John Maeda
The Cost of Simplicity
Yesterday I had lunch with celebrity designer Frank Nuovo, formerly of Nokia. He showed me his designs from the mythical Vertu line of luxury phones. I didn't get to touch the actual objects as maybe he didn't law8();?> me. One of the phones was made of platinum at a pricetag of $30K, and he also mentioned something about custom lasercut ceramic buttons on the face with handpainted lacquer backs. It sounded so good, and given that our meals hadn't arrived yet, his rich descriptions of the devices made me feel even more famished.
The UI for these devices seemed simpler than the average mobile phone. But since I'm unlikely to ever shell out 4K+ for one of his beautiful creations, I guess I'm stuck getting lost in a cellphone's menu tree. Does simplicity always have to cost more?
