Well, I wouldn't agree that sensing the contact of the top of the finger and plastic of the display could be considered as 'feedback'.


Feedback implies returned information, so when You press a button, you get feedback (because you can sense button mechanism moving i.e. 'click') and You know that You pressed the button and haven't missed it. Also, if the buttons have good tactile-feedback You can be also be sure that You, not only pressed a button but also, performed desired action (because if You haven't pressed the button all the way down, You will not feel the 'click' and then You can be sure nothing will happen).

Another 'plus' of the buttons compared to touch-screens is the fact that you can feel the shape of the button (before pressing it) under Your finger, and if You missed it, You can quickly correct the position of the finger.

With touch-screen You can feel the contact of your finger and the screen, but You can only:

- hope that You hit the right area of the screen

- hope that the desired action will be performed

, because there is no feedback at all.


Because all of this, buttons are more reliable than touch-screen especially in the situation when You need to perform one or more operations really quickly.


Not to mention the fact that when your touch-screen 'dies' (and it is quite fragile) you cannot do much with the keyboard, and the cost of repair is expensive, while if the same happens to a button you can still use most of the operations (depending of the importance of the broken button), and the repair price is just fraction of the touch-screen price.


[This message has been edited by kalimero (edited 01-29-2009).]