This highlights something incredibly important. There's a very stark age line in people using touch screens by default. I TA an intro CS course, and I've noticed the line creep. It's somewhere between those born in 1998 and 2002. They just all like touch screens better because that's what they are used to.
I haven't even graduated and am feeling like a greybeard when it comes to this area. I have to wonder if it's simply that we were trained to be mouse by default...
It's difficult to argue that touchscreen isn't more natural in some sense. I've seen a 2 year old competently use an iPad to access media and play simple games. Programming seems to require a more sophisticated UI though, so I worry that touchscreen people will be even less inclined than usual to hack on internals, etc.
I haven't even graduated and am feeling like a greybeard when it comes to this area. I have to wonder if it's simply that we were trained to be mouse by default...