March 11, 2009
What’s Apple’s problem with buttons?

But sometimes the appearance-driving forces choke usability enough to leak toxic usability flaws into a shipping product. And I think, like 10.5.0’s translucent menu bar and slanty Dock, and Safari 4 Beta’s tab bar, and heavy shiny glass screens on lightweight laptops, and the Mighty Mouse, that this new Shuffle was a victim of the Apple style police defeating any semblance of common-sense usability.

Couldn’t agree more.  Seems like over the past 2 years, Apple has been making decisions that may ‘look’ cool but don’t make a damn bit of sense in terms of actual ease of use.

  1. tyzm reblogged this from marco
  2. micahtcollins reblogged this from marco and added:
    Shuffle users have always been tolerant of minimalism - a less is more philosophy. Shuffle users accepted
  3. ericnelson reblogged this from marco and added:
    But that’s not how they make money. A software update and new headphones does not create the demand that new, buttonless...
  4. gedankentank reblogged this from marco and added:
    Agree! The 3D Dock is one of my favorite examples. To me...always looked like
  5. wonific reblogged this from marco and added:
    Marco nails it. I love...translucent Menu Bar, I hate the refresh button in Safari 4....
  6. onigiri reblogged this from marco and added:
    I totally agree about...Shuffle: restricting...only one kind...
  7. marco reblogged this from ern and added:
    Don’t get me wrong, I...controls available...a good idea....
  8. ern reblogged this from marco and added:
    moving all of the playback functions...the previous shuffle
  9. rivka reblogged this from marco
  10. stuup reblogged this from marco
  11. cthellis reblogged this from marco and added:
    Offhand, I can’t agree. After getting used to using even...modest of click controls...
  12. talby reblogged this from marco and added:
    I don’t think that shrinking the keyboard will make it more ergonomic. While I’m not sure, and a little skeptical, that...
  13. loszambos reblogged this from marco and added:
    WSJ did a story on this in 07.
  14. dandrews reblogged this from marco and added:
    Couldn’t agree more. Seems like over...past 2 years, Apple has been making decisions
  15. marco reblogged this from mm85 and added:
    them completely disappear, but having...go without it has
  16. ianlee reblogged this from marco and added:
    OS Touch or whatever it is instead of easing us...lame products like said buttonless ipod...
  17. zolf reblogged this from marco
  18. mm85 reblogged this from marco and added:
    This was very well said, but I would also like to add the fact that Apple now offers it’s keyboard w/o a numeric keypad...
  19. marco posted this