Today’s philosophical discussion is on the subject of beauty and reincarnation. Specifically, beauty as it is beheld by those who adore their smartphones and reincarnation as it involves Steve Jobs.
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, has pronounced that Android’s operating system is uglier than Shrek from behind.
No, he didn’t quite say that. However, The Verge tells me that Woz declared in an interview with Dan Patterson and the co-author of his autobiography, Gina Smith, that Windows Phone is like being “with a friend, not a tool.”
Some of my tools can be remarkable friends at times — and vice versa. However, what Woz appears to be getting at is that he finds Windows Phone’s interface to offer considerable aesthetic pleasure. And he believes that someone hired away from Apple must have been a part of this design.
Oh, and he also thinks that Microsoft must have reincarnated Steve Jobs. No, really.
He contrasted Windows Phone’s attractiveness to that of Android in fairly stark terms. He said that there is “no contest” between Windows Phones and Androids when it comes to the sheer, you know, experience. He described Androids as “more awkward.”
Woz does like to say nice things about life, the world, and several different phones. However, after the interview was over, he did post a comment to the A New Domain site to clarify and perhaps temper his apparent enthusiasm for Windows Phone.
“iPhone is my favorite phone. I did give my opinion that the Windows 7P phone had superior visual appearance and operation cues that were also more attractive. In my opinion, it sets the mark for user interface,” he said.
He believes, though, that Apple must be behind Windows Phone’s prettiness.
He said : “I would recommend it (WP) over my Android phones…. I surmise that Microsoft hired someone from Apple and put money into having a role in the UI and appearance of some key apps.”
You must still think I was kidding about the reincarnation of Steve Jobs.
But, no. For here is the last element of his comment: “I also surmised that Steve Jobs might have been reincarnated at MS due to a lot of what I see and feel with this phone making me think of a lot of great Apple things.”
There is surely no higher praise than that. Someone at Microsoft must be glowing today — and then practicing how to shout at people to get even better.
[Cnet]
