Heading over the cliff while whistling

I was going through Rory's blog the other day, where he has 'Apple's UI department going insane?' up for reading. He has some good points to make on where and how brushed metal is used, some great points on the Finder, and wraps up his points on the upcoming 10.4 with:

Come on Apple, at this rate Windows users might actually be pointing and laughing at us for how bad our UI looks by the time Longhorn ships sometime this decade.

The thing to keep in mind about Rory is that he's the maker of the excellent NewsMac software for OS X, and not long ago quit his day job to write code his heart out for the platform full time. He's not just a user with a couple of quibbles, he's a developer with an investment in Mac OS X.

I've written blurbs about this here and there throughout my posts, but the bottom line is that there's a huge elephant in the room when it comes to Mac OS X: The UI is going to hell in a hand basket and everyone is just averting their eyes.

If you're a Mac user, part of you already knows this deep down, but you're glossing over it because it's just too nasty of an idea to really want to acknowledge. I know this because I've run the idea by some of the most hardcore Mac people I know, people who think that the hockey puck mouse actually rocks and was an unappreciated breakthrough that the world just wasn't ready for yet, and their answer is "Yea, it's pretty messed up. But it's still better than Windows".

My neighbor's 3 year old gets around faster than Steven Hawking, but I sure as hell wouldn't put money on him at a track meet. I'm not kidding around. You're setting a very low bar, which means you know there's a problem, and it's why the topic makes you feel uncomfortable.

We can point to specific instances of something sucking in terms of UI on Mac OS X, and while that has validity, it doesn't change the basic feeling of wrongness many are starting to feel in general. We're not talking about some widgets being ugly, or specific apps having problems. Interface paradigms are being filled to an extreme, then overflowing, and then taking on whatever will let it keep working. And the problems go much, much deeper than that.

I'm not going to go hoity-toity on you, and start throwing out terms like muscle memory or Fitts's Law or overfilling paradigms. People have done that with regards to Mac OS X, and will do that, but as we all know those people are anal, just too picky, have some agenda, or are picking out little things without looking at how great things are in general. Or at least that's how they're shouted down.

See, here's the rub -- it's gone well past the anal pixel-pushing designers now. Just about every Mac developer I've talked to believes the Mac OS X interface is in serious trouble. One I had a conversation with last week, who works for a public company that makes image processing software for OS X said politely:

I wouldn't say it sucks, but I do have grave reservations.

They're kind of freaked out, and to be honest much of that comes from being powerless to really do anything about it. No, it doesn't mean they want to use Windows, but it does mean they're becoming increasingly unhappy with what they're looking at and seeing. They're extremely worried by what they're seeing that we aren't able to see yet, which isn't far away. It's just... off.

Now, these are developers. They can tell when something is ugly, but that's generally opinion, not science. However they do use their computer constantly, and are expected to create a good UI, so when it comes to basic tenants that Apple has told them to follow, and why, many have given themselves a surprisingly good education because they want to have a successful business. They may not always know why things are feeling off, but they know something is wrong.

The really fascinating thing about the situation is that while I talk to many of them, and know their feelings on the subject, no one is really saying a whole lot about it. Again, I wish I was kidding.

Right now, if you asked all the large heads in the Mac world if they had 'reservations' about the state of the UI in Mac OS X, and where it's going, they'd all nod while looking around to make sure no one was looking.

In some cases it's because they're just limited by what they can say for legal reasons, and in other cases they make their living off the Mac, they aren't large, and why piss off their rabid-yet-loyal customers. And, if you're a shareware author developing for the Mac platform, every bit helps your business. Pissing off someone at Apple marketing isn't going to do you any favors.

At the end of the day though, part of them knows that them saying anything won't really change anything. After all, well-known people have pointed out their reservations in the past... however these were primarily hard-core UI people. And a lone voice, no matter how large, has little chance of really having an effect.

No, for anything to really change at this point it would take noise. A lot of noise, from many directions, and many people. Yet no one is really making any.

yummy alcohol posted button Posted by drunkenbatman
    February 02, 2005, at 03:09 AM


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