Nothing sexier, am I right (Iris Maslow)? Geez, if a guy tells me he’s operating at 163 DPI…WATCH OUT. #talknerdytome
But really. The way Edward Tufte describes the interface design of the iPhone…it sounds nothing short of sexy. Like Alessandra sexy:
Wait…
Yeah…actually, I can see it. iPhones are sexy.
Okay, okay…let me be real for just a few moments. My brain is obviously still on break. The secret ingredient to the iPhone interface success? No debris. Information is the interface. The content is the interface. “Computer admin debris” is just wiped away and it’s “not one damn thing after another” like many other products that rely on temporal stacking of information rather than the beautiful and elegant spatial distribution of information. Of course the high-resolution helps to make it so sleek and attractive, but our brains are simply fond of the iPhone flow of information…Apple-haters: admit it.
Of course there is room for improvement, too. Tufte points out the shortcomings of the weather app, for instance, which I agree with. Give me the deets, Apple! I mean, I love seeing the little rain drop and storm clouds graphic at 163 DPI, but what’s the chance of precipitation 12 hours from now? NO CLUE! Maybe there could be some real-time dopplar-radar busnazz goin on in dis interface (it’s obviously time for bed). Tufte also talks about the stock market graphics being a little too cartoonish…chartoonish? The last time I checked any type of stock was in 4th grade for the Stock Market Challenge, sooo call me ignorant, but I never noticed this cartoony shortcoming that Apple has going on because I never check stocks. I can imagine some PowerPoint presentation-lookin slides might aggravate some super-techy business men though if they’re looking for some flashy tickers and opening/closing bells and whistles in a stock app. I’m much easier to please I suppose, but maybe I should really start analyzing the interface of the iPhone I use every day and start thinking about it from a design standpoint. What could be done to make it better? Well here’s a starting point: it’s not always 73 degrees and sunny, nor is it always 10:15…how about we have those icons update in real-time? Steve Jobs had to have wanted that for his customers, right?