IVE IS HYPE SYNAPSE CIRCUIT

"And the hype completes the deception..." 

 SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
WADING INTO JONY IVE’S ARGUMENT WITH MOTOROLA

Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! How are you? As always I hope that all is well in your world and that your tech is functioning as it should! Are you enjoying the Lollipop upgrade on your Moto G 2014? I certainly am!

Speaking of Motorola... Have you read Jony Ive’s thinly veiled attack upon the Motorola ‘customize it yourself’ concept?

“Their value proposition was, ‘Make it whatever you want. You can choose whatever color you want,” Ive said. “And I believe that’s abdicating your responsibility as a designer.” Jony Ive

Here’s what I think...

#Motorola #RickOsterloh #MotoX #JonyIve #ProjectAra #Design

THOSE GUYS
Huh, huh... Yes, those guys over at Apple love to talk up a good fight and fall short – seriously short – of delivering the goods. The philosophy at Apple is, “Show me the money!” Cook’s syrupy sickly sweet tones are just another way of saying, “Cherching!” <The sound of a cash register> Treat Apple customers mean (by these jacked-up prices) and keep them keen! Yet Apple comes across as a New Age religion heralding the future... It is such an odd thing to see iPhone users lining up outside an Apple store faithfully to receive communion.

The truth is that Apple is a laughing stock in terms of technology and design. I will tell you why in a bit... Hold on!

LEGACY
Once one is labelled a guru one can either be humble and set the standards or feel the need to smite those that dare to sing from another hymnbook. “Me! Me! Worship me!” Another way of looking at Jony Ive’s outburst is that once he is done with Apple or vice versa he’s not going to leave much of a “design” legacy. The truth is that the iPhone is super-bland in its appearance; at best it looks like a device that came from a 1960s Sci-Fi movie or from the 80s Buck Rogers TV series.


Ive is supposed to be a “designer” but the iPhone has stayed practically the same from the first to the latest – just a little elongated! To me that is not what design is about. I think Samsung learned this the hard way with the Galaxy S5. They tried to make a design signature by making minimal changes from the Galaxy S4 to the S5 and, from where I am sitting, it didn’t work out as Samsung envisaged. Again, the LG G3 was able to stand out from the blandness with a great looking design. Yes, HTC did great with the One M series aesthetics but the cameras were a disaster! And, as you know, Motorola put in a sterling effort with the Moto range and when it introduced the front-facing speakers the design went from very good to awesome!

Ive’s comment about Motorola allowing the consumer to choose colours and materials for the back came across as idiotic! The basic Moto X is just gorgeous as it is – I should know as I reviewed it. Being able to specify colours and materials such as leather for the back is being able to personally decorate the cake! Check out here: MotoX 2014 Review.



So, in my most humble opinion, that’s what design is all about... ...it’s about giving people a choice! The base Moto X 2014 is simply awesome and to have the ability to customize it is sublime! If Ive’s take on design is to not give the consumer a choice then why release the iPhone in a couple of different colours? Jony says, “Here’s the bloody iPhone! Take it or take it!”

That’s not a legacy I would be satisfied with if I were called a “design guru”.

ARASTED DEVELOPMENT
Another technological design concept that is going to squash Ive’s iPhone into a tiny footnote (if he’s lucky) is Project Ara! Now if I were a designer I would have wished that I had came up with that concept! Put simply: Project Ara has the capacity to change the smartphone world! No matter how many times Cook and co utters the word “fantastic” in the direction of the iPhone it is never going to take away from the fact that an Ara phone goes beyond superlatives. When Project Ara goes global it will most likely eclipse any smartphone sales record. It just so happens that I have 9 Android handsets and I would want an Ara handset in addition to my Moto G 2014, Nexus 6, Galaxy Note 4, etc.



No, I am not a handset nut! Pardon the technical term... ...I just don’t see the point of reselling old handsets as I am never going to get true value from it. I would rather use the old handsets as experimental units for rooting and installing a custom ROM, etc. It’s always good to have a spare! Wink, wink...

In any event I do think that Ive is overrated as a designer. It’s Android that’s paving the way for design developments as all the OEMs want to differentiate from the other. Also the Android operating system itself allows for OEMs to design handsets (and tablets) that pushes the envelope of what Android can do! I mean the Air Gestures, Multi-Windows and S Pen from Samsung with the Galaxy Note series is just amazing! I love that you can operate the Moto X with voice commands without touching it!



