Althouse: You're not Apple. Don't even try design.

October 16, 2011

You're not Apple. Don't even try design.

Sorry. That's my reaction to this thing.

39 comments:

Sal said...: I like it. I could put stuff in that space.; 10/16/11, 11:22 AM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: I will not pay for design. I will pay for function. If it's a tossup, then design wins.; 10/16/11, 11:26 AM
Carol_Herman said...: Not a hard call.

3-D never really sold at the movies. Where you'd get the paper glasses included in the price of your admission. And, the movies FLOPPED.

I think Disney offered a 3-D (short film) with Michael Jackson. Probably worked because it was ten minutes long. Fit the Disney description of "a ride."

Certainly won't work at home!

Now, homes have dedicated "plasma walls." Dedicated to entertainment value. Until people grow tired of hosting crowds when all they want to do is watch a baseball or football game.

At least you don't have to have the old bar fights of some beefy guy sticking his head in to block the view of someone behind him, who can no longer see the TV.; 10/16/11, 11:29 AM
caseym54 said...: The best thing about 3D TV sets is that to do 3D they have to be excellent 2D TVs. The 3D effect isn't worth $5 by itself.; 10/16/11, 11:37 AM
edutcher said...: OK, so the support's to one side.

Like Tyrone, I wouldn't buy Apple for the design, but, if it works and the price is right, I can always put a book in the gap.

PS Carol's right (I know...). Most 3D movies sacrificed story for WOW!!

Interestingly, "Hondo", a pretty good story, was originally in 3D, but you see the 2D version on TCM.; 10/16/11, 11:43 AM
Earth Girl said...: Reminds me of a sewing machine; 10/16/11, 11:44 AM
Somebody said...: It looks like the profile of a sewing machine.; 10/16/11, 11:44 AM
Blogger Account said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/16/11, 11:45 AM
Anonymous said...: Well, there are designers, creative artists everywhere. This ad I saw is such that I cannot get it out of my head. I want it to be a movie, I got the song from iTunes, etc. Try it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVsf82IuVLI&; 10/16/11, 11:46 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It looks like something a child would come up with after seeing an iMac. How to make it different? Okay! I did it!; 10/16/11, 11:47 AM
Rose said...: Supposedly, Samsung is coming out with flexible cellphone screens, monitors are probably next.

What will happen with Apple without Jobs.

It's starting to make me think of 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' - a search, not for a good manager, but for a visionary who LOVES the candy in every sense of the word, who delights in bringing it to people in new and innovative ways, for the joy of it.; 10/16/11, 11:50 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Reminds me of a sewing machine."

Yes, except a sewing machine is shaped like that because of a function to be served, which is why it's not unpleasant to have the structure off to one side. With this monitor, it's sacrificing function just to find a way to look different. There's nothing you want to do with that newly created space in the middle, so all you get is the new, slightly bad feeling that the thing is going to list.; 10/16/11, 11:51 AM
jeff said...: "You're not Apple. Don't even try design."

Apple may no longer be Apple. So no one should even try to design?; 10/16/11, 11:52 AM
Joe Schmoe said...: Geez Ann. Are we supposed to put a moratorium on design, and moreso its public advocation, into perpetuity as that was the sole provenance of Jobs?

Design wasn't cremated with Jobs. And that monitor ain't half bad. If you want to quibble with the ad copy, be more specific.; 10/16/11, 12:02 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: I'm for everyone playing with design. Try new things! Yes, some of the designs will be awful, but some of them will be great.; 10/16/11, 12:03 PM
virgil xenophon said...: Do I detect a hint--just a hint, mind you--of Apple/Mac snobbery here? Bueller? Bueller?; 10/16/11, 12:11 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: Ann Althouse said...

With this monitor, it's sacrificing function just to find a way to look different.

Yes, you hit the nail on the head. People instinctively can see it when form doesn't follow function. Certain objects have been around so long that the general form has stabilized. I have a set of stainless dinnerware where the bowls on the spoons are not spoon-shaped. They're horrible, and they don't work well, but they look different. Computer technology is changing fast enough that forms have not had time to stabilize, but they are getting there. The "wrongness" you feel looking at that monitor is proof.; 10/16/11, 12:12 PM
Wince said...: "It is possible to make people contented with their servitude. I think this can be done."

Does that extend to brand loyalty as applied to design?; 10/16/11, 12:18 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: why does a monitor have to be symmetrical? I can think of reasons for an offset design. Monitors are now more commonly mounted on walls or desks; the offset base would work very well on that type of mount. What about a monitor integral to seat where the monitor swung up and around, like the writing surface on countless college desks? With more touchscreens coming on board, could a monitor replace those college desk writing surfaces?

If I were Samsung, I'd say sorry for insulting your entrenched sense of symmetry, inflexibility to change, and for publicly displaying incremental design enhancements.; 10/16/11, 12:39 PM
Charlie Martin said...: He's dead, Ann. You've got to move on.; 10/16/11, 12:39 PM
Palladian said...: "He's dead, Ann. You've got to move on."

Jobs didn't do the industrial design of any Apple products. That was Jonathan Ive, who's still alive and still working for Apple, Inc.

Of course, Apple (and Ive) didn't really invent the aesthetic they're associated with either. That would be designers like Dieter Rams, especially his earlier work for Braun. It's all a little bit Germanic for my taste, but when applied intelligently the Functionalist "aesthetic" is a great approach to designing tools.

