I think the Leica R9 design has partly what makes a great design: It is simple and uncluttered and thus has a certain elegance. My personal take however is that the rounded sides (sam ein S2) are not timeless enough, it reminds me of the 80th/ 90th Colani (computer) design. To me they look a bit outdated. However the Leica M design is truly timeless. It is extreme simplicity and elegance, although I am not a RF guy.
I recently read a good (printed) magazine article (in german language) about good product design, and amongst others it said that the best designs are those who have the minimum of buttons, levers etc. on the surface, those who are for the essential functions that are needed all the time, that it omits everything that is not essential, are easy and intuitive to operate. The article quoted 2 examples for devices that come close to great design: The modern Apple devices (iPhone, iPod and iPAD), and German brand "BRAUN" who's chief designer (Dieter Rams) stongly influenced and inspired Apple's chef designer, Jonathan Ive. BRAUN used to make HiFI systems, electric shavers, calculators etc. Many of their products are in museums of industrial design.
To come back to the actual topic: There are a lot of "ok looking" cameras, but only a few outstanding designs: Leica M is almost the only one that comes to mind, and maybe a few LF camreras, but not sure if they count here. The Olympus PEN is also nice, but probably inspired by the Leica classics.
alba63 wrote:
The article quoted 2 examples for devices that come close to great design: The modern Apple devices (iPhone, iPod and iPAD), and German brand "BRAUN"
The commonly held notion that Apple devices, in general, and these ones in particular, are without exception instances of "great design" is something that boggles my mind. They look nice but often function poorly at their given tasks.
The iPhone is hard to use as a phone. They're inefficient text-entry devices, especially in portrait mode, but in landscape mode is known to induce carpal-tunnel like ailments relatively quickly.
The recent touchscreen iPods are impossible to control (skip tracks, select a new track, etc) without having to physically look at it.
The older iPods could be controlled in one's pocket, but the notion that *its* interface was easy or elegant is ludicrous to me. I found it to be one of the most frustrating interfaces I've ever used.
And the iPad - well, as a device so frequently depicted being used in hand, it is far too heavy and slippery to be used effectively like that.
I'm not the typical Apple-basher you might expect. I love my Macbook Pros and I love OS X. I just think that Apple's ability to produce great design is vastly overstated - if one considers that a device ought to function well and not just look good.
I think you are overstating the case in the other direction. The iPhone is a perfectly good phone, as good as any of my previous phones, perhaps barring the K750i. While it is true that the newer iPods can not be operated hand-in-pocket, they add so much more functionality that this is not surprising. Perhaps you can suggest devices which can do as much, and are generally so loved, which function better? Of course a single-purpose device can be designed better than a multi-purpose device, no surprise there.
I agree that the iPad is too heavy and slippery. It is also my favorite computing device of all time.
tmark wrote:
The commonly held notion that Apple devices, in general, and these ones in particular, are without exception instances of "great design" is something that boggles my mind. They look nice but often function poorly at their given tasks.
The iPhone is hard to use as a phone. They're inefficient text-entry devices, especially in portrait mode, but in landscape mode is known to induce carpal-tunnel like ailments relatively quickly.
The recent touchscreen iPods are impossible to control (skip tracks, select a new track, etc) without having to physically look at it.
The older iPods could be controlled in one's pocket, but the notion that *its* interface was easy or elegant is ludicrous to me. I found it to be one of the most frustrating interfaces I've ever used.
And the iPad - well, as a device so frequently depicted being used in hand, it is far too heavy and slippery to be used effectively like that.
I'm not the typical Apple-basher you might expect. I love my Macbook Pros and I love OS X. I just think that Apple's ability to produce great design is vastly overstated - if one considers that a device ought to function well and not just look good.
I loved my iphone and I love my android nexus 1, I think the joy and simlicity of use when it comes to these handheld devices are a lot about habits and personal preferences. There is no doubt that the iPhone changed how phones work, how we look at phones and did so out of nowhere. Ignoring this is... well, not really factual
ulrikft2 wrote:
. There is no doubt that the iPhone changed how phones work, how we look at phones and did so out of nowhere. Ignoring this is... well, not really factual
the iphone is not a phone -its just called that for marketing reasons: it is a jack of all trades, ok in many, good in some, great in none; and nor should it be expected to be as such. Good design is relevant: it's different for reviewers, different for users and certainly different for accountants
Just ilke cameras, cars and everything else, one doesn't start talking about how innefficient a design is until the next evolution of the species becomes reality. No one said focusing is slow, until AF came about
dasrocket wrote:
the iphone is not a phone -its just called that for marketing reasons: it is a jack of all trades, ok in many, good in some, great in none; and nor should it be expected to be as such. Good design is relevant: it's different for reviewers, different for users and certainly different for accountants
Just ilke cameras, cars and everything else, one doesn't start talking about how innefficient a design is until the next evolution of the species becomes reality. No one said focusing is slow, until AF came about
I think it is a great tool for quite a few things (now talking about my android, nexus one, but that is pretty much the same thing) ranging from browsing while travelling to music playing and other similar things.
Not only the appearance... my 10-year-old R8 has been dropped in mud and gravel & rained on... I sent it to Leica USA a couple months ago for service and they returned it with a note that said "no service required". Total cost $0.00
carstenw wrote:
The Leica M3 is stunningly gorgeous. I can accept the idea that someone thinks the Konica is beautiful, but I cannot for the life of me imagine that anyone thinks the Rebel G is anything but butt-ugly and cheap-looking! I presume including it here was a joke
