Apple's Marc Newson Believes Automotive Design is Lacking Progress

[MrGuder]

What makes you think every phone sold needs more than 16 GB? Like it or not, most people don't use their phones for much more than texting, email, some web browsing, and the occasional phone call. Those people don't (and will not ever) need more than 16 GB. Same goes for RAM, with the added issue of power consumption going up as you add more!

Apple isn't behind on this, you are! You're falling victim to competitors marketing specs in place of value.

Totally disagree, it sounds like that person needs a flip phone, why pay for a smartphone and & 30.00 a month and not take photos, use some apps, take some videos, download some songs because if you do that your almost maxed out of your 16 gb which in reality is not even 16 it's much less when you power up for the first time.

 

[CFreymarc]

Show me a laptop with more than one USB slot. Oh wait...

Going by this philosophy the Apple Car will only have one door, but it will be conveniently mounted underneath the car not to ruin the beautiful, beautiful curves.

This is what Ive and company face. A minimalist design mindset is not appropriate for automotive or any transport type of environment. If they have the interior of the car just a steering wheel, accelerator and brake pad with one or two big LCD displays, with most of their time getting "curves right" it will be a huge failure.

 

[apolloa]

If that's you, fine. Buy a model with more storage, but don't expect that everyone needs it. Most don't.

I was pointing out how you were wrong because the masses do take HD videos and tons of photos and install tons of games. Plenty of evidence to support that.

 

[TechZeke]

I also think car designers are lazy. I picked up a 2016 Mazda6 a month ago and I do enjoy it. However, look at the rear ends of some cars and SUVs. They all look very similar. Just lazy. I don't know what's wrong with Toyota to add a big plastic open mouth at the bottom of their Corolla and Camry.

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It's not really like there is a ton of room to work with. I mean, all you can really do is change the tail-light design. Super cars can have cool rear designs, but they don't have to worry about having a trunk.

I'd say transit buses have made strides in bus designs, especially buses like the NABI BRT series. But there's allot more room to work with on a bus.

 

[WelshDog]

It might seem annoying but it's suggestive of something much more appalling and that is myth of Apple's industrial design, or the lack thereof. Apple really isn't great at aesthetics nor building robust designs that can withstand the elements. First, Apple suggested, nay, commanded us to believe 3.5 inches is the perfect screen size for an Internet-connected mobile device, and boy did the Apple groupthink buy into it. Until Apple decided 4 inches is ideal. Loved seeing everyone backpedal when the iPhone 5 was announced. But then last year Apple released the iPhone 6 at 4.7 and 5.5 inches. Not only did apologists work overtime that day rationalizing the new 4.7 inches, but they now had to explain why it's marvelous that Apple gave us a CHOICE between two screen sizes when for years they declared that only one was perfect for all.

If 4.7 and 5.5 inches are indeed perfect (currently) and if Ive is such a design genius and if Jobs was such a Renaissance man, why didn't Apple start with the iPhone 6? Then of course there is the matter of the ugly antenna bands and protruding camera ring.

So when a company designs a product, does some research that shows a certain feature/size is just right for the market at that time and says so, then that company must, in perpetuity, stay with that feature or size? If they don't then they are in your opinion failing in some manner? So when market research shows them that the original feature/size is no longer what fits the market, they are not allowed to change because why, they once said the feature/size was just right? What are you a Republican or something, who runs around screaming "flip flopper" any time an opponent changes their mind? The world is a wiggly place and change is welcome.

 

[mytdave]

The automotive industry doesn't have a design problem, it has a bean-counter problem. I continually see incredibly beautiful, outstanding auto designs at auto shows all the time, and yet these amazing cars are never manufactured and sold. The problem lies with management... but also with the "public" at large, who continue to purchase the crap that is produced. If people buy fugly cars, companies will continue to produce fugly cars.

 

[TechZeke]

I have one:

And as for car's.

This is a cool futuristic design:

but is totally illegal for the road! It's a racetrack car only.

But then we have a futuristic looking Ferrari that is fully road legal:

Modern day car design is anything but in a trough......

The Razer is basically a black rMBP or Dell XPS 15.

And modern day car design is only spectacular if you can buy $200,000+ super/luxury car.

 

[samcraig]

I see he's towing the company line already. Netbooks aren't good for anything. Smart Watches are ugly and not functional. Television is broken. The automotive industry is uninspiring...

 

[MarcKerr]

Ive and his crew have done some crap work on the OS, putting style over function.

Second that!. For example the new MacBook only has one USB-C. How exactly is it a violation of design to put another one on the other side? That would be so much more useful. Are all the electric outlets in Ive's house on the left side of whatever chair or desk he might sit at? Does he arrange is furniture so the plugs are conveniently located?

 

[Rogifan]

OMG. You beat me to the punch. Newson, like everyone else, can have an opinion about car design. But when you design the Ford 021C, you don't have a lot of room to talk about design. Although from 1999, this thing looks like something a 6 year old drew with crayons. I personally think he's wrong about today's automotive design. There are numerous beautifully designed cars on the road today.

Was this actually designed to be sold to general consumers or mass produced in any way?

 

[ThunderSkunk]

He's right. Cars today are either designed by engineers or committees.

Neither approach is capable of producing a coherent, timeless design capable of becoming a classic.

 

[Rigby]

I would agree with Ive that there are too many bland and downright ugly cars on the road today, but there are also plenty of great designs. Just off the top of my head, look at the BMW i8, Alfa Romeo 4C, Jaguar F-Type, Fiat 500, the new Corvette, and evergreens like the Audi A5.

