The user has to click on the handset, which is so non-intuitive that few users would ever consider trying it. In order to compensate for the non-intuitiveness of the interface, RealPhone relies on extremely lengthy tooltips to provide instructions. Surprisingly, as part of their modernization of the interface, when IBM removed the control labels, they also removed essential interface components such as mnemonic access characters. Unfortunately, the speed dial numbers do not have index numbers associated with them, so the user would have to count the speed dial positions to determine the numerical value to press. Part of the appeal of the RealPhone is its visual appearance.
Appeal is in the eye of the beholder.
We would prefer that it look, and act, more like a computer application. In particular, we find RealPhone's lack of intelligence to be most unappealing . RealPhone can do more than a real telephone without breaking the visual metaphor. By modeling it after a real phone, IBM has unnecessarily limited its functionality . For example, the number of speed dial numbers on a real phone is limited by the size of the phone and economics.