What do I press?

Much has been made of Steve Jobs' 'fear of buttons.' He railed against them in the introduction of the iPhone. As usual, there was the prerequisite cries of anguish from the geekosphere. 

Now that touch-screens have gone mainstream, the infinite wisdom of the decision is becoming apparent. My first thought when I saw the Google phone was - why are there so many buttons and what do they do? I had an opportunity to hold a Blackberry Storm a few days ago I had the same reaction. How do I use this thing? I admit I never really got into the Crackberry and so the learning curve is higher for me than for a Blackberry faithful. But still. 

The minute I picked up my iPhone, I knew how to use it. Now being a geek, I did watch the iPhone video introduction so I was a little ahead of the curve. But almost everyone else I've given the phone to has had the same reaction. Once you get over the fact that there's only one main button, it's surprisingly easy to use. 

I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said one million times. Contrary to what many über geeks think, the average consumer is not stupid, just preoccupied. There are some things that people just don't want or don't have time to think about and technology is usually one of them. Most people don't shop for gadgets by scrutinizing features lists. From what I've observed, the average person asks themselves...

• Do I like the way it looks?
• Do I like the way it feels?
• Is there someone I can call if I have a question? [formally as in the company and casually as in my cousin]
• Does it do what I need it to do? [often defined broadly]

Apple is not perfect by any means and their quality is a little more variable than I would like. But few other companies get that if you answer those four questions well, you'll have a success on your hands. 

Honda would be another company that 'gets' it. Others?