Steve Jobs Defends New iTunes 10 Icon Against Criticism
With the release of iTunes 10 on Wednesday, Apple has revamped the application's icon for the first time in many years, doing away with the traditional design of music notes on top of a CD. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the change at Wednesday's media event, noting that with iTunes likely to surpass physical CD sales sometime next year, it was time to remove the CD from the icon. The icon change has caused mixed responses, however, with some users appreciating the simplified design while others have criticized it as amateurish in appearance.
Wired reports that one user sent Jobs an email criticizing the new logo for its design and abandonment of the iTunes brand that has developed over the years.
Steve,
Enjoyed the presentation today. But...this new iTunes logo really sucks. You're taking 10+ years of instant product recognition and replacing it with an unknown. Let's both cross our fingers on this...
We disagree.
Sent from my iPhone
The new icon is not the only visual tweak included in iTunes 10, as Apple also took the opportunity to move the "stoplight" buttons for closing and resizing the application's window into a space-saving vertical orientation from the standard horizontal orientation. The company also switched to a a more subdued, grayscale pattern for items in the application's left sidebar.
Top Rated Comments
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36 months ago
Everyone here chiming in dismissively with "it's just a logo" or "there are more important things in life" should be aware that they can have that same logic turned against them very quickly whenever they take issue with something....such as...
"It's just a piece of technology..."
"It's just a tech company..."
"It's just a web forum..."
"It's just a phone...don't hold it that way..."
etc...
That sort of dismissive attitude stifles healthy debate and constructive criticism.
Is this logo the most important thing in the world? Of course not. Does it make or break Apple? Nope! BUT....for virtually every Mac user it's a constant presence on their dock at the bottom of their screen. In that respect, I think it looks out of place and gawky.
"It's just a piece of technology..."
"It's just a tech company..."
"It's just a web forum..."
"It's just a phone...don't hold it that way..."
etc...
That sort of dismissive attitude stifles healthy debate and constructive criticism.
Is this logo the most important thing in the world? Of course not. Does it make or break Apple? Nope! BUT....for virtually every Mac user it's a constant presence on their dock at the bottom of their screen. In that respect, I think it looks out of place and gawky.
36 months ago
I like that iTunes logo had a refresh, but it's kinda obsolete so it's disappointing. It could have been more thoughtful. What's the idea behind this logo?
36 months ago
I like the new icon, I hate the interface look however. Especially the yellow playback bar (should have been upgraded a LONG time ago) and grayscale. Both look awful.
Not to mention the lack of a 64-bit Cocoa version. Pathetic.
Not to mention the lack of a 64-bit Cocoa version. Pathetic.
36 months ago
Why didn't anyone freak out over the lack of the disk in the iOS version of iTunes? I see this logo update as just solidifying the cleaner direction they had already began to establish. But then again, this is the kind of thing I do for a living so I don't expect everyone to catch on.
Another level of detail is what is required to render the new icon can be created with css. Look at this example: http://graphicpeel.com/cssiosicons
Another level of detail is what is required to render the new icon can be created with css. Look at this example: http://graphicpeel.com/cssiosicons
36 months ago
I like the new icon, I hate the interface look however. Especially the yellow playback bar (should have been upgraded a LONG time ago) and grayscale. Both look awful.
Not to mention the lack of a 64-bit Cocoa version. Pathetic.
Go here... http://erambert.me/itunes-109/ (http://erambert.me/itunes-109/)
Change it back to the iTunes9 look...
36 months ago
Someone should print out these beautiful user icons (I vote for the purple one) and mail it DIRECTLY to Cupertino.
For a company that's known for elegant design and its design savvy users this iTunes 10 icon clearly dissapoints.
For a company that's known for elegant design and its design savvy users this iTunes 10 icon clearly dissapoints.
36 months ago
I, too, dislike the new styling. The new iTunes looks so dull with the b&w colors. Bring back the color! When listening to music, the light blue and white colors made all the different music easier to read. The icon I don't care about as much, although there was nothing wrong with the first one- don't fix what's not broken!
I completely agree, the new itunes is absolutely hideous! the lack of the blue and white is the worst thing. I mean the ugly menu on the side would be fine if I still had my stripes. It's super ugly. They should've added support for the new mp3 players they made (which is why I assume they updated itunes) but leave the rest alone
icon is just meh, but eh interface is hideous
36 months ago
As a professional graphic designer who is not hired in the united states for various reasons. :mad:
To see this kind of amature logo/icon design by a major corporation .I continue to ask myself. How? The new Itunes logo is horrid and just like everything else now. Its bland, 'depth-less' and isn't even uniform with the other icons. The Mobile me icon sucks too. it's insulting when there are real artists out here who can do so much more. Yet, these companies (Apple, Hollywood, etc) continue to hire people who seem to lack vision or any kind of true abilty to put life into their creations. Everything is external and flat. Empty and lifeless. Its like they hire people who are 'qualified' but lack passion. I think the MBA's in upper managment are the same. Cardboard people who see life in terms of dollar signs.
Walter Disney at WED used artists who had absolutely no formal qualifications. The designer of the famous WDW/DL Monorail never went to engineering college nor had any training in it. However, he did have passion and motivation. Too bad people don't believe in that any more. Thus America suffers as a result. Too bad.
To see this kind of amature logo/icon design by a major corporation .I continue to ask myself. How? The new Itunes logo is horrid and just like everything else now. Its bland, 'depth-less' and isn't even uniform with the other icons. The Mobile me icon sucks too. it's insulting when there are real artists out here who can do so much more. Yet, these companies (Apple, Hollywood, etc) continue to hire people who seem to lack vision or any kind of true abilty to put life into their creations. Everything is external and flat. Empty and lifeless. Its like they hire people who are 'qualified' but lack passion. I think the MBA's in upper managment are the same. Cardboard people who see life in terms of dollar signs.
Walter Disney at WED used artists who had absolutely no formal qualifications. The designer of the famous WDW/DL Monorail never went to engineering college nor had any training in it. However, he did have passion and motivation. Too bad people don't believe in that any more. Thus America suffers as a result. Too bad.
36 months ago
Is it me, or did they change the icon just so they could use it as the dot for the i in Ping?
36 months ago
I actually really like the icon, the thing I do not like at all about the new iTunes though is the black and white. The lack of color is really strange and boring in my opinion.
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