[shortrounddev2]

I think humanism is sorely missing in tech these days. I am not a fan of Apple's products, but I think that what is missing in design these days is humans at the center, which is what Apple used to do.

There's a story that Steve Jobs wanted to limit the size of the first iPhone so that you could reach any part of the screen with your thumb, holding the phone in one hand. Today, I am typing this with two hands on my phone.

It feels like in those days (the mid 2000s to mid 2010s) technology was built to serve human needs. It now feels like humans re-orient our desires around what technology now has to offer. Flat UI is the perfect example of this: I have seen studies that show that flattening UI makes it harder for users to find their way around a page. "Next" buttons are less obvious and the user wanders with their mouse, or clicks the wrong item.

Compare this with the skeumorphic design of mid 2000s Apple, where buttons were meant to approximate real life 3 dimensional things, with their glossy design adding depth to the screen. Many look at this design and flinch at the kitsch as a reflex, but I think it's emblematic of how technology used to try to fit itself into our world, rather us trying to fit ourselves into tech