There are some gaps in reasoning, but overall I think the point stands.
The biggest omission is the key advantage of "Pictures Under Glass": they can be defined purely in software. Because of that, I don't think they'll ever stop serving a role in our device interactions. No amount of space-age physical device design could've supported the smartphone's explosion of apps without pictures under glass or some equivalent.
With that said, we could definitely benefit from moving some of the more constant/widespread interactions back to physical controls. Buttons and switches on smartphones are always appreciated. And don't even get me started on cars, where there's little need for a vibrant developer ecosystem and a ton of need for non-visual interface comprehension. I also think the Apple Watch's "crown" is one of the more interesting recent examples of a tactile interface that doesn't sacrifice open-ended software development.
Re: Buttons and switches on smartphones are always appreciated.
I disagree, I'm always accidentally bumping or pushing them. Plus, they usually do tasks that are not my top tasks. I'd like to reassign some of them to my favorite actions.
Surely the dream is to have a programmable tactile interface. Perhaps you could program the height or texture of parts of the screen. But I have no idea how this would work!
The biggest omission is the key advantage of "Pictures Under Glass": they can be defined purely in software. Because of that, I don't think they'll ever stop serving a role in our device interactions. No amount of space-age physical device design could've supported the smartphone's explosion of apps without pictures under glass or some equivalent.
With that said, we could definitely benefit from moving some of the more constant/widespread interactions back to physical controls. Buttons and switches on smartphones are always appreciated. And don't even get me started on cars, where there's little need for a vibrant developer ecosystem and a ton of need for non-visual interface comprehension. I also think the Apple Watch's "crown" is one of the more interesting recent examples of a tactile interface that doesn't sacrifice open-ended software development.