Ok I realize I’m late to the party here, but I just saw ‘Inception’ and while I really enjoyed it, there were a few things that to me did not make any sense. For me it’s important for speculative fiction to be internally consistent. Let me know in the comments if you agree /disagree or if you have more plot holes to add.

SPOILER ALERT. Obviously this post is full of spoilers, so don’t read it if you are one of the few people who have not yet seen the movie.

1. When Cobb’s crew first get to the level 1 dream we are told that if they die in the dream their brain will turn to mush since the chemist used some new ‘stronger’ prescription. Presumably this is to make the action sequences become meaningful. But – later on at the bottom level Saito is convinced to shoot himself in order to wake up. Why does his brain not turn to mush? Same applies to Ariadne killing herself by swan-diving off the building.
2. When they first find out that Fischer’s mind has been weaponized and that dying in the dream will turn them to vegetables, why don’t they abort the mission and all fall over backwards to ‘kick’ themselves back to reality?
3. Why does the chemist create the stronger, potentially mind-mushing chemical in the first place? Why does Cobb agree to use it?
4. At one point Eames says ‘you have to dream bigger’ and pulls out a rocket launcher. If you can dream up new weapons, why don’t they whip out loony-tunes style machine guns a-la ‘The Mask’? For that matter, none of the action scenes make sense since it’s all a dream right? There are no laws of physics determining if the bullet hits you or not.
5. If Saito has enough spare cash to buy an airline, why is he so threatened by Fischer’s corporation? Surely he could come up with a less risky plan than trying to incept the idea of ‘breaking up the company’. How does he know that part of the broken up company would not go on to beat him anyway? Also, why does Saito choose to go into the dream in the first place? You don’t get to be a billionaire by taking unnecessary risks.
6. They never explain the technology behind the dream sharing device. Dreams within dreams – fine I buy it. But a suitcase with wires that telepathically links people’s minds? If such a thing existed, society would be radically different. And billionaires would presumably be aware of the threat of mind-melding and have some kind of defense system (a bodyguard or crash helmet perhaps?)

Apple are unstoppable right now. Unbelievably, their market value recently surpassed Microsoft’s. In my opinion, the one reason Apple are in this position is because they understand the power of fantastic product design.

As a case in point, let me describe a recent trip to Best Buy. A couple of weeks ago my trusty MacBook Pro died. After hearing good things about Windows 7 and not agreeing with some of Apple’s recent policies, I decided to buy a new Windows laptop. After looking at every one in the store I realized that each one was more gaudy and plasticy than the last. From the strangely colored cases to the myriad of extra buttons, lights and nipples, they seemed like a collection of badly designed toys. I guiltily drifted over to the Mac area and checked out the the new MacBook Pro with its aluminum unibody, beautiful screen and minimalist controls. Eventually I walked out with one.

Apple understand that laptops and phones are the new watches and jewelry. We are using them majority of our waking life. They define us to the people around us. They need to be both functional and beautiful. Apple products have plenty of hardware and software issues, but people are willing to forgive them since the products are so nice to look at.

The amazing Android Phone Prototype above by Andrew Kim, shows the kind of phone that HTC need to build in order to knock the iPhone off the top of the most-wanted list. What happened to all the great Nokia and Erikson phones from a few years ago? Why are they not building Android phones? Why can’t Sony create a laptop as well-designed as the MacBook Pro?

Apple’s competitors need to get serious about design, both hardware and software. They need to invest in their design teams and hire the best and the brightest talent available.