Adiós, Apple Skeuomorphism? / Cameron Moll / Designer, Speaker, Author

Adiós, Apple Skeuomorphism?

published 1 November 2012

[Steve Jobs] pushed the company’s software designers to use the linen texture liberally in the software for the company’s mobile devices. He did the same with many other virtual doodads that mimic the appearance and behavior of real-world things, like wooden shelves for organizing newspapers and the page-flipping motion of a book, according to people who worked with him but declined to be named to avoid Apple’s ire.

The management shake-up that Apple announced on Monday is likely to mean that Apple will shift away from such visual tricks, which many people within the company look down upon.

Yes, please. And a shift away from Jobs’ preference for skeuomorphism would perfectly align with this advice given shortly before his passing to Tim Cook:

“Among his last advice he had for me, and for all of you, was to never ask what he would do. ‘Just do what’s right,’” Cook said. Jobs wanted Apple to avoid the trap that Walt Disney Co. fell into after the death of its iconic founder, Cook said, where “everyone spent all their time thinking and talking about what Walt would do.”

Hats off to Tim Cook for following through on a dying wish.

/via @neilw