I think generally saying "this is a bad take" isn't very helpful. You should elaborate on how in terms of practical functionality Apple's system is really that different than other systems out there.
I don’t think it’s particularly intended to be innovative. The thing is, the existing options aren’t that great either for various reasons. This might be pretty good if you are in the apple ecosystem.
As someone who has actually found Apple's design principles to be stupid and dumbed-down to the point of being dumb, I am not sure if I agree or disagree with this article.
I have been an Apple user since 1990, and I think you are absolutely right. In my mind iPad OS and iOS are so bad I don't want my Mac taking any inspiration from them, but I bet the average user wants something familiar to those two platforms.
Most of the technology works just hates any sort of change. Apple’s core base is different, they embrace change regardless of its utility. So that makes it hard to evaluate this kind of tech online.
I’m also noticing that the article suggests that apple’s real reason for change is poor yield and reliability. Those are objective measures, so I think we can agree that the current keyboard is bad.
This might be one of Apple's worst products in recent history (past 10 years or so). It brings pretty much nothing new to the market, that wasn't already there.
The author makes the assertion that if we are all celebrating Apple's latest hardware, it is because the focus on their user interface has faded into the background and they have lost their way.
But reading through the piece the only tangible evidence he provides is more spacing between elements that he is pulling up on 5 year old hardware?
Screen density and pixels have improved dramatically in that time frame, we have larger screens, more resolution, and retina display, it's like switching from Analog to HD. Not every new interface will work equally well on old hardware, but that doesn't mean that the interface has deteriorated.
Making something infinitely backwards compatible will ultimately destroy the user experience, as you can't take advantage of the present and the improvements it offers.
The OS is getting a bit iOS-ified - that I agree with, but it isn't forced upon you to the level Windows does, so it is easily avoided.
I would prefer to have a seen a more detailed breakout of the real degradation in user experience, otherwise it's just a complete opinion piece with no real facts or proof points to offer.
I think this guys got it wrong. Apple's last half-dozen years of design interation are (IMO) the fault of Jony Ive, And his relentless dedication to how the product looks rather than how useful it is.
Apple likes making a particular kind of computer for a particular kind of user (the iPad) and the Mac has really suffered under the ethos of "The computer for the rest of us" taken to the extreme.
I'm not sure why you're arguing with the person that keeps responding to you. I think you've clearly made the point that Apple feels like they don't need to work off of existing design or technology methodologies and yet this person seems to think that Apple's entire predicted failure is that they're not working off of existing processes and technologies. He seems to be arguing a straw man of your argument rather than your actual argument and part of me feels like he's being willfully disingenuous in doing so. It's "Apple can't possibly do it different than everyone else because everyone else has only been able to do it in this one way" without any room for the possibility that the "best" (subjective, of course) solution may be one that doesn't exist yet because it requires the very paradigm shift you're referencing.
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