

"More Flame Bait," or why Charles Stross uses Macs - JCThoughtscream
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/01/more-flame-bait.html

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blehn
I agree that Apple's attention detail in design is excellent. I would say,
however, that they tend to fail miserably in terms of ergonomics. A few
examples:

[1]All Apple mice. The latest, Magic Mouse, is like instant carpal tunnel.

[2]All Apple displays. They tilt, but you can't adjust the height...seems
absurd to me.

[3]The unibody Macbooks. Sharp edges are extremely uncomfortable for wrists
(odd for a company so committed to rounded corners).

Apple often sacrifices ergonomics in favor of aesthetics. That said, most
consumers probably don't use the devices enough to notice the ergonomic
shortcomings.

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ilamont
Agree on [1] -- remember the hockey puck mouse on the old iMacs? Steve Jobs
actually said it was "the most wonderful mouse" when he unveiled it at
Macworld (see [http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/01/01/steve-jobs-
greate...](http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/01/01/steve-jobs-greatest-
macworld-video-hits-1998-2008?page=0%2C1))

On [2], the old "half-dome" iMacs let you adjust the height and even swivel
the display horizontally almost 90 degrees in either direction. I owned one,
and really liked how the display could be adjusted to point almost anywhere --
it was great for letting the kids look at the screen.

One problem with the more recent iMacs is it's very easy to pull out the power
cord from the back of the monitor if you swivel vertically when the cord is
taut.

In terms of iPhone ergonomics, I am curious how Apple will update the body in
the next generation. There is a lot of room for improvement, IMHO.

~~~
blehn
yeah, the hockey puck mouse was just pitiful. The head-scratcher for me with
the new mouse is the gesture of 2-finger swiping (laterally) while your other
three fingers are (presumably) stationary on the mouse. It makes my hand ache
just thinking about it.

loved the fully articulating arm on the old iMac--one of the sacrifices
they've made in their quest for aesthetic minimalism (which I appreciate, mind
you, it just sucks that you can't move the display easily anymore).

~~~
GHFigs
_one of the sacrifices they've made in their quest for aesthetic minimalism_

I don't imagine it was solely aesthetic. The articulating arm required a huge
amount of dead weight in the base to support ever-larger screens. The 20" iMac
G4 weighed about the same as the current 27" iMac.

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daredevildave
"most PC vendors wouldn't know good industrial design if you hit them over the
head with it"

I've often wondered about this, surely the PC market is large enough that
someone could come in with exceptionally well-designed machines, pre-built,
running Windows, that had the "it just works" nature of a Mac. Is Windows
really so broken as to prevent that?

I guess I'm thinking something like Alienware used to be only more focussed on
overall usability rather than gaming oomph.

~~~
rbritton
They could, yes, but it undermines the fundamental basis on which the consumer
PC industry is based: cheap, throw-away computers. Well-designed machines
require precision and machining that adds to the cost of the computer, and
with companies such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, and such operating on such thin
margin, high-volume selling, any additional cost adds up quickly.

There is a massive difference in the build quality between a typical Apple
product and a typical HP or Dell product. There's an attention to detail that
appears to only exist at the higher price point. For those that build their
own boxes, you have likely found that a quality case is worth the price
differential — and this is only one piece.

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joshu
This seems more likely to incite a flamewar than a useful discussion.

~~~
JCThoughtscream
Or it could incite a discussion on the relative merits of Apple's industrial
design approach, how accurate Stross's assessment is, and what should or
shouldn't carry over to the industry at-large.

I realize OS wankery is pretty much standard amongst techies, and that
anticipating it is far from unwarranted, but there's always the chance that a
discussion might actually pan out alright.

