The Netflix button is an advertisement masquerading as a product

In today’s digital age, it sometimes feels like hardware has taken a back seat to the software that drives our devices. Button of the Month will look at what some of those buttons and switches are like on devices old and new to appreciate how we interact with them on a physical, tactile level.

It is a bizarre fact of technology that very good products will often have bad things associated with them due to the constraints of money and branding. Think obnoxious carrier logos and bloatware on smartphones, processor company stickers ruining the aesthetics of your sleek laptop, and of course, the omnipresent Netflix button on your TV’s remote.

It’s not just Netflix, of course, but a variety of services that are willing to shell out cash for...

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