Yup. It's easy to manufacture, it's aesthetically appealing, and it's very, very flexible. Handhelds, monitors, keyboards, server rack units - they all have the same basic shape, just the ratios are altered.
Well, the design MO is elegant minimalism, and electronic parts and circuit boards are usually rectangles. People forget that most of the time to most ergonomic and elegant solutions are simply smaller versions of existing stuff. Apple's design dept works hard to get stuff as small as possible: it's not as simple as you might think.
The old original iBooks with the clam shels were prettty round, and even some of the older laptops had some nice curves.
The old G3-era mouse was round, but was painful to hold.
Design also has to take a slightly middle-of-the-road approach: people simply are not all the same size nor do they move in the same ways. Personally, I tried a 12" PB years ago but hated it because it hurt my hands to use it; I can palm a basketballl with ease and trying to ue the machine without being able to rest my palms was tough. The 15" worked much better for me, butstill I preferred the ouch pad of the iBook (macbook) because of its slightly curved edges around the pad; the edges on the PB are sharp and uncomfortable.
Monochromatic slabs serve Apple as an iconic look across the product line. iPod, MacBook, iPhone, AppleTV, Airport-- it's a look that says "simple, solid, and functional".
They got there from curvy and colorful , a look that said "fun loving, different and edgy", but that was to put Apple back in the public mind after the dark days.
The only problem is that there's sort of nowhere to go with it, once you've made everything as simple as humanly possible. I'm guessing interesting materials and color, further refinement of details, and continued rounded rectangles.
After that, elaborately baroque plant shapes. The iMac bonsai.
Hmm. The Apple TV is a rounded white rectangle. The new airport is a rounded white rectangle.
I want some bold designs!
I think that that is a bold design. It's hard to make minimalism look good and also functional. The standard is sloppy and thrown-together hight tech. It suggests a lot and looks cool but difficult and can be distracting. All the leet-sweet dragon-wing covered cases add nothing useful, and really take some decorating changes to put into a room. An iMac blends in, is very simple, still looks cool, and never grows old. Plus, like someone said, the form is flexible.
Complex looks good at first but only endures with precision and good proportion. The same goes for minimalist stuff. But a lot can be too much easily, and it's difficult to subtract things without upsetting the balance. Minimal stuff can be really refreshing and lightening, that is good to be around, if boring to look at.
It's the reason why the Pepsi Challenge always has the same result. Pepsi is significantly less acidic and sweet than Coke, so people go for it right away. Yet people still prefer drinking Coke in general. The sweetness is therefore too powerful to finish the whole bottle.
If the iPhone suggests anything, it's that the desktop analogy will be taken to anew level, and that the hardware will have to lead that. There will be more metal, shiny metal, and glass. The computer will retreat behind the screen in the iMac and MacBook (pro) models. The towers/minitowers will get more configureable and hopefully smaller.
I think that that is a bold design. It's hard to make minimalism look good and also functional. The standard is sloppy and thrown-together hight tech. It suggests a lot and looks cool but difficult and can be distracting. All the leet-sweet dragon-wing covered cases add nothing useful, and really take some decorating changes to put into a room. An iMac blends in, is very simple, still looks cool, and never grows old. Plus, like someone said, the form is flexible.
Complex looks good at first but only endures with precision and good proportion. The same goes for minimalist stuff. But a lot can be too much easily, and it's difficult to subtract things without upsetting the balance. Minimal stuff can be really refreshing and lightening, that is good to be around, if boring to look at.
It's the reason why the Pepsi Challenge always has the same result. Pepsi is significantly less acidic and sweet than Coke, so people go for it right away. Yet people still prefer drinking Coke in general. The sweetness is therefore too powerful to finish the whole bottle.
If the iPhone suggests anything, it's that the desktop analogy will be taken to anew level, and that the hardware will have to lead that. There will be more metal, shiny metal, and glass. The computer will retreat behind the screen in the iMac and MacBook (pro) models. The towers/minitowers will get more configureable and hopefully smaller.
Very true. Its actually harder to make minimal design look good-- you always run the risk of just looking utilitarian. It's what happened to the actually beautiful Bauhaus esthetic once it got into the hands of people who figured "lack of ornamentation means cheap to build" and we got plastered with a lot of anonymous slab sided buildings that could be anything from a prison to a daycare center.
Which is why when competitors try to duplicate the Apple "look" they make things that look dumb (Zune, I'm looking at you....). They get the simple, they just don't how to good minimalist design.
The old original iBooks with the clam shels were prettty round, and even some of the older laptops had some nice curves.
The old G3-era mouse was round, but was painful to hold.
Design also has to take a slightly middle-of-the-road approach: people simply are not all the same size nor do they move in the same ways. Personally, I tried a 12" PB years ago but hated it because it hurt my hands to use it; I can palm a basketballl with ease and trying to ue the machine without being able to rest my palms was tough. The 15" worked much better for me, butstill I preferred the ouch pad of the iBook (macbook) because of its slightly curved edges around the pad; the edges on the PB are sharp and uncomfortable.
