Comment 14 for bug 187848

Isn't the applet you are referring to called gnome-volume-control (as of Intrepid, in package gnome-media)? That's the applet I get when I right-click on the speaker in the top menu bar and select "open volume control" from the menu.

Here's a screenshot of gnome-alsamixer: http://dollarunderscore.wordpress.com/2007/05/29/gnome-alsa-mixer/ -- it's fairly similar, but not identical to gnome-volume-control.

I concur that this is a serious usability problem which should definitely be fixed.