Let me say this from the start. I believe that Scott has never cut corners when implementing any design features of iOS. iOS has been a solid software system since iPhone OS 1, and may jolly well be the primary reason why so many people buy their iPhones too. The sudden "sacking" of Scott took me by surprise, and I really fail to see the real reason behind this. Why sack a person who has been doing his job all along? Is it because of the blunders he made along the way, or maybe those more recently? Is it because an increasing number of people perceive iOS to be so called "boring" and has been desperately waiting for Apple to roll out drastic changes to the UI? Is it because Scott's mentality of designing iOS is no longer appreciated because it is now deemed "old-fashioned"?
Many people point fingers at Scott's rigid mentality of constantly implementing "skeuomorphism" in the design of iOS. However, the issue here is that, many people, including me, do not necessarily find this a problem when navigating around iOS. The ONLY reason why people find this feature disturbing and distasteful is because the same people have been using it since 2007. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this design; people are just essentially bored with this. And when people get bored, they complain and whine about it. What's even more ironic is that the same people mentioned above CONTINUES to buy iOS devices even though they proclaim they hate that particular interface. The point here is that even though people inside Apple may not like this design feature of iOS or they think it is too laidback, this does NOT need to warrant a sacking of Scott. He has done nothing but continually implement new things for Apple year after year since 2007, and this is what he get after 5 years of work, a sign of his irrelevance in a complany he worked so hard for?
Then again, people may also put the blame of him for the recent fiasco regarding the poor Maps application which Apple touted as one of the biggest features of iOS 6. Even in my area, I admit that Maps is really not up to standard with many POIs missing and the environment is very shabby-looking. Of course, this naturally caused an uproar among disgruntled consumers who wanted nothing more than a PERFECT maps application since it was APPLE that designed it. But, hey, let's face the reality here. Apple has not been a dedicated mapping company like our dear friend Google, and mapping out EVERY SINGLE petrol station, shopping mall, financial office is no easy feat, that I can assure you. The situation here is that people are BENCHMARKING Apple's newly introduced maps with GOOGLE'S maps, which have been there since a long time ago. Can anyone please refresh my memory, was google maps as brilliant from the start as it is today? It is not even perfect as of today, but people enjoy comparing things, but how is comparing a new thing with an old thing a fair comparison? People also say how Apple is the biggest and richest company in the world and it has the duty AND resources to achieve the optimal outcome for anything. Look from this point of view, you can't blame the maps application and it's somewhat lackluster performance sorely on ONE person. Yes, he's the head of iOS software, but does he fly the planes around by himself? Is he the only one who is sitting in front of computers everyday designing all the core apps that you use? Obviously NOT. Yes, he's in charge of the team and has to take responsibility and all that. But if Tim Cook were to put anyone of you in his shoes, can YOU guarantee you'll do a better job?
All in all, from my perspective, Apple should NOT have removed Scott from his position. Multiple reasons may have contributed to this, maybe including some internal issues which I do not care about. But people, we need to stop blaming this one person for everything bad that has happened so far. You guys are essentially nit-picking at all his wrong-doings without actually complementing the good that he has done. Will the iPhone 5, putting aside the scuffs and purple-haze issue (hardware problems), be so successful today if not for the development of iOS? Will the iPad be the most popular tablet on the market without iOS? You guys need to ask yourselves these questions before launching a full-scale assault on a man who had always tried to do his best for his company. It is only human to make mistakes along the way in life, let's do Scott a favor and stop all this nonsensical blabbering solely on all the mistakes he made.
Many people point fingers at Scott's rigid mentality of constantly implementing "skeuomorphism" in the design of iOS. However, the issue here is that, many people, including me, do not necessarily find this a problem when navigating around iOS. The ONLY reason why people find this feature disturbing and distasteful is because the same people have been using it since 2007. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this design; people are just essentially bored with this. And when people get bored, they complain and whine about it. What's even more ironic is that the same people mentioned above CONTINUES to buy iOS devices even though they proclaim they hate that particular interface. The point here is that even though people inside Apple may not like this design feature of iOS or they think it is too laidback, this does NOT need to warrant a sacking of Scott. He has done nothing but continually implement new things for Apple year after year since 2007, and this is what he get after 5 years of work, a sign of his irrelevance in a complany he worked so hard for?
Then again, people may also put the blame of him for the recent fiasco regarding the poor Maps application which Apple touted as one of the biggest features of iOS 6. Even in my area, I admit that Maps is really not up to standard with many POIs missing and the environment is very shabby-looking. Of course, this naturally caused an uproar among disgruntled consumers who wanted nothing more than a PERFECT maps application since it was APPLE that designed it. But, hey, let's face the reality here. Apple has not been a dedicated mapping company like our dear friend Google, and mapping out EVERY SINGLE petrol station, shopping mall, financial office is no easy feat, that I can assure you. The situation here is that people are BENCHMARKING Apple's newly introduced maps with GOOGLE'S maps, which have been there since a long time ago. Can anyone please refresh my memory, was google maps as brilliant from the start as it is today? It is not even perfect as of today, but people enjoy comparing things, but how is comparing a new thing with an old thing a fair comparison? People also say how Apple is the biggest and richest company in the world and it has the duty AND resources to achieve the optimal outcome for anything. Look from this point of view, you can't blame the maps application and it's somewhat lackluster performance sorely on ONE person. Yes, he's the head of iOS software, but does he fly the planes around by himself? Is he the only one who is sitting in front of computers everyday designing all the core apps that you use? Obviously NOT. Yes, he's in charge of the team and has to take responsibility and all that. But if Tim Cook were to put anyone of you in his shoes, can YOU guarantee you'll do a better job?
All in all, from my perspective, Apple should NOT have removed Scott from his position. Multiple reasons may have contributed to this, maybe including some internal issues which I do not care about. But people, we need to stop blaming this one person for everything bad that has happened so far. You guys are essentially nit-picking at all his wrong-doings without actually complementing the good that he has done. Will the iPhone 5, putting aside the scuffs and purple-haze issue (hardware problems), be so successful today if not for the development of iOS? Will the iPad be the most popular tablet on the market without iOS? You guys need to ask yourselves these questions before launching a full-scale assault on a man who had always tried to do his best for his company. It is only human to make mistakes along the way in life, let's do Scott a favor and stop all this nonsensical blabbering solely on all the mistakes he made.
