The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#1

Post by jumpcut » Mon, Feb 09, 2015, 11:41 PM UTC

The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set
folklore.org

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#2

Post by coob » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 12:44 PM UTC

Xcode 6's additions to Interface Builder allow for similar tools to be built now. Here's a great NSHipster article that details a modern take on the Calculator Construction Set:

http://nshipster.com/ibinspectable-ibdesignable/

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#3

Post by normloman » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 1:45 PM UTC

Sounds like Steve Jobs was a terrible micromanager. At least in the realm of UI design. Now maybe he had to be, if there was not enough UI experts on his team. But in any other situation, I can imagine Jobs' antics getting tiresome (and inefficient.)

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#4

Post by chuck8088 » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 2:29 PM UTC

First point I would like to make is that if they had UI standards in place, then this guy wouldn't have had to waste so much time getting it to look right.

My manager does this all the time. He gives me very incomplete specs, if any at all, and always has a bunch of things he wants changed on the first draft. I usually feel that his changes ruin some of the aesthetics I was going for, adds in more complexity, and runs slower. I'm a minimalist, and lets just say he loves buttons everywhere ala Photoshop style.

I barely fight for my designs anymore because this collaboration style gives him more power and because he will get most of the blame if it fails.

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#5

Post by zerohp » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 2:30 PM UTC

normloman wrote: post #3

Sounds like Steve Jobs was a terrible micromanager. At least in the realm of UI design. Now maybe he had to be, if there was not enough UI experts on his team. But in any other situation, I can imagine Jobs' antics getting tiresome (and inefficient.)

Nobody was a UI expert at the time.

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#6

Post by asd » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 3:26 PM UTC

chuck8088 wrote: post #4

First point I would like to make is that if they had UI standards in place, then this guy wouldn't have had to waste so much time getting it to look right. My manager does this all the time. He gives me very incomplete specs, if any at all, and always has a bunch of things he wants changed on the first draft. I usually feel that his changes ruin some of the aesthetics I was going for, adds in more complexity, and run…

First point I would like to make is that if they had UI standards in place...

This was 1982.

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#7

Post by agumonkey » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 3:28 PM UTC

asd wrote: post #6

chuck8088 wrote: post #4

First point I would like to make is that if they had UI standards in place, then this guy wouldn't have had to waste so much time getting it to look right. My manager does this all the time. He gives me very incomplete specs, if any at all, and always has a bunch of things he wants changed on the first draft. I usually feel that his changes ruin some of the aesthetics I was going for, adds in more complexity, and run…

First point I would like to make is that if they had UI standards in place... This was 1982.

Especially when talking about Apple, I'll guess they had visual guidelines (Mac OS X ones were very extensive) before other people thought about it.

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#8

Post by agumonkey » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 3:30 PM UTC

normloman wrote: post #3

Sounds like Steve Jobs was a terrible micromanager. At least in the realm of UI design. Now maybe he had to be, if there was not enough UI experts on his team. But in any other situation, I can imagine Jobs' antics getting tiresome (and inefficient.)

Love it or not, but this masochistic attention to details is what sets up Apple from the rest in the public eye.

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#9

Post by normloman » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 4:49 PM UTC

zerohp wrote: post #5

normloman wrote: post #3

Sounds like Steve Jobs was a terrible micromanager. At least in the realm of UI design. Now maybe he had to be, if there was not enough UI experts on his team. But in any other situation, I can imagine Jobs' antics getting tiresome (and inefficient.)

Nobody was a UI expert at the time.

Wrong. Jef Raskin wrote the book on interface design. And he was on the original Mac team.

Re: The Original Macintosh: Calculator Construction Set

#10

Post by normloman » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 4:56 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #8

normloman wrote: post #3

Sounds like Steve Jobs was a terrible micromanager. At least in the realm of UI design. Now maybe he had to be, if there was not enough UI experts on his team. But in any other situation, I can imagine Jobs' antics getting tiresome (and inefficient.)

Love it or not, but this masochistic attention to details is what sets up Apple from the rest in the public eye.

Attention to details and micromanagement are not the same thing. You can have one without the other (Just hire devoted UI designers and hold them to a high standard).

And before we forget, the first macs failed to take the tech world by storm, and it wasn't until the iPod that Apple became silicon valley's golden boy.