It's a recurring rage of mine how bad and even dangerous many appliance and real-world UIs are. The car stereo with timed modes is only one example, stove-tops

It's a recurring rage of mine how bad and even dangerous many appliance and real-world UIs are. The car stereo with timed modes is only one example, stove-tops with unfriendly touch screen interfaces that make it hard to tell if the stove is on or not is another. That said, I'm not sure I'm prepared to categorically dismiss modes in interfaces. Photoshop is an interesting example where I actually think the moded interface is helpful, given that the interface makes it clear what mode is active right now. Another example that may divide readers of this humble comment is vim, where some may argue that its mode-based interface is core to its strengths.