Love
Don’t let the name throw you off. The full product name itself already suggests this is no ordinary alarm clock. It has been a favorite object of mine used every weekday for nearly a decade. Its primary objective is to gradually wake you up with light that simulates a sunrise. If that fails a whimsical tone kicks in at the alarm “set” time just like a normal alarm clock. Mind blown ?.
Even at a remote distance the constant display of time is apparent. Two buttons along the edge map exactly to two small alarm icons on the display. Collectively these visual cues can reasonably help infer the device serves as an alarm clock. Pressing these alarm buttons provides immediate on-display feedback to indicate whether the alarms have been turned on or off. Across the bottom are four unobtrusive buttons that light up only upon approach else they remain subdued. They are semantically mapped to a single word or icon that each serve a specific function. Yet this mapping is sufficient to set the alarm, desired whimsical tone, clock time, and max brightness of the sunrise simulation.
Hate
Generally known for incorporating good usability principles, Apple perhaps didn’t get it quite right with the Apple TV remote. Its function as a remote is easily inferred with a quick glance. Button presses manipulate screen content in a timely manner. So where are the shortcomings? It lies in the lack of any physical constraints to help distinguish orientation and individual buttons which end up affecting a seamless experience. There are a set of users including myself who learn to navigate a remote by tactile feel in order to reach a few critical buttons. Over time looking at the remote becomes unnecessary. For such users the tapered physical shape helps communicate orientation and whether a remote is being held upside down. Differentiated button shapes further help identify the few critical ones that have been learned. The buttons on Apple’s remote are laid out symmetrical with each button being nearly indistinguishable by feel. The remote’s small, symmetrical rectangular shape with a nearly smooth surface across the entire top and bottom don’t provide orientation clues. The result is one must first look to see if orientation is correct and subsequently identify the proper button desired. Yes, this is without a doubt a hash-taggable “#firstworldproblem.”
– by Q aka Alex Duong
I just watched a video on YouTube and got a sense for how that sunlight is simulated. Also it has an inbuilt radio! Sigh, share that dislike for the Apple TV remote (mainly because it slips off into the grooves of the couch rather easily) and never fun to “type” (but more a software problem). Thanks for your post, Q!