4 ms·

I used to be into high end audio, and spent rather large sums acquiring great looking machines. When apple first came out with their brushed metal cases, I assu

I used to be into high end audio, and spent rather large sums acquiring great looking machines. When apple first came out with their brushed metal cases, I assumed that Apple had simply copied luxury audio manufacturers of the day. I still don't know why other computer companies don't try and design beautiful machines that have minimalistic design principles. Here are some earlyish examples I was talking about, but there are plenty more from other companies who I have long since forgotten: http://www.pliniusaudio.nzld.com/photolibrary/photo.asp?id=history_sareference http://www.pliniusaudio.nzld.com/photolibrary/photo.asp?id=h...

chime 16y ago
I thought Apple was inspired by Braun products from the '60s: http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-braun-products-hold-the-secrets-to-apples-future http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-braun-products-hold-the-secr...
- babakian 16y ago
  Yes. It is a safe to say that Jonathan Ive has studied the work of Dieter Rams. When it comes to industrial design, Dieter Rams is one of the greats. There is nothing wrong with being inspired by him. It is important to note that this inspiration goes beyond the industrial design of Apple's hardware. For example, it is widely agreed that the iPhone's calculator app is based on the Braun ET66 calculator, designed Rams: http://barryborsboom.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/172_721-rams-iphonecalc.jpg http://barryborsboom.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/172_721-ram...
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    Wow, what a shameless rip-off. At a minimum they should credit Rams and Braun for that.
  - MWinther 16y ago
    The calculator app doesn't look like that now, though, even though it's clearly inspired by it. I believe I have seen that design on the iPhone before, but when I bought my 3G two years ago, I believe the buttons were square and the '='-button was bigger. Did it look like that in the original iPhone?
- corruption 16y ago
  Wow --- Dieter is a visionary!

chime 16y ago

I thought Apple was inspired by Braun products from the '60s: http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-braun-products-hold-the-secrets-to-apples-future http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-braun-products-hold-the-secr...

babakian 16y ago
Yes. It is a safe to say that Jonathan Ive has studied the work of Dieter Rams. When it comes to industrial design, Dieter Rams is one of the greats. There is nothing wrong with being inspired by him. It is important to note that this inspiration goes beyond the industrial design of Apple's hardware. For example, it is widely agreed that the iPhone's calculator app is based on the Braun ET66 calculator, designed Rams: http://barryborsboom.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/172_721-rams-iphonecalc.jpg http://barryborsboom.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/172_721-ram...
- jacquesm 16y ago
  Wow, what a shameless rip-off. At a minimum they should credit Rams and Braun for that.
- MWinther 16y ago
  The calculator app doesn't look like that now, though, even though it's clearly inspired by it. I believe I have seen that design on the iPhone before, but when I bought my 3G two years ago, I believe the buttons were square and the '='-button was bigger. Did it look like that in the original iPhone?
corruption 16y ago
Wow --- Dieter is a visionary!