The gradual downfall of BlackBerry - and its upcoming shift to onscreen keyboards - appears to prove that the battle between physical buttons and touch screens has been conclusively won.
On the other hand many still yearn for buttons that you can, you know, actually push. Some even go so far as sticking on see-through buttons just for that old school feel.
We've heard plenty of rumours about 'haptic' displays before, and similar tech that simulates physical buttons has been shown off several times.
Now another company has come up with a way to put physical buttons in touchscreen devices - and have then pop-up when you need them and disappear when you don't.
Tactus Technology showed of the new idea at Display Week in Boston.
Essentially the company has created a 'Tactile Layer' behind its screen, which creates physical shapes in a 'microfluidic' goo.
The result is that buttons rise out of the touchscreen surface.
What makes it different is users can actually see and feel the buttons before they press them - and that could lead to huge advances in on-screen keyboards which many people still struggle to use.
We hope a few manufactures decide to take this on board. For one thing it might help cut out a few of these autocorrect fails: