What are your thoughts are on the way the software designers recreate the look of a real synth on the screen in VSTs. (I think the term is skeuomorphic design, and Steve Jobs was a big fan). Arturia tends to do this with their software synths, for example this.
On the one hand, it looks great, it's perhaps more intuitive since the controls are where you would expect them to be on the synth, and it gives you the feeling you're playing the actual instrument. But on the other, the knobs and switches have to be small enough to make space for all the ornamental features like wooden side-cheeks, which perhaps makes it more fiddly to use if you are controlling with a mouse or with fingers on a touch screen.
Is a realistic design essential when making a software recreation of a piece of real world hardware? Or would you prefer that designers forget about the physical features of the hardware and focus instead on making the most efficient use of the screen real-estate?
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