What do you actually dislike about about Ive's designs? I am interested, I dont mean it as an attack.
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What genius designed the USB port layout on MBP?
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What do you actually dislike about about Ive's designs? I am interested, I dont mean it as an attack.
I think Ive's designs are great. I do think however somethings (the USB ports) have been overlooked. Any other issues are not related to case design. (Inability to turn off multi-touch)
Taste is subjective, however, from a designer's perspective, recent Apple products are highly minimalistic. If you have not studied industrial design or graphic design, you will not appreciate Apple's approach.
So in other words, I can judge Ive's work because I know what good design is. While many others cannot, because they have not been exposed to design, thus you are just a consumer.
I don't mean this in any negative light. I can't judge sports games for the life of me, so you might be better at that. Hope you get where I'm going with this...
If you look at any other PC manufacturer, they can never match what Apple has done since the Titanium PowerBook...why? Because Apple's approach is much different than what the rest of the industry is doing.
It's good to appreciate all design, but at the moment, Apple's approach is unparalleled. The loss of function is apparent in some of their products, but form takes over function sometimes and the functions are forgotten (most of the time).
As always, nothing is perfect. Humans are not perfect and not everything can be catered the way an individual wants. This is why we are all individuals and these are merely products that in one way or another make our lives better.
To me, good design is more than good looks, which Ive brilliantly delivers.
Good design must also take into account functionality. When in this case, ports are poorly laid out, that affects the deisgn. whether it looks good or not
If apple products were merely meant to be looked at they would be awesome, no argument
However, that is not their purpose
I guess in other words, functionality must drive the design, not have the design drive the functionality
Good design must also take into account functionality. When in this case, ports are poorly laid out, that affects the deisgn. whether it looks good or not
If apple products were merely meant to be looked at they would be awesome, no argument
However, that is not their purpose
I guess in other words, functionality must drive the design, not have the design drive the functionality
I agree, but think of it this way. Apple is unique in some of the things it does. Their approach is a "take it or leave it" approach. I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.
I can put up a long list of things Apple has done that made me dislike them a little but, but in the end, after "conforming", I noticed that it has actually made things much better than they were before.
Apple is a business in the end. If it didn't take form over features, then it wouldn't be making so much money as it has now.
There are literally hundreds of other companies which have more feature packed MP3 players out there than the iPod or the iPhone/iPod Touch. More feature packed phones. Desktops. Laptops. Why do people go with Apple? Good design. I am pretty sure they test things thoroughly and go through thousands of tests before releasing a product. I've never really "hated" an Apple product, even though they lack some features that I'd want. Take it for what it is.
You have a choice not to buy an Apple product...or buy an Apple product AND something else to satisfy your other needs.
The ports on the side, btw, are laid out well. It leaves room for a mousepad, or better yet, a cleaner desktop so you can arrange cables better. I would've liked to have 2 extra USB ports on the SuperDrive side, though.
Dont you think the port layout is an example of one kind of functionality being superseded by more important functionality? Internal configuration influences the port layout because battery life is all important in a portable machine.
Because a pro uses Firewire for just about everything. DVD-RW, hard drives, CompactFlash reader, flatbed scanner.
A thumb drive is the only thing I use the USB for.
All the usb cables I've tried to connect fit just fine. Mostly long cables and usb sticks. One port is constantly occupied by my mouse receiver. When I need more devices I just connect a usb hub.
More holes in the sides would sacrifice some integrity of the aluminum body (the ethernet port already does. I am actually waiting for apple to eliminate the optical drive and have a flat solid right side.
For some people it might be frustrating i understand. It's mostly people coming from PC's (just like me) who are used to more connectivity. My previous laptop has a bunch of ports on each side. Aside from USB I used none.
More holes in the sides would sacrifice some integrity of the aluminum body (the ethernet port already does. I am actually waiting for apple to eliminate the optical drive and have a flat solid right side.
For some people it might be frustrating i understand. It's mostly people coming from PC's (just like me) who are used to more connectivity. My previous laptop has a bunch of ports on each side. Aside from USB I used none.
That's just nonsense. USB 2.0 is just as good as FireWire 400. All those old "connection problems" are long gone.
Even Apple knows that FW is dying....except for DV & HDV capturing.
So you are saying Apple's pcb designers arent good enough to make the usb ports spaced better?
kind of a leading question wouldn't you say? If you don't like the product why can't you just say so?
I don't think Apple's designers can change the fact that USB, FW et al ports are a standard size and until they can be combined and reduced in size (hello lightpeak) they impose a limit on what designer can do.
Im not asking anyone to change the size of a plug, just to arrange them on the side of the case in a way that allows for multiple devices to easily connect.
