my heart broke today when i opened world clock on my iphone after the latest 10 point whatever ios update. i was staring at a black panel instead of the lovely soft white one with clock faces on it, which i could change to numbers at a touch, if i so desired. now a grim black with reverse type and though the font is the same, uff the aggression of it in reverse.

like an idiot, i pressed all sorts of things hoping i could change the look. actually, nothing about the new features feels right. neither concept. not design. why would i want the whole world to know exactly who sent me what message and said what? why would i want those strange panels pretending to be iphone design coming up on my phone in a series and just sit there?

when steve jobs died, i knew something was gone forever. been working on fairly low end apple computers for a long time and even these are fascinating… easy, intuitive, part of you. no sudden ugh graphics, no stiffness, no distance.

held on to my iphone 5, the last one steve jobs launched, for as long as i could. then got this 6s. it’s already chipped at the corner… i drop phones at times, the 5 didn’t get preferential treatment, it’s still intact.

sensing a decidedly alien touch to the iphone, i actually googled “has jonathan ive left apple?” just now and read of the fancy promotion that takes him away from the actual designing of things… such a horrible feeling.

one mustn’t feel so emotional about a phone, yes. there are many things to really feel terrible about, yes. i know. and yet, when greatness goes, i can’t help but feel rotten. yes yes, it’s only an iphone… maybe finally, i will look at other brands. but i’ll never forget mr jobs… my eight year old imac desktop still going strong. and that partnership of steve jobs and jonathan ive that created more than just magic.

a friend just reminded me on facebook that i didn’t even like handphones. i grinned. it’s true, i had refused to get a phone for the longest time. one fine day, irritated at something someone said, i went and got one, mainly to establish it wasn’t such a big deal. it was a nokia phone. really simple and kind of neat. a white one. the iphone hadn’t been created as yet. really, did i expect to fall so hard for a phone. but then, that’s the whole point. 

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