Interesting article and it fits in well with other things I have read about Apple prioritising aesthetics over usability such as articles by Don Norman and Bruce Tognazzini that have been discussed on HN before.
This annoyed me though:
> there is a problem that I call the “Japanese Sword Fallacy”: The Japanese made the best swords in the world, far better ones than anyone else. They were lighter, yet sturdier than their western counterparts, sharp like a razor and so forth.
That is not actually true. They had more amazing sword marking techniques, but these were only needed at all to compensate for the lower quality of their steel. Everyone else (at least Europe, Middle East, South Asia - probably other places too) had at least equally good swords, but because their steel was better the swords were easier to make.
This annoyed me though:
> there is a problem that I call the “Japanese Sword Fallacy”: The Japanese made the best swords in the world, far better ones than anyone else. They were lighter, yet sturdier than their western counterparts, sharp like a razor and so forth.
That is not actually true. They had more amazing sword marking techniques, but these were only needed at all to compensate for the lower quality of their steel. Everyone else (at least Europe, Middle East, South Asia - probably other places too) had at least equally good swords, but because their steel was better the swords were easier to make.