Can 'Good Design' and technology co-exist?
When we think of Apple, in this case the iPhone 4, we think of aesthetics, innovation and scrupulous attention to detail. In a word, ‘Good Design’. I’d like to challenge this view by drawing upon 3 Quotes from Dieters Rams, said to have had a big influence on Jonathan Ives.
‘Good design is as little design as possible’
Lets have a look at what exists under the enticing forms of the iPhone.
It’s a:
- Video recorder
- Video editor
- Television
- Camera
- Book
- Internet browsing device
- Email device
- Map & compass
- Keyboard
- Dictaphone
- Calendar
- Notepad
- Modem
- Weather forecaster
- Games console
- and the list goes on…
Does that look like restraint to you? This is an incredibly complex console disguised by it’s simple physical appearance. Because technology is intangible, it opens itself to abuse. Because we are no longer constrained by physical dimensions, anything and everything is included.
‘Good design is long lasting’
The very fact that the iPhone will soon be antiquated by it’s successor dictates that this cannot be a long lasting product. Buttons are intentionally designed to break over time, not just to keep manufacturing costs low but also to force customers to upgrade. The guilty parties here are not the designers but those who set profit-focused parameters.
‘Good design is honest’
Is the iPhone an authentic product? Perhaps it’s unfair to single out an Apple product. If we look at the larger scale, where do boundaries start and end? What will consumers tolerate? Where does a phone stop becoming a communication device and start becoming tv? Where does a car stop becoming a means of transportation and start becoming a living room?