Giving Apple a head start by beating them to market.

While it’s impressive how small today’s computers can get, Google and its partners have still failed to demonstrate truly compelling use cases–let alone “rich user experiences”–that will create a mass market for $200+ smartwatches. In almost every example during Singleton’s presentation, simply accessing a smartphone–an activity Google says its one billion Android users already do an average of 125 times a day–seems like it would be a more capable and comfortable solution. (And there’s no either/or option here–today’s smartwatches must be paired to a phone in the vicinity to access the internet.)
— Dan Frommer, Quartz
Seeing all these companies scramble to come up with compelling smartwatches makes me think how much the people at Apple are enjoying watching it all go down. Apple wasn’t first to market with their MP3 player (iPod), smartphone (iPhone) or tablet (iPad).
In the past there was never as much of a desire to preempt an Apple product launch like there is now with the rumored ‘iWatch’. Samsung, and Motorola and LG and Google have all raced to get wearables to market. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple looked forward to such preempting.
Ironically, this preempting gives Apple a head start in getting things right with wearable computers where everyone else is getting things wrong.

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Smartwatches Are Stupid

“Smartwatches are stupid,” says Hartmut Esslinger, Apple’s first head of design and creator of the company’s Snow White design language. “Why would I put cheap electronics on my wrist as a symbol of (my) emotion?” Esslinger also calls Fitbit, the popular fitness tracker, a gimmick. “I know when I am tired,” he says, referring to the device’s value proposition of counting calories through the day. Esslinger’s remarks about wearable tech may seem provocative but they represent a fundamental design problem in the industry.
Forbes
Hartmut is right. The current crop of smartphones does suck. This is what makes this fall even more exciting—when Apple is likely to announce whatever it is they’re going to announce. Historically, Apple is never first to market, but it’s always best to market.

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Grading on a curve in a nice way to describe whatever it is The Verge does

Let me understand something.
If the one major downside to the Samsung Chromebook 2 is the fact that it’s “too slow to really get anything done,” how the fuck does it get a 7.6 score?!
That’s like dropping a four cylinder, 92-horsepower engine into a Ferrari 458 Italia and saying it’s “too slow to really race against other sports cars,” but still giving it a 7.6 score of of 10.
I don’t get it (and this isn’t the first time The Verge has posted wack reviews).

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behold the benefits of prioritizing being first-to-market over making a great product

Dan Seifert at The Verge reviews the Samsung Gear 2:

The Gear 2 is greatly improved, but it’s still not great. I was able to use it for about 2 1/2 days before it needed to be plugged in, and it still requires a clunky, easy-to-lose clip-on adapter for charging. A smartwatch that can be charged on the weekend and last through to the next weekend would be ideal, but the Gear 2 is not there yet. The Pebble can very nearly manage this, but we’ve yet to see what the coming Android Wear watches will offer in terms of battery life.
Cons listed: “Interface is still clunky; Battery life isn’t great; Only works with Samsung devices”
So the Samsung Gear went from really shitty to kinda shitty.
Sounds awesome. Where do I get one?

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Intent First, Copy Second

Without a doubt, Apple has copied certain features from its rivals as well. The difference is that Apple seems biased to design based on its own intent first, and copy second; its rivals tend to copy first.
—John R. Moran, Design Is About Intent
Moran’s whole post is great, but that quote above especially caught my eye.

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You Forbes Guys Are Funny

(my emphasis)

Hats off to Apple. The markets may disagree, but WWDC 2014 was a resounding success. Its mixture of imitation and innovation plugged holes against Android and set off a new war in both wearables and smart homes via smart SDKs (software developer kits). Furthermore Apple execs seemed upbeat and relaxed, as if the company was finally comfortable in its post-Steve Jobs skin. And yet there was one major, potentially disastrous mistake.

Here’s a hint: Apple made an ad about it.

Yes – unlike owners of increasingly big Android rivals – users of iPhones can easily reach the top corners of their devices. It is convenient and, to quote the ad, “a dazzling display of common sense.” But the common sense won’t last much longer.

Everything changes with the iPhone 6. Not only because Apple is widely known to be increasing the screen size from 4 inches to 4.7 inches (a sizeable jump in its own right), but because the company is keeping the distinctive, large, circular and utterly outdated home button.
—Gordon Kelly, Forbes
So Kelly, is that your final answer? Your opinion about how Apple is shooting itself in the face is tied to the hardware home button on their iOS devices?
That is a stupid statement. Or a bold one. Maybe both. Definitely stupid.
I wonder if Gordon Kelly believes carmakers have made a disastrous mistake by keeping the distinctive, large, circular steering wheel on automobiles year after year.

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Put Surface below the surface… of the ground. Bury it.

