There’s an interesting tradeoff presented by the iPhone. While the phone can do more, and it’s interface is fluid, in some ways it widens the gulf between human and computer.
When you touch it it doesn’t touch you back.
That may prove to be a good thing. It may prove that what we think we need we don’t really need. The tradeoffs may payoff. But we’ve certainly lost the tactile feedback humans are used to when dealing with things that are right in front of us. Now the connection is simulated. Rich textures have been replaced with androgynous glass.
How can you dial the iPhone without looking at it? How can you reach in your pocket and press “1” for voicemail? How can you orient yourself with the interface without seeing it? With a traditional phone or device with buttons you can feel your way around it. You can find the bumps, the humps, the cut lines, the shapes, the sizes. You can find your way around in the dark. Not with the iPhone.
I don’t know if this is better or worse. We won’t know until we try it (and oh man I can’t wait to try it). I just think its really interesting. It’s a pretty big deal. The implications are far reaching. The iPhone demands your attention, it forces you to look at it. We’re lucky it’s beautiful.
Richard Bird
on 10 Jan 07Great point, JF. You would have to imagine that some degree of hardware interface was considered along the way. For example: a small set of elegant, unlabeled, user-programmable buttons might have been just enough to fill that gap.
brad
on 10 Jan 07In David Pogue’s quickie review for the NY Times, he mentions that typing on the iPhone is difficult precisely because you don’t get that tactile feedback, and he made a lot of mistakes.
I have a feeling the iPhone will turn out to be a lot like the iPod: you won’t really get it until you see one and use it for yourself. At the beginning a lot of people scoffed at the iPod but when they saw one in real life they wanted it immediately. And it worked a lot better than they thought it would.
It’ll be interesting to see if Apple makes any effort to make the iPhone accessible to blind people; that might address some of the issues you’re talking about here, but I think in general the iPhone will just force people to let go of their old tactile habits and focus on the entirely visual.
The iPod itself is not that far from this visual paradigm.
Steve R.
on 10 Jan 07Personally, I like non-touchy-feely gadgets. I don’t want to play ‘pocket pool’ with my PDA/cell phone – if I am not using it, the only thing I want to do by touch is shut it off. I will buy one of these phones when they come out – for a little more than the cost of a Palm, I get total integration (no more paying additional fees to migrate contacts between phones, if its’ even possible). I’d rather pay for efficiency of information up front than piecemeal over the life of an inferior phone. The interface is great, but the integration makes it must-have for me. The combination is… well, just what we’ve come to expect from Apple. I’m curious about the implications of the renaming – they have bigger fish to fry, clearly.
Paul Campbell
on 10 Jan 07Another thing I noticed was that there didn’t seem to be any mention of vibration … The feeling I get is that the intention is you’ll be listening to music, but there’s something satisfying about the vibration letting me know I have a text message.
The other thing I was thinking of this morning was the qwerty keyboard. I know there’re plenty out there who can’t live without their blackberries, but my primary pointing device for textgin isn’t my fingers … it’s my thumbs … I’m not certain that pointing at a 101 digital qwerty keyboard will be a whole lot faster than two thumbs using just 10 buttons to have access to a whole alphabet.
The reason we can type so quick using a keyboard is access to all 8 typing fingers – for me, my fingers are conditioned to qwerty, my thumbs to t9 on my phone.
andrea
on 10 Jan 07I think that the iPhone will introduce new gestures just like the iPod did: “before” the iPod scrolling was clicking on arroes or dragging a slider, now is circling on a wheel, maybe the iPhone “will teach” us new tricks: i.e. a diagonal swipe on the screen for shutting it off, a triple click for getting to voiec-mail. for sure zooming in/out clicking on +/- buttons will look so dated after we will try once to do it on the iPhone. I remember how I felt whne I learnt the shortcuts for Graffiti on my 2000 Palm Vx… http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199801/shortgraffiti001.html
Gustavo Beathyate
on 10 Jan 07I’m pretty sure they’ll include voice recognition and that’ll be their solution to this. And in the WWDC the demo on the new speech technology was amazing. Plus, I don’t think the majority of people dial the phone in their pockets, I wouldn’t want to call someone by mistake… and if you must do that, then I guess you can buy one of the other triillion phones out there. It doesn’t necesarily have to be the one phone for all humanity, a lot of people just want a cheap phone with no contract.
Narendra
on 10 Jan 07That was exactly my first thought. I owned a sony brick style phone about 6 years ago that was “super cool” and had a touch screen. It was a complete UI disaster for dialing.
I am hoping all those patents are based around providing a clear shiny new path toward real usability.
Dima Nikolaev
on 10 Jan 07iWipe
James Wheare
on 10 Jan 07I was discussing this with a friend after the keynote last night and he countered with the fact that Apple can always simulate tactility where they eliminate it. The iPod’s scroll wheel clicks by default when you turn it even though it’s a sensor. The Mighty Mouse also has clicky buttons even though it operates with a pressure sensor. It’s a question of separating affordances from operational mechanics.
PWills
on 10 Jan 07I predict that the iPhone will not be successful precisely because of the lack of tactile feedback.
Voice recognition is not a viable alternative; the reason why people love their Blackberries and are addicted to SMS is precisely because it lets them communicate when they can’t use their voice (meetings, school, church, etc).
I have bought a new universal remote for my parents every year for the last ten years (don’t ask). Many models have tried to forgo buttons in favor of a touchscreen, and in all cases my parents have abandoned the device, because they want to be able to change channels without taking their eyes off the TV.
For the same reason, the iPhone’s appeal will be limited.
Robby Russell
on 10 Jan 07I thought this too and then thought about the Mighty Mouse. I imagine that there will be clicking sounds turned on to help the users. I can’t help but think about those movies where there are button-less monitors that people touch and drag stuff around.
Perhaps this is a step in that direction…
This just seems like something too obvious for Apple to overlook.
keith
on 10 Jan 07Good point Jason and I agree. Tactile feedback is a significant part of industrial design.
