Why is it that some corporations do ugly designs, and others do beautiful? There are countless examples, but I'm going to home in on a couple.

Not long ago Panasonic revealed a new camera based on the 4/3 format. Basically a fairly unexciting camera with an impressive Leica lens. What is exciting is the way it looks. Under the skin, it's just about the same camera as the recently released Olympus e330, but who in their right mind would choose the olympus over the Panasonic L1?

Often cheaper looking designs are cheaper, but I fail to understand who would like cheaper looking objects around them rather than beautiful ones. Good design isn't much more expensive than bad when it comes to mass produced things like cameras and computers. The Olympus is over-designed if anything.

Same story with Apple vs Dell. It's basically the same computer except the Dell is ugly. There's nothing stopping Dell from making computers like Apple's. There's nothing to Apple's design at all, just remove everything that isn't necessary and you're there. I think Apple is a bit boring at the moment, they lack a final touch. But compared to Dell, and all other computer makers, they're design gods. Minimalist, expensive as hell, design gods.

Jonathan Ive, chief designer at Apple, has gone from playful to strict since his first appearance at Apple in the -90s. No other technology company, except maybe B&O, even have a clear design profile. And certainly no other company have an evolutionary design process. Everything from the inside out is well thought out. Even the power cords are a little different, a little better looking. I don't think we would have a better world if everything was designed by mr Ive, but if everything was designed the world would certainly look better.

I hope China will pick up it's past of minute attention to detail, when their economy allows for it. Then we could have dirt cheap home appliances, looking as good as Apple or B&O. After all, if there ever were minimalists, it's the Chinese.