There is always an unspeakable sense of discord between Apple's backwardness and Tesla's "grandstanding...

As a country with the largest number of keyboard players, once upon a time we went from Hainan coconut spitting to rural love, from China cool union spitting to huami OV, from papi sauce spitting to Li jiaqi, from design cheap feeling spitting to Chinese aesthetic elements, and then from taking doctrine to spitting to lack of core and soul, even the first domestic box office "Wolf Warriors 2", the third "Wandering Earth" and the second "Nezha" have also been brutally attacked, which shows how high our aesthetic standards for Made in China are.

On the contrary, we do not refuse to come from foreign products, no matter what kind of products can startle a pool of gulls; as for the recent decline in heat, it is often their own internal problems.

Such obvious attitude differences can always set off a bloody storm on the Internet. They are full of hostility, flattery, flattery and bitter words. The key is that their voice is still large and easy to lead to war. It's just a serious discussion. The rampage AOE attacks can always bring lingering shadows.

Therefore, in their overwhelming pursuit of imported goods and unthinking doubts about domestic brands, we not only have to ask what is good, what is bad, what is mediocrity, and what is excellent?

There may still be flaws in the bullets coming from all directions, but as long as the mature foreign design language is quoted from the perspective of "cognitive aesthetics", they always seem to represent the "moon" to destroy you.

Now, when this visible gap has festered and become an incurable "scar"; "Made in China" seems to have changed from a sense of material cheapness to a spiritual low-end symbol.

So, where does this "look up to others" operation come from?

Is our market not mature enough, our culture not confident enough, or is the lack of aesthetic discourse right monopolized in the hands of others?

Of course these are the reasons, but not all.

On the one hand, we have never been on the same starting line, and we have never tied up "patriotism" guided by the market economy, so that the Chinese who once blindly praised "foreign manufacturing" are still full of illusions about them.

On the other hand, with the full invasion of high-tech and luxury goods in Europe and the United States, holding the mouthpiece of international public opinion, they once became a beacon of fascination for some social elites. Under the unswerving promotion of this group of "foreigners", "foreign goods" This kind of thing seems to have been plated with a layer of gold since the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Even if this thin layer of metal is changing from gilt to inlaid gold, from tracing to gilding, and then becoming now more simple and crude trade bans and long-arm jurisdiction.

We have seen the truth of manufacturing in Europe and the United States, and are truly aware of the fragility of manufacturing in China.

Really, we do not reject the precision manufacturing in Germany, the craftsman spirit in Japan, and the high-priced fruits in the United States. We need time to try our best to make up for our shortcomings; but some people have already begun to be jealous of our growth and continue to create various obstacles for us. Under such circumstances, we are really not suitable to continue to "worship foreigners and foreigners". Times have changed.

What's more, putting aside price to talk about quality is playing hooligans.

The IQ tax is just over, and it is euphemistically called everything for faith.

When some domestic consumers face foreign manufacturing, they seldom consider quality, or they have already acquiesced in quality. Next, as long as they can get by, and the price can be reached on tiptoe. Although quality problems emerge one after another, they can always forget quickly.

When they face domestic manufacturing, the first thing they will consider is often the price; the original price is a fraction of that of foreign manufacturing or even a thousand 1%, but they still require that the quality, performance and design should not be too bad, and the worst It must not be found in a short period of time.

This has led domestic consumers to demand too much for foreign manufacturing, giving them a market environment that is too favourable; domestic manufacturing is facing a diametrically opposed situation in which they must produce sufficiently profitable products under extremely stringent production conditions.

One is the rich second generation with a golden spoon, and the other is the poor diaosi with bare feet. Is the gap so obvious.

In the long run, it will inevitably bring about two results:

Foreign manufacturers do not want to make progress, and are slowly dragged into the whirlpool by political, economic, trade union, system and other reasons until euthanasia.

Domestic manufacturing was forced to Liangshan, and all the way to the blue ray gradually rejuvenated in various fields, slowly coming from behind.

Of course, this is only the macro development path between manufacturing in various countries: European and American manufacturing can always be the first to divide up the technological dividend in the leap-forward development, but Chinese manufacturing can only release the market potential of the entire manufacturing system after laying a solid foundation step by step.

