In How Steve Jobs’ Love of Simplicity Fueled A Design Revolution, former Chairman and CEO of CNN Walter Isaacson argues that modern technology is a direct result of the innovation in technology design that took place at Apple under Steve Jobs.
To Jobs, simplicity meant beauty – and closed systems allowed Apple to control the user experience and define it for the future. With each new device, Apple not only manufactured the products but also the fundamental principles of modern technology design.
Perhaps, separating the hardware engineering team from the industrial design team created the room required to innovate over the last two decades, but it will be the integration of these disciplines that define the ways that humans interact with technology to create the beauty that Apple seeks to define over the next two.
I agree with Isaacson because I’ve always noticed how Apple has monopolized the technology world. I find it so crazy that almost everyone who can afford an iPhone has one, and if they don’t they most likely have a version of a Samsung smart phone. Before the iPhone, there was a variety of brands in the popular mix of phones.
I believe there should be more of a separation of departments in all technology companies. If Apple can contribute some of their success to this separation of the hardware engineering team and the industrial design team, then other companies should follow suit. Apple is setting the tone for the rest of the technology world because of the monopoly that they hold.
Isaacson has a very valid point and I agree that the modern technological world was developed directly as a result of Apple’s “control over the user.” The marketing, interactivity, and fast growth of Apple products allow the user to become easily fascinated, hooked, and find ease with product usability. In the article I read, ease of use and the benefits one gets from a technological platform can shape the user’s experience. Apple, as the largest manufacturer of these technologies and software, has the capability to shape and define the user experience across most technological platforms.