The amazing Apple design brand

Robert Scoble, talking about the Xbox 360, said the fact that Engadget said it was "going to be only game in town" was evidence of the brand damage done to Microsoft by shipping products which were not done as well as the Xbox 360. In other words, Microsoft have it in them to release incredible goods, but often don't take the care to produce them.

The really interesting quote though is the following:

How deep is that brand damage? Well, when the team showed me the Xbox for the first time they said "looks like something Apple designed, huh?"

Apple have always been strong on design, and have always had a coherent brand, but this is an incredible vindication of that approach: to have the Microsoft team proud of a product and refer to is as 'looking like somethink Apple designed'. Wow.

Of course Scoble's reply was 'No, it looks better'.

Even if it does though - it'll take more than one product to redress the gap between MS's design ethos and Apple's...