Our iDevice's Familiar Home Button Could Be Going Away
January 13, 2011
Try this for an exercise: The next time you visit your local Starbucks or cigar bar, look around the room and find that guy (or girl) that isn’t using an iPhone to text or surf the web. Watch as they hit the keys on their BlackBerry or Palm Pre Plus and see how difficult it is. Now, remember how easy it is to use your iPhone with its virtual keyboard and lone button.
Forget about that button, because it’s gone.
In the future, the familiar home button might be missing from Apple iDevices. In its place, we’ll use multitouch gestures instead.
According to BGR, Apple employees are already testing this technology, and “we will see this new change materialize with the next-generation iPad and iPhone devices set to launch this year.”
If this story is true, it isn’t that surprising. After all, the home button’s functionality has always been limited. All it can do is send you to your home screen or to the multitasking bar. These are functions that can be done using gestures, and are already included in the recently released iOS 4.3 beta.
These tasks could easily be done elsewhere.
You think that guy looks stupid now? Wait until your next iPhone comes with no buttons!
What do you think? Will you be happy if the home button goes away? Leave your comments below.
[Photo: BGR]