One of the side effects of living with someone tech-obsessed (apart from the new bits of very-important-equipment that appear, seemingly from nowhere, on a regular basis) is always knowing about the latest advances in gadgetry. Well, kind of. Knowing bits. Remembering the gist of things but not the details.

I have recently been made aware, by way of stuff read out to me from various websites, of an advancement in motion-controlled gadgetry, like remote controls that you make specific movements with to change the channel, or mp3 players that you shake to turn the volume up (I said I didn’t remember the details).

This is all good, but wouldn’t it be amazing if they could develop some sort of system that used much less movement and that worked with a gesture that was the same no matter who was using it? Something that could be ON a device that would allow us to control it with minimal effort and thought.

Oh yeah, BUTTONS.

What’s wrong with buttons? I get that they could be replaced with a touch screen which would display contextual controls because this would save space on gadgets and be infinitely updatable and changeable. But replacing the tiny and simple act of pressing a button with a host of three dimensional hand gestures for no reason other than to do something different?

Pick up your mp3 player and hold it in your hand. With hardly any movement at all, you can turn the volume up or down, right? Hold your mp3 player and skip forward a track. Even if your player was in your pocket, you could still skip forward or back a track or turn the volume up or down easily and with little movement. Those things involve a minute movement of one finger or a thumb. Now, shake your mp3 player from side to side or otherwise shift it about in a way that moves the entire thing in a number of different directions.

Am I alone in thinking that this system does not beat the tried and tested button thing?

Am I also alone in thinking that the buttonless touch pads on the new Macbooks and Macbook Pros would make dragging and dropping a somewhat more acquired skill than it really needs to be?

Today I’ve been reading…
Stupid people saying quite sensible things by La
Perfection Projection by mamaVISION
Hammer Head by Jessa
After the total perspective vortex by Nessa