I guess it is indeed a trade off between being able to have that cool-ass polymophic UI and nice tactile responses of solid keys and buttons made of plastic and metal.
You can only go so far with virtual or manufacture tactile feedback. You might be able to reproduce some feedback for a UI event (like a click) but you can’t replace being able to feel which button you are pressing while not looking at it.
Maybe Apple have one J. Ives working on that problem right now…
Jim Kane
on 10 Jan 07I’ll go with a few of the previous comments—I think voice control will be the key here. If done right, it should be both easier and safer than thumbing your way around.
brad
on 10 Jan 07I predict that the iPhone will not be successful precisely because of the lack of tactile feedback.
I clearly remember when the Mac first came out in the 1980s, you heard lots of people say “I predict the Mac will not be successful because the mouse requires you to remove your hand from the keyboard.”
Anything that forces you to change the way you’re used to doing things will be met with resistance. But people adapt. In the case of the iPhone, I suspect the loss of tactile feedback is a small price to pay for the ability to have software “buttons”whose design and functionality are perfectly matched to the application you’re using, rather than hardware buttons that are forced to serve multiple functions.
Jeremy
on 10 Jan 07I had a disappointing experience with a touchscreen Treo that taught me just how much I crave that fingertip sensation of a regular old phone button. But since frustration is exponential, maybe if the interface hadn’t sucked too I wouldn’t have hated the phone.
When I compare my original iPod’s mechanical jog wheel to my current one’s touch sensor, I still prefer the true movement of the original wheel. But because the rest of the new device delivers so much more, I prefer it to the old one. The trade off here is OK.
The deciding factor with the iPhone is whether Apple hit the sweat spot with even one or two the things it does. In fact, I wonder what percentage of owner’s won’t even use it as a phone.
Adam Thody
on 10 Jan 07It is an interesting point, but let’s be honest – how often do we need to be dialing without looking? The only obvious scenarios I can think of are in the car, and maybe walking somewhere busy (I’m probably forgetting something)...and really, should you be on a cell phone in those situations anyway?
I’m sure this is an unintended side-effect, but if no tactile feedback causes fewer people to be on the phone while they’re driving I think it’s better for everyone. If you’re doing something that requires so much of your attention that you can’t look down at your phone long enough to dial it then you probably shouldn’t be dialing it in the first place.
Karl Nieberding
on 10 Jan 07I can’t dial my plain Motorola cell phone without looking at it anyway, so that’s no big deal. I can’t open the clamshell in my pocket either. However, I can see how the iPhone would be harder to use to call a friend while driving. Luckily there is a short favorites list of contacts you can create, which I thought was a great idea. However, it definitely takes both hands if you need to hold it and scroll down a full list.
As an iPod it is no longer pocket-accessible as well. That is the tradeoff for having a Turing machine over a single function device. Jack of all trades type of thing. I love my iPod shuffle as a music device I never have to look at (and have a different mp3 player for when I want to be able to browse everything).
I think the tradeoff is very interesting as well. I don’t think we’ll get to find out for sure if it works until June, but I know I’m getting one just to try it out.
I would hope that the keyboard could be displayed in landscape to allow more room, too.
Richard Crowley
on 10 Jan 07I saw the iPhone and immediately visions of the old touch-sensitive (2G? I don’t actually know) iPods came to mind. I loved the touch buttons on those iPods and so I think I’ll be game for the iPhone. Of course, the touch-sensitive buttons on the old iPods were in depressed circles on the surface, so it was still possible to change songs while driving.
Yep, we’re all thinking it – can I use the iPhone while driving? The answer is a definite maybe. You’ll almost certainly have to look at it to dial, but who dials with numbers anymore? You dial by looking through the phonebook, and no matter how tactile the phone, you have to look to keep your bearings in your phonebook. In this scenario, the iPhone is no worse than my current phone. I can scroll the iPhone with a single finger, look down to check where I am in the alphabet, and then continue driving or scrolling.
I agree with those suggesting the iPhone will teach us new tricks. But I think it will be like a dog learning to shake with the right instead of the left, not learning how to roll over. The amount of blind interaction we have with our phones is being exaggerated. Its worth giving this thing a chance.
Richard
J
on 10 Jan 07You’ll almost certainly have to look at it to dial, but who dials with numbers anymore? You dial by looking through the phonebook, and no matter how tactile the phone, you have to look to keep your bearings in your phonebook.
I almost always dial with speed dial.The pattern of the ubiquitous number keypad is burned into my muscle memory. I just hold down 2 to dial this person or 5 to dial that one or 7 for someone else. I don’t need to look, focus, or concentrate on the dialing aspect.
eric
on 10 Jan 07I don’t dial my cell phone without looking, but I certainly do pause, adjust the volume, or switch songs on my iPod without looking. On the other hand, my iPod isn’t a combination phone, mp3, wireless internet super-device. Will I care? I suppose I’ll have to play with one before I’ll know.
Martin
on 10 Jan 07I agree. Never seen anyone blindly pressing “1” to get to their mailbox. As someone mentioned, people are afraid to accidently activate some function they did not want. They go for the visual confirmation the phone is in the right mode before they start.
Typing text or numbers could be a different thing. But I refrain from judgement until I had it in my hands (= next year, as I am in Europe).
The phone has a button to put it into silent mode, so I really hope this also activates a vibrate function.
Now the next innovation will be displays (flexible foils most likely) that can create contours to the virtual buttons by being bent through induction of current. That would be sweet!
A small detail to the demo Steve gave. When mailing the picture to Phil, I would expect the mail application to insert the address of the current call as default. Apple is about good defaults. Or there could be a “mail to current caller” as a menu option. There is still time to work on the interface details left though. Or to update them later (no wireless syncing?). (or even last )
Patrick Berry
on 10 Jan 07It’s not like this is the first time Apple makes something that forces people to change the way they do things. Before people used to obsessively organize their mp3 collection, now it’s just all in iTunes.
Pogue mentions that he was typing with 100% accuracy after a while (he only got an hour to play with it).