It is hard to say whether the current theoretical and physical development has reached the bottleneck, Moore's Law has failed, and the silicon-based economy has reached the top is good or bad for European and American manufacturing and Chinese manufacturing. The only thing we are sure of is that it allows us to reach the level of industrial revolution in Europe and the United States for hundreds of years through decades of reform and opening up. Although there is still a gap, at least we stand on the same starting line in.

In addition to the main plot, there are naturally dragon slayers in fairy tales and barbarians in the market.

Fortunately, there will always be a day when the bubble breaks down. When we consume the innovation dividend of our predecessors and when the market cools down, we will return to rationality.

But no matter how they return, the pain brought by Letv and the storm to the market is still there, and the pain will last for a long time until the next crop of leeks has a more unforgettable nightmare.

Behind this wave of pain, what makes people sad is that we have never believed in the myth of made in China, and China's infrastructure and China's aerospace are too far away from the public. We lack confidence in made in China and lack real identity., But always believe in Jia Yueting and Feng Xin's business model of "painting cakes to satisfy hunger"; I have to say that capital is indeed more blind than manufacturing.


(1)
Tesla: Cyber truck
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If Jobs is the most worshipped person in the field of industrial design, it is the foundation of his trillion-dollar market value for Apple.

So in the field of industrial manufacturing, only Musk is the most fascinating one. It is his personal charm that allows us to see the possibility of immigrating to Mars.

From PayPal to recyclable rockets, from super high-speed rail to commercial spaceports, from star chains to human implantable chips, it can be said that Musk's every step is stepping on the rhythm of mankind's next technological fantasy.

But this time the "cyberpunk" brought us only surprise but not joy.

Cyber truck "dropped the chain" at the scene of the press conference. Two pieces of broken windows can only be regarded as an episode. After the event, the final truth of various detectives and primary school students was not just one; some people have found out the old physical formula to prove that the two pieces of glass are too close together, some people say that the sledgehammer left a dark injury to the car body when hitting the door, some people say that the engineer did not install a bulletproof system at all, and some people say that chapped glass was originally what bulletproof glass should look like......

As for what I believe is Tesla's car insurance advertisement, people just did a "disaster level" marketing. After all, the intact bulletproof glass has no broken glass tap water.

However, the broken glass cannot hide the "heavy metal" smell of Cyber truck. It is too ugly.

Moreover, we are not sure whether the current renderings and real cars will be so different from the seller's show and the buyer's show. We can only be sure that this retro Cyber truck is really not suitable for "hitting the road" because it will definitely not pass the safety regulations and tests. Don't tell me that there are no safety regulations in the United States. The lighthouse of freedom is also afraid of Cyber truck car accidents. The 6% drop in stock price is.

Although Musk announced last Sunday that Cyber truck's order exceeded 200,000 in 4 days, this 200,000 does not explain much. It can only be said that they are interested in listening to a ring with a $100 advance payment. Who knows if there is any follow-up?

However, this has brought back 4% of Tesla's stock price. Obviously, the public needs to cheer up when facing Cyber truck.

Although Musk has always stressed that Cyber truck is an electric pickup truck built according to the prototype of the revolver (Spinner) in Blade Runner, it was released in Los Angeles in November 2019 in the movie. But apart from Musk's movie feelings and the coincidence of time, is Cyber truck the Spinner of "being tucked up?

We won't discuss much about how hard core Cyber truck has. We have also seen Musk's "violent" marketing. The performance, torque and endurance of pickup trucks are quite good, and the price is quite good. However, this industrial design is really hard to say.

This is the first Tesla modified from Lotus Elise, although it was not successful.

The next blockbuster Model S is not only environmentally friendly, but also can crush supercars, but the quality is a bit unsatisfactory.

Model X, which entered the SUV market, was another big success.

The trumpet Model 3 once again helped Tesla move from the edge to the mainstream.

Until now, Cyber truck, should this painting style change so much: the smooth curves of the Model series are completely banned by various geometric edges and corners.

We understand that Musk was originally a "CEO of Internet Red" who did not follow common sense. Especially after the rise of Model series and the unprecedented success of Model 3, Musk completely abandoned the burden of traditional car OEM production and began to go further and further in avant-garde design. I just didn't expect Cyber truck to play "retro" again after staying away from "tools".

