Lightness: Emblem

Directly after I finished Lightness: Calvino’s Quality, I knew what my emblem for this quality should be: an iMac. The product itself is physically very light but it has the power of a work-horse: 8GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, super fast graphics cards, and efficient wifi cards…

But the concept of Lightness with this iMac goes much deeper. It is the perfect example of thoughtful lightness as opposed to frivolous lightness and every time I think of Lightness, I think of an iMac. As I explained in my Analogy post, the inner machinations of a computer can become very complicated very quickly. However, when you use any OSX device, you are not overwhelmed by it’s intricacies. The user interface is so intuitive that it’s operational for a 7-year-old and a 70-year-old. Obviously, I’m a biased user; I know there are PC’s out there that have the qualities of Lightness, but Apple products consistently portray this quality. I did a bit of surgery on my own MacBook Pro pretty recently and I was surprised with how beautiful the computer looked when the back casing was taken off. I’ve opened up PC’s before and looked into their dusty depths, so I know that there isn’t a comparison.

When you open up an Apple product, it looks like a puzzle. Everything has a very very specific place and everything fits in with the least amount of wasted space. After looking at the insides of an iMac, you can’t image that the parts could be arranged any other way. Everything about this product is smooth, finished, calculated, and clean. Even though the computer can be complicated, it doesn’t seem that way.

Lightness: Analogy

As explained in my post, Lightness: Calvino’s Quality, something that has the quality of lightness can appear very complicated. However, when one steps back and evaluates from a different perspective, it will seem light. In order to explain this in more detail, I will use the analogy of the interplay between hardware and software.

In Calvino’s memo on Lightness, he mentions the relationship between computer hardware and software and I think it works best to look at it in a positive light and to expound upon it. So let’s think: You take a look at your basic PC. It looks pretty simple from the outside. It looks like a black case and a square screen. However, upon further inspection, things can become much more complicated very quickly: the simple black case contains so many infinitely intricate pieces and wires.

However, when you sit down and start working with the unit, it is easy to access the internet and perform simple tasks. Just because something may be very complicated, it is not necessary to know all of the specifics if it has the quality of lightness.