Also, when you are doing your “no look” dialing, are you trying to drive? Should you be texting in church? I’m not saying it’s Apple’s place to prevent you from doing such things, they just saw that this was the best way to go. Will certain habits have to change? Yes. Will some people not buy the product because of this? Undoubtedly.
I’ve had many discussions with folks about this and in almost all of them people projected their own habits onto the entire consumer market. Apple has specific numbers that they want to hit and they don’t have to sell a phone to every person to meet those numbers. They’ll find plenty of people to buy iPhones and I find it interesting that people want to spend so much time explaining, in excruciating detail, why they will not buy one.
On that note, I probably wont get one because it costs a lot ;-)
Dan Boland
on 10 Jan 07The one action that most people do with their phone in their pocket is ignore a call. So if the Home button doubles as an ignore call button, that takes care of the bulk of that problem altogether.
Dima Nikolaev
on 10 Jan 07I don’t know about mailbox but I use “blind” speed-dial all the time – I take it out of the pocket, unblock it, press a numeric key and hold it for one second. I take a look at the display only to check that I did hung up after conversation.
Adrian L
on 10 Jan 07Suddenly less isn’t more after all?
Kelby
on 10 Jan 07On every mobile I’ve used, the 5 key has raised dots so that Blind or Partially Sighted people can dial. How will Apple address the issue of accessibility?
Patrick D
on 10 Jan 07I’m definitely interested to see how well the touch-screen interface works out. The usability problems with touch interfaces are well-established. Even Apple backpedaled on the iPod’s four buttons when they went from touch back to tactile between 3G and 4G.
On the other hand, the functionality of this device might just trump any minor usability problems. With Microsoft Word, MySpace, etc. we’ve seen that usability is just not that important to the majority of consumers. Or, they don’t realize it is until it’s to late ;-)
To me, the most interesting thing about the iPhone is that it looks to be a make-or-break test for convergence. So far, all we’ve seen are phones with a crappy camera and web browser tacked on. If anyone can do this right, it’s Apple—and this is going to set a precedent. Can we make usable general purpose mobile devices? And more importantly, will people buy and use them?
Jim
on 10 Jan 07Adrian L, This is significantly more. Yes, its seems like less buttons, but its so complex yet so small than any keyboard won’t work. They simplified the interface by a great amount, but they had to almost totally remove that which is so important about the physical interface: tactile quality.
I thought for sure that their patents were simply experiments and would be used in addition to some buttons. Typing on the thing will be difficult.
Regardless, FINALLY, someone is making a usable interface for a phone plus software. I’m guessing that someone else might take 37signals up on their desire to design an interface. The iPhone can be beat, you’d just need to do your phone the right way.
Adam Welling
on 10 Jan 07Adrian L : How do you figure this fits into a less isn’t more situation? As far as smartphones go, this seems to have less interface between you and what you are doing with the device than any competition. I carry a blackberry and can do many of the same things this can do, but there is far less refinement, and far more interaction required to make these things happen. By reducing buttons and creating a contextual view based on what you’re doing – I’d say the premiere feature to the device is that is LESS complicated by having LESS buttons. Less doesn’t always mean reduced functionality, sometimes less means simplicity, clarity, and innovation. The only less here that may be a negative, is less tactile feedback – and the jury is still out on that.
PS – I hope my blackberry didn’t hear that, I truly do love the little guy, his interface just isn’t quite as simple and refined as I’d like.
garrett
on 10 Jan 07Maybe they’ll implement something like active screen corners, so you could simply press your finger on one of the corners and have it dial a predefined number. You could use the edge of the screen to get some idea of where you are on it. They could also implement some form of “mouse gesture” (only with fingers), I could certainly draw a circle without looking and it could then recognise that and dial a specified number.
Eloy Anzola
on 10 Jan 07For what is worth… I speed dial my wife without looking at the phone all the time.
While commuting on the NYC subway, I often simply reach into my pocket and click forward or adjust my iPod’s volume. No need to look.
Anonymous Coward
on 10 Jan 07@keith “Tactile feedback is a significant part of industrial design” well, it is a siginificant part “now”, maybe the feedback will be acoustic (nothing new) or haptic (a light vibration of the screen/phone). race car dirvers use their ass to “feel” how the car is handling, they don’t have a gauge for this, I am sure that before or later some engineer will find out a way to codificate this “feedback” in order to help the driver.
just “think different”, if we didn’t probably the only known feedbacks would still be hot and cold…
andrea
on 10 Jan 07[OT] Complaint to 37signals I am not an “Anonymous Coward”... I just forgot to type my name & e-mail: this is definitely an example of bad user experience! why didn’t you let me know that I was going to be labelled an “Anonymous Coward”? it could be a simple sentence in the footnote (the one where you explain you moderation policy) or a pop-window with al alert that says: “since you didn’t specify your name and email we are going to post your message calling you Anonymous Coward, do you want to proceed?” surely I would have paid more attention and avoided to go Anonymous…
Zach
on 10 Jan 07Anyone who thinks Apple didn’t consider lack of tactile feedback and address the challenge through smart design & user testing isn’t giving Apple the credit they’ve earned. I’m sure there are very few industrial designers on here, and if we all thought about it you can be they did too and they probably solved the problem better than any of us could.
I just hope they make a deal with a service provider in Canada soon!
Dan
on 10 Jan 07Outside of a black hole I don’t think it’s gonna stay dark once you pull this thing out.
I somewhat agree about needing the tactile feedback of more traditional buttons, but I think the experience of actually using the iPhone is gonna be a lot different than what you think it might be just watching someone else do it.
To relate to an earlier comment, passing judgement on the iPhone would be sort of like passing judgement on the mouse (when it was new) without ever having used it. Maybe this won’t be that revolutionary but I think it’s enough of a shift that it’s gonna change the way a lot of people use their phones.
Adrian L
on 10 Jan 07Jim, Adam W…
The point I was attempting to make, and possibly missing, is that Apple has changed a de facto standard user interface on a ubiquitous device by having less moving parts, less distraction on screen for any given task, and less cruft without adding anything appreciable to the complexity of the device, but our stalwart “less-is-more” 37signallers are complaining that a feature they think should be there is missing.
