I’ve always liked Tufte, although he is a bit odd. The design team at Red Hat was really into him and based many of their design and overall brand decisions off of Tufte’s simplistic style and design aesthetic.
His overview of the iPhone was interesting. I’m so biased, but I really do believe the iPhone is the best designed phone on the market. I’ve never once opened an instruction manual on how to do something on the phone. Everything is organized and in folders (if you want). The application chicklets are all in a uniform rounded-edge square and I like that you can customize the phone, but not too much.
Android, on the other hand, is very confusing to me. It’s like Apple has made the iPhone SO simplistic that it’s completely dumbed me down to any other technology. What do you mean I have to complete 5 steps to find a certain application?
I’m curious if Tufte and Steve Jobs ever met, or if Jobs admired Tufte’s design-aesthetic. I guess, unfortunately, we will never know!