Buzz Out Loud Lounge: On iPhone, usability, and high end audio

On iPhone, usability, and high end audio

Here is the thing about usability. Most truly great
products are never reviewed in the tech industry press. If you
look at a truly high end stereo (integrated) amplifier for
example, or preamplifier, it generally has these features: on/off,
volume pot, input selector, sometimes a balance control. And
that is it. Why would such a product ever be reviewed in the
mainstream technology press. Such products compete on how
they sound...the technology on how to do so is inside the box.
Compare that to a Sony receiver. Buttons and buttons that do
nothing but diminish the usability, and ironically the sound
quality.
In some sense Apple has the sensibilities of a high-end audio
company. Simple design. Do a few things well. And as long as
the product is more expensive because of the R and D that went
into the guts of the device, might as well make the outside of
the device look nice. This laste part also jibes with the
correlation between taste and preference for quality over
quantity.
So I have a high-end stereo. I use a Mac. I have no use for an
iPod. But I hate my phone. And like many people I know, I've
been saying for years, will Apple PLEASE make a phone?
Combine everything they are good at, including the taste on
what to include and not include in terms of "features".
Have they done it? I think so. Like any high end company,
future versions are going to be better, and the early adoptors
will subsidize their ability to bring the price down for late
adoptors, and as their R and D costs get paid off, their tech
inside the box will trickle down to even more affordable
products.
I'm a late adopter. I'll probably suffer for 6 to 8 months to
buy version 2. Then again, I really really hate my phone, and I've
been waiting for this phone from Apple for a long time...