasonably good science, we'd still be living in caves. The man demonstrated his methodology. If you disagree with it, run your own tests and show where his methodology went wrong *and* poisoned the results. Until then, your complaining about his methodology is *less* scientific than his methodology is.

Pointing out his lack of scientific method is hardly less scientific than his methodology. That criticism reeks of fanboyism. Would you be so quick to defend his tests if they had shown the iPhone to be the worst of the pack? If you're going to challenge my criticisms of the (lack of) method used, perhaps you should do your own tests to confirm his are valid before criticizing me, but that would just be silly.

Several others have posted that their own tests show their Android phones to draw just as straight lines as the iPhone, even straighter perhaps, and we've even got a picture or two floating around.

In my opinion the guy's finger clearly is less stable, for whatever reason (fatigue, hidden agenda, camera angle, etc) on the Droid test than it is on the others. He could easily have addressed this without a multimillion dollar lab: use a straight edge, do multiple runs, and use multiple testing personnel. Do you really think that's unreasonable to expect.

 

[cumanzor]

Pointing out his lack of scientific method is hardly less scientific than his methodology. That criticism reeks of fanboyism. Would you be so quick to defend his tests if they had shown the iPhone to be the worst of the pack? If you're going to challenge my criticisms of the (lack of) method used, perhaps you should do your own tests to confirm his are valid before criticizing me, but that would just be silly.

Several others have posted that their own tests show their Android phones to draw just as straight lines as the iPhone, even straighter perhaps, and we've even got a picture or two floating around.

In my opinion the guy's finger clearly is less stable, for whatever reason (fatigue, hidden agenda, camera angle, etc) on the Droid test than it is on the others. He could easily have addressed this without a multimillion dollar lab: use a straight edge, do multiple runs, and use multiple testing personnel. Do you really think that's unreasonable to expect.

There are capacitive styluses out there. Can't he just use one of those and a rules?

 

[distortedloop]

There are capacitive styluses out there. Can't he just use one of those and a rules?

Anything to take away the doubt that each touchscreen got the same input opportunity to determine what line was being drawn.

Apparently, to some fanboys, asking for something a bit more than just grabbing the phones and randomly running your finger across the screen a few times is too much to ask.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Either that or you're not making it very well.

I got a chuckle out of the fart app response, however, that hardly proves whatever point you're trying to make. We're not discussing using fart apps as a way to prove the touchscreen performance superiority of one platform over another...

Yes, and you know how in Fair Testing, you have to remove a many variables as possible?

Having identical back-end code is one way. So comparing a device which has the unoptimized back-end code as the testing app against a device that does is very biased. I could make the HTC Magic look better than the Nexus.

 

[intelliot]

Which drawing apps did they use to conduct the test?

On the iPhone, it looks like it could be Whiteboard: Collaborative Drawing.

 

[paul4339]

we have some great results from Droid eris and iPhone users.

- it shows that making straight lines on various phone IS POSSIBLE.
(this gives us some more data)

- also we have some points brought up that the drawing app has changed in our tests. That is, on one hand it tells us that given a proper drawing program on a particular phone we can get straight lines, on the other hand, switching programs for experiment purposes isn't good.

- The goal isn't necessary to debunk this guy's (MOTO) results, but to assume it's true and to try validate... Try to REPRODUCE his results (sorry, I used the word 'repeat the tests' in an earlier post)...

- What I meant was that, given a fully charged phone (say, Droid Eris), using the same drawing app, same finger, same ruler, same everything,
_vary the pressure_ you apply on the line that you draw; and see if you can 'reproduce' the jagged-line effect that MOTO shows in his experiment.
(i think in his presentation he calls it medium pressure vs light pressure)