To Satya Nadella’s credit, he provided not just the answer, but the question as well. And, looked at narrowly, there were good things seen – and not seen – at Microsoft’s Surface event. Having clearly failed as a mass market device, it makes sense to focus Surface and more clearly define its use case. And, if that use case is productivity, then it also makes sense to kill Surface mini. That Nadella allegedly did just that is a great sign. Now he just needs to kill the whole line.
—Ben Thompson, It’s Time To Kill Surface

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Jimmy

The Verge: Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine thinks Apple’s earbuds are bad:

Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine isn’t a fan of Apple’s iconic white earbuds. On stage at Code Conference minutes ago, Iovine had harsh words for the pack-ins, saying that Apple — the company he will soon work for — makes them simply “to make sure the machine [iPhone] works.” But he wasn’t done there. “You listen to Apocalypse Now, and the helicopter sounds like a mosquito,” he added.
Of course Iovine thinks Apple’s earbuds suck—because they do.
Secondly, did you listen to Jimmy talk? That’s a Brooklyn accent you’re hearing, and guys from Brooklyn don’t mince fucking works. Ya undastand?
Actually, hold on, Jimmy baby. Why the fuck are you watching Apocalypse Now on your iOS device with earbuds?!
[UPDATE: Jimmy contacted me and said he only resorts to watching great films with earbuds when he’s flying back and forth between NY & LA. I guess I’ll let it slide.]

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You Better Have Something Amazing On Your Wrist

From BGR:

Motorola executive Mark Randall is saying what a lot of other gadget watchers are thinking: The smartwatches we’ve seen released so far are nothing to get excited about. In fact, in an interview with Trusted Reviews, Randall goes so far as to say that every smartwatch that’s been released to date has been “pretty crappy.”

“People just don’t want to wear them,” Randall said of today’s current smartwatches. “We look at the [Moto] 360 and we look at what everyone has done in that space. To be honest we think they are all pretty crappy.”
Smack talk from the company who gave us the RAZR.
Mark Randall best have something off the chain to sell.

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Designers Weren’t Designed To Solve Everyone’s Problems

Interesting piece by Mills Baker on the failure of designers to prove themselves worthy at “the table”:

It’s now 2014, and I doubt seriously whether I’m alone in feeling a sense of anxiety about how “design” is using its seat at the table. From the failure of “design-oriented” Path [1] to the recent news that Square is seeking a buyer [2] to the fact that Medium is paying people to use it [3], there’s evidence that the luminaries of our community have been unable to use design to achieve market success. More troubling, much of the work for which we express the most enthusiasm seems superficial, narrow in its conception of design, shallow in its ambitions, or just ineffective.
This essay has been getting quite a lot of attention in the tech/design world in the last week.
I have a lot of thoughts on it, but not enough time to write fully my reaction. I will say this: Designers are but one person at the table when a company creates websites, devices, apps and software. In much the same way as the majority of people use the word “innovation” incorrectly, many people misunderstand the role of designers.
An example of what I mean: Despite how amazing a product designer Jony Ive is, if it wasn’t for Steve Jobs’ skills in BOTH business and design, the iPod—and iPhone and iPad—would have been nothing but beautiful museum pieces for the design wing of the MoMA. Tim Cook’s acute understanding of supply chains moved Apple to buy up the world’s supply of 1.8″ hard drives following the iPod launch.
There’s also a lot semantics we need to sort out with this topic. To design is to solve a problem, be it visual or otherwise. Creative directors are many times more involved with business objectives than they are about the quality ofd the visual designs.
Lots to chew on with this essay.

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Right, Not First

Tim Cook breaks down how they think at Apple on yesterday’s earning call, for all the ignorant analysts and investors who still don’t get it (and there are a lot of em out there):

As you probably know from following us for a long time, we didn’t ship the first MP3 player, nor the first smartphone, nor the first tablet. In fact, there were tablets being shipped a decade or so before then, but arguably we shipped the first successful modern tablet, the first successful modern smartphone, and the first successful modern MP3 player. And so it means much more to us to get it right, than to be first.
I’m looking forward to Apple’s take on what a “smart watch” is.

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Samsung Has A Design Platform

April Fools!!!
Actually no, they really do.
Behind their design platform is a design philosophy.
Do tell, Samsung. You’ve piqued my interest:

Samsung strives to create a better future with our users. Thogether, we can contribute to society by creating sustainable values and bring joy and meaning to our lives. This is the design to which Samsung aspires.
Where’s the part of their design philosophy involving 132-page documents detailing how to copy the iPhone, pixel-by-pixel?
Or that new Gear smart watch with the horrendous software, how is that bringing joy to peoples’ lives?
Don’t take my word for it, just look for yourself.

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