1. A portable data processing device comprising: a display; an input device; a mechanical switch having a plurality of separate and independent switch positions which comprise a first switch position ad a second switch position, the mechanical switch being configured to switch among a plurality of programmable user interface profile settings which comprise a first profile setting and a second profile setting; and at least one processor coupled to the input device and to the display and coupled to the mechanical switch to receive an output from the mechanical switch, the processor being configured to assign each one of a subset of the plurality of programmable user interface profile settings to a corresponding one of the plurality of separate and independent switch positions of the mechanical switch such that the processor is configured to assign the first profile setting to the first switch position and is configured to assign the second profile setting to the second switch position of the plurality of separate and independent switch positions, and the processor is configured to determine and select, based on the output of the mechanical switch, one set of values from the plurality of programmable user interface profile settings, wherein a quantity of the plurality of programmable user interface profile settings is more than a quantity of the plurality of separate and independent switch positions of the mechanical switch, wherein the assigned profile settings of the plurality of programmable user interface profile settings are less than the quantity of the plurality of programmable user interface profile settings such that the assigned profile settings are subset of the quantity of plurality of programmable user interface profile settings, wherein the mechanical switch is configured to receive a user's finger to select one of the plurality of separate and independent switch positions, and when the user's finger moves while in contact with the mechanical switch, the switch positions of the mechanical switch change from one of the plurality of separate and independent switch positions to another of the plurality of separate and independent switch positions.