Just keep using iOS6 if you are so inexorably fond of drop shadows, dock, tacky icons. You haven't even used the new OS... maybe try it before you whine about usability.
I really meant use - not just few hours of interaction, if that.
I'm honestly curious if other people share the author's sentiments; a yearning for "state of the art" icons like the old Safari icon. It always reminded me of the Netscape Navigator 2.0 splash screen.
Apple has been very consistent in its hardware and software designs over decades. It should be no surprise that people who want stuff to stay the same are using Apple devices right now. (Not exactly the same - but mostly the same, like the icon set that the author embeds.)
iOS 7 is an excellent revision that brings iOS into the modern age. There's a goddarned video on Apple's website that explains how it's still modern, fresh, but familiar, and that also explains the excruciating detail they had to go in to revise it.
I don't see how usability is affected at all; the new OS looks great, and it's change for the sake of progress (a la Android), not change for the sake of change (a la Windows 8).
If you don't like it, then maybe you have a problem with change...
...or you just really, really like leather calendars.
In any case, I think Steve Jobs was greatly holding the company's talented designers and engineers back with his vice-like grip on every decision that the company made. He brought Apple back to life, it's now Jony's, Craig's, and Tim's turn to work together and push it to the forefront, further than Steve ever could have done.
> not change for the sake of change (a la Windows 8).
Congratulations on your award for Most Stupid Remark on HN, fanboy division
> the new OS looks great
The old OS looked great. Even if you didn't like it, it showed an immense amount of taste. Designers are complaining because the new version, very obviously, doesn't.
Just keep using iOS6 if you are so inexorably fond of drop shadows, dock, tacky icons. You haven't even used the new OS... maybe try it before you whine about usability.