I haven’t yet decided if the taste of irony is bitter or sweet.
The funniest part of all is that none of us have had one of these in our hands for any amount of time, we don’t know if there’s audio feedback, tactile feedback, anything, do we?
It seems a bit early for Jason to post this concern in the manner he has. Raise the point as something to look at, for sure, but lets be patient, it hasn’t even been 24 hours since the thing was released.
On the upside, Jason has made the point that he has no experience with the device. Points for making that clear, Jason.
Brian
on 10 Jan 07Did anyone else notice this line in the Time coverage:
jean zaque
on 10 Jan 07if this has already been addressed in this thread, or by apple somewhere, then sorry for my lack of diligence, but . . .
won’t the screen get all greasy with fingerprints? is that really the interface through which you want to look at pictures and watch video?
LB
on 10 Jan 07Not just fingerprints. How about the body’s natural oils or whatever goop people have applied to their heads that will appear after using the phone?
Killian
on 10 Jan 07Those lovely telephone humps…Check it out. A little too much Black Eyed Pees on the brain there?
As far as voice recognition goes the ‘Voice Dial’ by Voice Signal [ http://www.voicesignal.com/ ] is a great dialer. It requires no training and can accurately distinguish names from a phone book of over 1,000 contacts. There may be other solutions out there but I’m not looking since this great little app takes care of business.
I really like the idea of a ‘shake’ speed dial. Admittedly this is my own iPhone fantasy but with the motion sensor thing you could probably flick your wrist a certain way to auto-dial your VM or call a favorite.
brad
on 10 Jan 07won’t the screen get all greasy with fingerprints? is that really the interface through which you want to look at pictures and watch video?
Pogue mentioned in his review how they tested lots and lots of surfaces until they found the one that wouldn’t pick up oils from your skin and could be easily wiped with your sleeve. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.
Peter
on 10 Jan 07And then there’s the problem of not being able to use it with gloves on—a big annoyance with my iPod in the winter.
Also, a co-worker’s wife’s response when seeing it: What about women with long fingernails?
If you live in a warm climate and keep the nails of your thin fingers trim, this one’s for you.
BJ Vicks
on 10 Jan 07The touch interface bore many similarities in functionality to a demo I saw from Tactiva last year… “pinching” to zoom in and out was specifically demonstrated, to oohs and ahhs. It seems their touchpad has vertical tactile feedback.
Of course, I’m looking forward to trying the phone myself. (Who isn’t?)
Any guesses on the over/under on the amount of time that will pass before a competitor can offer a product that’s in a similar league interface-wise? Who else will be able to pull off this kind of integration?
JF
on 10 Jan 0737signallers are complaining that a feature they think should be there is missing.
I wasn’t complaining. I just said it was interesting.
I have more faith in Apple than in any other company to pull this off. I’m certain they’ve thought about all the things we’re discussing here—and plenty more.
Andrew
on 10 Jan 07Who dials a cellphone while it’s in their pocket? maybe blind people perhaps. It seems a bit silly a comment to make.
I am astounded by the iPhone – it’s leaps and bounds better than the competition.
The make or break for that is how good the touch screen is – if it gets false positives et al – then it’ll be worthless.
LB
on 10 Jan 07Astounding how all of a sudden we’re presented with a device that no one can live without.
Bravo, Apple Inc.
sloan
on 10 Jan 07i think the tactile feedback is a problem but you can add something to the port on the bottom i bet or even have headphones with general controls for music and maybe a bluetooth something for a keypad/basic entry stuff. i think this is the first true pod-like product. it is really a flexible platform, more than just a phone or iPod. that is what will be interesting i think, how a touchscreen mini-computer with bluetooth, wifi, and phone capabilities will be leveraged. i remember when the iPod first came out that I dreamed of it adding blue tooth so i could use a wireless pen for data entry or add a “headset” to make calls leveraging the iPod merely as a database of information and media. THIS thing has even more flexibility with the touch display and such. announcing it 6 months ahead of time is VERY un-Apple, and there are so few specs available about the platform, i would expect some very interesting developments over that 6 month span.
James
on 10 Jan 07“Astounding how all of a sudden we’re presented with a device that no one can live without.”
That’s just it. You can. It’s easy – just don’t buy one. You won’t die, I promise.
James
on 10 Jan 07Further, for myself, I find that my needs and wants have started to entertwine much more than they used to.
It used to be that I might buy something that I wanted, even if I didn’t really need it. These days, how much I need something has a much more direct correlation to how much I want it.
Do I need to carry all this crap around in my pocket? Most certainly not. Therefore, no matter how cool it might be, I don’t find myself wanting it all that much.
Ryan
on 10 Jan 07It’s hard to think about that when it looks so awesome. That definitely took my mind off of actually using it. But, you’ve made a very valid point. I know people who have the BlueTooth headset and do, in fact, dial 1 to call voice mail from their pocket. For the majority of usage, it’s not crucial to see the phone, but at times like in the car or walking through a crowd (which may contradict the “majority of the time” statement), it would be nice to be able to leave it in your pocket. A lot less chance of ruining a $500 purchase, too.
mmkeen
on 10 Jan 07If I can listen to my music and then upon receiving two incoming calls place the music on hold , put one call on hold, instantly email the other a photo from my library, while I go online to do a quick search for which Starbucks to meet at because I’m unfamiliar with this new town, and then on fly find that voice mail messsage I meant to listen to yesterday, complete the second call, finish up some over due but in progress text messaging … — and know how to do all this within 15 minutes of taking my fancy new phone out of the box because these are the tools I use now - who the hell cares if there’s limited tactile button feel?
Use your old phone. I’d rather get things done.
brad
on 10 Jan 07I know people who have the BlueTooth headset and do, in fact, dial 1 to call voice mail from their pocket.
