4 ms·
Worth reading for the anecdotes and Stephen's wonderful writing style alone, but here's a key point I sometimes need reminding of (apologies for the long quote)
by Luc 17y ago
Worth reading for the anecdotes and Stephen's wonderful writing style alone, but here's a key point I sometimes need reminding of (apologies for the long quote):
What Ive and his team understand is that if you have an object in your pocket or hand for hours every day, then your relationship with it is profound, human and emotional. Apple's success has been founded on consumer products that address this side of us: their products make users smile as they reach forward to manipulate, touch, fondle, slide, tweak, pinch, prod and stroke.
If you are immune to that kind of thing, or you think it somehow weak, pretentious, artsy-fartsy or unbusinesslike, then there are enough functional objects in the market for you. But you might consider this: from the starting point of delight, detail, finish, polish and design come not, it seems, shallow high-end toys for the affluent but increasingly products that are ... well, awesomely functional.
- astine 17y agoHe makes it sound so dirty.
- gizmo 17y agoInteresting, I thought that was perhaps the weakest paragraph in the otherwise excellent article (I was amazed at how good a writer Fry has become.) I don't think it's about a profound, human and emotional bond with an iPad or any electronic device. It should be like the bond you have with a good book: it should allow for perfect immersion. When immersed in a book time flies by, you don't even remember flipping pages or finishing chapters... there's a direct stream of consciousness from the book to your brain. I think that is what a good computing device should also offer, and every time your computer gets in the way that bubble bursts and you're violently thrown back into reality. It takes a lot of computer experience before you can deftly sidestep every error message the computer throws at you, so you can continue on your work without missing a beat. We (programmers/enthusiasts) have been able to do that for ages, but most people don't even know it's even possible to work with a computer without getting frustrated. Immersion is the name of the game, and the iPad might just get that right.
- mortenjorck 17y agoI'm not kidding here when I say I do believe you've hit upon the profound, central truth of the iPad. It's not about the fact that it's a tablet. It could have been any form factor, even been a desktop computer with a mouse; the tablet form factor just helps it in this central regard: It's about abstracting every last thing, to the best of its designers' and engineers' abilities, away from your task at hand. The goal is nothing short doing things with all the help of a computer and none of the hindrance.
- joe_the_user 17y agoWell, I'm skeptical whether one can abstract form away so much... If, just supposing, an item which seems amazingly functional and compliant after five minutes gives you a headache, a sore write and pain in the lower back after twenty minutes ... then would there still be none of the hindrance?
- glhaynes 17y agoWhich reviews have you seen that discuss these maladies?
- cubicle67 17y agoThere's a few reviews out now, and in most of them the iPad never seemed to leave the reviewers side. I think in the BoingBoing review (but I'm not going back to re-read it) the review (can't remember her name) claimed to have been using the iPad for 12 hours straight. I don't recall reading a review where the reviewer complained about the problems you've stated here
- nsfmc 17y agoi totally reblogged the first sentence of that quote. It's totally spot on and a great usability insight.
- juhgfcgvhnjm 17y agoApple didn't invent this, the Psion3 PDA was so beautifully made like this that people couldn't help handling it - and they didn't get fingerprints on the screen, and it had a keyboard, and it took regular batteries.