It’s kinda funny how it happened. Maybe 10 years ago Apple fanbois could not admit that Apple could do anything wrong. Maybe 2 years ago I was finding Macers were no longer fanatical about MacOS and were recognizing the things I always thought were wrong with it and in fact it was easy to draw out bitter complaints about various quality problems with it. (I am amazed at the M4 Mini hardware, the software is adequate but… meh)
When I first saw Liquid Glass I had just gotten my first iPhone and was in that flush of attraction and thought “that looks pretty good” but there has been such an outpouring of scorn for it that I’m pretty shocked.
Maybe. I think there is some real insight in this viewpoint.
I think there was a time, long ago, that I justifiably believed that some of Apple's design was forward thinking. But, I think they are now more like WhatsApp, who apparently have a unit that is charged with ensuring that the UI does not change for fear of unsettling users.
I think this translates to - 'Apple has to play it safe as it is too big a company to make risky changes'. Ie, it can no longer do revolutionary things for fear of a collapse in faith of the consumer masses rather than the avidly convinced first adapters.
When you’re the underdog you can do underdog things. People love and expect underdog things. But Apple’s underdog days are long gone. Stability is now Apple’s M.O. Liquid Glass is now what Apple passes off as innovation.
But there's nothing wrong with that? Computers are tools. Software is a tool. Unless a change is absolutely improving the user experience, then it shouldn't be made just for the sake of change.
Imagine picking up a drill and it updates and now the trigger is somewhere new. And they've taken away the sped settings in the interest of simplicity?
Apple used to invent a new and better Drill. I agree, design for the sake of things is a pain. Just think touch screens in Cars (rolling eyes emoji). That is bad design disguised as evolution of interaction. New better design is like invention. Obscure until discovered, then seemingly obvious when found.
