"The Perfect Thing" Questions

1. What elements of the design process does this article illustrate? 
Fadell presented three different ideas to Jobs, knowing two would fail. Each had gone through many tests to figure out which one was the best. The team specifically tested to see if the ipod could survive many falls from different heights. They also looked at other similar products and evaluated them to find their strengths and weaknesses. Fadell combined a large amount of memory with a long battery life and a small size.

2. What factors would you use to evaluate a "perfect thing"?
A perfect thing has to be easy to use. While using it you shouldn't question why something like a menu is set up the way it is. A perfect thing should not be able to preform extra tasks that no one ever uses. If extra things exist they should perform as well as the main function. A perfect thing can be customized by the user in both function and looks. It should have the ability to evolve.

3. Whether you own an iPod or not, you probably have some opinions of the product. What do you feel are its strengths and weaknesses. 
IPods are easy to use. The click wheel is very intuitive and it has very few buttons. They are also always evolving. My got my first ipod 5 and a half years ago, it was a blue nano. I remember wishing there was a way to search. 2 years later I upgraded to a classic because I needed more space and was happy to find an easy to use search feature. There is also a great deal of variety in the ipod line up. The shuffle is available for people who only want music and not a lot of it. The ipod touch is good for watching movies and using apps. The classic is great for a large music collection. It is profitable for Apple to come out with new ipods often because many people want to get the new, best edition. Ipods are a lot more expensive than other mp3 players, but so many people are willing to pay it that it is not really an issue. Getting a new ipod can be confusing at first if some of the menus are moved around. Since my last switch the alarm clock moved from "clock" to "extras". After about a week these changes become unnoticeable.