Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2010 > March > 12 > Entry
SXSW panel: The History of the Button
The History of the Button
Date/Time: 2 p.m. Friday
Speaker: Bill DeRouchey (Ziba Design)
The gist: Despite radical technological change over the last 100 years, the button has remained a constant. The change in the way we view and use the button represents larger shifts in the way we live. Throughout the 20th century, the button variously represented convenience, leisure and fear. The arrival of the internet age signaled a radical transition in the idea of the button and consequently how we think. The touch technology in smart phones seems so distant from the first mouse, but we taught ourselves how to use both technologies.
Quotes: “We now think about objects with depth and time, instead of just static things,” “The button represents how we interact with objects we create.”
Takeaways: This talk was an entertaining and unconventional way to start the conference. DeRouchey offered eye-opening perspective on an integral part of our lives that is taken for granted.
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