Quality over Quantity

Yesterday marked the launch of the iPad 3. In the promotional video Apple "believes technology is at its very best when it's invisible, when your conscious only of what your doing, not the device your doing it with and iPad is the perfect expression of that idea."

It began with the Apple mouse. One button, the antithesis to the multitude of buttons the rest of the industry was pursuing. Apple followed the modernist mantra 'less is more' and found simple, elegant, quality design trumps quantity every time.

The folding iPad cover demonstrates this perfectly. Not just a cover to protect the touchscreen, it also folds into multiple yoga-like poses for using/viewing the iPad. But the true beauty is how it wakes and puts the iPad to sleep. This simple act revolutionized use of the Internet for everyday tasks, like checking your email inbox or the weather forecast in the morning. By transforming the previous boot up and logging on to a quick and easy lift of a cover, Apple used design in a way that improves the experience, but more importantly motivated us to do so.

Good design in architecture is less common, but can be just as transformative. Builders of the typical suburban house take the 'bigger is better' approach, but a home designed well - like the iPad - can improve the experience with less. It is a subtle thing, often difficult to identify, but when it is missing there is no mistaking it. A house poorly designed is apparent, a source of frustration in daily life, an obstacle rather an enhancement. Take the time to improve the design of your home and once you have, you will wonder how the rest of the world lives without it.