I'm a pretty vocal non-fan of all the extreme minimalization seen at Apple software & hardware since ~2013, as well as what seems to be a spaghetti-on-the-wall approach to software UIx since the emergence if iOS7 & Yosemite OS.
Seems too often now Apple's way of giving more is by giving less than the previous OS, iOS, and/or hardware by the removal of intuitive UI elements, the removal of attractive/detailed UI elements, and/or the simplification of the hardware & physical I/O ports to a point where battery life has stagnated and where losses of certain conveniences seem to be felt much more than any gains from new simplistic/minimized ways of doing things. Compared to the Apple I started using in 2005, since 2012 it also seems the UIx is more about creative minimalization than best-in-class proven methods, often resulting in what seems like a revolving door of UI reinvention attempts every few years (especially in the iOS), many of which are worse than the prior offering (OS's iTunes 12 & iOS11's podcast app being two egregious examples of unnecessary solutions for non-existent problems).
Before 2013 I’d blindly update the OS or iOS without even thinking. Now I have to investigate to the nth degree any “upgrade” for fear of the shock I had with ios7, especially when Apple rendered my 3 year old iphone 4 uselessly slow and kidnapped me by not allowing upgrading back to iOS 6.
Sure, there were opportunities to be seized and exploited that at earlier points in time may have initially felt radical, like being able to put your entire music collection in your pocket, removing the optical drives for MacBook Airs, or being able to live the majority of the day connected online but w/o a keyboard, mouse, or stylus. But are some things going to far, such as the uber-minimalized iOS/OS software UI as well as the removal of magsafe, headphone jacks, and USB ports? I can't be the only one who too often thinks "it no longer just works?" Isn't there a point in time where it's smart to stop tweezing your eyebrows before it's too much?
In a nutshell, by voting here, above are three "extreme" options. Which way do you tend? Are you generally happy, generally sad, or pretty middle-of-the-road to the new Apple where it seems less will be your new more.
Seems too often now Apple's way of giving more is by giving less than the previous OS, iOS, and/or hardware by the removal of intuitive UI elements, the removal of attractive/detailed UI elements, and/or the simplification of the hardware & physical I/O ports to a point where battery life has stagnated and where losses of certain conveniences seem to be felt much more than any gains from new simplistic/minimized ways of doing things. Compared to the Apple I started using in 2005, since 2012 it also seems the UIx is more about creative minimalization than best-in-class proven methods, often resulting in what seems like a revolving door of UI reinvention attempts every few years (especially in the iOS), many of which are worse than the prior offering (OS's iTunes 12 & iOS11's podcast app being two egregious examples of unnecessary solutions for non-existent problems).
Before 2013 I’d blindly update the OS or iOS without even thinking. Now I have to investigate to the nth degree any “upgrade” for fear of the shock I had with ios7, especially when Apple rendered my 3 year old iphone 4 uselessly slow and kidnapped me by not allowing upgrading back to iOS 6.
Sure, there were opportunities to be seized and exploited that at earlier points in time may have initially felt radical, like being able to put your entire music collection in your pocket, removing the optical drives for MacBook Airs, or being able to live the majority of the day connected online but w/o a keyboard, mouse, or stylus. But are some things going to far, such as the uber-minimalized iOS/OS software UI as well as the removal of magsafe, headphone jacks, and USB ports? I can't be the only one who too often thinks "it no longer just works?" Isn't there a point in time where it's smart to stop tweezing your eyebrows before it's too much?
In a nutshell, by voting here, above are three "extreme" options. Which way do you tend? Are you generally happy, generally sad, or pretty middle-of-the-road to the new Apple where it seems less will be your new more.
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