But the fact that the software is beta is hardly a reason not to criticize it. In fact, the beta period is typically the time when developers ask for feedback. And something that sucks but is beta, is still something that sucks.

Anyway, that’s my two cents on the whole beta thing.

-systemsboy

Cheers!

-systemsboy

I like minimalism. Check my web page. Lynx enhanced. I edit my “blog” in raw HTML. But I draw the line at “Platinum”.

Actually, what I like about Gmail is the tagging (or “Labels” — yes, Google has renamed more than they’ve reinvented) aspect and the fact that everything stays on Google’s servers. I don’t get why Apple Mail doesn’t have tags, but I’m unwilling to install 3rd party hacks to get them.

Yes, it’s true, the way things look is subjective. But Google’s pages are designed around unstyled HTML. Their style is a willful lack of style. It looks cheap and unconsidered (to me). I get the feeling Google designs by committee, by survey. I prefer something that looks a bit more polished, a bit more like there’s a human making it.

But more importantly, I don’t think Google holds design in high regard, and that if they did I think they could innovate even more than they already have. It’s not so much that their apps look bad — though I clearly think they do — but that Google could make them work better by looking more at design, among other things.

Personally, I’ve always had an affinity for the Thinkpads. When I was buying my Windows box I almost got one just for the look of it even though it cost significantly more. Most people I know agree that the Thinkpad is a nicely designed machine. Instead I got a Dell, which is just another example of cheap, flimsy, ugly design. Oh, I’m also a big, big fan of the Thinkpad nipple. And not just ’cause I was weaned too early. The nipple rocks!

I would argue that the Tandy was plastic and the MacBook Pro is whatever space-age metal Apple’s using these days, and that draws some sort of line somewhere. But, thank you very much, I’ll never look at my old-skool PowerBook quite the same way. I’m typing on her now, and looking at a picture of a TRS, and , yes, there’s definitely a similarity.

Next up: The brilliant design of the 1977 Tandy TRS-80.

-systemsboy

Google Mail looks good to me. I use APple Mail to read my mail instead of using GMail’s user interface not because the design looks better and feels better, but because I don’t like the fundamental way GMail works. I don’t like the everything-is-a-damn-conversation no-that’s-not-the-same-as-threading-honest design. But that interface is the most design-driven part of GMail.

And some people really really like it. Because design is subjective.