Rotten Apples

Written on March 3, 2008 at 12:01 am, by Travis

Am I feeling grumpy? Maybe. Am I sick of Apple hype? Definitely.

Apple has recently filed more patents on some even more ridiculous multi-touch technology. I’m all for progress, but there are certain things that, in my mind, we will always need physical buttons and switches for; typing documents on a computer with any hope of efficiency and re-setting a frozen computer. Multi-touch also brings about another whole new problem… learning the gestures. Keys have a label, we know that they do one function. Multi-touch touchpads on your laptop are unintuitive as you cannot see yourself interacting with the object, the one instance where multi-touch belongs, on screen.

Some of the patents filed have described “haptic” feedback in their patented multi-touch keyboard. Apple already has haptic feedback implemented on some of their products and you probably didn’t even know it, The Apple Mighty Mouse. The switching mechanism in the mouse doesn’t make any noise when you use the scroll wheel. There is a small speaker in the mouse itself that simulates the sound of the ball scrolling. You’ve been duped.

I’ve had enough of hearing about their brilliant human interaction design. There is no magic there folks, just some good ole’ common sense. Some people have their qualms with the way things are laid out, but on the whole its hard to argue with something that MAKES SENSE. Honestly, why do I have to click Start to Shut down my computer? Lets be clear here, I’m not saying Windows doesn’t have a thought out and intuitive layout, unintuitive layouts are the domain of Linux (flamebait?).

And while I’m pissing and moaning… Before you all go off and get bent on the MacBook Air, think about a few things for me will you? No replaceable battery, one USB port, no optical drive, no 3G. This device clearly wasn’t designed for road warriors, it was designed to be a fashion accessory and a design exercise and nothing more. I want that point to be quite clear. Think that the Air is more than that? Prove it.

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