Usually I hold up Apple as an example of excellent user-focused design. Their devices and software generally works just as you expect it to, so much so that they don’t even ship a manual with their computers anymore.
But I’ve come across one design decision that is really bugging me.
The Mac and the Apple display work well together, one can “control” the Mac with the buttons on the display making it easy to put the Mac under your desk out of the way. My previous Mac, a G5, and it’s display were synchronized. When I touched the button on the display, the system would go to sleep and the lights on both the computer and monitor would slowly pulse. When the computer was turned off completely, both lights were off.
Enter the new aluminum enclosed Apple displays. For some reason, Apple made the behavior of the display a bit wonky. When the computer and display are on, the display’s power light is off. Conversely, when the computer is off, the light is on. Not only is this the reverse of what you’d expect — and very, very unintuitive — it has an annoying side effect.
This weekend I had a friend staying with me, here in my office which features a foldout bed. I had the G5 turned off completely because the little white LEDs are very, very bright in a dark room one is trying to sleep in. Now, with the new display, the light is on when the computer is off!
I’ve also been meaning to write about the inconsistent and user-unfriendly interfaces in my Audi TT, and this seems like an opportune moment.
This car is filled with annoyances that are made worse when driving at high speeds with a manual transmission. Here’s just a few:
- To turn the radio on, one presses in the power button so that it comes OUT. To turn it off, press the button IN. Seems like the opposite of how it should work.
- The buttons for switching radio sources — AM, FM, CD — are arrayed in small squares around the power button. These buttons are so small that they are best pressed with just the very tip of the finger, preferably the fingernail; it is difficult to press them without hitting the power button, and because they are small targets it is impossible to find and press one without looking away from the road and at the radio.
- There is a button labeled “ESP” on the dash. Pressing in this button turns off the traction control system rather than turning it on as one would expect.
- It is impossible to roll down the window just a little bit: pressing the window button with a short duration triggers an automatic all-the-way-down function. To defeat the automatic function, one must press the button longer — which takes it past the “roll-down-a-little-bit” stage, making it impossible to just crack the window. This, again, is the opposite of the way it should be.
- The cup holders are between and a few inches behind the seat backs, meaning that the driver must make an awkward, shoulder-dislocating maneuver to get a drink.
- To turn on the climate control system, one must push in the power button; to turn it off one pulls out the button.
And more and more. I am having to learn to do everything backwards in this car, which would work fine except that some things work as you’d expect. The inconsistency is maddening, and the driver-unfriendlyness of the controls is worrying for a sportscar that is built for high-speed driving.
