'Why Ive shouldn't kill Apple's skeuomorphic interfaces'
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 3rd Nov 2012 01:11 UTC, submitted by Panajev
Apple "Earlier this week Apple fired Scott Forstall, the architect of its iOS platform, and handed his duties over to the company's chief industrial designer, Jonathan Ive. Ive and Forstall had an infamously chilly working relationship, and one of their biggest disagreements was over the role of so-called 'skeuomorphic' design in Apple's products. Forstall, like his mentor Steve Jobs, favored it; Ive disliked it. To many observers, Forstall's forced exit looks like a vindication of Ive's stance. But if he wants to continue Apple's enviable trend of innovation, he'd be a fool to throw the baby of skeuomorphism out with Forstall's bathwater." Hoped for a thorough article on the benefits of skeuomorphism - got the age-old and intrinsically invalid excuse 'because it sells'. Windows isn't he best desktop operating system because it sells so well. Lady Gaga isn't the best artist because she sells a lot of records. This argument is never valid, has zero value, and adds nothing to what should be an interesting discussion.
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telns
Member since:
2009-06-18

Purchasing itself is not a measurement of how good a product is for you.


People that go to McDonald's do so because they /think/ (rightly or wrongly) it is the best means of fulfilling all their relevant needs. Those needs include convenience, price, kid-friendliness, taste/enjoyment, time preference/hyperbolic discounting, risk tolerance, medical history, lifestyle, &c. All those factors weighed individually and subjectively lead some people to, and others away, from McDonald's.

So, good for you in what sense? Most the time that comes off (and in any public mention of McDonald's is always lurking) as good for your *health*. But health is not the only relevant factor, and is not valued as an end with identical weight by all people.

Of course sometimes people make mistakes or have poor information, whether choosing OS's or burgers. But the fact they chose otherwise than we would is not proof it was a bad decision for *them*.

Edited 2012-11-04 03:35 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 1

Alfman Member since:
2011-01-28

telns,

As long as people have a wide range of choices to choose from, then sure...but it's not always so strait forward.

For starters, there are monopolies:

- If you want to fly from point A to B, your local airport may not give you a choice of airlines.

-If you want internet, your local options may not give you a choice of services.

Second of all, there's coercion:

- Your employer/clients may require you to use a specific platform that is not of your choosing to connect remotely.

Thirdly, there's lack of meaningful choice:

- If you go to vote, your election many not have candidates who give you meaningful choices in your eyes.

- Your hardware store lacks quality faucets, so you buy a bad plastic one instead (happened to me).

It's wonderful to have as many choices as we sometimes do, but sometimes people forget that there aren't always *ideal* choices. Unless we're filthy rich, we usually cannot get exactly what we want. I'm not whining about it, it's just life.

If you really want to know what someone believes is best, why not just ask them instead of assuming their purchases speak for them?

Edited 2012-11-04 05:06 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 4

telns Member since:
2009-06-18

You made some good points. However, I would say the answer is both in asking (talk) and in purchasing (action).

Both sources tell you something about the person's preferences--whether stated or revealed--and since neither source can offer a complete picture, neither source should be disregarded.

Reply Parent Score: 1

zima Member since:
2005-07-06

If you really want to know what someone believes is best, why not just ask them instead of assuming their purchases speak for them?

Cognitive biases. Go through a list of them), veblen goods. In reality, we have relatively poor grip on ourselves, what makes us tick.

Also consider: veblen goods (very much desired, but not many can have them & with skewed overall demand dynamics),
http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-wine-011608.html
http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/ratrace.html

(of course I'm not saying that direct surveys aren't useful, when properly made & used)

Reply Parent Score: 2