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JamesMyCQs

macrumors newbie
Oct 28, 2012
8
0
Is any non-beep computer alert sound "skeumorphism"? Yes. Yes it is.

Everyone's humping the hell out of that word lately. The concept of skeumorphism isn't inherently bad. It's all about the context and implementation. There's a vast ocean of difference between a tacky stitched leather interface and a subtle camera click.

Exactly.

It's become a bit of a buzz word since the whole Forstall-Ive thing. There's nothing wrong with skeumorphs when they're done right and subtly: I have no qualms with 'folder icons' for example: there's no reason they need to exist other than they represent their real world equivalent, but they're an example of a 'good' skeumorph because, well some sort of representation need to be there and a folder is a nice, non-intrusive and intuitive way of doing so.

Same with the camera click: Something needed to go there as a form of feedback that lets you know a picture has been taken, and I'd rather have a friendly click than a beep!

The only ones that really annoy me are, for example, the garish design they've put on Game Center and the 'paper shredder' animation on Passbook - they're over the top, unneeded and just get in the way of otherwise good design. Definitely those two will be gone in iOS 7.
 
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