5 ms·

That's what's so weird, though — that particular reel-to-reel design actually seems like a deliberate combination of both influences. The skeuomorphic look of

by zach 14y ago

That's what's so weird, though — that particular reel-to-reel design actually seems like a deliberate combination of both influences. The skeuomorphic look of Podcasts was based on a physical product design by Ive's legendary design influence, Dieter Rams: http://www.cultofmac.com/176008/heres-the-braun-tape-recorder-that-inspired-apples-podcasts-app-gallery/ http://www.cultofmac.com/176008/heres-the-braun-tape-recorde... In retrospect, the tension inherent in this odd compromise seems palpable. It's like listening to the last album a band releases before they break up.

jarek 14y ago
Skeuomorphing physical objects designed by Rams is still skeuomorphing.
- fleitz 14y ago
  Skeuomorphic design is rarely as little design as possible which is what makes the podcast design so iconic... er.. ironic.
  - 89a 14y ago
    Same goes for this stupid piece of shit http://www.wthr.co http://www.wthr.co
    - jarek 14y ago
      I was so confused when I saw that app a couple of months back. Why spend so much effort creating an admittedly aesthetically pleasing design, name check Rams and his principles, and so completely miss the point of "as little design as possible" and have a non-functional spinner display for the current conditions? And having such a prominent °F/°C switch is just baffling. This is not a function used regularly by the vast majority of users.
      - CamperBob2 14y ago
        (Shrug) I don't know anything about this app but I don't immediately get the hate for it. It looks cool. The spinner dial may not be functional, but it could be and should be, because weather conditions change incrementally and (more or less) predictably. If it's humid and cloudy and the barometric pressure is falling, then it would make sense for the spinner dial to move slowly between "cloudy" and "raining" positions, for instance. And maybe the author of the app is an advocate of the metric system and wants to encourage users to treat the °F/°C switch as a prominent educational feature. Like I said, I don't know anything about it, but the amount of negativity being aimed at the app seems difficult to justify.
        jarek 14y ago
        I'm not sure if that part of the comment was aimed at me: I don't hate it, I just think it fails at reaching or perhaps even understanding its stated design goals.
        CamperBob2 14y ago
        Mostly referring to 89a's criticism ("Same goes for this stupid piece of shit.") I usually reserve language like that for politicians, Sony products, and iTunes, not cheesy weather apps.
tisme 14y ago
Man what luck for Apple that Braun didn't take out a design patent on this.
- arrrg 14y ago
  It wouldn’t matter. Design Patents are valid for fourteen years. Every single product Dieter Rams designed for Braun is decades older than that. Don’t fight patents with cheap lies. There are plenty of reasons why patents are bad, bad, bad, no need to resort to untruths.
  - tisme 14y ago
    What cheap lies? I'm well aware of how old that design is. If copying is wrong it is wrong regardless of how long ago the original was made. Or is there some magical cut-off date by which copying suddenly is ok? Why 14 years? Why not 13 or 10 or 50? It strikes me as pretty arbitrary. For a company to go all out in accusing others of copying I think they should be above all that and come up with entirely original designs. Why take a 30 year old tape recorder and mimic that, is that really the mark of originality that Apple stands for? It seems quite hypocritical to me.
    - arrrg 14y ago
      It’s most certainly not hypocritical to believe that there should be time limited monopolies on designs and copying designs for which that monopoly has run out. Simple as that. Don’t argue over ridiculous stuff like that. There is no need for these cheap polemics.
    - pooriaazimi 14y ago
      Reasons: 1. That Braun thing was produced decades ago, and probably they haven't sold a single one of them in the last decade or so. 2. A podcasts app on an iPad, is in no way competing to an ancient cassette player. 3. They're in different categories. It's like if I "copy" a Mercedes logo for a window. Though I'm not particularly in favor of Apple/Samsung case ruling, it's clearly different to copy an element for a competing product (a tablet) or another product that's a whole different beast and is no longer for sale.

by zach 14y ago

jarek 14y ago

Skeuomorphing physical objects designed by Rams is still skeuomorphing.

fleitz 14y ago
Skeuomorphic design is rarely as little design as possible which is what makes the podcast design so iconic... er.. ironic.
- 89a 14y ago
  Same goes for this stupid piece of shit http://www.wthr.co http://www.wthr.co
  - jarek 14y ago
    I was so confused when I saw that app a couple of months back. Why spend so much effort creating an admittedly aesthetically pleasing design, name check Rams and his principles, and so completely miss the point of "as little design as possible" and have a non-functional spinner display for the current conditions? And having such a prominent °F/°C switch is just baffling. This is not a function used regularly by the vast majority of users.
    - CamperBob2 14y ago
      (Shrug) I don't know anything about this app but I don't immediately get the hate for it. It looks cool. The spinner dial may not be functional, but it could be and should be, because weather conditions change incrementally and (more or less) predictably. If it's humid and cloudy and the barometric pressure is falling, then it would make sense for the spinner dial to move slowly between "cloudy" and "raining" positions, for instance. And maybe the author of the app is an advocate of the metric system and wants to encourage users to treat the °F/°C switch as a prominent educational feature. Like I said, I don't know anything about it, but the amount of negativity being aimed at the app seems difficult to justify.
      - jarek 14y ago
        I'm not sure if that part of the comment was aimed at me: I don't hate it, I just think it fails at reaching or perhaps even understanding its stated design goals.
        CamperBob2 14y ago
        Mostly referring to 89a's criticism ("Same goes for this stupid piece of shit.") I usually reserve language like that for politicians, Sony products, and iTunes, not cheesy weather apps.

tisme 14y ago

Man what luck for Apple that Braun didn't take out a design patent on this.

arrrg 14y ago
It wouldn’t matter. Design Patents are valid for fourteen years. Every single product Dieter Rams designed for Braun is decades older than that. Don’t fight patents with cheap lies. There are plenty of reasons why patents are bad, bad, bad, no need to resort to untruths.
- tisme 14y ago
  What cheap lies? I'm well aware of how old that design is. If copying is wrong it is wrong regardless of how long ago the original was made. Or is there some magical cut-off date by which copying suddenly is ok? Why 14 years? Why not 13 or 10 or 50? It strikes me as pretty arbitrary. For a company to go all out in accusing others of copying I think they should be above all that and come up with entirely original designs. Why take a 30 year old tape recorder and mimic that, is that really the mark of originality that Apple stands for? It seems quite hypocritical to me.
  - arrrg 14y ago
    It’s most certainly not hypocritical to believe that there should be time limited monopolies on designs and copying designs for which that monopoly has run out. Simple as that. Don’t argue over ridiculous stuff like that. There is no need for these cheap polemics.
  - pooriaazimi 14y ago
    Reasons: 1. That Braun thing was produced decades ago, and probably they haven't sold a single one of them in the last decade or so. 2. A podcasts app on an iPad, is in no way competing to an ancient cassette player. 3. They're in different categories. It's like if I "copy" a Mercedes logo for a window. Though I'm not particularly in favor of Apple/Samsung case ruling, it's clearly different to copy an element for a competing product (a tablet) or another product that's a whole different beast and is no longer for sale.