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Jony Ive's Design Team Nixed Apple Watch Band With Sensors
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I agree, it's good for car use. But why can't we have a "Car Mode" where everything gets a bit easier and clearer? That would make sense to me - a slightly different appearance for driving and for literally everything else. I really miss how feature rich, colourful, and how much was visible on iOS9's music app. I'm not happy with how they've removed rating music too. What's the point in that?
Seems contradictory to me, he mentions that user experience is the number 1 priority at Apple but if that's the case; on the phones why do they sacrifice battery life for thinner devices and not implement stuff like wireless charging which would add to the user experience?
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So the article basically says because its something you wear the fashion side of it is extremely important and over rules the technical side when it comes to decisions on the design. Like that is not obvious.
Still not convinced they will make a new Apple Watch, still think they'll scrap it. I have always liked its design though, not for me though as I have a watch but it is a nice smooth shape.
If they do launch a new one it will be interesting to see if they make a cheaper and slimmer or revamped version one watch too.
I have to ask though would they still not of designed it like they have without a fashion designers input? I think they would of.
If they do launch a new one it will be interesting to see if they make a cheaper and slimmer or revamped version one watch too.
I have to ask though would they still not of designed it like they have without a fashion designers input? I think they would of.
For something worn, form is part of function.
I'm still saying "*I* don't like the stupid watch!" which is all I've ever said about it.
I really don't understand why so many people here want to take their opinion and pretend they represent the vast majority and therefore all choices should be tailored to suit them.
The more I read this article the more I ask myself: what''s the story here? This is the way things have worked at Apple since Jobs returned around 1997. Anyone who reads any of the inside stories at Apple knows that the design team dictates the form of the product and the engineers are expected to make the technology fit to the design.
I guess I only have two thoughts here. First, if this is still the way things work at Apple, good. That's what has made them the most valuable company in the world. And second, if this is the still the way things work what in the world happen with that hideous iPhone camera bump?!?!
I guess I only have two thoughts here. First, if this is still the way things work at Apple, good. That's what has made them the most valuable company in the world. And second, if this is the still the way things work what in the world happen with that hideous iPhone camera bump?!?!
This is a non story and I think the MR headline is an unnecessary negative bait one.
In all development of a product teams get together and discuss and explore what it is one wants to accomplish.
In those meetings there are strong personalities which have to learn or agree to leave their emotions behind.
They then find a way to get close (it's never perfect and usually a compromise) to the initial vision.
Actually having been in product development meetings with suppliers, marketing, purchasing etc. it gets unpleasant (put mildly) quite a bit.
Apple claims to put the user experience first and if that is known from the beginning and true all other arguments are moot.
As for the camera bump (something which doesn't bother me as I always use a case, just ask your self:
If it was technically possible to do away with it, wouldn't Apple do that? As technologies evolve, maybe the lens
module can be miniaturized, but given all the other things they should do first, it does not seem high on the priority list.
So, their decision is/was that a thinner, lighter device is more important than a camera bump.
It does not impede any function of the phone.
ne can argue about thinner vs. thicker, but in the end that is the product they sell and anybody who does not like that is free to get a different looking phone.
This is a good thing. At the end of the day: it's a watch. It's designed to be: a watch. They could build the most functional watch ever and have it look like some cheesy digital watch from the 90's, but no one would want to wear it. The Apple Watch may not bleed class, but it certainly looks good with a suit.
That's where I guess I was heading, engineers don't appear to drive the process as much as cooperate in the process at Apple. I've run into products that are really 'over engineered', and essentially useless. Case in point, for me, is all these Leatherman multitools. Some of them are a hot mess of 'tools' that are incredibly useless, BUT you can stick them in your pocket. I have a CrankBrothers M19 where the 'chain tool' is rather useless, and the other bits are too short for some uses. It's a gorgeous tool, but...
And there are many examples of over designed products that were woefully under engineered.
It's an interesting dance... In the end, one has to lead, but if they don;t cooperate, the whole thing is a hot mess...
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But your wallet will!
So much of this 'health monitor' stuff just feeds the narcissistic American mind. You can micromanage your 'health' and you still end up dying. Does knowing whether you are at 84% or 86% of your maximum heart rate really meant hat much? I'd rather know that I'm at 110%, but if you listen to your body, it will tell you.
I used to have my heart rate show on my Garmin Edge, and now I really don't care. I have cadence, average and max speed, and distance and time of day. I know when I'm about to put my heart into orbit, or melt it where it sits. I found that second guessing my heart rate was detracting from the ride, and 'being'. Same for other aspects. I'm still alive, in-spite of my attempts at blowing up on a ride. People can get lost in the telemetry, and forget the moment.
