“The [Peugeot] 505 is a saloon with quite a pleasant appearance, quite efficient engines, quite comfortable seating, quite nice steering and a quite reasonable price. And it is quite well constructed. So, you might say it was merely average. But can it really be that simple? Have Peugeot in fact, played a very clever game where, instead of dazzling us with technology or breathtaking styling, they have decided to woo us with understatement of the profoundest kind?”
Archie Vicar, Automotive Journalist, writing in The Monthly Car Review in October, 1979
The iPad is a tablet computer with quite a pleasant appearance, a quite efficient processor, quite comfortable physical dimensions, a quite nice user experience and a quite reasonable price. And it is quite well constructed. So, you might say it was merely average. But can it really be that simple? Have Apple in fact, played a very clever game where, instead of dazzling us with technology or breathtaking styling, they have decided to woo us with understatement of the profoundest kind?
Given how often I talk about the intersection of automotive design strategy and a generation of kids more interested in their iPhones and iPads than cars, how could I not repurpose the wonderful Mr. Vicar?
And on a similar but different tack: having comprehensively lost their way stylistically, Peugeot would do well to revisit Archie’s observation because it neatly sums up what made the brand so loveable.
Apple, on the other hand, clearly needs no such advice…
Just read this really interesting extract from an interview with Simon Collins, the Dean of Fashion at Parsons where he talks about the impact of the recession on fashion.
Am I alone in thinking that what he says could be easily be translated into rationalising some of the largesse of the car industry?
“The biggest challenge was the biggest opportunity with designers eschewing big runway shows into a static exhibition. This in tandem with an internet presence is a more modern way of working and I think we’ll see much more of it.
A lot of the rubbish will be swept away. We are going to focus on brands with real integrity. There was a much more intelligence to the merchandising of the lines. There was the same level of creativity but less window dressing and more focus on salable items.”
His comments regarding shows is particularly pertinent given the impending Salon de Geneve. Yes, I will be there (hopefully) enjoying my three course lunch with champagne at Audi, I’ll admit. But what if car makers moved away from the massive cost of running their motor show stands and introduced new product like Apple will, who has decided to not continue with their traditional MacWorld keynotes?
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So I’m an Apple user (and a passionate, sometimes envangelical one at that) but I’m not beyond overlooking the niggles that crop up every now and then.
Up until now my biggest gripe (and it is a HUGE one) is that the otherwise lovely iWork apps have not autosaved. This struck me as crazy, especially as I learnt it the hard way by losing 4 hours of work on a presentation.
EverSave, found via SwissMiss, has come to the rescue though! It’s a handy app that automagically saves your work as you go in any or all of your applications. Check it out: Eversave
swissmiss: Automatically Save Your Work on Your Mac On Any Application.
