Your opinion about Ive's work is .... your opinion. Nothing else.
You don't need to be a developer to DESIGN an user interface, if you have plenty of developers in your team.
Ive is much more talented than Forstall.
iOS UI isn't unfinished, and definitely isn't less enjoyable. Those are your opinions.
Apple's best work is TODAY, because they've never been so high.
iOS will change again, sooner or later.
It kinda helps to be a software developer to know how to design a proper UI given that their experience is generally related to such. As great as his work has been in hardware design, there is nothing that would ever have me believe that he's also capable of designing software considering he had no prior experience. His iOS redesign was nothing more than a poorly done vanity project. And yes, the UI still looks very unfinished. Many of the icons, app layouts and other elements of the design look like they never made it out of the beta stage. It's still not fully optimized for the iPad in the way that the old UI was. iOS had an element of playfulness and a fun factor with the old UI which is lost now with the current one.
Also I never said Scott Forstall was more talented than Ive. Two different people working in two separate area yet both very good at what they do (did) and Jobs recognized that both men were needed to continue Apple's success. Firing Scott Forstall was probably Tim Cook's first major mistake as CEO.
I really do hope iOS changes soon since it has a terribly designed UI, terrible performance and an especially terrible music app now which makes using an iPhone (or iPad) as an iPod essentially pointless. Otherwise I won't be considering a new iPhone anytime soon.
Apple's creativity definitely peaked a while ago and the only reason why they're so "high" is because they're simply riding on the brand recognition and good reputation that Steve Jobs established. The Watch isn't a runaway success like the last game-changing product (iPad) and the Retina MacBook may be beautiful but it's a complete ripoff for its price (only one port, SD webcam, slow Intel chip). The iPad Pro is also insanely overpriced and doesn't deserve the Pro moniker since it's essentially running a blown-up iPhone interface on a nearly 13" display and the Pencil is nothing more than an over-priced glorified stylus. Tim Cook just happened to become CEO at the right time. Otherwise, he'd be no different than John Scully or any of the other CEOs. Cook obviously isn't a visionary or hands-on with the development process the way Jobs was. He's just an average profit hungry CEO with no view of the bigger picture. Honestly, we're seeing a repeat of many of the same mistakes Apple make in the 90s before Jobs came back to save it: bloated product lineup, the idea that just releasing all new products (Watch, Pencil, etc.) is equivalent to innovation and releasing half-assed and half-baked software updates. They're just lucky that they now have mountains of cash to withstand a few product flops and whatnot.
As a longtime fan of Apple, I've been extremely disappointed with the direction and decisions that Cook has taken Apple in. And yes, a good chunk of it would not have happened under Steve Jobs. Cook's mantra seems to be change for the sake of change. Apple had a good thing going with Jobs and Cook could've easily maintained it.
I get that you're blindly loyal to Apple no matter what but it saddens me that even the most dedicated fanboys can't see that Tim Cook is turning a once-extraordinary company into just an ordinary company.
