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Rick Nelson

Feature creep, or degradation
June 1, 2006

In a post below, I comment on feature creep and note that I'm more concerned about feature degradation. I'm happy to accept new features as long as they don't interfere with the original ones. Go ahead and add a camera to my cell phone. The presence of the camera doesn't degrade the phone's voice quality (admittedly not that great to start with).

But please don't add features while degrading old ones. The feature I consider the most degraded? The simple volume control. A rotating potentiometer is the ideal component for this function. Your audio too loud? Turn the dial counterclockwise as rapidly as you want--there's no need to continue blasting your eardrums while the volume decreases at a predetermined and painfully slow ramp rate as you frantically squeeze a "volume down" button.

Vendors of virtual instruments act as if they understand my preference here--they go out of their way to generate virtual front panels that emulate real dials and knobs. (See this link, for example.) And Apple has done a fair job with its iPod, although an effort at adjusting the volume can result in a jump to another song track. But for the most part, vendors have moved from analog to digital controls without much thought about the degradation of the user interface.

What's your opinion? What features would you prefer to do without on your instruments or consumer-electronics products? What feature do you want to see returned to its previous glory? Use the comment link or send me e-mail.

Posted by Rick Nelson on June 1, 2006 | Comments (87)

June 1, 2006
In response to: Feature creep, or degradation
Reid Shipp commented:

Guess I am just over the hill, my favorite VHF ham radio tranceiver has real knobs and switches. It does not store the frequency I last used before the one I am operationg on. My favorite HF radio is a Collins KWM-2, no DSP, no memory or what have you. It also glows in the dark.

June 1, 2006
In response to: Feature creep, or degradation
Glen Chenier, Allen, TX commented:

Same for monitor contrast and brightness. These are always needing adjustment for room lighting conditions, or just to turn the brightness way down when not in use to preserve the CRT cathodes. Knobs are quick to adjust and can be found by feel in the dark. My monitor has buttons that must be pushed in sequence to get to the desired function, then held for a slow count up/down. Worst of all, they are flush with the panel and cannot be easily located in the dark during an insomnia attack.