Steve Jobs Hates Buttons

ElvaWSJ writes "While many technology companies load their products up with buttons, Steve Jobs treats them as blemishes that add complexity and hinder their clean aesthetics. The iPhone is Steve Jobs's attempt to crack a juicy new market for Apple Inc. But it's also part of a decades-long campaign by Mr. Jobs against a much broader target: buttons. The new Apple cellphone famously does without the keypads that adorn its rivals. Instead, it offers a touch-sensing screen for making phone calls and tapping out emails. The resulting look is one of the sparest ever for Apple, a company known for minimalist gadgets. "

Obviously...

[gregarican]

They should have had the Thing using one of the prototype iPhones in the first Fantastic Four movie when he was trying to call his girlfriend..."Damn buttons!!!"

Blemishes

[sjonke]

Similarly, CmdrTaco considers editors to be blemishes that add complexity and hinder the clean aesthetics of Slashdot. He considers them to be blemishes that add complexity and hinder the clean aesthetics of Slashdot.

Alternate Keypad

[Drew McKinney]

Funny Jobs hates buttons. Because you know what I hate? Alternate Keypads [thebestpag...iverse.net].

From the Best Site in the Universe: [thebestpag...iverse.net]
On an iPhone, you have to press an additional button that opens up an alternate keypad that will allow you to type numbers and punctuation. So typing something as simple as elipses (...) requires you to tap your finger 9 times. Enjoy your phone, losers! People like me who have shit to do will stick to a keyboard that doesn't have its lips wrapped firmly to the user-interface equivalent of a throbbing dong

Maddox's Take on the iPhone and... BUTTONS

[madsheep]

Note: This is *NOT* child or work-safe material, but is funny as hell whether you like the iPhone or not. If you haven't seen it and have a sense of humor..read on:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ip hone [thebestpag...iverse.net]

Fastest dupe ever

[jsse]

"While many technology companies load their products up with buttons, Steve Jobs treats them as blemishes that add complexity and hinder their clean aesthetics.....While many technology companies load their products up with buttons, Steve Jobs treats them as blemishes that add complexity and hinder their clean aesthetics. "

CmdrTaco managed to break the record of fastest dupe by duping first sentence in the same headline.

Buck Murdock

[memeplex]

Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap will ya? We've got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking, beeping and flashing - they're flashing and they're beeping. I can't stand it anymore! They're blinking and beeping and flashing! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!

Bookends

[Bonewalker]

It is interesting to note that we must now bookend our paragraphs with the same sentences at the beginning and end. I, for one, don't care much for this new trend...and lets be honest, can we even call it a trend? More of a fad, really, I should think. Either way, it just seems patently redundant, even repetitive. But who am I to question authority? I pretty much just tag along, blindly unaware of my absolute devotion to society's will. It is interesting to note that we must now bookend our paragraphs with the same sentences at the beginning and end.

Of Course He Does

[eldavojohn]

Freak button accident when he was seven.

It's no coincidence that he always wears a mock turtleneck sweater with no buttons to kill him on the front and a pair of zippered jeans.

You think Ballmer's a nut, you should see Jobs talk to his employees: "For every button I find on this interface, I shall kill you ..."

2500$ for a remote?

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

The best remote is the one my dear friend MKP had. That remote could obey the phone commands, turn on the fan, open the windows and put the tea kettle on the stove. It was a boy from Orissa working for some 500Rs a month. Oh! Those were the days. Mohan! Where are you!!!

chicken or egg?

[Joe the Lesser]

*looks into the future*

How do you turn off the monitor?

It's easy, you just use the touch screen button there.

Oh, then how do you turn it back on? ...

Re:Blemishes

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that so? Interesting. Personally, I've always considered them to be blemishes that add complexity and hinder the clean aesthetics of Slashdot.

Re:Mrs. Jobs is a lucky woman

[saider]

He's still going to insist that the interface responds the way he wants it to when he touches it.

Jobs is an Switchofascist

[Anonymous Coward]

Always wearing those black, buttonless turtlenecks. All his jeans have zippers only. And button flies are completely banned on any Apple campus.

His unbridled hatred of buttons goes back to his childhood experience with a vending machine which consistently failed to deliver Andy Capp's Hot Fries, instead dropping the unwanted carrot sticks.

Re:Blemishes

[berashith]

i would agree that dupes are blemishes that add complexity and hinder the clean aesthetics of Slashdot, and should be consolidated into single articles that dupe themselves inside of themselves to avoid blemishes that add complexity and hinder clean aesthetics.

Obligatory...

[markov_chain]

Mr. Ego said it best: iPhone vs. E70 [thebestpag...iverse.net]

Re:Buttons!?

[briggsb]

That's why the next-generation iPod [bbspot.com] will have no user interface controls.

Re:Buttons You Say?

[Anonymous Coward]

While many technology companies load their products up with buttons, Mr. Jobs treats them as blemishes that add complexity to electronics products and hinder their clean aesthetics.

No, really?

Yes, while many technology companies load their products up with buttons, Mr. Jobs treats them as blemishes that add complexity to electronics products and hinder their clean aesthetics.

Oh, okay.

Re:Problem is....

[ColdWetDog]

And we should value the opinions of people who spend $2,500 on a remote?

Sure, if they were my customers spending $2500 on a remote, I would value their opinions most highly.

