Other Apple is Really Bad at Design - Joshua Topolosky [MERGED]

[Knowimagination]

And I guess this is what I really don’t understand....you saying you like it. If the iPhone X had been introduced with a thin bezel at the top instead of a notch (maybe similar to the S8), would you have thought there was something lacking?

And sure, you can view video in the little pillbox, but that’s not even remotely edge to edge in an application where edge to edge should matter. Isn’t that the point? To give us more viewable space?

The same can be said about the S8 Plus that I just got rid of to get the X. the thin bezel at the top to me is no more attractive than the notch. And if apple had realesed it with a small forehead similar to the S8 I probably would have been fine with it, but that doesn't really affect whether or not I like the design of the X.

The S8 Plus still deals with the same issues as the x it is either in pillbox mode to display content in 16:9 or it is zoomed and cropping content. Just because it doesn't have a notch that is part of the crop doesn't really change anything in my opinion.

 

[Absrnd]

You don't get it:

Apple mouse: sit down to work, dang! mouse battery is flat: lay it on its back and wait for 2 minutes to give it a partial charge before you can get on with your work. Next day/day after: sit down to work, dang! mouse is flat... rinse and repeat...

When my touchpad gives a low battery warning, I can still use it that day, and charge when I leave for home

Then there's the pencil - the charging position is an accident waiting to happen because Mechanics 101 - the slightest knock puts a huge strain on the connector. Again - great for a quickie top-up but if you want to give it a proper charge (e.g. while you're not using your iPad because it is also on charge) you need a fiddly little adaptor which should have been built into the pen lid (so then there's only be one fiddly bit to lose). However, it gets worse: Apple gave zero thought to storing the Pencil when not in use (let alone the cap or adapter) - there isn't even a loop on the smart keyboard accessory and there's no clip on the Pencil so it won't stay in a loop.

Did you even research about the Pencil and charging in the ipad port ?
you would have know that the connector can swivel around, and would take extreme bending to break
on youtube you can always check what it takes to break Apple products, it's a business

And I use the Pencil just like a normal pen, with an iPad cover with a slot for the pencil, when I used it naked, I carry the pencil in hand...just...like ...a... normal... pen
When I was still using analog paper, my notepad was also in a cover with my analog pen.

And a tip, keep the "fiddly little" adapter attached to your charging cable, problem solved.

Is the Pencil or the mouse unusable because of this? Of course not, but these aren't just non-name imported cheap peripherals - they are premium products from a company that likes to crow about its design chops and create onanistic $300 coffee-table books about how magical their creations are. Apple used to be brilliant about balancing form and function. Now, attention to detail and nice touches (even glowing apple logos, start-up chimes, gently pulsing power LEDs, Magsafe, the little cable-storage ears on power supplies) are being thrown under the bus.

Rant ?

#1 annoying feature of my new iMac: is it on? is it asleep? is it awake but with the screen blank? is it maybe locked up? Who knows...

Are you kidding me, disable sleep, or press the spacebar, wow what a hassle

(equal first: why did making the full-sized keyboard wireless require reducing the key travel and the slope of the near-perfect previous wired keyboard?

Welcome to the new Apple keyboard,
you send me your wireless wimpy keyboard, and I send you the wired with massive travel, I have

 

[BeeGood]

The same can be said about the S8 Plus that I just got rid of to get the X. the thin bezel at the top to me is no more attractive than the notch. And if apple had realesed it with a small forehead similar to the S8 I probably would have been fine with it, but that doesn't really affect whether or not I like the design of the X.

The S8 Plus still deals with the same issues as the x it is either in pillbox mode to display content in 16:9 or it is zoomed and cropping content. Just because it doesn't have a notch that is part of the crop doesn't really change anything in my opinion.

That makes sense, though to me, it sounds like you’re more indifferent about the notch. That I can understand.

 

[pika2000]

Designers are human, thus what they created will never be 100% perfect all the time. And yes, Apple made some questionable things even when Steve Jobs were around (3rd gen iPod Shuffle? The puck mouse? ).

But please, taking a blogger’s Word about design? Unless Josh is an award winning designer himself, it’s the typical rant for clicks.

And stop the idolization of Forstall. He had his part. Move on. If he was that great, he would make a name of himself somewhere else.

 

[AustinIllini]

There's a lot of legitimate gripes here. That being said, I don't mind iOS's look now. It was kind of a shock in iOS 7.

 

[bufffilm]

i think the left looks better than the right. you cant call the phone on the right an edge to edge screen

So the notch has to be there to give veracity to Apple saying edge-to-edge screen?

I'll take the right...Thank you.

