This is what Ive was quoted as saying.
"Why do we assume that simple is good? Because with physical products, we feel we can dominate them. As you bring order to complexity, you find a way to make the product defer to you."
I... I don't know.
Dominating products.
Deference.
It's why the original iMac has a handle, so the weight of the computer defers to you. That's a good outcome. It's why the software is skeuomorphic, doesn't leave anything to chance, because it doesn't want to tax your neurons.
These are great products - insanely great, as the line goes - but the language of deference, that makes me feel uncomfortable.
You know, this is the absolute pinnacle of a product design and set of metaphors that we started work on a generation ago... but still I wonder, is there an alternative?
Matt Webb, Web Directions South 2014 (Sydney, Australia), October 2014