No. It would be night and day and relevant if Apple were making the same kinds of products as Rams designed. As far as I know, Apple has not made phonographs, radios, handheld calculators, tape decks, toasters, coffee makers, clocks, etc. There's a huge difference between inspired design and copying.
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Samsung Debuts Apple-Like Design Video for Galaxy S6 Edge
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No. It would be night and day and relevant if Apple were making the same kinds of products as Rams designed. As far as I know, Apple has not made phonographs, radios, handheld calculators, tape decks, toasters, coffee makers, clocks, etc. There's a huge difference between inspired design and copying.
Interesting that this video surfaces just after someone posts a very damning piece on the Galaxy S's design: http://http://www.imore.com/difference-apple-samsung-industrial-design
Did your foot stomping rant make you feel better.? Curved screen is pretty! Curved screen lacks meaningful functionality. It's a gimmick. I stated clearly it's Samdung's nicest design and a quality device.
Yes, it's selling well but still not approaching iPhone sales levels. It's good it's profitable because their mobile division profits have sucked Yak nads recently.
As for Apple's future interest in curved screens, if you go back several years, pre-dating iPhone 5, Apple was rumored to be looking at curved screen designs. Apple will do it when it adds something to the experience.
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Apple has made music players (iPod/iPhone), calculators (on iPhone), and now even watches that would've competed with Braun products if the time period had been the same.
Which begs the question: how long does it take before copying is considered inspiration?
Did Apple's Rams inspired designs compete with or take sales away from Braun? i.e., did Apples' iPod compete with Braun's transistor radio of 1958? How about the calculator? Do you possess inside information about permission being granted (or not).
Of course, that's a fair point if the topic was about losing sales.
However, Ive was not talking about losing sales when he complained to the magazine that others were copying him. He was talking only about his feeling that others had taken advantage of his design efforts to do less work of their own.
Some people (Rams comes to mind with his published design principles) and companies (Microsoft comes to mind with their Research site) often share what they've learned, to make it easier for others. Some (Apple comes to mind) like to keep everything for themselves. Both ways are understandable.
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I believe he used the word "theft." Clear to me what that really means. And it is specifically about competing phones of current generation.
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Fantastic post mate!
There are a lot of people here saying Samsung executives are laughing at people here because they don't understand this is a "parody".
It's hard to laugh though when you see how close Samsung copies Apple design, colour schemes, feel.... I don't mind though, competition is good, even slimy ones like Samsung
Actually, he specifically talked about it in relation to his own efforts.
He mocked the idea that being flattered would ever make up for his time spent working, by sarcastically saying:
"All those weekends I could have had at home with my lovely family but didn't, but the flattery made up for it."
I believe he said something to the effect that- he & the other designers worked crazy hours and gave up time with their families for many months on end to style a product that will be the superlative... and that when a "rough approximation" comes out in as little as six weeks, it's an insult to his team's time, energy, and most importantly IDEAS (those happen to carry intellectual property rights that Samsung cares little about...).
It seems less like whining & more like a solid justification for the existence for IP, & the right to enforce it.
The reality is the Braun products cited were not computers or phones. I would agree (and Apple agree) that they clearly appreciate Braun's design sense. (I do too) Steve Jobs admired Sony. There is a difference between inspiration and blatantly copying.
For example, if Apple made a speaker that looked just like Braun's that would be copying. Perhaps Apple got inspiration for the iMac from Braun's speaker – or maybe not, I wouldn't know.
What is really laughable is Samsung seem to try to be Apple at every turn. Their hardware is extremely close – so close in fact that people often have trouble telling them apart. I'm a tech guy and I have to take a second or third look sometimes to tell them apart. Not so with other Android phones. They tweak the software to mimic Apple. The charging plug and charging block are nearly identical. Samsung totally changed their packaging to mimic Apple – not just the look of the packaging but the size and design of the box itself.
It's not a matter of Samsung taking inspiration or design cues from this product or that product and applying it to something else that they're doing. They take what ever hot product is out there and they copy. They've done it for years. Vacuums. Televisions. Phones.
For the record, I do not feel that Apple is perfect. I do not think that Apple invented everything. Apple make mistakes. They have done things things that I don't happen to agree with. They have made products that I personally don't care for. By in large, I am a happy Apple customer. You might prefer something else and that's fine too.
I'm not angry about any of this. I own no Apple stock. I just happen to feel that Samsung's behaviour makes them a complete and total joke.
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Sounds like a reasonable position to me, and would feel similarly not being into flattery. As an Apple SVP, there's a lot on his plate that goes beyond pure design.
