Once they started using a knob to cycle through the alphabet on logic analyzers, I knew the test instrument industry was "circling the bowl".

It's true enough that an encoded knob, back then, was cheaper than a keyboard, today, that's probably not the case. On an oscilloscope, for example, my 30-year-old 250 MHz TEK 475A with the DM-44 multimeter built-in, I don't even have to look at the knobs. Operating it is just second nature, as I've been doing that since '79 when I got it, and it's essentially identical to the TEK 465 I used before then. By contrast, the 400 MHz 2467, with its microchannel-plate photomultiplier, allowing me to see events occurring once ever billion sweeps, it takes me much longer to set up and make a measurement, since it uses a microcomputer to interpret switch inputs and produce the display. Now, it still has an XY-display rather than a rasterized one. However, though it provides a more convenient display that shows the sweep speed and volts/div, it uses buttons rather than switches to set some of its parameters, hence it's not easily operated without taking frequent looks at it.

PC-based instruments are even worse in that respect. You always have to look away from what you're doing, and, naturally, you have to put down the probe so you can focus on the mouse, keyboard, and PC display. That certainly doesn't enhance productivity over the old 1970's TEK 475A. The makers of those PC-based instruments have chosen what's "kewl" over what's practical.

RE