<story><title>Quality is Fractal, from restaurants to software. </title><url>http://www.contrast.ie/blog/the-thickness-of-napkins/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>ajross</author><text>This is a nice piece on aesthetics, right up to the last bit where it talks about technology and veers off the cliff.&lt;p&gt;The example simply makes no sense.  In what way is a laptop with (gasp) modular panels and air vents (the horrors!) of lower quality than the apple thing?  Modularity is good, it allows piecewise replacement of parts by untrained (or less trained) service personnel. Air vents are good, because they keep the CPU cool.  Clean design is good too, because it makes people happy.  What we have here is a collision of design goals, not a quality metric.&lt;p&gt;The author is trying to make a purely aesthetic point (Apple laptops look pretty) and extend it to one of hardware (and even software) quality.  But that fails, because &quot;quality&quot; isn&apos;t always about aesthetics.  It&apos;s about practical concerns.  Maybe the Mac aesthetics are a net win, even at a $200 premium; maybe they&apos;re not.  Maybe better ventilation is important; maybe it&apos;s not.</text></comment>
<story><title>Quality is Fractal, from restaurants to software. </title><url>http://www.contrast.ie/blog/the-thickness-of-napkins/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>kingkawn</author><text>When I worked as an Emergency Medical Technician I observed that nursing homes who regularly trim their residents&apos; toenails are always of significantly higher quality.</text></comment>