Comments
to boldy go where no one has been gone before!
Without getting cut by sharp corners. C'mon. Rounded corners are the Web 2.0 of Apple design.
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The old original iBooks with the clam shels were prettty round, and even some of the older laptops had some nice curves.
The old G3-era mouse was round, but was painful to hold.
Design also has to take a slightly middle-of-the-road approach: people simply are not all the same size nor do they move in the same ways. Personally, I tried a 12" PB years ago but hated it because it hurt my hands to use it; I can palm a basketballl with ease and trying to ue the machine without being able to rest my palms was tough. The 15" worked much better for me, butstill I preferred the ouch pad of the iBook (macbook) because of its slightly curved edges around the pad; the edges on the PB are sharp and uncomfortable.
Yeah, come on Apple where's the hour glassed shaped remote with two big round knobs?
They got there from curvy and colorful , a look that said "fun loving, different and edgy", but that was to put Apple back in the public mind after the dark days.
The only problem is that there's sort of nowhere to go with it, once you've made everything as simple as humanly possible. I'm guessing interesting materials and color, further refinement of details, and continued rounded rectangles.
After that, elaborately baroque plant shapes. The iMac bonsai.
It's all about the rounded rectangles. With simple gradients. OMFG I am an Apple designer NOW!
Where's my $150+k package + stock options??
-paraphrased famous steve jobs quote.
Hmm. The Apple TV is a rounded white rectangle. The new airport is a rounded white rectangle.
I want some bold designs!
I think that that is a bold design. It's hard to make minimalism look good and also functional. The standard is sloppy and thrown-together hight tech. It suggests a lot and looks cool but difficult and can be distracting. All the leet-sweet dragon-wing covered cases add nothing useful, and really take some decorating changes to put into a room. An iMac blends in, is very simple, still looks cool, and never grows old. Plus, like someone said, the form is flexible.
Complex looks good at first but only endures with precision and good proportion. The same goes for minimalist stuff. But a lot can be too much easily, and it's difficult to subtract things without upsetting the balance. Minimal stuff can be really refreshing and lightening, that is good to be around, if boring to look at.
It's the reason why the Pepsi Challenge always has the same result. Pepsi is significantly less acidic and sweet than Coke, so people go for it right away. Yet people still prefer drinking Coke in general. The sweetness is therefore too powerful to finish the whole bottle.
If the iPhone suggests anything, it's that the desktop analogy will be taken to anew level, and that the hardware will have to lead that. There will be more metal, shiny metal, and glass. The computer will retreat behind the screen in the iMac and MacBook (pro) models. The towers/minitowers will get more configureable and hopefully smaller.
I think that that is a bold design. It's hard to make minimalism look good and also functional. The standard is sloppy and thrown-together hight tech. It suggests a lot and looks cool but difficult and can be distracting. All the leet-sweet dragon-wing covered cases add nothing useful, and really take some decorating changes to put into a room. An iMac blends in, is very simple, still looks cool, and never grows old. Plus, like someone said, the form is flexible.
Complex looks good at first but only endures with precision and good proportion. The same goes for minimalist stuff. But a lot can be too much easily, and it's difficult to subtract things without upsetting the balance. Minimal stuff can be really refreshing and lightening, that is good to be around, if boring to look at.
It's the reason why the Pepsi Challenge always has the same result. Pepsi is significantly less acidic and sweet than Coke, so people go for it right away. Yet people still prefer drinking Coke in general. The sweetness is therefore too powerful to finish the whole bottle.
If the iPhone suggests anything, it's that the desktop analogy will be taken to anew level, and that the hardware will have to lead that. There will be more metal, shiny metal, and glass. The computer will retreat behind the screen in the iMac and MacBook (pro) models. The towers/minitowers will get more configureable and hopefully smaller.
Very true. Its actually harder to make minimal design look good-- you always run the risk of just looking utilitarian. It's what happened to the actually beautiful Bauhaus esthetic once it got into the hands of people who figured "lack of ornamentation means cheap to build" and we got plastered with a lot of anonymous slab sided buildings that could be anything from a prison to a daycare center.
Which is why when competitors try to duplicate the Apple "look" they make things that look dumb (Zune, I'm looking at you....). They get the simple, they just don't how to good minimalist design.
Backdated to somebody else.
Good one.
I counted four.
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The old original iBooks with the clam shels were prettty round, and even some of the older laptops had some nice curves.
The old G3-era mouse was round, but was painful to hold.
Design also has to take a slightly middle-of-the-road approach: people simply are not all the same size nor do they move in the same ways. Personally, I tried a 12" PB years ago but hated it because it hurt my hands to use it; I can palm a basketballl with ease and trying to ue the machine without being able to rest my palms was tough. The 15" worked much better for me, butstill I preferred the ouch pad of the iBook (macbook) because of its slightly curved edges around the pad; the edges on the PB are sharp and uncomfortable.
lol, you got me there