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It's unfortunate that design decisions are more often based on "coolness" rather than usability. My favorite example of this is the disappearance of toggle switches from audio equipment. You used to be able to tell at a glance from across the room whether a set of speakers, for example, was on or off. Now you have to crouch close to the unit with a flashlight to see whether the tiny black button is in or out.
Over the last year we've all been saturated with advertising for touch-screen devices (enough to support a generation of "hand models" -- nod to George Costanza) and this has the effect of making the Kindle buttons look dowdy. But is touch-screen really an improvement?
BTW as this is a forum for readers, I hope I will be forgiven for pointing out that "Leary" is the guy that turned us on, tuned us in, and dropped us out some decades ago. I'd be "leery" of using his name as an adjective. :-)
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