[tmrggns]

I'm reminded of the time I heard the car talk guys bemoaning the growing electronics in car displays. They seemed to think that physical switches and dials were easy to work even by someone not looking at them, as opposed to touch screens and displays.

[brc]

Find a volume or hvac knob in the dark is much easier than looking down at a flat screen to see which icon you're at.

Try and dial a phone number on an iphone without looking at it. It can't be done. But with an old-style push button phone, you can actually do this. Not that you would want to, but it's to point out the difference between having a dedicated interface vs touchscreens.

[noblethrasher]

When was the last time the people really used their phone to dial a phone number? Trading a touch screen for tactile controls was probably a loss only for people that used speed dial or memorized the navigation of their contact list (I was one of those people). On the other hand, voice interfaces like Siri seem like a net win.

[veyron]

I was almost mugged once. A tactile phone saved me.

My dad and I were a bit cavalier when working an ATM outside a bank of america (it was outside, not within a security door). Normally we would count money at the ATM itself but this particular one didn't have good sides, so anyone could see that we withdrew 500 dollars. Someone followed us, stepped into the car and drew a knife, and told us to drive.

He saw my dad's blackberry in the car and took it (to stop us from calling). Thanks to hard buttons (years before the first iphone, I had what you would call a "feature phone"), I was able to quietly text my mom (phone in my pocket) to call the cops. Fellow made the mistake of telling us where to drive before we got there, and fortunately the cops were aware of the situation, so the cops were able to apprehend the guy where we let him off.

Despite having used the iphone for many years, I still don't know a consistent sequence of actions to get me to the messaging screen, select my mom, and send a specific message without looking at the phone

[brc]

I said it was an example to show the difference, not a an actual example.

The last time I tried to find the volume knob for the audio in the dark was yesterday. I have both steering wheel controls + dash knob for volume level. The steering wheel controls +/- are actually shaped differently, for the expres s purpose of changing volume without taking your eyes off the road.

[sukuriant]

And they're right. For another example, see the tactile feedback in physical keyboards, vs the keyboards on a touch screen on a phone or tablet. The shape of a button and the act of depressing it are very important inputs. Our fingers are filled with a large number of sensors relative other parts of our bodies, and it's best that we use them.

Other instances where analog has been desired over digital:

* those brightness adjustment sliders in presentation rooms

* video game controllers

I'm sure there are more.

[tonylemesmer]

In this concept the buttons are all the same shape and size. Only the location of them differentiates them (and perhaps the printed legend) So flicking from one screen to the other requires moving my hand to a different button. Why not allow the same button to toggle the screen back and forth? We are trying to keep our eyes on the road here.