You said the pcb takes precedence, which i agree with to a certain extent, but you could take that to an extreme and say its easier to fit a board in the laptop with no ports at all, but does that really help the end user? Sure, it may be easier to fit the usb ports super-close on a mbp, but shouldn't the board designers take into consideration that not every device uses the super-small apple usb plugs? It sounds like someone either made a huge oversight or just isnt good enough at their job to accommodate for other brand usb devices. Or apple is so arrogant they just dont care about anybody's usb plugs but their own.
personally i have never had a problem with the layout, but i can appreciate that another individual has. i mean it sucks that one paid all this money and they cant plug more than one usb device in at a time.
but then again maybe a little bit more research before buying said computer would have alerted that person of the problem.
but on the other hand who researches space between USB ports?!
but if someone is this upset about it then they should have done the research to avoid all this stress that it has clearly caused.
but just kidding
i dunno. i believe that it is up to the OP to change the world, to fight the injustice of USB ports spaced to close together. because otherwise you are just posting to complain and to start an argument which is just as useless as everything i wrote above.
so good luck on your quest. i look forward to seeing how you make out.
but then again maybe a little bit more research before buying said computer would have alerted that person of the problem.
but on the other hand who researches space between USB ports?!
but if someone is this upset about it then they should have done the research to avoid all this stress that it has clearly caused.
but just kidding
i dunno. i believe that it is up to the OP to change the world, to fight the injustice of USB ports spaced to close together. because otherwise you are just posting to complain and to start an argument which is just as useless as everything i wrote above.
so good luck on your quest. i look forward to seeing how you make out.
I'm sorry, but I can not leave this be. As defined by the Apple Dictionary built into OS X, Good is...
Obviously, the MBP in question does not have the qualities required for the particular role that the OP wants to use it for, ergo is can never be "good".
In fact, the only definition of "good" that appears in dictionary.app is
The USB placement is neither desired or approved of, from a functionality standpoint, but it is from a design standpoint, so perhaps you can argue that way...Personally, I think you need to learn English better, whether you've studied "good" design or not.
Maybe soon Apple will drop the DVD drive and we can have ports on the right side too. Throw another USB or 2 on the other side, 2 light peak ports, HDMI, and eSATA, now that would be nice.
ABSOLUTELY.
Go the way of the Air. Take out the optical drive, and replace it with more ports, an online ordering option of a 2nd hdd or ssd.
I'll bet the design has more to do with cutting manufacturing costs than anything else. More space between the ports means a slightly larger logic board, a slightly larger case to accommodate it, more materials to make the case...well you get the idea. Probably the same reason why Apple got rid of replaceable batteries -- no latching mechanism=fewer components, fewer steps in manufacturing the case, etc.
I see PC notebooks with USB ports closely stacked or right on top of each other all the time.
Cost effectiveness > design/functionality. Look at modern cars: everything is optimized to make the best use of space and materials, there's very little wasted. You used to be able to fit a mother-in-law (or two) under the hood of a car; now everything is crammed so closely together in there, you can barely squeeze a hand in.
I see PC notebooks with USB ports closely stacked or right on top of each other all the time.
Cost effectiveness > design/functionality. Look at modern cars: everything is optimized to make the best use of space and materials, there's very little wasted. You used to be able to fit a mother-in-law (or two) under the hood of a car; now everything is crammed so closely together in there, you can barely squeeze a hand in.
Things such as functionality.
This sounds like such snobbery.
You can judge Ive's work because you studied design, while people who are "just consumers" can't? Do you think Ives designs the products for other designers so that they can all masturbate to their own awesomeness, or do you think he designed Apple's consumer products for consumers?
Besides, if consumers can't judge design because they have no knowledge of design, then should Ives, the media, and other designers ignore public praise of his work as well?
If consumers are allowed to praise a product's design without pulling out their resumé, then surely a consumer may also criticise a design without it.
Luckily they've also improved boot space though so you can dump the inlaws in there now insteadI'll bet the design has more to do with cutting manufacturing costs than anything else. More space between the ports means a slightly larger logic board, a slightly larger case to accommodate it, more materials to make the case...well you get the idea. Probably the same reason why Apple got rid of replaceable batteries -- no latching mechanism=fewer components, fewer steps in manufacturing the case, etc.
I see PC notebooks with USB ports closely stacked or right on top of each other all the time.
Cost effectiveness > design/functionality. Look at modern cars: everything is optimized to make the best use of space and materials, there's very little wasted. You used to be able to fit a mother-in-law (or two) under the hood of a car; now everything is crammed so closely together in there, you can barely squeeze a hand in.
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This is rubbish and the reasoning is faulty... Then there should be more than one FW800 port and only one USB port.
From a Pro POV and I can only give my personal experience here you need USB for many things... Thumb Drives, Photo Card Readers (FW800 would be great but I have never seen one), stylis pads (also never seen a FW version), USB mouse (okay maybe blue tooth is the way to go now), GSM 3G Modem (yes I consider this a pro piece of hardware because most consumers would nit require this but some of us work creatively away from WiFi and other ways to access the web), self powered Hard Drives happen to be USB. And never mind the ability to charge my iPhone. So sorry to disappoint but I think that there is a need for more USB ports in a pro work environment. Especially on a portable machine like the MBP.
Things such as functionality.
This sounds like such snobbery.
You can judge Ive's work because you studied design, while people who are "just consumers" can't? Do you think Ives designs the products for other designers so that they can all masturbate to their own awesomeness, or do you think he designed Apple's consumer products for consumers?
Besides, if consumers can't judge design because they have no knowledge of design, then should Ives, the media, and other designers ignore public praise of his work as well?
If consumers are allowed to praise a product's design without pulling out their resumé, then surely a consumer may also criticise a design without it.
Plus, if it was designed to be only appreciated by the super design educated rather than the consumer, who the product was designed for, then some mistakes have definitely been made.
It's great that you've been educated in the area, but that statement unfortunately makes it look like you believe that your opinion is more valid because of it.
if i were to blame anything, it would be device manufacturers who don't comply with the USB 2.0 specification for device clearance around the plug.