Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

There are people in this world who violently hate brushed metal. They bitch and gripe about it and take any opportunity they can to beat this tired, trivial topic to death yet again. If they took all the energy they consume actively hating brushed metal and invested it in more useful pursuits, we’d be curing cancer on Mars right now (and Earth). Personally, I’m indifferent to it. I don’t especially like it, but I don’t dislike it either. I’ve noticed that different apps use different variations of the brushed metal skin, but I don’t really care.

What I do like, however, is the unified theme that Apple introduced with Tiger. I like it so much, I downloaded Uno, a simple script installer that backs up the system graphics that make up Aqua and replaces them with graphics that turn just about every app into a smooth, simple, semi-white-to-light-gray gradient. Did I mention I like it?

I’ve showed this change to about a dozen people who are Mac users or who are more than passingly familiar with the OS X GUI. The group consists of an unscientific mix of persons who have either complained about brushed metal, or have never mentioned it. Here’s how every conversation has gone so far:

Me: Hey, take a look at this Safari Window.

Notice anything different about it?

Them: [staring at the screen closely] Um… nope. What am I supposed to be looking for?

Me: Ok, that’s fine. How about this iPhoto window.

Anything stand out?

Them: Nope, not that I can tell. Is this a trick question?

Me: How about one more?

Them: It looks the same as it always did. Why are you wasting my time?

Me: Last one.

Them: I’m leaving.

Not one person has noticed that anything has changed. There was no acknowledgment that anything looked at all different. Those who dislike brushed metal never commented that it wasn’t there. Admittedly, this survey is far from scientific and has no real probative value beyond what I place upon my own anecdotes. With all the irrational dislike directed toward brushed metal, I expected a different reaction.