Not sure if this is a parody or not... Considering the amount of copying Samsung has already done, it's really hard to tell. I'm not convinced they saw any humor in this at all. They may instead have just said "hey, let's copy that" and then did so.
I think the real nail-in-the-coffin to all of this was when Samsung started opening their own stores; which looked just like Apple stores. Until then it was at least in the realm of possibility that Samsung simply had some of the same design ideas and was already working on them. It was a heck of a stretch, but not entirely impossible. But the look of the stores clearly said "We are thieves. We know it. We will steal whatever the hell we feel like stealing." It's truly absurd.
I think the real nail-in-the-coffin to all of this was when Samsung started opening their own stores; which looked just like Apple stores. Until then it was at least in the realm of possibility that Samsung simply had some of the same design ideas and was already working on them. It was a heck of a stretch, but not entirely impossible. But the look of the stores clearly said "We are thieves. We know it. We will steal whatever the hell we feel like stealing." It's truly absurd.
If anything he did was new and then stolen, I'd agree wholeheartedly.
What it boils down to is that he has had the unusual luxury at Apple of being able to take a long time to choose between already known design patterns. The amount of time that takes is his own doing. At another company, someone in his position might be expected to choose much quicker.
I.e. the idea that it took him three years to come up with the Apple Watch case... the same old shiny rounded rectangle design he always falls back on...along with some extra bits (apparently Newson helped a lot with straps and crown) is not impressive. It's more like he's indecisive.
In the case of the iPhone designs, the fact that he combined some speaker holes and a rounded case... which others had already done before...is a matter of choosing design items, not inventing them. It's like a fashion designer picking out collar length and colors for a new shirt. If it looks good, and becomes popular, other shirt makers will choose the same design items.
This is the key difference to me between copying - as in stealing a new idea, and copying - as in following a fashion lead. I cannot think of a single actual new idea that Apple has had, that Samsung stole. OTOH, Samsung definitely followed Apple's fashion choices in many cases.
Rounded icons, chrome bezel, you name it. Those were fashion choices, not ripped off innovations, if you see what I mean.
Now, if Samsung comes out with an easily changeable wrist strap system with little snap buttons, I'll be all in with you on nailing them
Regards.
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Gonna guess here that you have a modern VW? I'm very sensitive to rattles and squeaks in a car, and modern VWs are some of the worst offenders. On the other hand, my '68 Beetle hardly rattles at all (they only have, like, 3 moving parts; so it's hard to get them to rattle...) Also been a several-times Japanese car-owner, with few regrets. But my biggest surprise has been my Porsche, (I purchased it 6 years ago as a daily-driver), which is now almost 40 years old (well over 200k miles) and basically drives and sounds like a brand-new car. Not a rattle or a squeak. It also have by far the nicest tactile feel of quality of any car I've ever owned, driven, or even touched. It's a very crude car by today's standards, but every piece you touch still exudes quality and durability. It drives, and feels, better than any brand-new American or Japanese car I've ever owned.
At any rate, my point, pre-rambling, is just this: Sometimes the feel of a product really does indicate quality. A company willing to put the time and effort into making a product exude quality isn't necessarily just putting up smoke and mirrors. Sometimes they really are trying to make something special.
Which relates to this thread only this way: Despite many complaints about Apple that I currently have, I do believe that they try to build quality products. I don't get the feeling at all that they are trying to "fake it." Samsung, on the other hand, I no-longer trust at all...
(Wow, it's late, my point is not well made. Brain musssttt haveeee sleeeeepppppp...)
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I saw this phone at the ATT store. It doesn't feel premium to me. It seems really gimmicky and not even useful like the Edge.
well people are finding all sorts of new ideas for those edges, but the common verdict seems to be "it looks cool".
Now, if Samsung comes out with an easily changeable wrist strap system with little snap buttons, I'll be all in with you on nailing them
Deal!!!!!
I give it six months, max...
I'm sure he's not that bothered about my views about his voice. Do you think that I shouldn't express my views?
Also I'm sure he doesn't speak like that in person otherwise Apple design meetings would last for days.
haha, sounds like fun stuff to go and stalk ...
although I wouldn't make false assumptions, just because he primarily likes to point out how irrelevant Apple is, that doesn't mean that he doesn't comment in a similar way on Android, well, just under another name as kdarling seems to be the "apple-criticizing" identity ;-) . Google is our friend .
That little modifier makes all the difference!
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(I'm really not a grammar nazi at heart, so I apologize if you took offence - - it was just that your two uses of "never" building on each other that struck me funny. Cheers!)
Ah gotcha. But I think we can both agree that the intention of my post holds true.