He also got me thinking about a box that has been sitting on my desk for several weeks: A Microsoft Touch Mouse, which features a surface studded with touch sensors, so you can perform gestures on the mouse, the same way you might on a touch pad.

FORBES: Non-Intended Uses For A Microsoft Touch Mouse

Instead of forcing us to replicate long swipe gestures using a mouse (which would be cruel to all concerned), Microsoft is putting forward these little key combos as the primary means of navigation on traditional desktop PCs that don't have touchscreens.

ENGADGET: Windows 8 upgrade diary: multiple monitors make my mouse mad

Leap Motion impressed attendees by enabling people to throw away the mouse and control computers with natural hand gestures, allowing users to literally mold their ideas on the screen.

FORBES: At SXSW, Technology Meets Humanity

Right away I imagined a console-based true web browser where you use your iPad keyboard to type the way you would on a PC, and Kinect gestures stand-in for a mouse.

FORBES: Microsoft Gives No Hint at a New Console During E3 Keynote, Focuses on 'Smart Glass' Instead

One interface feels better with a touchscreen and gestures, the other with a keyboard and mouse or touchpad.

CNN: FAQ: What you need to know about upgrading to Windows 8

Before KeepShot, I had a hard time imagining doing any book editing without a computer mouse, but after a couple of days with the iPad app, my fingers' on-screen gestures were able to create a photo book with no problem.

WSJ: Review of KeepShot: Hassle-Free Photo Books in One Couch Sitting

And the enormous trackpad, with support for "multitouch" gestures, is easy to pick up, even for a fat-fingered reporter who likes his mouse.

FORBES: Into Thin (MacBook) Air