Is this really the next generation of "artifact" that Tesla took 7 years to polish?

Why do we only see Musk's boldness but not Tesla's innovation.

Of course, the electric ATV "Cyber quad" as One more thing is still very good.

On November 26, foreign media reported that after the Cybertruck, Musk hinted that a smaller compact version of the Cybertruck might be launched in the future. It seems Tesla is quite satisfied with the design of this model.

But are such "naked cars" really not going to be designed again?

You must know that at a time when traditional models are turning to new energy and taxis are about to grow wings, a pickup truck with only its name and "Mars" is really difficult to stand out from the crowd.



②
Microsoft: Surface Phone
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As the only Internet company that can compete with Apple in market value, Microsoft's existence has always been embarrassing.

Although it occupies the vast majority of positions on the PC side, it seems to be slightly inferior to Apple in terms of profitability, development trend and ecological stickiness. In particular, the former has experienced a "revival" and a major strategic adjustment before ranking "second child in ten thousand years".

Although Microsoft's products once occupied our work, in fact, we don't have much concept of it, especially with iOS as a substitute, we slowly began to think about Microsoft's limitations.

To be honest, although Microsoft's computer system gained a firm foothold when Apple was in a mess, it has always taken the lead. However, this has something to do with Mac's complacency. Especially after Jobs returned, he once again came to the market center with iPhone. Smartphones are used more frequently than computers and have been updated more frequently and more frequently, which makes Microsoft's mobile operating system feel worse, people are the number one player in the market with more than 42%.

Although Microsoft has been trying to be strong, it still cannot resist the iOS camp and the Android camp from marginalizing it.

This time Microsoft abandoned its native system after two or three years of dormancy and installed a Android version of Google's in-depth cooperation with its dual-screen folding mobile phone Surface Duo. The system UI is similar to Windows 10X, which can run Android applications and support Google Play Store applications.

Microsoft said the device will make it easier to integrate the world of computers and mobile phones when it is released 2020 next year.

This means that Microsoft Ecology has formally submitted its "vassal" credentials to the Android camp.

We will not spit out how primitive this double-screen folding method is when the flexible screen, folding screen and surrounding screen are blooming. Although it is indeed hard work to further confuse the boundaries between mobile phones and computers, is Microsoft's intention to inject Surface genes into the mobile phone era too conspicuous.

Although, Microsoft has not been able to take out much in recent years.

Recently, Microsoft was exposed to another Android phone.

This mobile phone can be said to be very Microsoft. There are no bright spots in other places for the time being. Instead, the rear camera design has arranged the Windows's iconic four-square logo.

Of course, at present, the machine only has rendering pictures, all other information has not been revealed, and the hardware parameters are even unknown. However, this does not affect our overall senses of this Surface Phone: it can be said to be quite mediocre, even the Logo is busy adding plays to itself.

We can see that whether it is Duo, a double-screen folding mobile phone Surface, or a full-screen mobile phone Surface Phone, Microsoft has little talent in mobile phone design.

And over the years, Microsoft can let people remember the design in addition to the Surface folding posture, there is only one screen magnetic button (now seems to be found), as for Hololens this kind of things on the shelf we do not evaluate; Other designs are quite plain.

It is no wonder that Jobs commented: "Gates lacks imagination and has never created anything. It is more suitable for charity like this, rather than staying in the technical field".



(3)
Apple: AirPods Pro
○

Although Apple's product design has become more and more casual in recent years, unlike Microsoft, Apple still has some details and it can afford it.

From the trash can in 2013 to the grater and thousands of dollars bracket in 2019, it cannot be said that Apple has not made any progress, at least its market value has doubled. However, in industrial design, Cook's era hardly never surprised fruit powder.

The garbage can has at least an integrated design on the overall structure. The grater is basically "embroidered on the steel plate-showing off the technology". The only thing the bracket can sell is the production process. However, even the production process is difficult for us to understand its artistry.

It can only be said that with such a high price, Apple has once again moved from the public to the professional population.

On the contrary, the iPhone 11, which took the price reduction route, has achieved a rare sales frenzy. It can be seen that after everyone's expectations for Apple's industrial design have decreased, they have gradually become more sensitive to prices.

