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This makes no sense. The purpose of skeuomorphism isn't to make up for shitty displays, it's to provide a solid metaphor for the user by making objects on scree
by gfodor 14y ago
This makes no sense. The purpose of skeuomorphism isn't to make up for shitty displays, it's to provide a solid metaphor for the user by making objects on screen appear as if they were real, manufactured things they are familiar with. It's to provide additional affordances that would otherwise be impossible without making such a metaphor. It's to put the users mind at ease, if only artificially, by making them feel less like they are using a computer and more like they are using a physical thing. If anything, retina displays improve the ability of skeuomorphism to do these things, since textures can be rendered more realistically and the user is less likely to be distracted by aliasing artifacts, pixelation, etc.
- wmf 14y agoThat may have been the original purpose, but I doubt that has anything to do with the iPhone. How many iPhone owners are familiar with leather desk calendars and reel-to-reel tape decks? It seems more likely that Apple just wanted to make these apps look cool.
- gfodor 14y agoSkeumorphism is a continuum. On the one end, you have the "tape deck." On the other end, you have subtle shadows, bevels, indentations, and so on. Sorry, but I think turning everything into solid colored rectangles is throwing the baby out with the bath water, and largely misses the point. When you design an app you have to choose for different pieces where on the continuum they should lie. The only way to know where the limit is is to try it, and Apple obviously in certain cases found the limit. Just like with the brushed metal stuff they pushed up to the edge to discover where it was. This reactionary type of design of having no gradients, no textures, no shadows, etc, is less about understanding what makes good design for users and more about blind differentiation.
- snogglethorpe 14y agoA-men. Personally I like "skeumorphism" in many cases. Why? 'cause in those cases they made it pretty, and I like pretty.... :] Usability is of course a baseline requirement, but there are many things you can do on top of that, of which the "make it look like leather!" is one. As long as you're mindful of the baseline, it's all a matter of taste (and taste is fickle). Unfortunately the anti-skeumorphism fad seems in many case to be even more shallow than the skeumorphism fad, obsessing over the look and ignoring basic usability...