[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #348: Goodbye, Skeuomorphs

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4cast #348: Goodbye, Skeuomorphs
August 21st, 2013

skeuomorphsBack in June, Apple announced that it was going to start 
avoiding skeuomorphism. Skeuomorphism is not some contagious disease; 
it's a design principle that, when applied to computers, makes the 
computer interface look like things from the real world. From its 
beginning, Apple (and Steve Jobs in particular) thought skeuomorphs were 
important to make people comfortable with technology, and so the 
earliest Apple computers had a screen that looked like a "desktop." The 
fact that Apple is now moving away from skeuomorphism in the design of 
its mobile apps is a pretty strong indicator that we have come to the 
point where people don't feel as much need for the computer "world" to 
look like the real world. So - no more pine bookcases in the iBooks app.

  * Why Apple ditched its skeuomorphic design for iOS7
    <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2013/jun/12/skeuomorphism-apple-ditched-ios7>
    (The Guardian/Steve Rose) "Look closely, and skeuomorphism is all
    over Apple and other user interfaces - the little shadows cast by
    windows, the highlights on virtual buttons designed to make them
    look shiny, like real buttons. Originally this was to help us
    neanderthals make sense of the dazzling new technology before us, as
    in: 'Oh, I get it. That looks like a button, so I'm meant to push it.'"
  * What is skeuomorphism? <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22840833>
    (BBC News/Sam Judah) "The envelope is the de-facto symbol for email
    and SMS messages. It offers a nice distinction between read and
    unread - they become opened and unopened envelopes. [...] You cut
    and paste on Microsoft programs like Word and Outlook using scissors
    and a clipboard. The 'show desktop' icon on Windows XP looks like a
    leather-bound desk blotter. Not just an old-world item, but
    something that hasn't been on the typical desk for a long, long time."
  * The head of Android design: Small screens are pushing a new wave in
    design
    <http://qz.com/110613/the-head-of-android-design-small-screens-are-pushing-a-new-wave-in-design/>
    (Quartz/Christopher Mims) "On the other end of the spectrum, at
    least in theory, is Windows Phone
    <http://gizmodo.com/what-is-flat-design-508963228> and Google's
    Android operating system, which operate on the principle that most
    people already know how computers work and we don't need to coddle
    them with flourishes that make interfaces resemble objects, like
    physical calendars, which most of us don't even own any longer."
  * After skeuomorphism
    <http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/04/after-skeuomorphism/>
    (TechCrunch/John Biggs) "Whereas Solitaire taught users to point to
    a single item on their desktop, these new buttons train users to use
    all their senses, to intuitively control an environment with the
    cues that are so infinitesimal that only someone from a future
    generation could grasp them. We are that future generation. That's
    right. We made it. We're in the future."

*/Steve Jobs quote:/*

"We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick 
them." (/Fortune/ magazine, 24 January 2000)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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