Funmurphys: the Blog

Has The Professor Seen The Light?

Glenn Reynolds has firmly come down on the dark side in the OS wars, and he's even tweaked James Lileks about it in the past ('when elephants mate, it's the grass that suffers' - African Proverb). But is the ice thawing? First up, he linked to an article in Slate about his new car, the RX-8, that ends with: "Cute, peppy, compact, different: Call it the Mac OS X of engines." Is he signalling a desire to switch?

He follows that up with a Tech Central Station column about the importance of looks in design entitled "Look and Feel." Get it? That was the crux of the lawsuit between Apple and Microsoft and is a phrase in constant use amongst the mac faithful. And who pushes the importance of aesthetics in design more than Apple? Nobody, that's who.

But he doesn't stop there. He ends the piece with: "And I think that Virginia Postrel is right to say that we'll see a greater emphasis on design -- and, in particular, design that appeals to people, not just designers -- over the next few decades than we've seen over the last few. That won't change the world, exactly, but it'll remove a lot of petty frustrations from our lives, and make many of the things we use more enjoyable." Gee, sounds like an Apple ad - a computer for the rest of us. And remember Steve Job's famous appeal to John Sculley: "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?"

Coincidence? I don't think so.