With every new Apple product announcement come the stories of how the Cupertino folks like to keep it simple. The iPhone’s details were a secret, but everyone knew it was coming. The big news was how Apple had changed the game, making a phone that’s intuitive.
I had a Sidekick back in 2003. That’s when I learned there’s nothing quite like access to a full QWERTY keyboard. The iPhone has it, but I clicked all over Apple’s website yesterday trying to find it.
John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity, had the patience to watch the entire demo (or the keynote). The keyboard is part of the touch screen and reacts to hovering fingers. He calls it On-demand largeness. Pretty cool.
Greg Bell not only lauds the iPhone, but says that most phone manufacturers suffer from UI Laziness. That’s a good way to put it. Don’t blame constraints, but embrace them and find a creative solution. That’s how to separate simplicity from laziness.
But say, what do you think? It may be worth a copy of Maeda’s book. Details here.
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