In recent years, the iPhone, except for a "bang screen", has ordered many heroes. In terms of dual-card dual-standby, wireless charging, OLED screen and multi-camera, it took a year and a half to keep up with the Android camp. The iPhone 11, which requires professionals to disassemble to learn about the exquisite selling points of the three-camera manufacturing process, is really a bit unknown.

The reason why Liu Haibing is impressive is not how good the functional design of Liu Haibing is, but it does not have the visual impact brought by chin to provide a new design idea for the full screen. And this is why Liu Haibing is short-lived on other mobile phones. What we want is never Liu Haibing, but a cooler, more dazzling and more shocking full screen.

When everyone was busy opening the folding screen in the next era of full screen, Apple began to make a fuss about the functional component of rear camera. Although it is quite different from Huawei's camera architecture, it is indeed competitive, but this hidden feature is not as convincing as the dominant feature of "bang screen.

After all, mobile phones are not cameras after all, the important thing is signals. Especially after enough data is piled up in the post-camera of mobile phones, with the popularity of AI cameras, Apple's post-camera iron triangle selling point is even smaller.

The problems of Mac and iPhone have recently been revealed on AirPods Pro, another of Apple's fist products. After all, we had too many unrealistic fantasies about this product that sneaked into the night with the wind.

Frog Design, an American professional creative design company that once designed the first Macintosh for Apple, conceived an open headset concept "Unum" in August ".

It looks good, but it's a bit against wearing it. Why not just make a bone conduction earring?

After that, a new rendering was exposed in October, which seemed acceptable after a long time.

But what was really released was this one, chunky, like a pea shooter.

This makes users who have just become accustomed to the aesthetics of the AirPods generation and the second generation feel uncomfortable.

Although the sales of AirPods Pro seem to be good and the government is full of confidence in it, I seriously doubt that this is the reason for consumer compromise. After all, we can only wait for the next generation to change. This generation is like this.

Once, Apple was able to release enough sincerity in some irrelevant details.

Now, Apple needs consumers to find their own explanations in some vital senses.

It has to be said that this is a huge loss for Apple itself and consumers; when Apple no longer pays attention to details and focuses on the longer-term future, is the industrial design that was once touted by Jobs becoming The exterior design of the Cook era?

Because people have always cared about the commercial premium of Apple's entire ecology, specific to a certain product, it seems that it cannot affect the overall situation.



④
Design cycle
○
As a company with the strongest technological potential and two companies with the largest commercial market capitalization, industrial design seems to be going downhill. This trend is really quite dangerous.

Even if Microsoft is seeking a breakthrough, Apple and Tesla, as benchmarks in the field of smart phones and electric vehicles, have shown a sense of laziness in industrial design for commercial reasons. This negative attitude can easily influence the wind direction of the whole market.

Really, it is hard to imagine that in the first year of 5G they will still hand over such "mediocre" and very semi-finished answers.

I only hope that after the domestic manufacturers get out of the shadow of Letv's storm, they can stride into the era of the Internet of Everything.

Of course, we can't ask an enterprise to innovate continuously, just as we can't ask a genius to create high-quality products continuously. After all, they are just a commercial organization. It is certainly a surprise to design shocking products for us. It is not necessary to worry about turning to conservative and starting commercial operation.

We only need to remember the changes it brings to the whole world, and they plant an old locust in our little heart; then take the initiative to find new innovations and give more encouragement to innovation.

Especially as industrial designers, it is best for us to participate in this "innovation" one after another ".

Times need innovation, and 5G needs revolution.

In this process, from the perspective of the enterprise, we can decompose "revolution" or "innovation" into four links:

Inquiry: When technology first appeared, it showed a certain degree of functionality. When it "extends" outward around the function, it is also closest to the essence of function and technology; it shows disorder.

Radical: After making the initial test, we have a certain understanding of the entire product ecology. At this time, due to the addition of other players, we need new ideas to find breakthroughs; there are certain principles for tackling tough problems.

Maturity: At this time, we have passed the initial stage of competition. With stable users and markets, and unique styles in our products, we can follow suit and continue and enlarge our value; show inclusiveness.