Would you like an extra button on that button sir?

Re:Oh look, it's Apple O'Clock

[Alt_Cognito]

You fool! There [gizmodo.com] is [nytimes.com] nothing [arstechnica.com] else [tuaw.com] worth [persistent.info] talking [poopforbrains.com] about [piratepalooza.com] in [gizmodo.com] the [thebestpag...iverse.net] entire [phillryu.com] industry [engadget.com]!

You might think people are obsessed. [youtube.com]

Re:Problem is....

[paeanblack]

No interface control is intuitive by itself.

The nipple. All other interfaces are learned.

Re:Buttons as Features

[ColdWetDog]

I can text a message on my cellphone without looking at the phone because there is a tactile reference to where each key is located.

So you're the guy who sent me the message "AKI( Ekdlu WO.T 67Grtgixool;"?

Harrison Bergeron

[Valdrax]

Why do sight-impaired users need a $600 phone with video-playback and web-browsing capabilities?

Seems like making carriers offer a phone actually targeted to the visually-impaired (maybe with text-to-speech webbrowsing and braille input) would be preferable to trying to force vendors of phones with explicitly visually-oriented features to move to accommodate a user base that would be poorly served by its useful feature/price ratio.

It should be the carriers and not every single kind of phone that should support handicapped users. Otherwise, you're deliberately stepping on innovation for people who can take advantage of a visually-oriented phone in a Harrison Bergeron-esque quest to prevent gadget envy.

When did Jobs morph into Steve Martin?

[Arcane_Rhino]

He hates these buttons! Stay away from the buttons!

Re:Four

[Minwee]

Isn't one a month inconvenient enough?

Re:Problem is....

[HarvardAce]

Personally, I prefer a knob that's connected directly to a Potentiometer for volume control, but that's just me.

Only if it goes to 11.

Yea, We Need More Thinking Like This...

[severoon]

I always also drive with the radio off because I find that distracting. I think others should also be compelled by law to drive without music.

And kids.

Re:chicken or egg?

[Himring]

clap

Re:Buttons!?

[Bastardchyld]

Well another day at Slashdot.

How about instead of spewing garbage, try coming up with a point and then backing it up with fact to strengthen your previous point.

Oh and by the way last time I checked Steve Jobs hasn't "developed" anything hardware or software in many many years, this is why his job title says CEO instead of developer, engineer or something similar.

As far as the buttons are concerned. I think the idea of the iPhone being buttonless (physically) is pretty good. I don't think we have seen if this idea will pan out over the long term and be dependable enough for the market, but I am pretty sure that the dependability question has been raised of many inventions over the years (early automobiles, light bulb, you name it).

I personally will not buy an iPhone. One reason is price. The second reason is that I want a phone that can call other phones. I don't need a phone that can access the internet (although if it had ssh access I might consider that feature), play music, play games, watch movies, download shit, or rub my balls. None of that stuff is necessary for me, so it is not worth my time.

Re:Buttons!?

[Ohreally_factor]

Oh and by the way last time I checked Steve Jobs hasn't "developed" anything hardware or software in many many years, this is why his job title says CEO instead of developer, engineer or something similar.

What? You've never heard of the one buckle mouse? That was Steve's idea. Or zippers used in elevators? That was Steve's, too. However, I think his greatest contribution to computing was replacing the keyboard with velcro. That was genius.

Re:Buttons!?

[Ohreally_factor]

However, I want a few dedicated buttons for important functions like volume, power, and send/hang up.

I take it you're not a big fan of dragging your call to the trash when you're done talking.

Re:You'd think so...

[sa1lnr]

I need a refresher course.

Am I alone in this need?

Re:Buttons!?

[HTH NE1]

Also, when you're using the stereo headset, you can click and double-click the microphone button to answer, hang up, pause and jump to the next track.

I know I've had phone conversations where I've wanted the other end of the conversation to jump to the next track at the push of a button.

Re:Problem is....

[AdamThor]

I just checked with my friend who has an iPhone, and it -does- have hard buttons for volume on the side. So as much as he hates them, he didn't go crazy.

Pffft! You don't know the half of it! That screen may not have any physical buttons on it, but what does it show pictures of? BUTTONS! The first time we showed it to Jobs he just about shat a kitten. Nearly killed my intern. The only way we ever eventually got it by him was making a 'Steve Jobs Edition' special phone. We told him it was voice operated. Actually, we had Joe from accounting sitting outside the demo room and logged into the thing remotely. Steve was like "DIAL. 1. 9. 5. 2. 8. 5. 4. 4. 7 oops I mean 8. 7. 0." He was real impressed that our speech-to-text engine caught his mistake (of course he said it was on purpose). But damn, if he ever thought you had to actually touch those icons on screen his liver would probably explode. And apart from your skin, your liver is totally the biggest organ.

* I am not an actual apple employee

Re:Buttons!?

[Ohreally_factor]

It's context sensitive and it depends on whether your call is file or a mountable volume. =)

Re:Buttons!?

[shmlco]

"... play music, play games, watch movies, download shit, or rub my balls."

Ummm... that last point. Is there a phone... ah, never mind.

Re:Buttons!?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish I was a stupid as Steve Jobs, then I, too, could have a that personal jet plane that I've always wanted.

Yeah, he's all turtleneck and trousers, alright.