And on 'fugly'. Form follows function. There are ways to design stuff so that people will want to give their kidney for it, willing demand you take it, and there are ways to design a hot mess of over engineered crap. The Microsoft Surface is fugly to me. The first ones looked 'plastic', 'cludgy', and 'retarded'. Now they added 'thick' and 'clumsy' to that list. I'm not impressed... But there are people 'flocking' to them. YUCK!
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Here's my position on the subject of the camera bump: If this was just an issue with not being able to fit the camera in the thickness of the phone make the phone a bit thicker. I'm not one of the people who rail on Apple for obsessing about thin design. I get it. Thin is nice. But the couple of millimeters to make the camera flush would have been nothing.
I don't use a case. Don't like them. Every time I set my phone down on the desk I almost automatically take my fingers and rock it back and forth on that stupid bump, and shake my head. Such an "un-Apple" design.
In your 'devils advocating' you overlooked one aspect of your argument. You state that in the past people just changed their watches when they want to change their look. With an Apple Watch you don't have to change your watch, you can just change the band. Owning one watch with three interchangeable bands that change the look of the watch is a lot more convenient, and cheaper, than buying three separate watches.
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Just curious, is this your personal experience or can you cite research?
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Just curious, is this your personal experience or can you cite research?
I've never gone back to look at Ive's watch seriously because I was out off by its fashion placement. I've often said marketing doesn't work on me but Ive seems to have inversely solved that problem.
That's easy. Almost everything about product design revolves around trades. People value a lighter weight phone over a heavier one, and are willing to accept some amount of shorter battery life as a trade consequence. That's part of user experience. It's about finding the right balance for the needs of the majority of customers. For those who need more battery life, there are aftermarket solutions available.
I have a 6+ and get two days of battery life. For myself, I would not want a phone that lasts four days on a charge if the trade involved making the phone (for example) 70% thicker/heavier.
No I addressed it. I wrote that the watch itself is a featureless slab of glass and metal, that looks identical to every Watch on the planet, so the bands are a way to personalize them. But even then, there's generally no need for the variety Apple offers, as most people tend to wear the same bands, even when given the option to easily change them. In the past people would have different watches for different purposes, and in the end suggested that might still be the best way to do it, to keep nicer watches looking nice, and not having to worry about overly protecting more utilitarian watches. Add to that always having a watch fully wound/charged and ready to go at any time.
There have, and always will be those people that love to accessorize everything and go to great lengths to do it. I would argue that's a niche group who benefit the most from such a wide variety of interchangeable bands. Most people need only a few bands, and arguably would benefit by having more expensive smart-bands that actually provide more benefits to the user than a wider pallet of personal expression. In the meantime, it's likely a novelty that will run its course based on historical trends.
They do, just not the kind of "user" that posts nauseatingly on every single article here with some kind of boring, repetitive, anti-Apple nonsense.
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You know what..you're right. You figured it out. Damn you're smart! Apple needs to remove all functionality from the watch, have it do nothing, and then the battery can last a long time, like traditional worthless watches.
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Nicest battery case ever made.
Shows how much you know.
I fully agree with you, if only there was a technical possibility, Apple would have done it... Right? Oh, wait, now that I think of it, there might have been an easy way to avoid the bump, and I'm surprised all thoe egg heads at Apple didn't think of it (as it took me about 3 seconds). They could have made the case thicker, which would not only eliminate the bump but would also allow a thicker battery, improving user experience on both counts. One bird, two stones.
I know, I know, you said it yourself when you were dreaming of the day that the offending components can be "minaturised" to fit the casing. Apple has been fixated on its minaturisation fetish for so long, that the sheer idea of making anything larger rather than smaller does sound sacrosant. It seems to me Apple has trapped itsself in a tiny box and cannot think outside of it anymore.
Anyways, considering the quality of the Apple products that I have been buying in the last years, user experience is definitely not on top of the priority list anymore. Just saying.
Btw, of course this is a non-story. This article is a covert Apple add. The guy is not talking about his designing experience at Apple, the guy is working hand-in-hand with Apple's marketing team to make you emotionally attached to the product and the company. Kudos Apple and Macrumors for the stratagem.
P.S. I'm neither an Apple fanboy nor an Apple hater. I'm just cynical by nature.
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Wow.
If this is your idea of the pinnacle of design you're either;
A: Jony Ive.
B: Blind.
Scratch that, you can still feel the shape if you're blind... Silly me.
B: A die-hard Apple fanboy.
They are putting GTX 980's in laptops now using an MXM variant. The iMac has no excuse now.
If they make an MXM 1070 or 1080 for notebooks, the iMac probably wouldn't even need to be much thicker, if at all; Nothing can really get hotter than M395X.
Heck, even an underclocked MXM 980 or 1080 would still be miles better.