The New Interface Is There Is No interface

Good point. High stakes make for deliberate interface design.

0) It is not always obvious what gestures to make to have the device perform a certain action. For something that I will pull out many times and interact with while doing something else, I should never have to think about how to do something.

1) In the cases where there are multiple gestures one can make at one screen, it is very often that you will make the wrong one or the machine will interpret your gesture incorrectly. This sucks. Having to memorize gestures brings us back to the era where most applications were navigated by keyboard shortcut. (In fact, I would prefer the keyboard shortcuts. At least those are non-ambiguous.)

2) Touch screens are quite possibly the best way invented by man to smudge display hardware. Even when a touchscreen has been forgone in favor of a touch pad below the display. Between greasy, sticky, food, dirty hands, and just plain wear, I basically have to constantly damage my display to interact with the device. Which is why most people end up getting a case. (Case-hell is its own subject really.)

3) Specifically for the case of video games, there is nothing more frustrating then the interface effecting your ability to play the game. Considering that the latency of wireless controllers is considered too much by the most hardcore of gamers, it stands to reason that touch interface will be universally looked down upon by anyone playing anything more complex than say; wii bowling.

Addressing your concept of a touch pad on the back to save the poor screen. Your forgetting that most people hold mobile devices in such a way that a touch pad on the back would be constantly triggered simply by holding the device with a firm grip. (And encouraging people to hold it with anything less is a bad idea considering how fragile they are.)

I expect buttons to be around for a long time to come.

One of the fundamental problems is that it breaks our normal mind/body connection. It is virtually impossible to develop any kind of muscle memory using an interface that requires different physical movements for the same act.

Using a application over time, we do learn to work in an unconscious, trance-like state. But it requires a rigid posture to maintain visual connection with the location of the mouse and the state of the interface. This leads quickly to fatigue and potential repetitive strain injury.

I do think the touch interfaces are an improvement in this context (they reconnect mind/body/application). But for something as labor intensive and complex as audio production (or any media production) I don't think they will be usable for sustained work (at least with existing interface metaphors).

I have developed a tool for use with Pro Tools audio software, the Hotkey Matrix. It is a keyboard with pre-configured single key keyboard shortcuts. It has a number of features which are distinct from the many other attempts at control surfaces for audio software, and somewhat against the tenor of the times.

The shortcuts are fixed. We have iterated the specific shortcuts and layout over many years of production use. They are color coded, there are no modes or pages, so the same function is always in the same place and it is easy to target. It basically replaces and adds to the default keyboard shortcuts in Pro Tools. Pro Tools has a nice set of default single key shortcuts, but since it has so many, increasingly elaborate key bindings and two hands are required to use them (some have four modifier keys).

I'm convinced this is a superior interface enhancement on a lot of levels. It brings back some tactile response, and makes both muscle and mental memorization a lot easier. Since production work is extremely repetitive, it saves a thousands of keystrokes.

I think there is a long way to go in improving interfaces for complex media software. The computer brings tremendous benefits and cost savings to audio production, so there is no going back. It is now trivial to build up a virtual studio environment in a laptop that would have literally cost millions of dollars back in the 90s (not to mention insane electric bills). But the awesome thing about old school analog production was that each parameter in a project got its own dedicated knob/button/fader.

I miss those all those knobs/buttons/faders!

I'm also convinced that most software developers who make tools for professionals never use their software as a professional does (they don't have the time). Hence they make design decisions that turn out to be non-optimal over long use. I've used a lot of audio applications, and IMO Pro Tools is the best. My guess is that since they have a large installed base of professionals and some kind of feedback mechanism from the user base, their updates tend in the direction of increased usability (for pro users). Usability for apps that are simple and used infrequently is very different, and it is here that the comments of the OP are most on point.

Anyhow, I've wanting to run this by the HN community to see what people think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTvhwtvw2sI