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Oh man, those trailers with him speaking are the stuff I MISS the most, it was the last reminder of that old Apple now that keynotes and product launch commerci

Oh man, those trailers with him speaking are the stuff I MISS the most, it was the last reminder of that old Apple now that keynotes and product launch commercials are so bland and boring I don't even bother to watch them anymore.

thoms_a 4y ago
As a counterpoint, I bought my first iPhone (first ever Apple product) this week, and it was specifically because it seems like Apple is finally designing products with usability and functionality as their top priority. Ive was great, but he was way too much of an artist to understand that computers are mostly tools. Ive was more interested in folding katanas and the process of creation than the mundane design of a productivity tool. As an example, I remember being utterly bemused by the relentless port-pruning on the Macbook Pro. It just didn't make sense to me to remove ports on a machine designed primarily for productivity. But Ive didn't like ports, because katanas don't have ports. So the MBP didn't have ports.
- SllX 4y ago
  I think he understood perfectly that computers were tools. The PowerBook/MacBook Pro designs up through 2016, the MacBook Air from 2010 onwards, the Power Macs G3-G5/Macs Pro through 2013 and the 2019 Mac Pro, the iBook/MacBook line through 2011, and the entirety of the iMac’s history all reflect a recognition that computers are fundamentally tools. They just held the conceit that tools can also be beautiful. But yes, sometime between Job’s death and 2017, the wheels just completely fell off when they introduced new Mac designs, and they spent the better part of the last 5 years putting them back on after Ive was promoted into the sky and left the company.
  - paulryanrogers 4y ago
    IDK. Doggedly sticking to a single button mouse. Putting charging port on the bottom of a mouse because designers know best. Calculators that produce wrong answers if one types before the beautiful animations finish. Keyboards so thin and heavily integrated dust can break them, and cannot be repaired without accessing main board. Evidence suggests to me that Apple's record on utility is mixed.
    - urthor 4y ago
      They'll fix that in a few years. I suspect Ive was fired because he created the craziness of 2012-2017 post Jobs era. Trashcan, no ports, touch bar, mouse charging etc etc. These days I have moderate confidence Apple will fix its issues. Eventually.
      - moralestapia 4y ago
        Yup, firing Ive was the first step in the right direction. Of course, we didn't see the effects until now because a trillion dollar ship takes a while to turn around.
        urthor 4y ago
        Not even about the money. Hardware involves making things, the turnaround time is nonzero.
      - SllX 4y ago
        Let’s be fair: Apple has had sufficient time to revise all of these post-Jobs Ive-era designs. Ive himself was still in charge when the trash can hit the bin, and they’ve more or less fixed the port situation on most of their models (I still have disagreements with some of their choices but we can at least say they’re debatable now). But they just released a revision of the 13” MacBook Pro with the touchbar. And while I know they have a hard time course-correcting bad design choices on their biggest product lines, there’s no excuse for not having revised the Magic Mouse 2 by this point. Also while this discussion has been mostly focused on hardware, let’s not forget that Apple is selling 6K displays while displaying all the signs and symptoms of an organization absolutely allergic to on-screen chrome in every release of Mac OS X for the past few years as well as the next major revision they just announced. I’ll put a lot at Ive’s feet, but only for the time he was actually there and in charge of design.
        virgildotcodes 4y ago
        Sorry, what do you mean by "on-screen chrome"? I've tried googling a bunch of variations on the phrase but I can't seem to find anything relevant.
- throwaway290 4y ago
  I on the other hand am happy to have the last of the laptops without extra dust-collecting holes (a hub has more than a laptop could ever offer) and with touchbar (I'd hate having to switch to adjusting sound volume/screen brightness the old way).
roflyear 4y ago
Apple keynotes we're such an amazing thing that every 6-12 months to this day I remember how much I enjoyed them almost two decades ago.
- moralestapia 4y ago
  It was unreal. I wish I could feel the same excitement about a product now as I did back then with the Jobs keynotes.
brian_herman 4y ago
I’m excited to see stuff coming back like MagSafe and Claris The dogcow. The presentations might not be as great but the content is what’s important.

