Apple is at the first major cross-roads since the passing of its late co-founder Steve Jobs 12
years ago. It finds itself still largely dependent on the product lines and businesses that Jobs left behind. Its Vision Pro has received mixed reviews on launch, while it is also facing several other headwinds including a major lawsuit against what the DOJ claims are its anticompetitive practices.
The Apple Car was the hint the wheels fell off, because it was out of scope for Apple’s focus. And the Vision Pro is the next biggest one, because Steve haaaaaaated wearable computing.
Meh, when you have a chip that powerful and that energy efficient, trying something in wearable computing is a no brainer imo.
I still don’t know who wants wearable tech. Just using my phone can be painful at times. Notifications after notifications. Enable cookies, mark as read that work email, deal with the emoji in the group chat, ignore that spam call voicemail, ignore that update, dismiss that missed alarm, read the notification from my kid’s school that the PTO meeting was moved…
Now imagine you can’t just put it down. It is right there screaming for your attention. Just emails alone probably eat 10% or more of my working day. The very last thing I want is the screaming notifications to be on face in my field of vision.
Plus that thing is going to smell like ass in a month.
Wearable computing does not have to be a VR device, and it can be anything with a sensor, a cpu, gpu and networking features. Apple has at least one succesful wearable computing device, the apple watch. I am not touching vr anyway, it look pointless in nature and gives simulation sickness.
Trying, not releasing
he also hated non-skeuomorphic design, and yet here we are for the better in a world where we’ve moved on from that dated concept
just because he didn’t like something doesn’t make it wrong for apple to pursue
It only seems dated because everyone had this shitty flat interface crazy in the early to mid 2010s. Nowadays new, somewhat flat, but also skeuomorphic design languages like Fluent and Material 3 are getting attention
personally, i can’t stand either fluent or material either - the modern components and design language i keep coming back to is ant.design
anything skeuomorphic is just a huge waste of space - they add so much detail to the screen that has no function other than signaling “real world” application
WASTE OF SPACE? skeuomorphic designs were absolutely packed with information, nowadays we have shitty interfaces with almost no information (because the silicon valley arts graduates think people are too dumb to comprehend data) and lots of shitty pure white/pure black no gradient blank space.
You can criticize skeuomorphic design for lots of things but lack of information density ain’t one