Apple’s iOS 7 saw it’s major rollout last week. Millions of people upgraded and suddenly had a new phone. There were some features added, but what really makes iOS 7 different? From the very first iPhone in 2007, why is this the most notable iOS change to date?
Because it got rid of one thing. Skeuomorphs.
BEGIN SKEUOMORPH EXPLANATION: Skip down if you don’t need this.
What is a skeuomorph? It’s when new design deliberately retains the appearance of former design necessities. Examples will be more helpful here than further definition or description.
Why does this metal and plastic car have a wooden veneer? It’s a skeuomorph. We design like this for a couple reasons. Nostalgia is one. It gives a “classic” feel, like something that’s stood the test of time. The other reason is more functional: Recognition. Skeumorphs make the work of introduction and explanation less necessary. I know what it is and how it works, because it looks like another thing that I’m already familiar with.
Up until recently, Apple was the heaviest user of the skeumorph of any product designer in the world. It was woven througout their design. Here are just three examples in iOS6 app icons.
What do you see here? Leather and stitching. A folder with tickets. One *very* old fashioned television. We recognize them right away, because these materials and devices have been around for at least decades, spanning the better part of a lifetime. We’re comfortable with them. We don’t question them. We understand them.
But for anybody under thirty, and probably many under forty, these metaphors stop working. I’ve never owned a knob dial television. The only time I’ve used one was at my grandfather’s house in rural Canada, where there were, in total, three channels to watch. Frequently all three were playing hockey. It’s probably not a memory any business wants to rely on to communicate their message.
The implicit imagery instruction isn’t necessary. I’ve been using YouTube for 8 years now. I don’t even own any TV.
I’m a digital native. If you’re reading this, more than likely, so are you.
That’s why with iOS 7, the skeuomorph has been done away with. Icons are no longer lit with artificial light. They don’t give the appearance of physical badges or buttons. And we won’t see any digital interface passing itself off as an item from your dead-wood-physical desk at home.
END SKEUOMORPH EXPLANATION
So what does any of this have to do with bitcoin? Well, like I said, I don’t own a TV. I’m a digital native, and I watch Netflix, Hulu, and mostly YouTube.
You know what else? I don’t carry cash.
My whole adult life, I’ve carried credit or debit cards, and increasingly I don’t even use those as much. I prefer online banking and money trasfer services like PayPal or Venmo. I undestand those services. They make sense to me. I’m accustomed to them. I’m a digital native. So are you.
Cash is a skeuomorph. It looks and feels like a bank note exchangeable for deposited precious metal. It’s not. The US dollar hasn’t been backed by precious metals since the Nixon administration. Whether people know it or not, they’re already using virtual currency. We just don’t need the metaphors and stand-ins anymore.
It probably wasn’t intended, but Apple’s aim at the digital native supports the notion that it’s time for bitcoin; time for a digital native currency.