thoms_a 4y ago

As a counterpoint, I bought my first iPhone (first ever Apple product) this week, and it was specifically because it seems like Apple is finally designing products with usability and functionality as their top priority. Ive was great, but he was way too much of an artist to understand that computers are mostly tools. Ive was more interested in folding katanas and the process of creation than the mundane design of a productivity tool. As an example, I remember being utterly bemused by the relentless port-pruning on the Macbook Pro. It just didn't make sense to me to remove ports on a machine designed primarily for productivity. But Ive didn't like ports, because katanas don't have ports. So the MBP didn't have ports.

SllX 4y ago
I think he understood perfectly that computers were tools. The PowerBook/MacBook Pro designs up through 2016, the MacBook Air from 2010 onwards, the Power Macs G3-G5/Macs Pro through 2013 and the 2019 Mac Pro, the iBook/MacBook line through 2011, and the entirety of the iMac’s history all reflect a recognition that computers are fundamentally tools. They just held the conceit that tools can also be beautiful. But yes, sometime between Job’s death and 2017, the wheels just completely fell off when they introduced new Mac designs, and they spent the better part of the last 5 years putting them back on after Ive was promoted into the sky and left the company.
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  IDK. Doggedly sticking to a single button mouse. Putting charging port on the bottom of a mouse because designers know best. Calculators that produce wrong answers if one types before the beautiful animations finish. Keyboards so thin and heavily integrated dust can break them, and cannot be repaired without accessing main board. Evidence suggests to me that Apple's record on utility is mixed.
  - urthor 4y ago
    They'll fix that in a few years. I suspect Ive was fired because he created the craziness of 2012-2017 post Jobs era. Trashcan, no ports, touch bar, mouse charging etc etc. These days I have moderate confidence Apple will fix its issues. Eventually.
    - moralestapia 4y ago
      Yup, firing Ive was the first step in the right direction. Of course, we didn't see the effects until now because a trillion dollar ship takes a while to turn around.
      - urthor 4y ago
        Not even about the money. Hardware involves making things, the turnaround time is nonzero.
    - SllX 4y ago
      Let’s be fair: Apple has had sufficient time to revise all of these post-Jobs Ive-era designs. Ive himself was still in charge when the trash can hit the bin, and they’ve more or less fixed the port situation on most of their models (I still have disagreements with some of their choices but we can at least say they’re debatable now). But they just released a revision of the 13” MacBook Pro with the touchbar. And while I know they have a hard time course-correcting bad design choices on their biggest product lines, there’s no excuse for not having revised the Magic Mouse 2 by this point. Also while this discussion has been mostly focused on hardware, let’s not forget that Apple is selling 6K displays while displaying all the signs and symptoms of an organization absolutely allergic to on-screen chrome in every release of Mac OS X for the past few years as well as the next major revision they just announced. I’ll put a lot at Ive’s feet, but only for the time he was actually there and in charge of design.
      - virgildotcodes 4y ago
        Sorry, what do you mean by "on-screen chrome"? I've tried googling a bunch of variations on the phrase but I can't seem to find anything relevant.
throwaway290 4y ago
I on the other hand am happy to have the last of the laptops without extra dust-collecting holes (a hub has more than a laptop could ever offer) and with touchbar (I'd hate having to switch to adjusting sound volume/screen brightness the old way).

roflyear 4y ago

Apple keynotes we're such an amazing thing that every 6-12 months to this day I remember how much I enjoyed them almost two decades ago.

moralestapia 4y ago
It was unreal. I wish I could feel the same excitement about a product now as I did back then with the Jobs keynotes.

brian_herman 4y ago

I’m excited to see stuff coming back like MagSafe and Claris The dogcow. The presentations might not be as great but the content is what’s important.