Well, if they've created the hardware and the environment and done a lot of brainstorming, experimenting, and researching how to make the design work, maybe the

Well, if they've created the hardware and the environment and done a lot of brainstorming, experimenting, and researching how to make the design work, maybe they do know better than their users what they want. Most people probably don't spend all their time thinking of new ways to use a phone. If you decide Apple is wrong, just don't buy their products. I do like open systems (linux/smalltalk/etc.), but then it seems like you still have a choice between using something someone else has designed for you, or doing it yourself. Developers can make systems configurable, but it doesn't seem like configuration options are always that creative, and they can get annoying after a while. I guess the best thing a designer can do is make systems easy for hackers to extend, but someone is going to have to create a design somewhere, or else the end product isn't going to be very good.