The iPhone is not only bland in appearance but the iOS operating system is uninspired. Ive must know this deep down inside as he – along with Cook and co – keep trying to slate the competition.

APPLE WATCH
Just one look at the Apple Watch design tells me that Ive isn’t much of a designer. The Samsung Gear S and Moto 360 are two fine examples of a smartwatch! All that Apple is doing at the moment is to smooch up to the fashion circles to get consumers to believe that the Apple Watch is a desired fashion item. It’s not!



And this is what I appreciate about the Android (and Tizen) based smartwatches – they sell themselves. The OEMs don’t try to sell you on fashion; they sell you on the functionality. I predict that the Apple Watch is going to stink once users figure out that they’ve been short-changed. The Apple Watch design is so, so bland. I can almost guarantee that the functionality will be hugely disappointing hence the need to hype it as a fashion item. No doubt that the parishioners of the Church of Apple will line up to get one to complete the set. But the other guys have such a great choice in smartwatches! Once again, when it comes to smartwatches it is Android that leads the way in design. Tizen too! As Tizen works with Samsung Android handsets it’s still an Android experience. I do appreciate with the Gear S that I don’t need an additional handset to make call.

VERDICT
Jony Ive is more hype than designer. Apple is good at designing hype. But to be fair, a lot of people buy into hype over substance. Not me!

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SYNAPSE CIRCUIT JONY IVE’S PAIN OF GIVING BIRTH TO TECH

"When it came out of me it left a gaping hole about this big!"

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
JONY IVE’S PAIN OF GIVING BIRTH TO TECH.
#JonyIve #Ive #Apple #iPhone6

Good evening, Good Friends! How are you? Me? I am in shock... I am seriously disappointed that my nephew has got an iPhone 5S of all the wonderful choices out there! Lol! I’m kiddin’! Each to his or her own!

Apple fans got a rare treat with the recent interview given by none other than Jony Ive, VP of Design! Whoohoo? Not so much woo or hoo! Here’s why...

PAIN
"It's not just about aesthetics... Our success is a victory for purity, integrity - for giving a damn." Yeah, yeah... The man is so bleeding annoying! Lol! Anyone would think that he’s just stepped out of the clouds as a saviour of all things computer and mobile!

Here are his thoughts on the competition... “It's theft. What's copied isn't just a design, it's thousands and thousands of hours of struggle... It takes years of investment, years of pain."

I am assuming that it’s yet another pot shot at Samsung and of course a Chinese manufacturer or two that have not only copied the iPhone design but have Android on instead! Hee hee hee... Ok, I can understand that the latter would be enough to cheese him off! But isn’t copying the best form of flattery?

Essentially, Ive and Apple are just trying to claim the oblong shape for a handset as theirs exclusively! Very funny! The oblong shape for mobiles – aka the candybar – has been used for years and by so many manufacturers. If you have been following the Apple vs. Samsung case you’d know that Apple got the design idea for the iPhone from Sony. Samsung just improved the concept and have kept getting better with each model. There is no way that Ive can claim the Galaxy S2 and Note’s 1, 2 and 3 were their idea! Uh-uh!

SORE LOSERS
Such interviews just keep confirming what I have been saying about Apple: sore losers! They may as well stop doing interviews if all they keep doing is gripe and blow smoke up their own derrieres!

All they are doing with this rhetoric is to continue to fuel this “them against us” thinking among their followers. Technology is what it is no matter what it is wrapped up in... Aluminium, glass, polycarbonate, etc! Either it works or it doesn’t! And no matter how many months or years it takes for Apple to design something as simple as a stand it doesn’t justify the costs! Although the PC is losing ground to the tablet and game consoles the PC is still a very cost effective tool for professional users. I would rather buy a PC over the Mac any day of the week!

Take the iPhone 5S, my nephew had to pay £120 upfront and for what??? He could have had a Galaxy S4 or the Note 3 with 4K video recording! My nephew made me laugh when he asked for my Note 2 once the contract has expired! Uh-uh! I can’t wait to see what the Galaxy Note 4 is all about! My nephew could have waited to see what the HTC One 2014 is all about and it’s due in 6 days!

If Apple are going to continue to give such interviews they may as well keep their mouths shut and get down to the business of trying to catch up on the handset front! Oh, not to mention that Android tablet sales continue to eclipse the iPad!

Again, the only innovation that Apple waxes on about is the opening of a new Apple store. Genius! C’mon, Apple! Stop messing around and give the loyal users what they want: A BIGGER SCREEN!

What do you reckon?   

Take good care!

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