I rather despise moderated comments, especially on major sites like Fast Company. I do understand the reasoning though, I mean it IS the wild n' wolly Internet. True, I am a bit Sybil on this.
Fast Company has an article on the new remote, comparing the histoical content provider (Dish, Cable, etc) supplied units with the new gleaming consumer app driven tablets and smartphones. Granted I did refer to an old post of my that touches on this subject, exepct mine rejects the newy for the old and makes reference to weighted gain knobs as influenced by Miss September 1963.
This or the comments monitor does not like to counter all the corporate market quotes.
Alas - here is my commet, for the record.
I must take a, somewhat, contrarian view to this article. While there is a certain allure to the simplified remote and the titanium encased tablet am I alone in feeling that the iPad is well, soul-less in comparison? I am troubled by the frictionless gloss of icons, I miss the tactile feel of a physical interface.
Perhaps it is simple nostalgia but I long for the clickty-clack-clunk of an 8-track tape, the solid mechanical ka-chunk of open reel tape decks, and the tactile feel and response of weighted gain knobs. I am not sure just why I love these knobs so much, the sheer pleasure of them in my hand – they just feel right, perfectly balanced in my fingers and against my palm. something the smartphones and tablets just do not recreate.
Do not trust the device manufactures to come up with a dramatic method or control experience. Despite claims by the very same that it is the content providers ( Dish, Cable, etc) who are restricting new interfaces by churning out millions of ‘clunky’ remotes into the hands of users - (who have become ‘accustomed’ to it via muscle memory) - no real alternatives have come out. Does everyone forget the disaster of the Sony Commander? No wonder we stick with tactile response devices provide.
http://tuckerstuesday.typepad.com/tuckerstuesday/2010/10/8-bit-nostalgia-and-miss-september-63s-influence-on-tactile-controls-.html
