4 ms·

> "Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras. I was wondering what ex

by mastazi 10y ago

> "Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras. I was wondering what exactly did Jobs mean when he said that the design was not "anthropomorphic". I mean, the shape of an iPhone does look very different from that of a human figure. EDIT: perhaps he meant that it wasn't ergonomic?

mdonahoe 10y ago
The iPhone is sort of like a face, maybe? The Segway looks likes farm equipment
tunesmith 10y ago
I think he used the word more abstractly, like in terms of having a direct human interface to it, like using your finger on the iPhone's touchscreen almost like turning the page of a book, etc. I don't know how that would translate to a Segway, though - maybe something that made motion feel more immediate than just leaning.
- sangnoir 10y ago
  > I don't know how that would translate to a Segway, though - maybe something that made motion feel more immediate than just leaning. South Park had a design idea for revolutionary transportation that had a more "direct human interface"[1]. 1. The IT Bike. NSFW: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/IT http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/IT
digi_owl 10y ago
Nah, that is just Jobs being Jobs. Trying to market himself as a design guy when in reality he is all marketing. Its more interesting how he kept notes in his palm (nice way to have them without appearing to have them) and that he made the rest sit up when talking about staged roll-outs of models to maximize revenue. Bezos on the other hand hit at the heart of the matter, that the thing didn't fit neatly inside any existing regulations.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >Nah, that is just Jobs being Jobs. Trying to market himself as a design guy when in reality he is all marketing. Actually Jobs was all design and vision (and business deals) -- and very little marketing. Apple had in-house and outside ad and marketing teams.
  - narrowrail 10y ago
    I'm curious: When we talk about product-market fit, do you classify that as marketing?
    - coldtea 10y ago
      If you mean recognizing if a product will be good for a particular market, then obviously not.
      - narrowrail 10y ago
        Well, you would be wrong. I don't know how to make this clear to people without knowledge of how things were defined in the business world before the prevalence of the web, but you seem to be part of the crowd I've decided to correct on HN. It's not that I'm against the language evolving, but one should know where these terms came from. Please note the use of the word "market," as that should be indicative.
empath75 10y ago
Think a little bit more broad than actually 'human shaped'. Picture something that you could some how project human qualities on to. A car isn't human shaped, but the front can sometimes be thought of as having the characteristics of a human face. To steve jobs, this was anthropomorphic: http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/article_pics/mac128hello_1401243.jpg http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/article_pics/mac128he... I think to probably project a little bit myself, I'd say it might have a bit to do with his experiences with psychedelics where you can get into this headspace where everything takes on life around you.

by mastazi 10y ago

mdonahoe 10y ago

The iPhone is sort of like a face, maybe? The Segway looks likes farm equipment

tunesmith 10y ago

I think he used the word more abstractly, like in terms of having a direct human interface to it, like using your finger on the iPhone's touchscreen almost like turning the page of a book, etc. I don't know how that would translate to a Segway, though - maybe something that made motion feel more immediate than just leaning.

sangnoir 10y ago
> I don't know how that would translate to a Segway, though - maybe something that made motion feel more immediate than just leaning. South Park had a design idea for revolutionary transportation that had a more "direct human interface"[1]. 1. The IT Bike. NSFW: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/IT http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/IT

digi_owl 10y ago

Nah, that is just Jobs being Jobs. Trying to market himself as a design guy when in reality he is all marketing. Its more interesting how he kept notes in his palm (nice way to have them without appearing to have them) and that he made the rest sit up when talking about staged roll-outs of models to maximize revenue. Bezos on the other hand hit at the heart of the matter, that the thing didn't fit neatly inside any existing regulations.

coldtea 10y ago
>Nah, that is just Jobs being Jobs. Trying to market himself as a design guy when in reality he is all marketing. Actually Jobs was all design and vision (and business deals) -- and very little marketing. Apple had in-house and outside ad and marketing teams.
- narrowrail 10y ago
  I'm curious: When we talk about product-market fit, do you classify that as marketing?
  - coldtea 10y ago
    If you mean recognizing if a product will be good for a particular market, then obviously not.
    - narrowrail 10y ago
      Well, you would be wrong. I don't know how to make this clear to people without knowledge of how things were defined in the business world before the prevalence of the web, but you seem to be part of the crowd I've decided to correct on HN. It's not that I'm against the language evolving, but one should know where these terms came from. Please note the use of the word "market," as that should be indicative.

empath75 10y ago

Think a little bit more broad than actually 'human shaped'. Picture something that you could some how project human qualities on to. A car isn't human shaped, but the front can sometimes be thought of as having the characteristics of a human face. To steve jobs, this was anthropomorphic: http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/article_pics/mac128hello_1401243.jpg http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/article_pics/mac128he... I think to probably project a little bit myself, I'd say it might have a bit to do with his experiences with psychedelics where you can get into this headspace where everything takes on life around you.