The Auctioneer-the official blog of Auction.ph

You can add this to the endangered list: buttons.

What makes the iPhone, iPod Touch and Microsoft Surface sexy is the fact that they are “unbuttoned.” I am not particularly knowledgeable in industrial design but the trend seems to follow a less is more, the more naked, the better philosophy.

Before the button had its field day in gadgetry, it made quite a splash in the world of fashion. During the 80’s, buttons became a fashion accessory appearing as colorfully decorated pins. The designs were quirky and hideous and quite complementary to the cockeyed tastes of the era. Even politicians used it and continue to use it up until now. When politicians start adopting a fashion trend, that should serve as a reminder that tastes are in dire need of adjustment. Then came Reebok Pump. It became every insecure kid’s fantasy. The shoe sported a huge ball-shaped button on the tongue. Kids can pump the ball to inflate the shoes’ inside cushion. Insecure politicians had it installed on the back of their heads to inflate their super-massive egos.

Buttons then ventured into higher-tech (because the Pump was somewhat hi-tech already at the time) and inexorably made its presence felt in electronic devices. Buttons started utilitarian but as the schools of form and function married, buttons became an important design element. The buttons evolved from smallish, rubberized squares to sleek, aluminum sheets. The first cell phones that came out were chunky and heavy. It had only one line for the display and button design was elementary. I guess buttons, regardless of execution, were technological advancements in itself at that time. Could you imagine mobile phones with rotary dialers? I could imagine Fred Flintstone carrying something like that.

Nokia Prism

As gadgets became smaller so did the buttons. Blackberry designed their buttons according to the brand name and made them “cute” like blackberry seeds. Buttons then became design centerpieces morphing into strange shapes and textures. Stylish phones came out and buttons got an ultra-modern makeover. Button design underwent radical transformations from looking like pea pods to designs that look like they were snatched from Picasso’s sketchbook. The fate of the button was somehow augured when new gadgets came out cleverly concealing the said contraption. A cellular phone that looked like a lipstick starkly comes to mind. The Motorola Razr was later on introduced and the button became supermodel thin. Everyone wanted the phone for its sleek design and formidable features.

From rubber to metal, the button transforms with the look of the gadget and responds to design revolutions. If you take time to notice, earlier in the history of gadget devices, as the gadgets became more hi-tech, button design became more ambitious and otherworldly. Much later however, as gadgets continue to push the envelope of hi-tech, button features were gradually shoved to the recycle bin.

iPod Nano

Now, touch technology is fast becoming the industrial design trend of the decade. Apple’s iPod could very well be the pioneer in that category. The iPod introduced the jog function where your fingers can “jog” through settings. Points on the pod were still “pressable” but they were seamlessly integrated into the design. Not satisfied with practically invisible buttons, Apple took it one step further and developed the iPhone—it’s an amazingly capable phone with only about three buttons that were very “unassuming.” Consequently, the iPod Touch was released, an iPhone doppelganger in terms of design with even fewer buttons. It may have been inadvertent, but it seems like to get approval for designs at Apple, designs should be simple enough to be rendered by two-year olds. Apple designers strived to keep it simple and they saw buttons as dispensable design complications. Notwithstanding, the iPhone and iPod Touch may look like bricks and the iPod may look like basic shapes bunched together but they still look sinfully delectable.

At about the same time when the iPhone was released, a friend sent me a link showing a demo of the Microsoft Surface. It was a screen with the same functionality of the iPhone’s touch technology. You could resize photos with your fingers, you could key in text, you could doodle, and do pretty much everything the iPhone’s multi-touch technology could do. But one of the features I found particularly interesting was the sync function. For instance, if you have a PDA, you can sync your files by just placing the device on the surface. It could be a Bluetooth application but it’s still very cool. I believe there are industrial applications for the Surface already. I hear that some casinos have adapted this technology. I really hope to see this technology available in restaurants. The menu is displayed on the surface and you can simply touch to place an order. You can play games while waiting to be served and you can answer feedback forms right after the meal. Just don’t spill anything on the surface or you might end up washing dishes for a very long time.

Seemingly, the button is quietly making an exit. I imagine the future of desktop computers very similar to a scene from Minority Report. I imagine the future workplace with Dance-Revo-like consoles replacing cubicles. Physiologically, I wonder if there will be any side-effects to the departure of the button. The lack of impact might leave our fingers weak. The elimination of pressing buttons from our daily lives might leave our fingernails to grow faster than normal. Maybe our tactile sensations will sharpen. Who knows?

Buttons made operating gadgets much simpler for us. While designs became simpler, operation became more complicated. Nowadays, you wouldn’t know what to press because latest gadget designs don’t give you much of an option. Maybe tactile intelligence is upon us. Maybe ten years from now, the only place you will find a button is at the museum. But it won’t be displayed in some glass case like you would probably imagine. You would find it where it has always been—decomposing next to a condemned elevator shaft.

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