simplicity

T​here’s a rumor circulating that the next version of the iPad/iPhone won’t have a home button.  This rumor was further fueled with the introduction of the new multi-touch gestures in the new 4.3 developer beta that got released for the iPad yesterday.  While this could very well be a distinct possibility, especially because from an Apple design standpoint, where it’s clear Apple pushes minimalism and simplicity, it would make sense.  But at least from a usability standpoint the idea of removing the home button seems highly unlikely.  Why?  Well I had the opportunity to use the multi-touch gestures yesterday and while they bring up some interesting possibilities, the gestures are uncomfortable to use and may be difficult for the regular Joe to pick-up.  That of-course makes them a difficult sell, after all the great thing about the iPad and the iPhone is the ability for anyone to just pick one up and use it.  Gruber makes this point even clearer:

I’m not saying these are bad gestures. But they’re like keyboard shortcuts on the Mac. For any command you expect normal people to actually find and use, there needs to be a visual way to find it. You can add a keyboard shortcut for expert users to memorize, but you can’t have only a keyboard shortcut. Same with these gestures.

Again the gestures aren’t ‘bad’, they’re intuitive but uncomfortable and slightly difficult to pull off.