

New iOS Gestures Point To Death Of The Physical Button - iamclovin
http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/12/new-ios-gestures-point-to-death-of-the-physical-button/

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ajhit406
I think the real value of getting rid of the physical button is just the
increase of screen real estate.

There's a heck of a lot of potential retina pixels around that home button
down there.

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artmageddon
A gesture can probably be used to replace the functionality of quickly
snapping back to the home screen, taking a screen shot of resetting the phone,
but I still kind of like the idea that it's an explicit operation, rather than
hoping the phone interprets my gestures correctly(especially when it might be
experiencing a problem.)

That said, I'm not opposed to the idea, extra screen real estate wouldn't be a
bad thing. The author correctly brings up phone orientation when removing from
your pocket/holder. Will I have to look for the ear speaker now?

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andrewgodwin
Near the end, the article touches on the fact that orientation matters for the
phone part, but not the software - part of me wonders if even that is
necessary.

Would it be too hard to install two microphones and two earpiece speakers in
the thing? I imagine they'd also have to have some kind of weird aerial
switching as well, though, as traditionally those are always at the one end; I
seem to remember it was to pass regulations.

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artmageddon
I like the idea of being able to use the phone in either orientation, but it
just seems like it'd be jamming in redundant hardware into precious space with
no extra benefit.

