I came across news that the best part about the iPhone (like most other Apple products) is it’s intuitiveness. The iPhone just has one button and it always does the same thing: takes you to the top menu, where icons representing all functions of the phone — music player, Internet browser and more — are laid out in a clear manner.

This is indeed revolutionary - It replaces a dozen buttons (like on the Nokia N95) with one button. Emphasis to intuitive user experience has always been one of the strongest selling points for Apple. Moreover, the reviewer who pointed this out thinks that it’s better this way since he doesn’t have to remember which button does what function.

But with everything that I have read about Apple and from my experience (many visits to Apple showrooms and playing around with Mac Powerbooks), a thought crossed my mind: Is this intuitiveness craze a limiting factor?

I’m sure I can get more precise about the argument I’m trying to make with a few detailed examples:

Limiting users to reach the functions of the computer/mp3 player in multiple ways?

OR

simply constraining the user to sync his portable player with other computers?

Apple is good but it can never be great. Every product of Apple (in my belief) suffers from something I would call, ‘intuitive-user-friendly-but-tied-to-shackles-of-limitations’ - whether it be the iPhone (tied to a single button, an irreplacable battery & a single cellular service provider), the iMac (tied to….well, all those limited number of software that it can support on its OS).