 

[bnekic]

i think the left looks better than the right. you cant call the phone on the right an edge to edge screen

+1 100%, right looks stupid

 

[ronincse]

I think all that money maybe went to his head when he sold minecraft? Still subjective to call him bad though.

Well played
[doublepost=1507050935][/doublepost]

i think the left looks better than the right. you cant call the phone on the right an edge to edge screen

Agreed I much prefer the left

 

[theluggage]

When my touchpad gives a low battery warning, I can still use it that day, and charge when I leave for home

...we were talking about the mouse, not the touchpad (which has the charging port sensibly located on the back)...

you would have know that the connector can swivel around

Clue: that means it is broken. Apparently, according to that stupid video, everything is perfectly fine as long as the connector is still hanging on by a thread, and cracking noises and splits in the casing are just tricks by the Evil One (Google) sent to test your faith.

And a tip, keep the "fiddly little" adapter attached to your charging cable, problem solved.

...until you need the charging cable to (e.g.) charge your iPad.

or press the spacebar

I didn't want to turn it on. I wanted to glance at it and know whether it was all shut down properly. With my 2011 MacBook Pro there's a helpful little indicator light.

These aren't meant to be deal breakers. You can work around them. If Apple sold cheap'n'cheerful products then I'd be happy. BUT If, however, I pay a premium price from a company that bangs on about how brilliant they are at design then I expect anal attention to detail and all the nice little touches that make using it a pleasure.

 

[AbSoluTc]

Josh is a rusted, bent tool that needs to be thrown away. He's been with more blogs than I can remember. Each one he thinks his **** doesn't stink. He needs to find a job more suited to his talents (or lack there of).

 

[Bigserver1]

i think the left looks better than the right. you cant call the phone on the right an edge to edge screen

In fairness, you can’t really call the phone on the left an edge to edge screen either. The bezel around the entire display is far thicker than those of Samsung and LG, and the notch at the top also torpedos the idea of “edge to edge”. I love apple products and have happily had the 5, 6, 6s+, 7+ and now the 8+. I don’t ever see not having an iPhone, but if the notch sticks around on the “X” models, I’ll stick to the slightly less premium plus models, large bezels and all.

 

[C DM]

This is all coming from someone that either likes or is actually part of the latest Dropbox "redesign"? https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...and-new-typeface.2074960/page-2#post-25168965

 

[RPG97]

Can’t stand the ugly notch, wastes so much space at the top and looks terrible. Absolutely agree with the article on that part. Face ID is stupid.

Still love Apple but I feel they’re doing some pretty stupid things these days.

 

[11201ny]

I couldn’t disagree more. But damn he’s a good writer.

https://theoutline.com/post/2352/apple-is-really-bad-at-design

I'm a follower of Apple. I completely agree with this article.

 

[Black05Hemi]

Josh is great, but the notch is something that will be accepted in time and will be an iconic part of iPhones going forward. Design is often so subjective.

I will never accept it. Which means, I will never buy a phone that has it. It's horrible.

 

[willmtaylor]

I'm a follower of Apple. I completely agree with this article.

Welcome to 5 months ago.

 

[WilliamG]

I don’t mind the notch, but I’d also prefer it weren’t there as it’s not cohesive. My eyes don’t see cut-outs in real life, for example. Clearly just a limitation of the technology. Screw TouchID under the screen. I want FaceID under the screen. That would take some doing...

Really would prefer just no notch. But am dealing. First-world problems.

 

[tlab]

Just wondering if someone in this thread can answer this - because I haven’t seen a transparent OLED in action - could the notch be covered by a transparent OLED section that is seamlessly integrated into the rest of the screen but goes fully transparent when FaceID or the selfie cam is in use? That seems to be the only way to make a true edge-to-edge design without ripping out the FaceID components and selfie camera.

 

[Ffosse]

When I charge the pencil on my iPad I always feel like I'm about to stab myself in the stomach with it!

Fortunately, it charges very quickly.

 

[collinroche]

Josh is great, but the notch is something that will be accepted in time and will be an iconic part of iPhones going forward. Design is often so subjective.

The one thing they need to do is fix time display across native and third party apps. If you have an X, go ahead and put Netflix into a folder (with other apps), then open it and start watching something. From there, try to see how many actions it takes to finally get the clock to show up in the top left notch area...it's embarrassing. A downswipe to control center should display the clock, but it does not.

 

[pascaladjaero]

When I charge the pencil on my iPad I always feel like I'm about to stab myself in the stomach with it!

Fortunately, it charges very quickly.

I knew I wasn't the only one

 

[blairh]

I wouldn't take Josh too seriously at this point. He's had some really ridiculous takes on Apple in recent years and clearly likes to make bombastic claims with respect to his tech opinions ever since starting The Outline. Sad because I liked him a great deal when he founded The Verge.