I wrote this over a year ago, but for some reason I never posted it. Since writing this, Creative Suite has been released for Intel Macs along with the Multi-Touch trackpad for the MacBooks.

As I work on my four year old G4 I can’t help but imagine that graphic designers are becoming useless to the likes of Apple and to a certain extent Adobe. I can think of very few software or hardware upgrades that were made in the last couple of years that have made our job significantly faster, better or easier. Sure we will be able to work faster when Adobe comes out with software that is ported for Intel machines, but do we really need anything much faster? When it seems that iTunes takes up about as much processor speed as Photoshop, I realize that it is not designers that are driving the technology anymore. So what industry is driving the market for faster computers? The obvious answer is video.

I have to admit that I love new technology and software just as much or more than the next guy. But many times I agree with those nay-sayers that argue that we don’t need software beyond Photoshop 7 and InDesign CS. Unless you are in the market for more filters and better drop shadows, what have we really gained from the last several Adobe upgrades?

So what can these companies do to generate a little more need (as opposed to sheer want)? As you might have gathered from the above graphic, I am hoping for iPhone multi-touch technology in the next generation of iMacs. If Apple takes away the mouse and keyboard and truly connects the designer to their computer, then the designer demand will be unstoppable. Then we will all be closer to feeling what the early twentieth century typesetters felt when they physically locked up that type in the chase. I know Apple wouldn’t be the first to have touch screen computers, but as they have proven with the iPod, you don’t have to be the first … just the best. Wasn’t it Malcolm Gladwell that pointed out that the originators and extreme innovators usually fail? Sometimes the market isn’t ready and primed for a certain innovation. For example, the Newton.

Since Apple appears to have mastered the multi-touch technology, when will we see it in their computer line? Jobs did make a special effort to note that this technology was heavily patented. Is it time that Apple starts paying a little more attention to the loyal designer base and work with Adobe and others to deliver a truly innovative product? Here’s to “pinching” instead of (command) + (+) or grabbing that antiquated old magnifying glass.

Sites all over the internet are reporting that Toshiba is finally, finally pulling the plug on HD-DVD. Thank GAWD. Not that my wife is going to allow me to pick up a Blu-Ray player anytime soon, they are still far too expensive, and the movies are even more overpriced than DVDs.

It’s WIRED, though, that offers the best assessment of the situation: “This leaves Blu-Ray as the presumptive victor in the irrelevant optical disk format war. It now must face up to the real competition: the continuing success of DVD and the growing popularity of downloads, both on the internet and on-demand cable TV.”

Well, that’s all well and good. I personally still prefer to have a physical disc that I can take around, watch on my computer, watch on my TV, watch whenever the hell I want to, as opposed to say, getting a 30-day window to watch something one time over a 24-hour period that is only actually available on your newest line of products so fools like me that spend $5 on them get shafted by your staunch refusal to either refund my money or support my still-functioning fifth-generation iPod. Dicks.

As a current at&t customer I visited at&t’s website last week to see how much it would add to my monthly bill. I couldn’t find any info about the iPhone anywhere on the site. I am not sure if I just didn’t look in the right places or if it wasn’t there, but it surely wasn’t being promoted. Think about that: The iPhone, the hottest product on Earth, was not visible on at&t’s website! Unbelievable.

Today I checked back at at&t’s site and saw that the homepage finally has a small blurb about the iPhone. You can find it right above the disclaimers. Click on the homepage button and you are directed to at&t’s wireless page. It is a Frankenstein hybrid of at&t logos and Cingular’s old site. Not to cut at&t any slack, but they are obviously going through a transition as they absorb the remains of Cingular. It looks to me like they just did a “find and replace” on Cingular’s website and switched out some logos. In contrast to Apple’s iPhone web pages, this is a cluttered mess. By the time they finally redirected me to Apple’s site I had three browser windows open and more questions than answers. Luckly, Apple’s website does a fantastic job of explaining things and simplifying the process.

[One funny sidenote about at&t is that they don't own www.at&t.com. Don't believe me? Type it in for yourself and see what you get. This isn't an oversite, rather it is a limitation of the internet. You can't register a domain name with a symbol (like an ampersand) in the name. I would love to know how much web traffic at&t loses and how many customers get frustrated every day by having such a poorly designed company name.]

The at&t website is actually not as bad as the at&t store experience. These are Cingular stores that are slowly transitioning to at&t stores and they are pretty much a clutter of Cingular leftovers combined with both new and old at&t logos. It is no wonder that Apple came up with an elegant solution to help their customers avoid these stores all together. When you purchase an iPhone you can activate it at your convenience. This is done simply and quickly through iTunes.

The launch of the iPhone went relatively smoothly. The only major flaw in the system was due to, you guessed it, at&t. People are complaining about really long activation times. With months of time to prepare for the surge of iPhone activations it is unacceptable to be caught unprepared. The tragedy of the whole Apple and at&t partnership is that despite the incompetance of at&t they still benefit from the iPhone. If you want the best phone on the market you have to put up with at&t. We can only hope that some of Apple’s design sense rubs off.

Update: I got a mailing today from at&t. It is a 16 page 8.5 x 11 brochure talking exclusively about at&t’s wireless service. Absent from the entire piece is even the smallest mention of the iPhone. Somebody must not have gotten the iPhone memo.

