Whither Liberal Arts?

Ben Thompson offers an interesting analysis of Tuesday’s Apple event launching the new iPad mini with Retina display and the new iPad Air. He suggests the loss of Jobs, then, Forstall has led Apple to move away from its prior human centred design tradition (epitomized by Job’s 2010 iPad launch remark that Apple has “always tried to be at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts“). I disagree, because it is too early to assess the full implication of Apple new software design direction under Ive’s leadership. Granted, I do resonate with Thompson critique that some of Ive’s past designs, such as, his hockey puck mouse for the first iMacs are more about being beautiful than intuitive. Nevertheless, I  think Ive has evolved over the years in his understanding of, and approach to, design. iOS 7 is only the first iteration of a new direction. It is unfinished, and only time will tell if humanism is fading at Apple. I look forward to seeing how this new direction matures over the next few years.