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I think criticism of Jony Ive just sounds like people repeating memes at this point, thinness this and form over function that. If you ever actually listen to Jony talk about his design philosophy he is very much about form following function. Form following function doesn't mean ugly or it has to have every port on the planet. What it means is Jony had an incredibly purist outlook on how the computer was used. There is that clip from Objectified where he is talking about how the indicator light disappears into the design of the machine when it isn't operating. Removing distractions from the user so that their focus is where it needs to be.
 
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The one thing I do like is the connector package. I would love to see All the connectors in a brick that is hidden and just one cable to the device. My workstation has 2 monitors, one has two cables, one has three, I would love to have just one cable each going to a small brick hidden under my desk to keep it cleaner. I don't get all hate for that Ethernet port on the power brick. I get the hate of the thinner design, lack of repairability and upgradability but having less cables up to the desk is AWESOME!
 
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I don't get all hate for that Ethernet port on the power brick.

I think it's a good idea. It's the other ports that bug me a little (but have always been a problem on the iMac, or at least since the G5-era design). For devices that are plugged in for a long time, having the ports on the back is fine. But if you want to, say, quickly connect a thumb drive, it's rather awkward. I wish Apple had embraced an idea like the clamp hub to make a few ports more easily accessible. Instead, I guess people will have to buy a hub of their own that sits somewhere on the side, ruining the clean look?
 
I see, it's the result without the guidance from Steve. Jobs will never be well done now.
 
Of course if they made the machine thicker, even just for a small part it (e.g. near where it attaches to the stand), then the computer could have been behind the screen.

I like the design, but the chin isn’t a necessity - it’s a design choice (and one I happen to like).

A design choice just to maintain an iconic look is not the only reason why the iMac still has the chin.

If the iMac had been redesigned as essentially just a large display panel with nothing but bezels and all the hardware behind the display, it would have significantly changed the weight balance of the machine. For a start, the entire display would have to be much higher on the stand in order to keep the same eye-level ergonomics the iMacs already have.

This would give it an awkward long-necked look, one we've already seen on other manufacturers designs and it doesn't look great. Also, the stand itself would have to be bulkier with a bigger and chunkier base in order to hold it up properly. This made sense when the entire computer was in the base itself (the 2002 "sunflower" design iMac), but with computer hardware components shrinking at the rate they are now, this kind of design solution isn't coming back.

That's the clever part of the display+chin design that nobody seems to notice. It achieves two things very effectively: It keeps the centre of gravity of the machine low to the desk, allowing for excellent stability with as minimalist a stand as possible. And at the same time, it ensures that the display itself is at a good height to use eye-level as it is, without needing to prop it up on something on the desk to raise it.
 
I think it's a good idea. It's the other ports that bug me a little (but have always been a problem on the iMac, or at least since the G5-era design). For devices that are plugged in for a long time, having the ports on the back is fine. But if you want to, say, quickly connect a thumb drive, it's rather awkward. I wish Apple had embraced an idea like the clamp hub to make a few ports more easily accessible. Instead, I guess people will have to buy a hub of their own that sits somewhere on the side, ruining the clean look?

Put a USB port on the side for quick connection. Done. That's what my Dell monitor has. Works great.
 
Right now, I have 2 24 inch dell monitors one is touch the other is not. The touchscreen has 2 USB ports in the side and a neat mesh to run the power, video and USB connection through. All three cables are about the size of the magsafe on the imac. It's a really awesome set up for me and editing video using touch is awesome. I have a super fast work flow now. Apple really needs to embrace touch on Mac. It is an awesome feature to have.
 
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Yeah, where is the parallel port for my printer? I need ADB ports for my old Apple Extended keyboard and my Turbo Mouse too. It’s also missing a floppy drive. EPIC FAIL.
Don't be obtuse. One can argue the removal of USB-A ports for laptops, I'm 50/50 on that, but on a desktop there's no excuse to have at least one or two. Look at the M1 mini, it somehow has two, and the world didn't end.
 
Explains a lot , his bizarre fascination with making everything thin while ignoring real world usage is irritating to say the least , the headphone port on the side … smh

Plus I still miss the logo on the chin
So it's a "bizarre fascination", then, huh? The polarization of our society has truly gone all the way down the rabbit hole, hasn't it? We don't like something, so we call it a "bizarre fascination" and we assign that as blame all to one person?

What the hell?

What if Ive was working to the requirements given to him? "Welcome to Apple, sir; we're happy to have you. We've sent you an email with our requirements. No iPhone thicker than this, no MacBook Air thicker than that, and no iMac screen thicker than this. Read the requirements and do those things, then use your skills as a designer to make our products look gorgeous."

My point is, YOU DON'T KNOW what requirements he's working to or how much control he truly had over them. YOU DON'T KNOW what level of control he may have had on the thickness of the case or the positioning of the ports, or even whether or not the damned power brick has ethernet in it.

You don't even know if other people had input into those product design elements, or even if somebody in corporate had veto power over the designer's decisions. And yet you and others who also DON'T KNOW these things have the nerve to suggest that any design element (even if it's a trend) is a bizarre fascination or a fetish or something?

Wow, we humans really have a gift for pushing the toxicity level to ever new heights, don't we?

Here in the real world, people work to requirements. Some requirements are hard and cannot be changed. Others have some level of flexibility but might need to be approved in some way. Every good engineer does that with engineering stuff, every good designer does that with design, every good developer does that too: get and follow the customer's requirements!

Even the cook at Denny's takes special requirements. No mayo, extra onions; none of these things are a problem. And every cleaning staff tells its people about customer special requirements too:

"You can let the trash cans get 3/4 full on this floor, but DON'T DON'T DON'T let a clogged toilet stay that way for more than 10 minutes! Oh, and that lady in the corner office? She leaves her sandwich out on her desk. Every day. It's pure luck she hasn't gotten herself food poisoning by now. But what ever you do, don't make the mistake of throwing it away. She wants to be the one to throw it in the trash can. Until then, you must dust around it. Yes, even if it's Thursday and she left last Friday on a 2 week vacation."

Requirements are not a "bizarre fascination." I'll bet Ive has to work to requirements from time to time too. We all do, no matter how good we are in our craft. Well, except that for some of us, it seems our craft is making bizzare complaints about thinness. It's like it's a fetish! 😉
 
Right now, I have 2 24 inch dell monitors one is touch the other is not. The touchscreen has 2 USB ports in the side and a neat mesh to run the power, video and USB connection through. All three cables are about the size of the magsafe on the imac. It's a really awesome set up for me and editing video using touch is awesome. I have a super fast work flow now. Apple really needs to embrace touch on Mac. It is an awesome feature to have.
My windows laptop has a touch screen. I never use and won't buy one again in the future. (One could say options are great, but why pay for something I won't use?)
 
The colours are not him though.

Let's remember the very first piece of software released under Ive:

ios7.jpg


You can look at Ive's clothing choices over the years too. You are incapable of using words to disagree. It's funny.
 
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My windows laptop has a touch screen. I never use and won't buy one again in the future. (One could say options are great, but why pay for something I won't use?)
Then don't. Just because YOU don't use it, does not mean others won't. That is why there are choices. You made the wrong choice and paid for something you don't use. I made the right choice and bought features I DO use. Just because YOU don't use it, does not mean it should not be offered. There are Plenty of windows laptops that don't have a touchscreen. That's your fault, not companies offering the touchscreen.
 
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