| I didn't know Jony Ive was involved. That may explain why it looks so disappointing. Jony Ive is a brilliant example of the role selection plays in evolutionary processes. It is the sorting method that punishes bad ideas with death and allows good ideas to survive. After Jobs passed away the selection mechanism that only let Ive's good ideas pop through disappeared. It is popular to accuse Jobs of credit hoarding, but in that relationship he was the talent. Ive just someone who could generate ideas for him to choose from. More than a mutation agent, less than a good designer. What makes Ive bad for Ferrari is that he operates under the delusion that he is a great designer. This makes him arrogant. Arrogance paired with mediocrity isn't the best of combinations. And Ive sans Jobs is mediocre on a good day. But his myth is persistent. Ferrari has a long history. Ive completely ignored it and designed a mediocre bar of soap. If he did so out of an abundance of arrogance, or simply because he actually doesn't understand Ferrari is unclear. But it is an undeniable fact that the car neither looks like a Ferrari, nor is it a particularly elegant car. If you saw it without knowing what it was you could be forgiven for thinking this was a more modestly priced asian mass market car. For admirers of a brand that aspires to make iconic cars this is, of course, a disappointment. I did like the instrument cluster though. It dials back the somewhat childish and gaudy displays that sports car manufacturers have offered for the past couple of decades and replaces it with something that is more tastefully retro. A lot of older Italian cars had beautiful dashboards that give off strong race car vibes. (for instance the Bertone-designed Alfa Romeo GTV from the late 60s and early 70s - those had gorgeous instrument clusters) |