I do too, but you have to remember that the people reading this blog are a small subset of the population: they are people who can figure out how to make all this stuff work. The iPhone and its progeny are going to open things up for a much larger subset of the population, people like my girlfriend who’s never even heard of Bluetooth and has owned a cellphone for more than a year but still can’t figure out how to make a simple call on it. As Steve Jobs said, many people use the number pads to dial numbers because they can’t figure out how to use the contacts list. Even I, a person who’s fairly technically proficient, sometimes don’t dial numbers from my contacts list because searching through it is so cumbersome.
Erik
on 10 Jan 07I imagine that someone (maybe even Apple) might develop keyboards or other devices that hook up via the dock connector, especially for those of us who really like or need tactile technologies.
Marky
on 10 Jan 07I imagine the non-physical button aspect will separate people who like this vs. the others. However, it enables interactions you can’t do with a keypad – check out all the gesture stuff made by Fingerworks (company APLL bought whose tech is presumably used in iPhone). Probably great for a media player. Not so great if you need to perform a lot of text input – there’s a good reason Palm added buttons. If you read reviews of Fingerworks “Zero Force” keyboards you’ll notice comments like “learning curve”, and their customers tended to be strongly motivated by RSI. Eventually they’ll need to make a different device for people who want to do a lot of email, IM, etc. with their electronic swiss army knife.
Tony
on 10 Jan 07It would be nice if the keyboard enlarges in landscape mode. I would imagine the keys can be a little larger, taking up the majority of screen real estate.
Luca
on 10 Jan 07To fund my uni career I work part time at the local supermarket working on the self service checkouts. All of them and the monitoring station are touch sensitive, and don’t have any tactile feedback.
I don’t really think the lack of tactile feedback will be too much of a problem as I have learnt to use the systems to press buttons without having to constantly look at the screen (for example typing in barcodes). Some sort of audio feedback is useful so you can tell whether you have pressed the correct key. Our systems just beep, but it would be more useful if the number pressed was spoken and there was a delay between the time of two keys being pressed (although I imagine the delay could also be annoying).
As for people saying about using the phone in the car, this is a bad idea with a normal phone, let alone a phone where it may be more difficult to know which button you are pressing. There are always bluetooth headsets and voice recognition anyway.
jenn.suz.hoy
on 10 Jan 07All I can say is I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Though, with all the interaction being done on the screen, I wonder if it’ll be a scuffed, scratched, smudged mess in no time. It looks awesome in the videos on the mac site, but so did my iPod when I first pulled it out of the box. Now, even with it living ONLY in one of it’s two cases, it has scratches and smudges all over the screen.
Imagine what it would look like if I put my hands all over it?
Oleg Andreev
on 10 Jan 07Tony
on 10 Jan 07Here’s a “zen” thing about the non-tactile feel – it forces you to look at the phone and be in the moment to dial and perform other functions. Otherwise, you’re multi-tasking (i.e. driving). Honestly, who can use a phone/blackberry without looking?
Gestures or touch shortcuts would be niftly, like someone said: “I think that the iPhone will introduce new gestures, maybe the iPhone “will teach” us new tricks: i.e. a diagonal swipe on the screen for shutting it off, a triple click for getting to voice-mail.”
PZ
on 10 Jan 07Good point as usual. I would say though that I hardly ever use my current cell phone by touch because it’s not well-designed for it. Maybe one way for other phone manufacturers to compete with the iPhone, instead of copying Apple, is to redesign the interface to purposefully cater to interacting by touch.
On the other end, I wonder if someone will come out with a little neoprene screen you can slap on your iPhone to give you some tactile sensation, especially for people who text/email a lot.
Anonymous Coward
on 10 Jan 07The lack of visual feedback struck me too. Anyone every try “playing” guitar after you’ve taken all the strings off? Pretty weird feeling.
If there is a vibrate feature on the phone, it would be interesting if you could simulate keypresses by producing a little force feedback.
Also, if you miss t9, it certainly seems like it would be easy for the phone to display a t9 input instead of qwerty. Granted, still no bumps to discern.
Wayne
on 10 Jan 07The best analogy for me is music production software. Although you can do really cool things with music production software, there’s something about the feel of sliders compared to using a mouse on a screen.
itsandyw
on 10 Jan 07Forgive my ignorance, but I am curious about the experience of using a cell phone, for persons who are blind? I believe most cell phones have braille-like bumps to aid with keypads, but it sure looks like iPhone would be out of the question for the ol’ 508 test.
I love the iPhone, but that’s a huge omission, given Apple’s pride in the ubiquity of past iPods…
James Young
on 10 Jan 07These spoiled young brats, scrolling up and down their iPhone song lists with a finger swipe here, a finger swipe there! Back in the day, when I was browsing my playlists, I used to have to spin my thumb in a circular fashion on a flat little donut thingy while simulaneously keeping my eyes fixed on a small black and white display positioned vertically above the dang donut. Kids today!
f5
on 10 Jan 07Considering some of the most popular phones are flip phones, and that you can do none of your ‘sightless, tactile navigating’ when it’s in your pocket, or away from your face…I’m guessing that it’s almost a non-issue.
CJ Curtis
on 10 Jan 07This is the problem I have with all Apple products in general. Look great, in most cases work OK, but so “simple” they confuse the hell out of you (until you learn how to use it, just like anything else).
Touching a screen with no “buttons” takes this to the next level, I think.
Have you ever stood in front of a kiosk, not sure what to do next? And then you (hesitantly) touch the screen? Or even better, you don’t know what to do next, so you think “oh, it’s a touch screen,” proceeded by the warm, dumb feeling you get when you realize it’s NOT a touchscreen?
And back to my iPod…it’s beautiful (it’s black and chrome). Of course I want to keep it that way. So what’s the single most annoying thing about my iPod?
FINGERPRINTS.
But I digress. They will sell a ton of them. If Apple has anything, it’s a hardcore cult following.
A little off topic, but have you guys ever addressed the PC vs Mac situation? That would be a fun one.
CJ Curtis
on 10 Jan 07After reading some of the other posts, I’m seeing a lot of comments having to do with “seeing” and “feeling.”
But seeing and feeling are two very different means of interaction.
