Just came across this story:
Apple Patents The Invisible Button:
"...One of Apple’s famous minimalist design principles is to get rid of buttons whenever possible. With touchscreen devices like the iPhone and iPad, almost all of the buttons appear when needed on the screen. But what about Macbooks with aluminum casings? A new patent application titled “Disappearing Button or Slider” shows that Apple is at least thinking about how to bring elements of touch computing to all devices by replacing buttons and other controls with capacitive controls which appear only when needed."
The narrative: Apple is amazing. Look they're inventing the future. Buttons on glass that appear only as the specific functions are needed! And on aluminum too! Wow!
Oops. I forgot this is Beoworld and some of us had the future many years ago.
If you're an Apple fan boy I can hear you say: "but it's not the same technology. Yadah yadah yadah..."
I know, but it's the same concept.
Apple gets all the credit. That's no fun. Alas, that's business.