I have an iPad and a TouchPad. I also had a Samsung Galaxy Tab for a week but didn’t find Honeycomb good enough to warrant a permanent spot in my collection.

One thing that strikes me is how awkward tablet browser interfaces seem to be.

Stretch Armstrong can go back without moving his hands. You and me, not so much.

What the tablet makers have done is take the exact same browser paradigm popular on desktops (with Honeycomb even going so far as to bring desktop browser tabs) and shoehorn it into a tablet screen. Since all the buttons are not within the range of where the fingers are, the user has to move their hand from where it was naturally and extend it up to hit the buttons. Instinctively, this just doesn’t feel right. I’ve tried to break this down into more definable reasons:

1. Economy of movement is good, and the tablet browser as is does not minimize movement well. The less a user has to move to do something, the better. All the more so on a touchscreen, which requires more movement to get from point A to point B (it’s a 1:1 ratio of movement in life to movement on the screen, whereas a mouse/trackpad amplifies the movements you make in a few inches of space to cover a much larger screen). While it may require an inch or so of movement to flick a PC’s cursor 6 inches up to the back button, it requires the full 6 inches of movement for your finger on a tablet. Bad.
2. Unlike desktops (or even laptops), the hands are not just used for interacting with a tablet; they’re also used for holding it and supporting its weight. If the user has to move their hand to do something, they have to shift how they are holding the tablet every time they need to use one of the browser’s buttons. Bad.
3. Accuracy suffers. Pick a key on your keyboard and try hitting it with your wrists resting on the hand rests. Now lift your entire arm and try zooming into it with your finger. It’s not difficult (unless you’ve been hanging out with Jack Daniels), but it does take somewhat more effort than the former. I think this is because when your wrist is stable, you only have to move your fingers whereas you have to use your entire upper arm for the latter, which involves more “moving parts” and takes more effort to get the same level of accuracy. Bad.