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SKEUOMORPHISM: A design feature copied from a similar feature in another device.

Skeuomorphism: it's not a word you used to hear. It's not even a word you find in the dictionary, unless your dictionary is the kind that needs an entire shelf to itself. But the tech press has been hailing Apple's skewering of skeuomorphism on the iPhone and iPad in previews of the upcoming iOS 7. What the heck is skeuomorphism and why is it so unpopular?

The term itself originates in archaeology and is over a hundred years old. When something originally made with one material or technique is remade with a new material or technique, necessary features of the old version are often copied across for decorative purposes in the new version. Those features are skeuomorphs: think of the fake stitching on plastic shoes to emulate leather work, the long skirt of a screw-top wine cap that resembles the foil of a cork-top and light bulbs shaped like candle flames.

Skeuomorphism often comes about when the new version is trying to emulate the cachet of the existing version - like the fake stitching on shoes. Sometimes it's a kind of design inertia as the move to newer techniques leaves designers scrambling to keep up, like the way electric kettles used to resemble their stove-top counterparts.

In computer software, skeuomorphism comes up when tasks that were previously done with physical objects are transplanted into the digital realm. The digital version is usually an analogy of the pre-digital way of doing things. This is how we came to talk about desktops, files and folders on computers, even though nobody would confuse a folder on a computer for a manila one.

If you carry the analogy too far you end up copying things that have no function in the digital version and skeuomorphs can result: numeric readouts that mimic the display of a digital watch, calculator apps that squeeze the abilities of a modern computer into the familiar grid of a real pocket calculator and media players sporting knobs with the appearance of brushed metal are just a few examples. Until now Apple's iOS software has been full of this kind of thing: games are organised on an imitation green baize table, notes are made on an imitation yellow paper pad, e-books selected from imitation wooden shelves, and so on. All that's gone with iOS 7.

A few contrarians have questioned whether the changes to iOS 7 eliminate skeuomorphism or just trade one set of skeuomorphs for another - there is imitation glass and metal in the new version, after all. But skeuomorphism was never really the problem anyway: it's just a high-falutin' word critics latched on to to express their disdain. People didn't like the cutesy real-world textures because they were out of step with current aesthetic tastes. Now the offending look is gone, and people are happy, regardless of whether those features - or their replacements - are skeuomorphic.

Skeuomorphism just clouded the issue. Now that the word has done its job maybe we can put it back in its box and let Apple dump it along with all the bolts of green baize, unwanted bookshelves and yellow note pads.

- Fairfax NZ News

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Skeuomorphism? Big word for simple concept