At the start of almost every technology transition, chaos rules. Competing competitors create confusion, often quite deliberate, as they develop their own unique way of doing things incompatible with all others.

A challenge is arising as gesture-based control takes over on cellphones, tablets, touchpads and computers. Change invariably creates confusion and this situation is exacerbated by the different design philosophies of competing companies coupled with the lack of standardization. This problem is compounded because the new modes of interaction ignore the many important lessons of proper interface design, including discoverability, feedback, and the power of "undo."

Today, the long-established, well-learned model of scrolling is being changed by one vendor, but not by others. Gestures proliferate, with no standards, no easy way of being reminded of them, new easy way to learn.  Change is important, for it is how we make progress. Some confusion is to be expected. But many of the changes and the resulting confusions of today seem arbitrary and capricious.