After a decade-plus of touch screens, brands across various industries are turning back to the tried-and-true pleasures of physical buttons for their newest products.
Thanks to the advent of the iPhone, touch screens have long represented the technology of the future. But they are not everyone's preferred mode of navigating their way around devices and technology. People have been clamouring for a return to the “older” tech due to its intuitiveness, the simple joy of pushing a big button and, importantly, safety concerns.
Knobs, switches, sliders, buttons, and click wheels are the new markers of luxury.
Even Apple, the company that mainstreamed touch screens, has added an “action button” and a “camera control” button to its new iPhone 16 models. The latter is actually a dynamic button that allows users to slide along it to adjust settings.
Carmakers like BMW and Kia have ditched touch displays in favour of dials and switches that won’t force drivers to look at a screen - which often require the user to navigate (while driving) several sub-categories in order to reach the command they are looking for. No wonder that Europe now only gives its highest automotive safety rating to cars with physical buttons.
Other car makers like Porsche and Hyundai are also gradually shifting away. It’s worth noting that, for now at least, these carmakers are still in the minority. American carmakers like GM and Ford will have large, Tesla-esque touch screens come standard in many of its upcoming models. Mercedes-Benz has even announced its own gargantuan, 56-inch “Hyperscreen” display. In other words, don’t expect screens to suddenly disappear from cars anytime soon, says Popular Science. But if current trends continue, buttons might still have a fighting chance.
The button revolution is even coming for induction stoves (Copper), e-readers (Kobo), handheld gaming (Playdate), and synthesizers (Teenage Engineering).
The Wall Street Journal notes that our innate love of physical switches is due to “proprioception” - our spatial awareness in 3D spaces. In other words, buttons are simply more intuitive to the human condition. But, with smart screens definitely here to stay, the best buttons may be the ones that can mix physical pleasure with digital utility like Apple, giving the best of both worlds.
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