What does the popularity of iPhone and iPad tell us?

What do we have to learn from the last years’ extreme popularity of iPhone, iPad and their top applications? Why is the appearance of these devices so important? Do they really mean the end of an era and the beginning of the next one?

To me, they do mean the end of an era: the end of developer-driven design. Game over. Now usability is king. Now the user, the customer drives design. Crappy devices, inconsistent interfaces can’t make a living anymore. Apple has started this silent revolution with realizing the opportunity and now others start to follow the path.

Need something? “There’s an app for that” – and usually a nice, consistent one (of course we come across lame apps from time to time but those don’t live long now). Know OS X? Used iPhone/iPad a bit? You already know most of the important stuff for your next Apple device. We like good interfaces and now we know we can get them. From now on any company that thinks it can feed us with crappy user experience is doomed. We’ve tasted good design and there’s no going back.

I’m writing this on my hackint0sh as my MacBook Pro sleeps quietly in my backpack and my iPhone is synchronizing my contacts, mails and calendars.

Apple might be evil and of course it only focuses on its own success and profit – but for now its interests coincide with our interests.

What do we have to learn from the last years' extreme popularity of iPhone, iPad and their top applications? Why is the appearance of these devices so important? Do they really mean the end of an era and the beginning of the next one? To me, they do mean the end of an era: the end of developer-driven design. Game over. Now usability is king. Now the user, the customer drives design. Crappy devices, inconsistent interfaces can't make a living anymore. Apple has started this silent revolution with realizing the opportunity and now others start to follow the path. Need something? "There's an app for that" - and usually a nice, consistent one (of course we come across lame apps from time to time but those don't live long now). Know OS X? Used iPhone/iPad a bit? You already know most of the important stuff for your next Apple device. We like good interfaces and now we know we can get them. From now on any company that thinks it can feed us with crappy user experience is doomed. We've tasted good design and there's no going back. I'm writing this on my hackint0sh as my MacBook Pro sleeps quietly in my backpack and my iPhone is synchronizing my contacts, mails and calendars. Apple might be evil and of course it only focuses on its own success and profit - but for now its interests coincide with our interests.

Tagged as: apple, design, ipad, iphone, paradigm, usability