By Rain Noe
I'd argue that in order to design effectively, designers have to live in the real world, rather than hunker down in carefully curated studios. The danger of achieving great success and wealth is that those things can isolate you from the experiences of common people, and particularly the imperfection of their situations.
Apple has made their share of Ivory Tower gaffes. Remember the brouhaha over their HomePod speaker leaving indelible rings on wood surfaces? You couldn't help but feel the designers had only ever tested the product on a stainless steel or glossy laminated surface.Their latest design error is just as bad, maybe worse. It's to do with the optional, $100/each wheels for their Mac Pro. Marcus Brownlee demonstrates:
Yep, no locking mechanism. I bet the floors of Apple's design studios are dead flat. Me, I don't think I've ever lived in an apartment that didn't have sagging floors. The fact that the Mac Pro, which starts at $6,000, might roll away either never occurred to them, or they felt that a locking mechanism would ruin the aesthetic of those sleek, hubless wheels.
