Fruit for thought: User interfaces depend more on hardware design than you think Part – 1

Over the past few weeks numerous iPhone 4G users have been complaining that the phone has a faulty antenna. They claim that they easily lose reception when holding the phone at its lower left-hand corner.  Apple’s solution?   Steve Jobs simply says “don’t hold it that way”.   Apple also has a more concrete answer, insisting that the problem can be avoided by using a case that covers the phone (presumably an iPhone case purchased from Apple).  While this hardware related usability complaint may seem trivial, Apple’s newest hardware usability problem is a springboard that we can use to explore a growing area of concern for many technology users: the increasing gap between hardware and the interfaces required to use them.