10 Things We Can Learn From Apple

I imagine that hiding the screws is probably great for attracting some segments of customers, but it repels others (namely: me). I don't know if there are many people like me, but one of the reasons why I stopped buying Apple computers and switched to IBM/Lenovo is because the Apple stuff, despite being quite reliable, would inevitably break down at some point, at which point it was nearly impossible to take it apart without first reading and rereading the secret licensed-Mac-technicians-only how-to-take-it-apart manual.

Apple tends to optimize for ease of learning by beginners, not ease of use, let alone tinkering, by experienced users. I don't mean to be patronizing, I'm just observing. In my opinion, truly great user interface design provides a smooth learning curve that's easy to get onto for Aunt Tillie, but also continues to be smooth for J. Random Hacker.

Products with that kind of learning curve are great from an abstract engineering-aesthetic point of view; but assuming that your own sense of aesthetics translates into profit is, of course, wishful thinking. Still, I'm looking forward to a mythic future in which consumer electronics will again be more like the Apple II, and less like what Apple makes today. Examples going in that direction would include the OLPC laptop (http://laptop.org) and the Chumby (http://chumby.com) .

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