One minor annoyance: hard home button

Why did Sammy go with a hard home button? Coming from 2 previous phones with a soft button I kept touching it (not pushing it) and then remembering that I have to press it. A minor annoyance I know, but just seems like:

a) it would have helped with their water resistance
b) it would be one less thing that could fail (mechanical over software)

How far back in the Galaxy series have they used a hard home button? Or is it driven by the thumbprint reader (which I am loving!).

from Android Forum at DroidForums.net http://ift.tt/1UsWr2G
via IFTTT