Round Rects Are Everywhere

Work style and the original anecdote

• Commenters note that the engineer in the story partly worked from home to avoid interruptions, seeing it as an early “healthy split” remote/on-site model.
• The narrative is praised as charming and motivating: a boss demanding “better” and a developer rising to the challenge instead of sulking.

How rounded rectangles were implemented

• Several ask for more technical depth than the original story provides.
• Linked resources suggest QuickDraw used an algorithm akin to the midpoint circle algorithm, drawing arc octants and stitching them to straight edges, likely integrated with existing region/fill logic.
• Others speculate that for common cases, precomputed corner masks may have been used for speed.

Design, aesthetics, and usability

• Many praise rounded corners as making interfaces look modern, cheerful, and more approachable.
• Some argue they are more than fashion: rounded borders help visually group elements and convey hierarchy (gestalt, accessibility).
• Others see corner styles as cyclical fads, pointing to repeated shifts between rounded and sharp UI in operating systems and browsers.

Squircles and geometric nuance

• Discussion covers squircles and superellipses in modern UI, including quintic superellipses with smooth tangency (C2 continuity).
• Some argue these curves matter for 3D product highlights but are visually subtle for icons.
• There is debate over whether Apple-style rectangular elements are true superellipses or mainly standard rounded rectangles.

Hardware vs software corner rounding

• Some claim laptop and phone screen corner rounding is purely software (black pixels).
• Others counter with examples of panels physically manufactured with rounded masks or cutouts, implying no pixels exist there.

Broader reflections: leadership, culture, and history

• Commenters revisit the co-founder’s design taste and “liberal arts + technology” mantra, contrasting genuine product vision with later imitators.
• There is debate over whether their behavior was visionary leadership or narcissistic toxicity, with acknowledgment of harsh treatment of employees.
• Nostalgia threads compare older OS UIs (with clear 3D affordances, tighter spacing) to today’s flatter, more spacious, often less responsive designs.