Yes some people it is impossible to give constructive criticism to, I think even in code or industrial design it is easy to suffer from the same malaise. Take Steemit for instance, last year I was a pretty loud voice shouting that Steemit inc. should be doing more to market the platform.

Time and again I was given the 'it's not ready' excuse, 'we're still in beta' and blah, blah, blah. My answers then were pretty congruent with what I've written above; "let's just get it out there and see what feedback comes in, and then use that to improve."

It seemed to rub people up the wrong way, so I gave up, as my intention was never to antagonise anybody, just to give constructive criticism which could be acted upon.

As far as Jobs was concerned, I think you're right with the form over function argument. However products were still rushed out when he was in charge, I remember the laptop that burned your lap if you placed it on your legs. I'm guessing the reason he took so long over the watch, was because he couldn't get the marketing strategy right.

After all, there's not much to those watches is there? They alert you to stuff going on, on your phone and that's it.

I think Job's version of perfection was getting something nice and shiny out that people would appreciate the look of. He realised that people wanted electronics that looked cool and worked to a minimum basic standard.

That's not to say they didn't innovate under him, quite the opposite, however he realised the futility of perfection.

Cg