Conservative: The market has changed, or new competitors have emerged. Their development momentum has posed a certain threat to the mature design. At this time, we need to make changes, but a mature enterprise can only run in small steps. There is a burden and a mission.



First: Explore

In the first impression of many people, the iPhone launched in 2007 is an epoch-making product.

But for Apple and the smartphones of the time, the iPhone may not be a disruptive innovation; before it, Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens all made varying degrees of efforts after 2000: in January 2000, the Nokia 7110 brought a large screen, in March 2000, the Motolola A6188 touch screen supported Chinese handwriting input, in December 2000, the Ximen 6688 integrated MP3 mobile storage function, in August 2001, Ericsson T68 brought a color screen, and in October 2002, the Nokia 7650 had a built-in camera five-dimensional rocker slide cover Saipan system......

This time, Apple continued its consistent design aesthetics and integrated the efforts of its predecessors, making it a blockbuster at the press conference.

Other manufacturers did not know that smart phones could still be like this, and Jobs also did not know that iPhone would redefine smart phones, but Jobs saw this possibility and was committed to "realizing" it ".



Second: Radical

Designer Batyrkhan Bayaliev from Kyrgyzstan introduced the concept of collapsible millet Mi Mi AlphaP.

The concept of MIX Alpha is amazing enough. Even if it is not practical enough, we still cannot deny that Xiaomi has set a benchmark for the next generation of mobile phones after the full screen. Even in the era of full screen, Xiaomi still failed to laugh to the end, but the direction it brought to the entire mobile phone market is really worth remembering.

This time Xiaomi Mi Mi AlphaP is an extension of MIX Alpha, which brings us another possibility of screen folding.

Although this folding method is limited to the screen material and is not yet possible, it is better to have an idea than to be blind.



Third: Maturity

The Volvo 360c has no steering wheel, pedals, or even a traditional dashboard; instead, the car is regarded as a working cabin (which can improve work efficiency) or a rest (which allows you to blink during long commutes).

Volvo's consistent design is difficult to surprise people, but the appearance of Volvo 360c shows a rare "open" temperament.

The interior of the car has taken on a new look, but the structure of the whole car has only been adjusted to a certain extent on the roof; this adjustment is not so sharp, and it is not so smooth, and it feels quite comfortable.



Fourth: Conservative

The Shift Red, a one-handed drone designed by TIE(This Is Engineering), weighs only 93 grams (less than half the Mavic Mini), and its controller completely reshapes the operation of traditional drones, with a patent-pending thumb ring and a joystick that tracks the movement of the thumb through a near-field induction ring.

This kind of design, which is no longer entangled in unmanned aerial vehicles but directly transferred to the control mode, is undoubtedly more skillful. It is a routine operation for enterprises with technology accumulation and capital attack. It obviously broke the inertia of the industry first, but it is difficult to highlight the courage that subverts should have.

Although the control method is unique, the overall design does not have much to shine.

After all, the control of the joystick is just a routine "implantation" across the border.

Obviously, Tesla has reached a radical stage, Microsoft is still at the door of maturity, and Apple is on a conservative path.

But one thing in common is that the current products of the three show a certain degree of functionality, and the newly released products are trying to shape a simpler and more intuitive "functional feature"; the appearance design is not so amazing, and the whole structure is obviously subject to its functional expectations.

At first glance, this kind of research and development design, structural design is limited, and the "functional" design with more emphasis on appearance is not so amazing. However, it has to be mentioned that their plates are neat and it is difficult to find faults in limited details. The underlying relationship has not completely betrayed the constituent principles of modern design, so strictly speaking, they are not ugly or mediocre, it's just that the spirit of the product itself is not so positive and bright.

This may also be Tesla and Apple's cocoon. They have brought new standards to the industry, making beauty design mainstream, and they have more or less participated in the shaping of this mainstream aesthetic.

When the aesthetic of the general public has improved to a certain extent, the aesthetic growth of the products they provide has not had time to catch up, which will naturally produce a sense of discord.

Although it can be seen that one or two "lagging" products occasionally appear in the mainstream aesthetics, the designs around them, those that have led the trend, all show a state of "mental malaise", which is very problematic.



PS: Some data comes from @ Zhihu @ yankodesign