As a Christmas gift from a couple of years ago, I received the book ‘Laws of Simplicity' written by John Maeda and have since read it a number of times. It is, first of all, a really good read with the author sharing with us a lot of his invaluable experience as a designer and lecturer at the MIT. He constructs and shares with readers a list of ‘laws' in which he refers to regularly throughout any design process. One of which is extremely interesting as it points out the current consumers' buying habit, in which they are attracted to products that are technically advanced but yet simple to manipulate. The first thing that comes into my head while reading this passage is the success currently enjoyed by Apple is based entirely on this theory.

  As we all know, the story began with the introduction of the Mac computer series and the iPod. As I look around the public place in which I am currently sitting, majority of the people are using a Mac (I am in the minority but I do own a Mac desktop) and listening to music on their iPod. The phenomenon reaches its peak when Apple launched the iPhone and looks to expand its market yet further with its new iPad (although I truly believe this is simply a cashing in gadget with no real usage, can you imagine yourself using one of those on a bus journey home during the rush hour?).

  It is safe to say that most, if not all, Apple products are technically brilliant but what brings them their unprecedented success is its ability to hide away all its technical functionality and pack them all in a small, simple exterior shell. This clean appearance design and manipulation simplicity is exactly what the consumers look for in this day and age. Everything needs to happen in an instant, most people no longer have the patience to, for example, read through the user menu for their home entertainment system. Subconsciously, we are all expecting the new technologies to sort everything out for us and operate through the touch of a button; we tend to get rather frustrated if it doesn't.

  To avoid being irritated by technology, maybe it is time for us to go back to the basics, a time when we were always in control of our activity. Remember there was a time when mobile phones were merely devices that allow us to make phone calls and send short messages? Sony Ericsson has recently rolled back the years and released the beautiful ‘Xperia Pureness' handset. As its name stated, it is purely a phone that focuses on its essentials. It has mobile Internet but with its elegant, scratch-resistant, one colour, translucent screen, it is obvious that web browsing is low on its agenda. This is purely a phone.