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If you believe the motto "design is how it works" (and Apple should, because the phrase was coined by Steve Jobs), Apple's design in the Cook era has been abysm

If you believe the motto "design is how it works" (and Apple should, because the phrase was coined by Steve Jobs), Apple's design in the Cook era has been abysmal: charging your Apple Pencil by sticking it out of the lightning port. The mouse that has to charge by flipping it upside-down. The beautiful trash can that couldn't be upgraded. And this fucking keyboard that dies and sets you back $700 if it gets so much as a speck of dust in it. Jony Ive is way overdue for a re-evaluation as "the greatest designer of our generation". Left to his own devices without Jobs as a moderating influence, he produces hot garbage.

Clubber 9y ago
Don't forget removing the mag-safe power connector. Having said all that, what company and what person designs better stuff? Most of the crap we buy is garbage.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Nullabillity 9y ago
> Left to his own devices without Jobs as a moderating influence, he produces hot garbage. Pretty sure Jobs wasn't a moderating force. See https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=PC_Board_Esthetics.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor..., https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Diagnostic_Port.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor..., etc.
- slantyyz 9y ago
  All those links are from before Jobs' return to Apple. He matured a lot after Next/Pixar.
jiveturkey 9y ago
In defense of the pencil, as terrible as it seems, the charging method has a functional reason behind it. You can't expect to keep it charged, therefore there must be a way to charge instantly with what you're guaranteed to have on hand. If it had been designed any differently, there would be a litany of complaints about having to always carry a dongle or cable or something.
- dpkonofa 9y ago
  Same the applies to the complaints about the mouse. It was designed with the charger port on the bottom specifically for 2 reasons: 1) to keep the design aesthetic as similar to the original Magic Mouse as possible and 2) to prevent people from leaving it plugged in all the time while they're using it thereby defeating the purpose of a wireless mouse. Things seem terrible until you take an open-minded look at the priorities of the design. What might seem stupid at first might actually have a well-thought out background.
  - vl 9y ago
    They should have put port on the side so it's possible to continue to use discharged mouse and charge it at the same time.
    - dpkonofa 9y ago
      This kills the battery.
  - JohnCohorn 9y ago
    Actually both #1 and #2 seem almost entirely unimportant to me, the end user, and great examples of their prioritizing the needs and wants of Apple and its designers to the detriment of end users. Appearing like the previous mouse provides me with no utility and I’d much prefer to leave my work provided mouse plugged in at all times and have one less thing to charge.
    - dpkonofa 9y ago
      That's fine. You're more than welcome to use whatever mouse you want. I think you're mistaken in thinking that you're the end user in mind if you prefer to have a corded mouse. It's a wireless mouse. It's targeted at people that want a wireless mouse. It's really ergonomic too. If you don't care about that then don't buy it. As for it being "to the detriment of end users", I disagree here too. The minor annoyance of having the battery charge on its side while you're not using it is less than the annoyance of having to replace batteries or even remove them to put them in a charger for most users. They'll only care when they have to charge it and, when it's not left plugged in, that should last it at least 9 months. I mean...I dare you to show me a source that says that the Magic Mouse battery is anything but amazing. I prefer my G903 overall but I get way more use out of my Magic Mouse vs. my Logitech and I have to charge it far less. The G903 can be used wired or wirelessly but that has resulted in me leaving it plugged in accidentally and now the battery life is getting shorter and shorter. It's just a much bigger hassle than the charging on the side.
gehsty 9y ago
Having read a lot of the comments on this posting a lot people are judging Ive on how the apple pencil charges, and how the mouse charge. Neither of which are ideal, but hey ho but you have to accept that not everything you do is perfect. If you look at the computing devices you use day to day I think no person has had a greater effect that Jonny Ive. All laptops are now cut from the unibody macbook mold, all phones are cut from the iPhone mold, and the same seems to be happening with the Apple watch (though no body seems to be able to make a track pad anywhere near as good as a macbook trackpad). I think if we were to hold other companies to the same level of scrutiny that we do with Apple they would look worse. I think one of the things that make Ives designs so great is their timelessness. My favourite iPhone is the 4S, it still looks great now. The current iMac design has been in use for 7/8yrs and looks great. Very few other designers are able to achieve this.

