Unless it’s horrible, I don’t sugar my coffee too much. Too sweet and it becomes sugar water. Too bitter and drinking becomes torturous. Just a little bitter, because it forces me to consider the drink each and every time I take a sip – instead of mindlessly consuming it, the coffee becomes meditation; asking me to focus and be aware of it as I’m drinking.

I hated the new U.S.S. Enterprise ever since I saw it in the Star Trek reboot. Its nacelles burgeoned, its lower hull jutted too much forward and tapered way too much back. Where the old Enterprise NCC-1701 was an elegant, white seagull, the new Enterprise was a fat, obnoxious pelican that looked like it couldn’t stand on two legs.

The original Enterprise, a beauty of design.

The new USS Enterprise.

And yet, something kept making me look, and look, and look at it again.

It was just bitter enough to force me to consider it every time I looked at it.

My brother bought me the new Enterprise toy for my birthday, not suspecting the geeky design angst I was having over the imaginary starship. At last, I thought, this incessant tug to look at the ugly pelican could be satisfied, as I placed the toy model on my work desk.

The Enterprise sat there innocuously, and I would glance over at it from time to time. Every time I did it challenged me to consider it. Why did I dislike it so? Could I articulate it? Was I sure? Was it beyond redemption? Why did so many people like it? Could I not see the beauty in it? Was there any at all?

As the days rolled by, something inexplicable happened – I began to appreciate the new Enterprise for what it was. I discovered elegance in its sweeping lines. I saw the strength in the large nacelles. I realized where the slants and tapers gave it a keen sense of speed. It was beautiful, it just hadn’t been beauty I was used to. A perception had shifted inside me, unbeknown to myself. By forcing me to think, really think about it, the Enterprise had helped me become more, to see what I couldn’t see before.

That’s why I like my coffee a little bitter.

1. The Tools You Love Help You Love
2. Burger Bench & Bar
3. The Curious Case of the Missing Dragons

I am loving this quote by John Gruber:

Figure out the absolute least you need to do to implement the idea, do just that, and then polish the hell out of the experience.

Although he’s talking about iPhone user interface design in that post, to me that quote epitomizes the essence of Apple’s product designs. They’re made as simple as possible without crossing into becoming simplistic, and what’s included is worked over thoughtfully to make it the best it can be.

1. Fruits of Your Mind