Keys and buttons, are they doomed?

Status
Not open for further replies.

atferrari

Well-Known Member
Most Helpful Member
I have only experience in including keypads, keyboards or isolated pushbuttons in my designs.

Last night I was watching a young girl using her mobile with just gentle touches of fingers and started to wonder if keys / buttons will disappear from everywhere.

I am so used to an environment where there always are one two or even three (emergency) buttons in the open, continuously exposed to weather of any kind. No surprise they are big and robust.

Are we going to see buttons / keys confined in the end to those demanding uses only?

If you ask, albeit the so many astounding implementations existing around, I still find myself more at ease with a good keayboard providing a gentle feedback when typing.
 
I can't envisage all keys and buttons disappearing, to be replaced by touch-sensitive screens for example.
For simple functions, where only a few inputs are required, discrete keys/buttons will always be cheaper than a screen. But for something like a 100-key keyboard I guess a screen might be more cost-effective. I wonder where the cost break-even point lies with today's technology? 20 keys? 50?
Space occupied is another factor. Some devices requiring input are simply too small to accommodate a screen.
Sound / voice-recognition are other input methods, but imagine a room full of people all shouting at their mobile devices to control them (it's bad enough having to put up with passengers on public transport using their mobile phones)!
Ultimately perhaps we will be able to use thought processes for control. That could be entertaining/embarrassing!
 
Making a plastic box with keys on the front panel is an costly project. Often we get the cost of a house in tooling. Then the boss wants two more keys.

With "soft keys" they are drawn on a LCD from the micro-computer. Adding two keys only takes minutes. We reuse the same plastic box for many projects. Some times we add key feedback with audio or vibration.

I do miss the "click" of a real key.
 
Not her, but...

Hola AG,

Not her. A real beauty but too young. Out of question.

Some of the ladies around could have been considered instead...

Pity is, that, much to my regret, I certainly know that I am not in their "Eligibles" lists. Such is life!

Feliz Año Nuevo.
 

Buttons are cheap, buttons are reliable - touch screens are neither.

Buttons aren't going anywhere!.
 
A lot of automobiles are headed the way of touchscreen interfaces. But that's only valuable for a lot of I/O, or condensing a lot of assorted controls (DVD,CAM,Phone, PC, MP4, diags, sat radio) into a single context sensitive area for economical space utilization and ergonomics. Low I/O rapid response 'digital' tasks that don't require hand/eye coordination are better served by tactile I/O. Like the car horn or the window/mirror control.

Can't see the use of a voice command for the horn either. Quicker and more effective to press a button.
 
Can't see buttons and switches going the way of the dinosaur. In life critical systems like an ambulance, reliability and error free operation is a must. Heck in the Ambulance we still use manual BP cuff although inexpensive digital versions exist.
 
Mikebits said:
Can't see buttons and switches going the way of the dinosaur. In life critical systems like an ambulance, reliability and error free operation is a must. Heck in the Ambulance we still use manual BP cuff although inexpensive digital versions exist.
Click to expand...
They use gold plated low level contacts that do never corrode.
They do not use cheap Chinese switches with silver plated contacts (5A that turn black then do not pass low levels) overpriced from Radioshack.
 
I have a love/hate relationship with soft keys. Never seen one corrode. I love the idea of 'in the field software updates' and after market 'new functions'. I have been working on a product that will have new functions for money in the future. It will cost us almost nothing to down load a new application with new buttons. $$$$$$

A friend is playing with a camera that watches your hand movements to get information. It can see you typing on your desk. It almost knows sign language. It knows up, down, left, right, fast/slow, move, copy, make big, make small, etc. If you touch your left wrist with your right finger it will give you the time of day. OK it does not work 100% but touch screens did not work 100% when they started.
 
I still own several fountain pens and use them regularly, even though there are computers and ballpoints. And all my pens are new, made in china.
As long as there are people who want keyboards, there will be keyboards.
 
Mikebits said:
Can't see buttons and switches going the way of the dinosaur. In life critical systems like an ambulance, reliability and error free operation is a must. Heck in the Ambulance we still use manual BP cuff although inexpensive digital versions exist.
Click to expand...

Mechanical switches are mandatory in some types of equipment.
There are safety switches and anti-safety switches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleshort

The (old) uyk-20 computers battle-short switch would allow the machine to run until it melted.

**broken link removed**
 
Would be nice if gurlz had a reliable on/off switch. But they're all touch operated and reliability sux.
 
Mosaic said:
Would be nice if gurlz had a reliable on/off switch. But they're all touch operated and reliability sux.
Click to expand...
Most switches have silver contacts for high current. When the silver corrodes (it turns black) then the high voltage and current burns away the corrosion and it works well. Without a high voltage and high current then the corrosion conducts nothing.
Use a switch with gold-plated contacts that is designed to switch extremely low voltage and current from a microphone or Cmos logic. The thin gold plating costs exactly the same as the thick silver on a power switch.
 
Last edited:
What if you don't have a voice? What if you've had throat cancer? The numbers of reasons one might not be able to do that are too many to list.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Question
What are these modules
Replies
3
Views
2K
Doug
D
  • Question
Are the so called “universal socket” safe and legal?
Replies
18
Views
5K
tepalia02
T
C
  • Question
Are Cloud-based access control systems worth it?
Replies
4
Views
1K
christinescoms
C
  • Question
Digital potentiometer problem and questions
Replies
7
Views
2K
GH Crash
  • Question
⚡️Why are pwm switching ICs called off-line power supplies?⁉️
Replies
10
Views
2K
Tony Stewart
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…