Clubber 9y ago

Don't forget removing the mag-safe power connector. Having said all that, what company and what person designs better stuff? Most of the crap we buy is garbage.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Nullabillity 9y ago

> Left to his own devices without Jobs as a moderating influence, he produces hot garbage. Pretty sure Jobs wasn't a moderating force. See https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=PC_Board_Esthetics.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor..., https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Diagnostic_Port.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor..., etc.

slantyyz 9y ago
All those links are from before Jobs' return to Apple. He matured a lot after Next/Pixar.

jiveturkey 9y ago

In defense of the pencil, as terrible as it seems, the charging method has a functional reason behind it. You can't expect to keep it charged, therefore there must be a way to charge instantly with what you're guaranteed to have on hand. If it had been designed any differently, there would be a litany of complaints about having to always carry a dongle or cable or something.

dpkonofa 9y ago
Same the applies to the complaints about the mouse. It was designed with the charger port on the bottom specifically for 2 reasons: 1) to keep the design aesthetic as similar to the original Magic Mouse as possible and 2) to prevent people from leaving it plugged in all the time while they're using it thereby defeating the purpose of a wireless mouse. Things seem terrible until you take an open-minded look at the priorities of the design. What might seem stupid at first might actually have a well-thought out background.
- vl 9y ago
  They should have put port on the side so it's possible to continue to use discharged mouse and charge it at the same time.
  - dpkonofa 9y ago
    This kills the battery.
- JohnCohorn 9y ago
  Actually both #1 and #2 seem almost entirely unimportant to me, the end user, and great examples of their prioritizing the needs and wants of Apple and its designers to the detriment of end users. Appearing like the previous mouse provides me with no utility and I’d much prefer to leave my work provided mouse plugged in at all times and have one less thing to charge.
  - dpkonofa 9y ago
    That's fine. You're more than welcome to use whatever mouse you want. I think you're mistaken in thinking that you're the end user in mind if you prefer to have a corded mouse. It's a wireless mouse. It's targeted at people that want a wireless mouse. It's really ergonomic too. If you don't care about that then don't buy it. As for it being "to the detriment of end users", I disagree here too. The minor annoyance of having the battery charge on its side while you're not using it is less than the annoyance of having to replace batteries or even remove them to put them in a charger for most users. They'll only care when they have to charge it and, when it's not left plugged in, that should last it at least 9 months. I mean...I dare you to show me a source that says that the Magic Mouse battery is anything but amazing. I prefer my G903 overall but I get way more use out of my Magic Mouse vs. my Logitech and I have to charge it far less. The G903 can be used wired or wirelessly but that has resulted in me leaving it plugged in accidentally and now the battery life is getting shorter and shorter. It's just a much bigger hassle than the charging on the side.

gehsty 9y ago

Having read a lot of the comments on this posting a lot people are judging Ive on how the apple pencil charges, and how the mouse charge. Neither of which are ideal, but hey ho but you have to accept that not everything you do is perfect. If you look at the computing devices you use day to day I think no person has had a greater effect that Jonny Ive. All laptops are now cut from the unibody macbook mold, all phones are cut from the iPhone mold, and the same seems to be happening with the Apple watch (though no body seems to be able to make a track pad anywhere near as good as a macbook trackpad). I think if we were to hold other companies to the same level of scrutiny that we do with Apple they would look worse. I think one of the things that make Ives designs so great is their timelessness. My favourite iPhone is the 4S, it still looks great now. The current iMac design has been in use for 7/8yrs and looks great. Very few other designers are able to achieve this.