Agreed 100%, particularly the thing about thin fonts and lack of contrast. I'm 27 years old and I had to turn on the accessibility option "Increase contrast" on newer OS X versions to avoid getting headaches; so I went back to Mavericks. My next computer won't be a Mac, I'm not interested in using an OS that causes me literal pain. Seeing that Windows is going down that route too with terrible and blurry font rendering in Windows 10 seems like the only option is Linux, where at least you can adjust the UI to suit your needs.
How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
51–60 of 97 posts
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#52I think Android has surpassed iOS in terms of design and usability. I upgraded to a Android 5.0 recently (lightly modded by One Plus), and the design is really stunning. The icons have been redesigned to appear as though they they are made of actual flat material adding almost a hybrid 3d flat design that looks great. The colors are vibrant without being overwhelming. Messenger and Contacts applies a new color to you…
> The production of beautiful objects is only one > small component of modern design… As the authors say, and as Steve Jobs and Jony Ive have reiterated in almost every Apple product launch, how something looks is only a small part of the design Apple focuses on. Historically, the priority is how things _work_. This is probably the most misunderstood aspect of Apple products. A screenshot of software XYZ may look jus…
> Historically, the priority is how things _work_.
Right, everyone agrees with this. And as users of their products, we can see that this is no longer the priority today. The question is, how and why did it change?
You can see it even in little things like Apple removing the ability to display how much battery time is remaining instead of percentage in OS X. This makes the product work less well, but makes it more consistent with iOS and "simpler".
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#53Moved from Windows to OSX a couple of years ago after hearing for so long how much better the Mac experience and usability was. Some examples of why this was wrong: 1. Cmd-Tab lets me select a hidden window but it won't show it! 2. Many frequently used click targets are too small. For example, the close, minimise and maximise buttons. 3. The close minimise and maximise buttons reveal their functions only when the mou…
"7. Cmd+Down to open the selected file! Why not Enter?!"
Consistency. Cmd+Up moves you up one level in the file system, Cmd+Down down one level.
Also, at least historically, there was a consistency in that a key stroke is a command if and only if it contains the command key.
The reason the Finder did not have copy-paste for years, and why it doesn't have cut till this day is that it is hard to implement. A proper cut would immediately delete the file from the file system, and a later paste would paste the file with the contents it had when the file was cut or copied (Excel is also notoriously bad at this; cut a range, close the file, and try pasting)
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#54He seems to diect a lot of critisim at iOS, basing it on design principles that appear to be more relevant to desktop computing. Discovering new features, undo, consistencey. These seem relevant when using a computer to create something, but less so on a phone which is usually used as a media consumption device.
I agree. Criticizing kindle reader because it lacks desktop functionality is comparing apples and oranges.
But we are talking smartphones here. If you claim that smartphone is no more than kindle reader with ability to call, then why is it smart -phone? How can apple market it's phones with "25 billion apps downloaded"?
And eventually could you insist that owning a smartphone is somehow essential for modern life? You could just settle with dumb phone, books and old walkman. If smartphone is not essential then you can't make apps with the assumption that "everybody will have smartphone soon". If you don't assume that, smartphones are doomed to be a just luxuries.
Then stuff like "you need to optimize your website for mobile" is pretty much like saying "we need to optimize our streets for roller skating".
If you think that, I would honestly agree. I think smartphones are just a fad. But I would not bet on it.
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#55Am I the only one who has always thought of the Apple UI to have always been form over function/usability by a long shot? I remember the first time I used an iMac: I spent about half an hour trying to figure out how to eject a CD. A context menu might not look very elegant but it's insanely useful and powerful and very easy to get the hang of. In the end I had to be told/taught that the way to eject the CD on a mac w…
Yeah I remember being confused by the drag-to-trash metaphor too, except in my case we were still using floppy disks and I thought "are you sure this won't erase my term paper?"
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#56Moved from Windows to OSX a couple of years ago after hearing for so long how much better the Mac experience and usability was. Some examples of why this was wrong: 1. Cmd-Tab lets me select a hidden window but it won't show it! 2. Many frequently used click targets are too small. For example, the close, minimise and maximise buttons. 3. The close minimise and maximise buttons reveal their functions only when the mou…
"7. Cmd+Down to open the selected file! Why not Enter?!" Consistency. Cmd+Up moves you up one level in the file system, Cmd+Down down one level. Also, at least historically, there was a consistency in that a key stroke is a command if and only if it contains the command key. The reason the Finder did not have copy-paste for years, and why it doesn't have cut till this day is that it is hard to implement. A proper cut…
>The reason the Finder did not have copy-paste for years, and why it doesn't have cut till this day is that it is hard to implement. A proper cut would immediately delete the file from the file system, and a later paste would paste the file with the contents it had when the file was cut or copied (Excel is also notoriously bad at this; cut a range, close the file, and try pasting)
Huh? That's the strangest reasoning I've ever seen - all other file managers on platforms (including 3rd party file managers on OS X) do this well and delete original file only after the paste command is done. It works, is very useful and doesn't confuse users any more than the cut functionality does. So I'm not sure where your reasoning comes from.
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#57Am I the only one who has always thought of the Apple UI to have always been form over function/usability by a long shot? I remember the first time I used an iMac: I spent about half an hour trying to figure out how to eject a CD. A context menu might not look very elegant but it's insanely useful and powerful and very easy to get the hang of. In the end I had to be told/taught that the way to eject the CD on a mac w…
From the menubar: "Special" → "Eject"
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#58Am I the only one who has always thought of the Apple UI to have always been form over function/usability by a long shot? I remember the first time I used an iMac: I spent about half an hour trying to figure out how to eject a CD. A context menu might not look very elegant but it's insanely useful and powerful and very easy to get the hang of. In the end I had to be told/taught that the way to eject the CD on a mac w…
From the menubar: "Special" → "Eject"
Command-E
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought I was the only one that gets wrist pains after using the Magic Mouse. There's something really wrong with how that piece of hardware is designed it seems :/
Do you have big hands? I've used Microsoft mice since the Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 because it's easy to push around. I know people who hate it because it's too big for them though.
Yeah and I think that's the issue. But the funny thing is, that the Magic Mouse is the only one causing me problems - even tiny Logitech NX Nano doesn't cause me pain. I think it's caused by the low height coupled with the fact it has no buttons to press.
Re: How Apple Is Giving Design a Bad Name
#60Am I the only one who has always thought of the Apple UI to have always been form over function/usability by a long shot? I remember the first time I used an iMac: I spent about half an hour trying to figure out how to eject a CD. A context menu might not look very elegant but it's insanely useful and powerful and very easy to get the hang of. In the end I had to be told/taught that the way to eject the CD on a mac w…
Yeah I remember being confused by the drag-to-trash metaphor too, except in my case we were still using floppy disks and I thought "are you sure this won't erase my term paper?"
Floppy drives had a mechanical eject push-button and there was no unix-style "mount" afaik.