iPhone 4, perfection, but cold

Saw the new iphone 4 today.

It's impressive--just two sheets of glass and a stainless steel surround. Not a fastener in sight.

Flat.

Hard.

Cold.

I didn't love it.

I think the flaw in Apple's "elegant minimal design" is that it lacks personality. It's incredible industrial design and construction--so far ahead of what the competition is doing in terms of design because the others all have all these little pieces and screws and the iPhone is like it's some kind of alien slab or glass. In that way, it is "magical" as Jobs repeatedly called it.

But--in a way--it does feel alien. I didn't feel any emotional connection with it.

I know, it's a device, it doesn't have emotions, but it didn't feel great in my hand (the way the Palm Pre actually does with it's pebble-like roundness).

Thinking it's "Impressive" isn't the same as having an emotional connection

Now, clearly, Apple's already sold like a million or more of the new phone, and if you want your alien slab it's the only real option. Apple is clearly designing "frames for data" but I feel that at some point there's going to be a reaction to this. It's already partly here in cases--people buying cases for the iphone, warm leather, funky zebra pattern, or rhinestone encrusted, or simple silicone skins that feel good.

I think the real breakthrough will be when Apple can take their incredibly elegant designs and give them a personality other than of cold modern architecture. There's warm modern architecture, too.

And the best modern architecture feels good and fits the occupants. The worst modern architecture expects people to fit into it, which they rarely do with much success.

People are animals--we need things we can relate to, things that feel good in our hands.

And, as I wrote when I was interviewed for Gizmodo (with Bruce Stirling, the Fake Steve Jobs, and Yves Behar, who then came out with a watch seemingly inspired by my Reveal watch... hmmm)  I think it'll go towards individualization. Companies always talk about people "showing their personality" though their devices, but that means choosing the color or sometimes some pattern that's really like a skin. Now there are even cases that let you design your own graphics. But what if you could choose your shape?

So--no iphone for me, at least not right now.

Why? I was impressed, but I wasn't moved.