[HN Gopher] The Practicality of Art in Software
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       The Practicality of Art in Software
        
       Author : robenkleene
       Score  : 30 points
       Date   : 2023-05-12 08:54 UTC (14 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.macstories.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.macstories.net)
        
       | Nevermark wrote:
       | What bothers me the most when a nicely structured system blocks
       | whole productivity styles - is how many latent innovation paths
       | have been eliminated before they were born.
       | 
       | Apple has historically crossed back and forth over the line of
       | structure whose consistency, reliability and functional
       | simplicity enables Cambrian explosions of creativity ... vs ...
       | consistencies that strangle experimentation.
        
         | JieJie wrote:
         | Creative people are not know for our consistency and
         | reliability. It is, in fact, what sets most of us apart.
         | 
         | This may be what drives the division between the artists and
         | engineers, despite us mostly desiring the same ends.
        
           | Nevermark wrote:
           | Agreed about creativity vs. consistency, it is a complex
           | relationship.
           | 
           | Consistencies enable creativity. Painters want paint that
           | maintains its colors, architects want materials with
           | predictable properties.
           | 
           | And in the other direction, most impactful expressions of
           | creativity provide a new consistency that can be built on.
           | New math, a new programming paradigm.
           | 
           | Or in the art world, when an artist's body of work (over a
           | period, or even their whole life) isn't just a show case of
           | independent creations, but consistently demonstrates a new
           | vision, a new technique, providing clarity that others can
           | absorb, appreciate and build on.
           | 
           | --
           | 
           | Bzilion's Law of the Value of a Consistency: The value of a
           | consistency is proportional to how it expands creative
           | potential, divided by the square of how much it limits it.
           | 
           | Simply reducing extant complexity is a short sighted rational
           | for a consistency. It is a pedantically tautological bar,
           | despite its seductiveness for the attractive-design over
           | ease-of-use crowd.
           | 
           | --
           | 
           | Premature enforced consistency on NEW ideas is where Apple
           | typically err's in my opinion. While well thought out
           | preemptive strikes on outdated freedom, i.e. dropped LEGACY
           | complexity, often showcases their genius.
        
       | egypturnash wrote:
       | tl;dr: The iPad's attempts at providing a multitasking, multi-
       | window OS with which one can do all the kinds of work that one
       | can do on a desktop/laptop computer are still not there yet.
       | 
       | Personally I feel much the same; this is why I'm at my desk in
       | front of a screen connected to an Air, waiting for Illustrator to
       | complete a complex operation involving some third-party plugins
       | and flipping over to various Internet distractions instead of
       | trying to do this on an iPad. I dunno why this guy's still
       | beating his head on PadOS instead of doing the same.
        
       | andirk wrote:
       | "But it doesn't work the other way: most people who prioritize
       | other things can't fathom why anyone cares deeply about
       | design/UI/UX because they don't perceive it. Thus they chalk up
       | iOS and native Mac-app enthusiasm to being hypnotized by
       | marketing, Pied Piper style."
       | 
       | I agree. Apple design/UI/UX has never impressed me and I don't
       | understand how rounded corners and an 'i' toStart names it
       | better.
       | 
       | I also have plenty of beef with Windows, but not much at all with
       | Android.
        
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       (page generated 2023-05-12 23:01 UTC)