I've only played with them at the Apple Store, but the iPhone4 silence switch seemed a lot better than the ones on my original 2G and current 3GS. My 2G switch was so flimsy that it would toggle on and off in my pocket from idle friction, while the 3GS one was stiff to the point where I needed both hands to reliably move it.

I do like the feel and design of the 3G model better (much easier to tell if it's silenced in your pocket), but on multiple occasions, the switch on my 3GS has switched from silenced to not. The new one seems a lot less prone to that.

I'm not sure about the 3G(S) but the iPhone 2G switch actually had a tendency to break a lot. The problem was prevalent enough that people came up with software solutions to override it: http://www.iclarified.com/entry/comments.php?enid=1468#comme...

The new one is thin and seems to almost stick at times.

The silence toggle on both the 3G and the 3GS gave out on me. It was the most inferior part of that model.

I know a lot of people who have problems with super-flickering vibrate mode.

And this is exactly the crux of my problem with reviews like this:

maybe how a button feels to an individual is a bit subjective?

All reviews are subjective. If the person doesn't have the same tastes as you, then don't take their opinion.

Say what you will about the volume and lock buttons, but the new silence toggle is great. About once a day I would accidentally switch my phone from ring to silent (or vice versa) with my 3GS.

Does anyone else notice this pattern and find it strange:

Feature X on my new Apple product is great. It's much better than the flawed version on my earlier Apple device.

The retina screen and camera are two big areas where Apple might have previously been considered behind the curve, yet they get strongly praised for being better than their earlier efforts rather than benchmarked against current rivals.

Compare the gasps of delight of someone comparing a Retina display against years old iPhones, compared with the "meh, looks about the same" response when compared with a Super-AMOLED screen from Samsung.

Was I supposed to bemoan the fact that they've improved it? I'm sure if you grepped the web you'd find that people have been praising the improvement of products they like since... since at least the early 1990's.

The Retina display is nice, but I find myself appreciating it for how it's used, not for its resolution (apps that don't accommodate for it look terrible). There is probably a lot of better technology out there, but soldering and gluing parts together does not a product make. People like it because of the whole package, and see it as greater than the sum of its parts.

Well logically you should complain about faulty buttons and be unimpressed by working ones. But people don't work logically so it's the same effect as wearing too tight shoes or the childrens' story "A squash and a squeeze", the relief you feel from something bad returning to a normal level is palpable and can actually feel better than just having things work in the first place.

Like you, I think it shows that if you get the important stuff right, then people will be very forgiving of your faults, while still being harsh about similar level faults in competing products (which perhaps get a different set of important stuff right for other folks). People are funny that way and while I find it interesting, I don't think people should celebrate it any more than placebo effects should be attributed to new medicines.