Someone brought up a very good point about “who can really dial a phone without looking at it?” When your holding the phone itself, you really can’t. But consider all the wireless options that even makes touching it unnecessary, let alone looking at it.
if apple can successfully “deprogram” people from having to touch what they see in order to interact with it, who knows where they could take it.
Roman
on 10 Jan 07Great point. When the iPhone spawns the inevitable surge of buttonless ripoffs, people using the phone while driving will be come much more a menace.
Michael Chui
on 10 Jan 07They should use something like the Optimus keyboard: lots of keys, but their content can change because each key is a standalone display. Grid up the keyboard and you get the tactile feel back without losing (much) screen space.
dunce hat troll
on 10 Jan 07reach in your pocket and press “1” for voicemail?
Is that a euphemism?
JMW
on 10 Jan 07There’s one more problem with having a software-only dialing interface to your phone. If the screen doesn’t work for some reason (no one would ever drop one of these) You won’t be able to dial out in the interim (unless it has voice activation) while you are waiting for a fix. This may not seem like a big deal, but I learned what a P.I.T.A this can be with one of my old phones that had a software-only dialing interface.
That aside.. the phone looks great.
Alex Bunardzic
on 10 Jan 07Jason wrote:
“How can you dial the iPhone without looking at it? How can you reach in your pocket and press “1” for voicemail? How can you orient yourself with the interface without seeing it? With a traditional phone or device with buttons you can feel your way around it. You can find the bumps, the humps, the cut lines, the shapes, the sizes. You can find your way around in the dark. Not with the iPhone.”
This sounds like Joel Spolsky. Leaky abstractions. All that crap.
Good design is good precisely because it ignores the ‘edge cases’ you’ve mentioned above. Good design doesn’t fret about what’s possible, it focuses only on what’s most likely to happen.
And reaching into your pocket to feel your way around the voice mail feature of your phone is not something that’s most likely to happen in the life of a typical phone user.
Roger
on 10 Jan 07I can’t do any of those things with my clamshell anyway, it still requires me to use two hands to open it just to get at the interface.
Rachel
on 10 Jan 07I’d like to bring up that the issue doesn’t only apply to blind-dialing. There’s also some amount of a product (specifically things like phones) being harder to learn when there’s never any consistency between states, if that makes sense. And also when you’ve been trained to expect certain characteristics from an object. Hopefully, Apple’s wonderful UI designers will make me eat my words, and I do have faith in them, but here’s an example.
My father bought an expensive universal remote control that was touchscreen only, customizable screens for each device, with just channel and volume physical buttons. He thought it would be great for my mom who can’t work their entertainment setup. But that didn’t happen. She fumbled with it, and got confused switching menus to another device because suddenly, it’s a completely different remote. It eliminated the number of physical remotes, but it’s still like using 5 remotes because for every device the screen is slightly different and you’re constantly retuning yourself to figure out what you’re looking at. I bought them a Logitech remote, and she figured it out very quickly. There is a small menu that changes for each device, but the rest of the time, all the buttons you expect are there and they never change and never move.
I think that a supremely well-designed UI could get people over that, but there could be quite a learning curve. Not to get all dorky, but I did cognitive science in college and there has been all this research that show we do an extraordinary amount of subconscious typing and that it affects how well we’re able to work with things. If you see it and your brain doesn’t immediately categorize it as a phone based on how you’ve subconsciously defined a phone, you may have a difficult time working with it as a phone. Interesting stuff… doesn’t mean the phone isn’t drop-dead gorgeous and doesn’t mean it won’t do well, and definitely doesn’t mean I don’t want one, just something to think about.
David Paquet
on 10 Jan 07Did anyone tried the Wii ? the Wiimote (controller) handle this in a brilliant way. When you hover on something, wiimote vibrate (just a little) and I do get the feeling of touching something when it’s happen.
I know this solution can’t be applied directly to the Iphone, but what I mean to say is that our brain is also a fascinating device that can adapt to all type of stimuli. So we do need a reaction to our action (isn’t this a physic law or something ? :P) but the reaction can be alot of stuff and I’m sure that Job and his team found something.
(PS : Sorry if my post isn’t clear but english isn’t my first language)
Eddie
on 10 Jan 07Back to the phone…. most people don’t blindly navigate your phone UI… but there’s a subconscious mix of muscle memory, tactile feedback, and visual feedback that all goes into play. We can often redial, or clear out a number or end a call or switch to vibrate mode or back up in a menu structure with little or no visual feedback.
Example- when we dail a number, most of us are looking at the phone numbers, but when we make a mistake, our thumb reaches for the “back” or “escape” or ” delete” key. Apple put the one button which appears to be a “home” button, but putting the rest behind glass and moving them around depending on the context (I’m guessing) even depending on how the phone is oriented (is it just the pictures that take advantage of the rotation?), seems a bit at odd with the muscle memory aspect.
Now- I’m not saying that visual feedback with a strong, intelligent UI can’t overcome the muscle memory/tactile aspects. But I guess that’s what everyone else is saying as well.
Seth
on 10 Jan 07First thing I thought of when I saw the iPhone: It’s going to be a bitch to keep clean, smudgeless and scratchless.
Second thing I thought of: Lack of tactile feedback on the touch screen is going to be problematic.
I can dial, text or type on my Treo680 without looking. Can you do the same with iPhone?
Maybe it has some sort of built in voice-recognition for dialing, but who uses that? I for one don’t want to be the crazy person that appears to be talking to himself or his PDA in public.
Rimantas
on 10 Jan 07I was sceptical when reading speculations about touch-screen-only iPod, and the reason for that was exactly the point you bring here: the lack of tactile feedback. However just seeing how this thing work somehow made that poing irrelevant. It’s amazing. On the other hand, I think this can be simulated, as some already pointed out. Audio feedback and small vibration – that could do it. You can even imitate “bumps” – when your finger sliding across the screen is over the button – there is a small vibration. You press it – and there is a click sound and vibration. Of course it is ridiculous to assume that Apple knows nothing about the importance of tactile feedback. The only question is – how did they solve this problem?
