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Comment by Iv | Hacker News Reader

I really think that nowadays touchscreens are becoming the cheap option. To me when I see a machine with custom designed button I know they had to do some mechanical design, whereas a flat touch screen just says "we slapped a tablet there and hacked an interface on android".

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Which is ironic because I'd happily pay more not to have one. I bought a replacement for my 10+ year old MP3 player. The new thing is so cool and slick and flat and sophisticated and plain complex, and it's horrible to use. It demands your attention for everything.

My old MP3 player with its physical buttons and weird control lever, well, I could work it by touch and muscle memory.

It's why I like my Up!: they decided everyone already has their own touchscreen with infotainment. So you have a dock for your phone, a USB charger and a bluetooth enabled sound system. The rest uses mechanical controls.

It's interesting that despite Apple's no-buttons obsession, even the latest iPhone still has a physical silent-mode switch and volume buttons.

I don’t think Apple is against buttons, just not on the screen. Gotta say I think it’s pretty weird they have a silent mode button, and a Do Not Disturb mode hidden in the controls? What is that duplication about?

Do not disturb is not the same as silent. The former mutes all notifications so they don't wake up the phone nor produce sound or vibration, the latter disables UI sounds and uses vibrations instead of sounds for notifications. They are completely independent.

Sony had one of the best mp3 players imo, nw series, the ones shaped like a bic lighter. There was a rotary knob to switch between tracks, very intuitive to use without looking at it. But the main problem was it required their custom software to transfer files. The later models got turned into ipod imitations, with an lcd screen and buttons, such a shame.

That reminds me of how great of a device my iPod shuffle was. To bad the battery died..,

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