Oh Apple. Why dost thou hate me so? I am the very cheery color of the sun and a myriad of flowers around the globe. I am in almost every fast food logo, and I am many people’s favorite color. I could go on and on, but I am a color that should need no introduction. I am in fact a primary color. If you think about it, there are only two colors that are equal to me.

I can try to understand why you have picked blue for your product colors more often than any other (nine in my very rough estimate), but can’t you let me shine every once in a while? Why did you not use me when the rest of the rainbow was represented in your original iMac line? Not since you stripped the color from your original logo have I been able to show my stuff.

Shall I move on to Red? Such an angry color if you ask me. And you seem to reserve this loaded color for special moments. Why can’t you use me to symbolize a super rock band or a great social cause? How ’bout a Beatles iPod now that you are on good terms with those Apple folks in England? Maybe a “support your troops” Nano?

I would like to bring to your attention to a secondary color that has been nearly as neglected as I. Purple is my close complement and we have formed an exploratory commission into the facts behind the conspiracy against our unique color combination. Why not use us together? It seems to work for the Lakers.

You have used Orange a good deal and most recently with the newly released colorful Shuffles. I suggest you just go with the pure color by taking out a little red. Orange is just a tainted version of yours truly. Your logo is an apple not an orange. Think about it.

Let’s move on to pink. What is there to say about pink? First off, pink isn’t even one of the original colors in your logo. I was! Secondly, why use such a one-sided color? Why exclude the loyal male consumer with watered down red? Women like yellow and the boys don’t have nearly as negative of a reaction to me as they do Pink.

I won’t even get into your most favorite color choice. No color at all??? Black? White? Silver? Give the people some color. Come on Mr. Jobs, even your jeans are blue (how ’bout getting a colorful shirt next time).

And I will finish my petition with a look at green. You seem to prefer green almost as much as you do blue. Every major color product has had some version of green. Didn’t you learn from the ’70s that green does not age well? Isn’t Apple going for timeless? I will continue to do my job to turn a blue into green, but I will not do so happily. With everyone jumping on the environmental green wagon, I suggest you distance yourself from a color that is being so overused that the backlash is just around the corner.

So please Apple do not neglect me anymore. And don’t try to tell me that I was used in the first line of iPod Minis. I may be a part of Gold, but I am not gold. If Gold can make it onto a Mini and those strange patterns on an iMac, why can’t you give me a chance? Give me a chance!!! I will be the brightest star in your next product lineup. Mr. Ive and Mr. Jobs, I will leave you a few visual suggestions.

Sincerely,

Yellow

Bennett received an email from a slightly depressed and fairly angry yellow several days ago, and is pleased to be able to share the innermost thoughts of Yellow. Yellow would appreciate its privacy in this time of crisis. Please contact designer [at] benettholzworth [dot] com if you would like to communicate with Yellow.

Other near-winning headlines for this article were:

“I Feel Like a Caveman For Using Phone Numbers.”

“Your Video iPod Sucks,” and

“Who The Hell is Going To Want Anything Else Ever Again?”

I was expecting the iPhone. I was expecting a widescreen iPod. I was not expecting them to be the same damn thing with fully functional web and email, widgets, and earth-shattering awesomeness packed in and the ability to use all of those feature simultaneously. Seriously. I mock everyone who has lived their lives from Blackberries to this point. I laugh out loud when I think of Microsoft’s‚Ķ what did you call that? I feel like a caveman for using phone numbers to call people which now feels so akin to typing in an IP address instead of a URL. To that point, aren’t URLs just about obsolete? (you can’t have that idea, Steve, its mine.)

Apple didn’t reinvent the phone like Steve Jobs claimed. It kicked unholy kinds of ass all over the phone.Be sure to watch the product demos on apple.com. They’re better than sex.

There’s also the Apple TV, which syncs wirelessly to your home computer (via iTunes) and brings anything and everything you have on there to your television in high-definition. But it doesn’t act as a Tivo, which I was hoping for. In business theory, I suppose I wouldn’t have much of a reason to buy TV shows from iTunes if I could record them effortlessly. Dang.

Okay, we’re a little late on this one, but for some fun Monday-afternoon viewing, scope out the newest Get A Mac spots (sadly Gisele-free this time, fellas). And for an even more enjoyable experience, check them out in Japanese! No, we don’t speak Japanese either, but it translates pretty well even without understanding the dialog. Note the slight character differences between the far corners of the globe‚Ķ

File this under “something to do in your free moments” today.

New “Get A Mac” ads. And oh, what the heck? All the Get A Mac Ads. Just for fun. My favorite is still the too-true, too-funny “Network” ad, but “Better Results” definitely has a certain je ne sais quois about it‚Ķ

Inspired by Be A Design Cast 19.

Designers everywhere pulled a proverbial Pavlov earlier today when Apple announced its 13″ MacBook Computer. In black. Now your 2Ghz portable life can match your designer black glasses, black shoes, black shirt, black leather jacket, black leather pants, black leather socks, black hair, black underwear, black iPod, black house, black car, black black and half-caf mocha cinnamon hazelnut latt√©‚Ķ wait, I mean, black coffee.

Or you can buy a white one. Pavlov, if you please?

DING!

This movie is too funny not to to share with the group. It is a video of what would happen if Microsoft were to redesign the packaging of the iPod. It is worth it just to read the client feedback throughout the video. Gems like, “Let’s make better use of this space” are so funny it hurts.

(If you have trouble seeing the video, that is because it got dugg. You might be able to find an alternative link over at Digg, though.)