Lids
on 10 Jan 07Beautiful is important…to make an object beautiful is an art form.
Doug LeMoine
on 10 Jan 07Interesting phenomenon: It’s hard to praise Apple stuff without seeming like a fanatic; it’s hard to criticize it without seeming like a curmudgeon. In any case, I’d like to appreciate the distinctively even-keeled nature of the responses in this forum, as opposed to here.
Question: This particular phone is obviously not for every mobile phone user out there, so who is it for?
My .02: Considering the touchscreen and the all-in-one approach (iPod, phone, web, camera), it seems likely that they’re designing for more sophisticated users, people who can currently imagine themselves (paying for and) using a smartphone. If they were designing for people who are freaked out by modality and complicated remote controls, I would say that they’re pretty far off the mark with this thing.
To be a smartaleck, I’d also say that it’s also for (1) People who are willing to sacrifice utility for preciousness, and the flexibility of an appliance for the aesthetics of an objet d’art, (2) People who geek out on whiz-bang interactions and look forward to the day when they can take a sledgehammer to their current phone, and (3) People who love whatever Apple makes and who will buy it and love it and defend it to the death no matter what.
Zeb
on 11 Jan 07It is odd that it doesn’t include vibration or tactile feedback. Especially odd considering that an Apple exec sits on the board at Immersion, who was responsible for the force feedback in XBox and PS2 (and the reason why PS3 doesn’t have haptics now). They have a TouchSense product that is made especially for touchscreen applications like PDAs, ATMs, and kiosks.
shrug
Shawn Oster
on 11 Jan 07This was the first thing I thought of when I saw the iPhone photos, where’s the tactile? Then of course how well does it work with gloves on.
To me it’s the ability to touch-type vs. hunt and peck. I lose something if I have to look at my input device, then my content, then my input device, then my content, then my input device… you get the picture.
For some things like selecting applications it doesn’t matter, because your input and your action match. Basically anything you’d use a mouse for won’t lack for tactile while anything you’d use a keyboard for will. Even though the input device (virtual keyboard) is so close visually to what you’re actually doing (writing an email) I still think the constant back and forth (did it predict my word correctly? did I fat finger that?) will cause strain.
For music though it needs to be able to change volume, pause, ff and rewind all without ever needing to look at it. I can do all of that with thick gloves on with my Zune while it’s in my pocket and I’m sure all of you iPod users can do the same.
Lastly, I’m not sure why people mention the faked “clicks” of iPod wheels when they are completely separate issues. That’s an audio cue while this is a tactile cue.
Steve R.
on 11 Jan 07At the risk of being flamed or Troll-hatted, who in their right mind talks on their cell phone in their car?
There is a word for them. In the interests of civil discourse, I’ll leave it out, and just say ‘that is not a safe practice’.
Thomas Aylott
on 11 Jan 07This is the only thing I was really worried about. And Apple is the ONLY company I’d trust to try this button-less-ness.
I really loved being able to use handwriting on my Kyocera 7135 Palm without looking at it.
Moving to the keyboard on the Treo was neat at first, but quickly became a serious pain.
Half the time i’d try to use my fingers on the screen instead of the stylus, but it just never worked right on a Palm.
d4ve
on 11 Jan 07Tactile is for monkeys. Start walking upright people! What, nobody watches any scifi here? :)
Shawn Oster
on 11 Jan 07Steve R.: There is what you’d like, that people don’t talk on their mobiles in the car, and there is reality, that almost everyone talks on their mobile while driving. Personally I hate talking on my cell in the car but I still do it when I’m calling a place to get directions, checking a flight’s status on the long drive to the airport, answering my wife’s calls, etc.
Drive through rush hour traffic going home sometime and count how many people are on their cell. I do sometimes just to pass the time and the lowest I counted was 1 out of every 2, average seems to be 75% while a few times I hit 90%. I’m even talking pure cell talking, not headsets.
Maybe it’s different in other parts of the country but here in Denver it’s standard. Seemed to be as well in San Francisco last I was there and I think every cabbie I had was on his mobile.
I’m curious, where are you that you don’t see everyone and their grandma (literally) on the phone while driving?
Pramit
on 11 Jan 07A checklist for an indeal cellphone? http://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2007/01/notes-on-ideal-cellphone.html
Pramit
on 11 Jan 07A checklist for an indeal cellphone? http://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2007/01/notes-on-ideal-cellphone.html
Alex
on 11 Jan 07The fundamental point is that the hard input interface, the fixed plastic keys, had to go. Obviously they are severely limiting in the context of a device that can do many different things and is clearly designed to be a platform. Those tiles on the home screen are just begging for company. One might be “TV remote”, another might be “My automobile” or “My Home Security”. With wi-fi and bluetooth the possibilities are pretty endless.
So the hard keys had to go, there was just no getting around it. Voice will probably make an introduction at some point, or perhaps a screen that can dynamically alter the contours of its surface controlled by the software. When the keypad pops up, so do little bumps in the screen.
All this is to say that the keyboard had to go, and losing it will likely force/foster innovation in other ways.
Also, with all of the interface residing in software, Apple can make fairly rapid incremental modifications to address some specific usability issues. If you are writing an email or texting and you turn the device sideways, why not expand the keyboard and made it more thumb-friendly, for example?
Michiel
on 11 Jan 07“But we’ve certainly lost the tactile feedback humans are used to when dealing with things that are right in front of us. Now the connection is simulated. Rich textures have been replaced with androgynous glass.”
in ONE interface, specifically, the iphone. It’s not as if EVERY interface is now touch screen. And also: the touch screen has been around for a good while. It maps well to some forms of interaction, not so good to others.
For something different, see the Nintendo Wii interface with its amazing feedback.
Ed E
on 11 Jan 07guessing it’s feels kinda like the power-on button on the (limited edition) Apple Cubes.
also isn’t this “innovative” user interface heading along similar lines to how it was in the movie Minority Report?
and let’s not forget the new Nintendo Wii. another step away from touchy-feely…
considering Apple invented the mouse in the first place maybe we should unlearn what we had to learn in the early days when it came to using a computer.
