A History of Steve Jobs’ War on Buttons

July 25th, 2007 at 3:00 PM - News by John Martellaro

Steve Jobs has been on a war against buttons for a long time. The original Macintosh had no cursor keys. Appleis Cube had a touch sensitive area instead of a power switch. The Apple remote control has only six buttons. Appleis mice of old clung to one button. So itis not surprising that the iPhoneis virtual keyboard goes up against the entire smartphone industry, according to Nick Wingfield at the Wall Street Journal.

Other companies load their electronic gadgets up with buttons which just confuse most customers. The iPhone, an extremely sleek and minimalist device is continuing evidence of Mr Jobsi decades long war on buttons. They are, in effect, blemishes that add complexity and detract from the clean lines of a product.

That simplicity even extends to Appleis retail stores. The elevator in Appleis store in Tokyo has no buttons. It simply stops on every floor. "I got used to this," said customer Hiroshi Kawano. "Itis simple, and I like it."

When Mr. Jobis unveiled his Front Row remote control, he reveled in the simplicity of the Apple remote and compared it on a Keynote slide to a huge, complex remote with more than 40 buttons. "I donit know that thereis ever been a slide that captures what Appleis about as much as this one," Mr. Jobs said.

Sometimes, Appleis own customers are confused at first. Appleis iPod has no clearly labeled on/off button. Nowadays, every one understands.

Fortunately, few other executives have this particular feeling for aesthetics, and it remains Appleis undisputed hallmark. Just like the black turtleneck -- which, by the way, doesnit have buttons either.