I’ve been writing about Apple and its products for nearly two years now. In this time, I’ve lost count of the number of times I have argued that Apple products are needlessly expensive. Apple charges way more than the reasonable price for one simple reason – because it can. We end up burning our savings simply because there’s a Designed by Apple in California mark on the back.
But now, Apple has taken ripping us off to a whole new level. Introducing, Designed by Apple in California, the Book. Also known as ‘A picture book of Apple products that costs more than an Apple Watch’. Go figure!
Here’s how Jony Ive describes this latest from Apple
While this is a design book, it is not about the design team, the creative process or product development. It is an objective representation of our work that, ironically, describes who we are. It describes how we work, our values, our preoccupations and our goals. We have always hoped to be defined by what we do rather than by what we say.
If you are just as confused as I was by that description, then let me help you out – It’s a catalogue!
The book features 20 years of Apple’s products and how their designed has evolved over the iterations. All in pictures. It’s a glorified history book.
The book contains 450 high-resolution pictures of all the Apple products till date and is “dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs”.
And of course, Apple is going to overcharge the crap out of it. Available in two sizes (Really, Apple, REALLY!?) the books come with a price tag of $299 for the big one and $199 for the small one.
Jeez! 300 dollars (INR 20,000) for a book that’s just a gallery of high-resolution pictures of Apple products! Have these guys not heard of this thing called “the internet” where information is available for free??
Knowing how important aesthetics and design are to Apple, this book receives a good measure of all things beautiful and wonderous. “Designed by Apple in California” is printed on specially milled, custom-dyed paper with gilded matte silver edges, using eight colour separations and low-ghost ink. This linen-bound, hardcover volume was developed over an eight-year period. It is published by Apple.”
Um, What?
Apple fanboys are sure to lash out at me, saying “you’re just jealous you can’t afford it”. Let me put it this way, if I had 20,000 bucks to spend on books, I would much rather buy an entire cupboard full of books that would be a lot more interesting to read.
As much as I would like to continue this rant, there is no way I am going to muster enough sarcasm to match the sincerity in Jony Ive’s sparkling eyes. Just look at this:
Perhaps, Jony Ive can draw some inspiration from the great work he and his team have done in the past, and hopefully, be motivated enough to design breakthrough products in the years to come. Amen to that!
PS: You can download the entire gallery of pictures from Apple’s website.