Fellow Impromptu-ite, Shadoe Huard:

We might also consider whether skeuomorphic design is even fit for the UIs of modern computing anymore. As we increasingly interface by way of gestures, voice commands, and inputs disconnected from physical analogs, are digital knobs and textures the most efficient or practical solution? Asking these sorts of questions—not wondering what’s changed since Apple released a new iPhone—is how we begin noticing the influence of an entire mobile industry on itself: We can trace the career of Matias Duarte from Palm to Google and see WebOS’s legacy of physicality continuing on Android. It’s why designers at Microsoft can find solace in the fact that designers are apparently taking inspiration from Windows Phone 8′s text-centric, chrome-less aesthetic and adapting it to their software. Point being, it’s pure fantasy to imagine third party iOS developers leading the charge against embossed text on the basis of a single and insularly engineered cataclysm.

Shadoe knocked it out of the park with this piece. It’s long, thoughtful, and incredibly on point.