Justin
on 11 Jan 07I wonder if you’d be talking with such optimism if this were coming from any other cellphone company? I tend to doubt it…
Or maybe your reply to that comment would be, of course because no other cellphone company could possibly do this sort of thing correctly the way Apple can?
I don’t think that would be the best argument, sounds kind of biased to me.
Jamie
on 11 Jan 07This may have been brought up in the comments, but there are so freaking many of them I didn’t bother to read. Since the phone runs a version of OS X, I’m thinking that in the future you could have a voice interface to the phone. You can speak your commands without even interacting with buttons. “Call Jason Fried”....done.
Ben
on 11 Jan 07Totally – if Matt Damon was using an iPhone in The Departed, the Costello gang would have been busted right there after the microchip deal :)
Paul
on 11 Jan 07I don’t think that would be the best argument, sounds kind of biased to me.
But it’s widely-known that Apple is excellent at creating interfaces. And, phones generally have awful interfaces. Would people be excited about such a phone from Motorola? Possibly, but definitely not for the UI.
The lack of tactile feedback is an issue but I’m curious what research has been done on tactile versus non-tactile feedback. Is it so vital that we must keep physical buttons? Obviously Apple’s not convinced, and it’ll be nice to see how things pan out.
The other kind of subtle thing about not having buttons is that this, like the iPod, means the interface is entirely software programmable. The iPhone could morph into a remote control for your Mac, your entertainment system, etc. pretty easily with Bluetooth. I’m sure that wasn’t lost on Apple, either.
Much like the iPod, its original purpose is clear but could easily be eclipsed by its potential purposes.
Mrad
on 11 Jan 07It won’t look so pretty when it’s covered in head grease. Ew.
Roope Rainisto
on 11 Jan 07There are ways to provide tactile feedback also with a touch screen device, using piezoelectrics for instance. Google around for it. :) And they really feel quite good in use. Not completely like real physical buttons, but a lot better than with other kinds of (visual, auditory etc.) feedback. I wouldn’t be suprised at all if Apple would already be studying adding those to their next generation device.
James Littlefield
on 11 Jan 07Isn’t really about how much data entry you do with a phone? Granted if your a blackberry kind of guy the iPhone is not going to be for you. Otherwise, I do 99% of my dialing from my contacts list or a weblink. As for SMS, I think I could live with soft keys.
Roope Rainisto
on 12 Jan 07I don’t think feedback is only about data entry, it is about all entry, all interactions with the device. Every time you tap a button on screen or navigate on a web page. Whether you hit the correct target or not, and/or whether the thing you hit even is an interactive component or not…
guy avital
on 12 Jan 07It is not about the amount of data entry you can do with a phone? today cell phone are being used for everything, even to connect and monitor the security camera in your office. you can watch everything that going at your home.. crazy.
Carl Jonard
on 12 Jan 07I think you guys are confusing two separate issues: muscle memory and tactile feedback. Just because you can’t feel the buttons doesn’t mean you can’t remember where they are, and hit them based on their position relative to the edges of the phone. And because they’re not tied to physical limitations, these buttons are big and easy to hit, like 1/2 inch across or more. Looking at the interface samples on apple.com, it looks like most calls are going to be a matter of a quick single- or double-tap with your thumb in the lower left corner of the screen (one of the easiest places to hit according to Fitt’s Law), then a quick glance at the screen to pick from the short list of favorites. I wouldn’t be surprised if, after practice, choosing from the favorites could be done without looking as well. If the interface is done properly, actions like refusing a call would be a cinch in your pocket, probably as simple as a tap in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
Geoff Teehan
on 12 Jan 07Hard buttons are both tactile and provide feedback. Screens CAN provide feedback as well.
Just came back from CES and used a Garmin 680. It only consist of a touch-screen. Every time you press a soft button you get a little “buzz” through the tip of your finger. Absolutely brilliant.
Noah Dylan Goldblatt
on 15 Jan 07@David Paquet—This wiimote analogy is dead on. If the iPhone had some minor vibration feature, it would make typing just tactile enough to increase speed like it does when using the Wii.
But I think that the biggest advantage to the Multi-Touch interface is the ability to use the human finger in unique and interesting ways. The “flicking” motion sold me right away. It uses requires the edge of the fingertip instead of the blunt tool of the fingerpad. The “pinching” gesture was equally impressive. And the website for it demonstrates rapid two thumb typing.
Is there anyone here that isn’t going to purchase the iPhone because it lacks tactile input? Doesn’t the glass-button interface match the glass surface? Was anyone complaining that the 4g iPod didn’t have individually-demarcated buttons in the same sense a Treo might?
apoc
on 15 Jan 07humm, this looks like a anti/afraid-touchscreen post from the yr 2000. In 2006 we use voice commands to make calls and launch apps, with the push of a button on our bluetooth headset, when we need to type we use realistic 4×4 virtual T9 keyboards with only one hand, not 106-keys keyboards.
htc p3600, jabra bt800
we also use gps, and hsdpa for mobile data access.
Anonymous Coward
on 17 Jan 07Apple has applied for a patent on dynamic touch screens WITH tactile feedback. Search the rumor sites. I think this may have come across on Macsimum News. It was several months ago and seems to have been forgotten in all the iPhone discussion…
Anonymous Coward
on 17 Jan 07Apple has applied for a patent on dynamic touch screens WITH tactile feedback. Search the rumor sites. I think this may have come across on Macsimum News. It was several months ago and seems to have been forgotten in all the iPhone discussion…
Anonymous Coward
on 17 Jan 07Apple has applied for a patent on dynamic touch screens WITH tactile feedback. Search the rumor sites. I think this may have come across on Macsimum News. It was several months ago and seems to have been forgotten in all the iPhone discussion…
Anonymous Coward
on 17 Jan 07Apple has applied for a patent on dynamic touch screens WITH tactile feedback. Search the rumor sites. I think this may have come across on Macsimum News. It was several months ago and seems to have been forgotten in all the iPhone discussion…
This discussion is closed.