People laughed when in a Windows 8 keynote a Microsoft exec said, "To a kid, a screen without touch is broken."
I think that was pretty spot on. Touch is a very primal way to interact with things.
I've seen a toddler try to swipe on a magazine. It was both hilarious and enlightening.
I recently caught myself holding my finger on a paper book and waiting for the translation dialog to pop up. Guess too much time spent reading on a Kindle.