And I never got a straight answer. I’ll try again. Maybe one of you tech-savvy dudes can give me an explanation.

Why do the manufacturers of consumer electronics label all the controls with tiny embossed letters in the same color as the chassis? That is, if they bother to label them at all.

They are invisible and unreadable, and placed in inaccessible areas that are usually not well lit. To get to them you have to move all sorts of gear, twist yourself into contorted postures, and navigate a tangle of cables and plugs. Even if you wear trifocals, your eyes are never at a distance where those teeny black runes can be brought into focus. And of course, you can’t see the screen or read the manual (if they even bothered to provide one) while you’re doing this, so you need an assistant.

Is there some obscure engineering or marketing reason for this? Or do they just have an infinite contempt for the old, stiff-jointed, presbyotic liberal arts majors who can actually afford to buy their gear?