If design is so much easier, then why have all hardware manufacturers failed so miserably to match Apple over the past two decades?
Anything from phones, mp3 players, monitors, tablets, laptops etcetera, they all look cheap, plastic and designed without love and attention to detail. And yes, that includes Google's Nexus range, which aren't ugly but won't win any awards either. It should be possible, look at B&O or Loewe in TV and audio for instance, albeit that they sell at a premium way higher then Apple's. And by the look of it, it's not others they haven't been trying to imitate Apple (hence the lawsuits).
As far as I can tell, getting design right is very, very hard, and takes a broad commitment to excellence most companies are lacking.
And if one company has very conspicuously ignored design and the basic notion of delighting their users with products that aren't just functionally great but make people fall in love with them, it has been Google.
The design of the latest Chromebook is a huge leap, surpassing manufacturers that have attempted to match Apple for years, and comes completely out of left field from a company has so far shown little sign if even having any feeling for design.
It's also a pretty blatant copy of the Macbook. Given the history you outline (which I agree with) I think the huge leap for the pixel came from Apple. Just like the huge leap from a blackberry clone to an iPhone clone that android took over the course of 2007-2008.
Anything from phones, mp3 players, monitors, tablets, laptops etcetera, they all look cheap, plastic and designed without love and attention to detail. And yes, that includes Google's Nexus range, which aren't ugly but won't win any awards either. It should be possible, look at B&O or Loewe in TV and audio for instance, albeit that they sell at a premium way higher then Apple's. And by the look of it, it's not others they haven't been trying to imitate Apple (hence the lawsuits).
As far as I can tell, getting design right is very, very hard, and takes a broad commitment to excellence most companies are lacking.
And if one company has very conspicuously ignored design and the basic notion of delighting their users with products that aren't just functionally great but make people fall in love with them, it has been Google.
The design of the latest Chromebook is a huge leap, surpassing manufacturers that have attempted to match Apple for years, and comes completely out of left field from a company has so far shown little sign if even having any feeling for design.