Mossberg: In tech, form trumps function too often

Almost exactly 15 years ago, in October of 2001, a major consumer tech product appeared that struck a nearly perfect balance between form and function, between beautiful design and practical engineering. It was the original iPod.

The little music player held 1,000 songs. Its sound, its battery life, its ability to sync rapidly with computers, were all unparalleled at the time. And its design and ease of use were awe-inspiring. It was the size of a deck of cards. It had an amazing scroll wheel for navigating through all your tracks. It was like a digital work of art that also fixed all the practical problems of earlier MP3 players, which I called “frustrating” in my first iPod review, listing all their drawbacks.

In that review, I called...

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