Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Apple buttons and fake Steve

(Or: Apple, buttons and Fake Steve Jobs)
Now I think I know why there are so few buttons on iPods and the iPhone. According to a number of sources (Slashdot and Free Mac Blog to name a few), Steve Jobs hates buttons. Even fake Steve Jobs ranted about a Washington Post Article about Steve and buttons.

Ah, that explains why iPods don't have FM radios, voice recording or line-in recording. Adding these features would require more buttons, as the click wheel is totally maxed out for the functions it performs. And more buttons would be a no-no.

Yet in some ways this minimalist design works. Sure I like the additional functionality of the Creative Zen V Plus - the ability to delete tracks on the devices as well as create and name playlists. But I can operate my iPod Nano with acupuncture needles protruding from my my hands and arms without causing myself a major injury.

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