 

[HenryDJP]

Wow, talk about irony! Where's the Progress with Apple? a watch? Apple hasn't seen anything innovative since Steve Jobs left.

You're right! In fact we'd still be on those lovely 4" iPhones if Steve had anything to do with it. He'd take any of his current products, extend the battery life or change the name and call it "innovation." How dare Cook listen to his customers and put out a large screen iPhone as they asked for. Yeah, he lacks so much progress...

 

[lukomaldini23]

Is anyone ignoring the fact that macrumors got the car wrong? Its a DBS not a DB9....

 

[Taz Mangus]

I think you didn't read my entire post. So I'll shorten it.
... every other computer manufacturer really does make complete crap from a design standpoint.

So Apple computers make nothing special computers and everyone one else makes crap from a design stand point, according to you. So what is this "special" design computer?

 

[TechZeke]

Pedestrian law ruined the modern car designs. Other than higher hood line and upright nose, I think the regulation is responsible for busy front end and bland rear design.

I'm sure you wouldn't mind having your legs sliced off if you were a pedestrian hit by a bad driver in a cool looking car design with a razor blade look on the front instead of a bumper. Of course, who cares about anyone other than people in automobiles, right?

 

[Taz Mangus]

I'm sure you wouldn't mind having your legs sliced off if you were a pedestrian hit by a bad driver in a cool looking car design with a razor blade look on the front instead of a bumper. Of course, who cares about anyone other than people in automobiles, right?

LOL! I was just think the same thing.

 

[samcraig]

You're right! In fact we'd still be on those lovely 4" iPhones if Steve had anything to do with it. He'd take any of his current products, extend the battery life or change the name and call it "innovation." How dare Cook listen to his customers and put out a large screen iPhone as they asked for. Yeah, he lacks so much progress...

To be fair - there are plenty of people who state that a larger screen is not innovation. Especially when talking about Android phones. Now - you did say progress vs innovation. But you switched the dialogue on him

 

[wigby]

Wow, talk about irony! Where's the Progress with Apple? a watch? Apple hasn't seen anything innovative since Steve Jobs left.

New Macbook anyone?

 

[Mactendo]

I dunno about beautiful production cars though. We could argue about Ferraris and whatnot, but what about stuff available in quantity?

And car design compared to computer/mobile design is a rather interesting exercise.

What Apple, for example, is like the VW bug? Porsche 911? original Mini? original Mustang (and even '69 )? Cars/computers were iconic, had a big impact, etc. The first Macs up through the SE? I don't think there are any standout Macs, nothing that's going be in the Goodwood Festival of [Computing] speed 50 years hence. Maybe the first iPod, or iPhone, but I dunno.

Standout Macs: first iMac, second iMac, G4 Cube, original Mac, first iBook...

 

[definitive]

Let's be honest here... What can Apple offer that someone like Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, or Tesla (random car brands that I've picked off the top of my head) can't? These cars already offer reliability, luxury, performance, and innovation. At every tier, Apple's version would be simpler, and more expensive.

Google has the self-driving car in the works, but that thing has its own issues at the moment, so I don't see it as being and alternative for a many years to come.

 

[doelcm82]

Wow, talk about irony! Where's the Progress with Apple? a watch? Apple hasn't seen anything innovative since Steve Jobs left.

What did we see from Apple that was innovative when Steve Jobs was there?

I'm just asking because I'd enjoy watching your list get picked apart. I already know you won't include the iPad or any of the notebook computers, because those would be easy targets. Maybe you're thinking of Ping.

 

[apolloa]

The Razer is basically a black rMBP or Dell XPS 15.

And modern day car design is only spectacular if you can buy $200,000+ super/luxury car.

The comment I replied to was any decent computer design that I assumed was not Apple, and the reason the Razer is great is because of the special trackpad it uses and the huge power it packs into such a thin chassis, a lot more than Apple does.

As for car design, no, I think you are wrong again their are plenty of great designs that don't cost 200,000, but I believe the story states a quote from Marc implying in general all of car design is in a trough, he did not separate different markets, just generalised. So that would include Ferrari etc.

And as said already, safety laws and regulations have a huge effect on car design.

And being this is Apple, just what market do you think they are going to aim at? The Tesla market which is high end premium? Or the Ford end? I would say the former going by how they market their electronics.

 

[junkstory]

I completely agree, and as a car enthusiast the same thought had been echoing in my mind for the past few of years. There's been very little progress in the car industry. Every change is so minor and incremental. Every year, new cars would roll out claiming to be superior than the last, but all we witness actually is just a a couple of horsepower increase, 3% better in fuel economy, and the interior dashboard buttons moved around. They get bigger, and heavier, but otherwise same, same same.

Other than the Jaguar F-Type and the Tesla Model S, not a single car has wowed me in the past 5 years.

 

[wigby]

OMG. You beat me to the punch. Newson, like everyone else, can have an opinion about car design. But when you design the Ford 021C, you don't have a lot of room to talk about design. Although from 1999, this thing looks like something a 6 year old drew with crayons. I personally think he's wrong about today's automotive design. There are numerous beautifully designed cars on the road today.

I think that's his point. All the cars on the road look the same which means they can't be beautiful. None of them stick out as unique or innovative or have personality. Just look at Apple products (well maybe not now since they have been so copied) compared to the beige boxes and plastic smartphones. Apple is looking to introduce a car that isn't beautiful or sexy or any of those tired adjectives. They are trying to re-ignite the industry through design the way they already have with consumer electronics and PCs.