The reason this aesthetic has worked so well for Apple is because their primary product is tools. Tools should never be "overdesigned". Why put a silly-looking, extraneous curve into your design for a hammer?; 10/16/11, 1:44 PM
Palladian said...: And at some level, everything that is manufactured or made is designed. My advice would not be "don't even try design", which is a silly thing to say. My advice would be "try good design". That Samsung monitor is silly. It's my proverbial hammer with unnecessary curves.; 10/16/11, 1:47 PM
Leland said...: Funny. With the announcement of iPhone 4S, I decided to move to Android. This decision was furthered along when Ann first wrote about Siri, and others noted that capability already exists on Android.

Now, I own a Samsung Epic 4G Touch. It has a bigger screen than the iPhone yet is much lighter. It has all the capability plus 4G. The Samsung phone has design and function over the Apple phone.; 10/16/11, 1:57 PM
TWM said...: This worship of Apple is quite tedious. So much so a part of me is glad Jobs is gone so the cult may die.

It's like Scientology without Tom Cruise.; 10/16/11, 1:59 PM
Bill said...: Althouse, you know what's obnoxious? If this was an Apple product, you'd be having an orgasm over how amazing it was. Jobs is dead. Jobs didn't design the products. Move on, woman.

As a sidenote: The Samsung Galaxy S II is a better phone in every way over the iPhone 4s, including aesthetic value.

Give it up.; 10/16/11, 2:23 PM
SMSgt Mac said...: Don't you mean "You're no Frog. Don't even try design."?
http://www.frogdesign.com/; 10/16/11, 2:46 PM
Strelnikov said...: Looks like Singer designed it.; 10/16/11, 2:56 PM
themightypuck said...: I always hated the pointless cutout corner on the Nook.

http://www.nook-reviews.com/img/barnes-noble-nook-color.jpg; 10/16/11, 3:08 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I was trying to covey the instinctiveness of my reaction. Of course, I want design done. This is an example of terrible design.; 10/16/11, 4:04 PM
Jose_K said...: The father of Steve Jobs :
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/Revista/sabado/padre/Jobs/quiso/conocer/elppor/20111015elpepirsa_1/Tes; 10/16/11, 4:24 PM
Jose_K said...: Samsung , what an Apple has inside.; 10/16/11, 4:26 PM
Palladian said...: I love listening to Apple haters bask in their mediocrity!

And I love that the "User Interface War", a tradition that's as old as the Internet, continues!; 10/16/11, 6:21 PM
Craig Howard said...: Ann! The cantilever! Think Frank Lloyd Wright!

Yeah, it's ugly.

P.S. My computer-generated pass-code (can't think of the technical term) is "hypercul". That's French for "really big ass". What kind of a joint are you and Google running here?; 10/16/11, 6:42 PM
TWM said...: "I love listening to Apple haters bask in their mediocrity!"

I love listening to Apple fanatics bask in their illusion of superiority.

So we both got something going for us.; 10/16/11, 8:26 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: Palladian, the functionalist aesthetic is older than Rams. Its roots are derived from the Modernist movement of the early 20th c. before Rams was even born. Modernism influenced not only product design but also art, architecture, literature and even film. Functionalism was an offshoot of Modernism, and though provocative in some fashion, quickly outlived its usefulness. Purely functional designs led to a lot of soulless products, buildings, and artwork. See USSR in the 1930s.

To say this monitor design is absurd is to say you think the offset base is purely an aesthetic decision. You don't know that, and even if it's true (I don't think it is), that's just your taste. And last I knew you weren't the Omnipotent Arbiter of What's Beautifully True Or Truly Beautiful.; 10/16/11, 8:37 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: IMHO monitor design can't evolve fast enough. Even the flat ones are still large and heavy, and touchscreens are still not standard. I want a lightweight screen that I can touch and write and draw on like a piece of paper. Flexibility would be great. I'd love to roll it up in a tube and carry it around with me. Stick it on a wall for impromptu presentations.

When it comes to monitor enhancements, I'll quote Glenn Reynolds: Faster please.; 10/16/11, 8:43 PM
Anonymous said...: Apple design history...yawn...

Macintosh Portable
Apple Newton MessagePad
iMacs - the originals and the bizarre monitor on a bulb type
Macintosh Performa Series
Power Mac G4 Cube
Apple USB Mouse
Many more ungainly things could be listed…

Other than rectangles Apple has no corner on the design market. It's what's inside - and to many that's debatable. Apples are outrageously expensive, proprietary, and comparatively slow computers. Marketing is what’s Apple is all about.

MacSnobs can't hold a candle to the typical non-Apple user who understands what makes a computer function, e.g. motherboard, power supply, CPU, hard drive, RAM, video card etc... and how to maximize the functionality of the TOOL.
Other than the tiny niche area of graphic design (again - highly debatable) It’s a love affair with marketing - plain and simple.; 10/16/11, 8:49 PM
Paddy O said...: "I love listening to Apple haters bask in their mediocrity!"

Palladian baits the Althouse hillbillies!

Anyhoo, Popular Mechanics had one of their occasional Mac vs. PC articles this month. They gave the edge to PC.; 10/17/11, 8:36 AM
Anonymous said...: Althouse - I'll bet you even post fanboi flames over on ShashDot.

Palladian --

"I love listening to Apple haters bask in their mediocrity!"

Mediocrity?

I'm typing on a AMD Phenom II X6 with 16G ram, five internal disk drives and two externals, twelve USB ports, two monitors (32"&19") driven by twin cards and Crossfire, a keyboard, mouse and graphics tablet.

Mediocrity?; 10/17/11, 12:02 PM