It would seem that swiping, tapping and touching are such all-pervasive "gestures" in our screen-based world that the humble button is now considered by some to be arcane technology.
I witnessed a strange scene the other day in central London while waiting to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing. A young man, part of a group of overseas students, reached the crossing just ahead of me and attempted to operate the traffic signal…
…by swiping the screen.
When this did not work, he tapped the screen with his index finger tip. Again, nothing. Two more taps, this time with two fingers were followed by some stiff rapping with his knuckles on the screen all to no avail.
He turned to me with a look of aggressive incredulity. I intervened by leaning in and pressing the button. Which did nothing to remove the look of aggressive incredulity from his face, but at least it summoned the green man.
It made me think of the instructions that came with a "retro" telephone that I bought last year for The Daily Constitutional office desk (this will make you chuckle if you are over the age of 40)…
So, in the similar spirit of helpfulness for hard-of-thinking Millennials, here's how to locate "the button"…
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