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> Inside Apple, tension has brewed for years over the [skeuomorphism] issue. Apple iOS SVP Scott Forstall is said to push for skeuomorphic design, while industr

• nilsbunger 14y ago
  Very interesting. Of course, Steve Jobs was also in favor of skeuomorphic design, so it's not like Forstall is the sole reason I "find my friends" in stitched leather.
  • Samuel_Michon 14y ago
    Stranger still, it is said that the stitched leather theme was modeled after the upholstery in Jobs' Gulfstream jet! [0] Both iCal on OS X and Find My Friends on iOS have the same motif. “But before Forstall, it was Steve Jobs who encouraged the skeuomorphic approach, some say. “iCal’s leather-stitching was literally based on a texture in his Gulfstream jet,” says the former senior UI designer. “There was lots of internal email among UI designers at Apple saying this was just embarrassing, just terrible.” [0] http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670760/will-apples-tacky-software-design-philosophy-cause-a-revolt http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670760/will-apples-tacky-softwa...
  • dastbe 14y ago
    That's not skeumorphism; it's a style choice. If I had to simulate ripping the top piece of paper off the notepad in notes to clear it, then that would be skeumorphic design.
    • shinratdr 14y ago
      Can we just make this the auto-reply comment whenever someone mentions skeuomorphism on the internet? I couldn't be more sick of the concept, except when I hear it constantly being used incorrectly. Textures and styles aren't skeuomorphism, skeuomorphism is imitating real-world objects to provide a sense of familiarity in execution. Not a notes app that looks like a notepad, a notes app that FUNCTIONS like a notepad.
      • arrrg 14y ago
        I think you two are wrong. Skeumorphism is about ornamental design, about design features that imitate something that was once necessary but is no more. It’s consequently all about style, not about function (at least when it comes to real-world objects). Wikipedia has examples like flame shaped lightbulbs, artificial film grain or spoke patterns on hubcaps. It seems that when it comes to software, skeumorphism can also refer to functional adoptions of virtual interfaces to their real-world counterparts†, but I think it would be misguided to exclude mere style here. I mean, in the end this is a stupid semantic argument. Using leather textures is what it is, whether it’s skeumorphism or just style, but you two certainly do not have the facts on your side. — † It’s pretty clear why that is the case: it’s only possible to make lightbulbs look like flames, not to make them work like flames. Software provides more freedom and makes it possible to make something virtual work like the real thing.
        • dastbe 14y ago
          If we're going by the wikipedia page, here's their definition they provide: "skeuomorphism is when a product imitates design elements /functionally necessary/ in the original product design, but that becomes ornamental in the new product design." So yes, it is about function. And also, the three things you mention are directly related to the function of the original objects. While these things are clearly used ornamentally in modern devices, their existence/use was inherent in the design of the modern devices' predecessors.
          • arrrg 14y ago
            What? You seem to be very confused. Just give it up. You are wrong.