I'm not here to really defend it, because this is one Google-based product I could not care any less regarding its success or failure, but a few points need to be made:
1) The "Macbook" design scheme? Really? Has not a single person looked at the prevailing design for most Thin and Light / Ultrabook laptops? Unibody and sleek industrial minimalism is all the rage. Apple made it so, but that's what the market wants now, for everything; I like it, and Apple has no claim to rights/ownership of such design.
- 1a) Aside from a few shared characteristics with Macbooks / Ultrabooks, there are quite a few differences. One, that hinge is ugly as sin - you'd never see that on anything Apple.
2) This is also far from the first application of the "Apple-style" product page. Oh, and that would also be entirely on Google anyhow, not Samsung (in case anyone missed that). Many "big-item" product pages are employing that design; and hell, why not? It's simple, understated, and very effective. I won't deny the initial concept is completely Apple in origin, but at this point I honestly don't even see Apple when I see such product page styles. Why? Because I have seen it in many places. Hell, I've seen it on Amazon product pages (which, of course, are sourced from the manufacturer/designer and not Amazon in origin).
It's the Apple effect, and there should be nothing wrong with it. Can anyone honestly name a market where a major competitor brought about a certain "flair", and saw major success, and even decades later that "flair" cannot be found in any competing product/service/etc? It's how the market works, and honestly that's how it should. Apple brought to market not only products that performed in a certain way, but brought about a certain way of even doing that (imho, it's more all-encompassing that simply stating "marketing"), and the market answered with a resounding "more! MOAR!!". It's in the heart of the market for competitors to answer back by taking what they can from said competitor, and making it work for them. Can it be a little shady at times? Sure - but that's business, and we all benefit for it. Unless of course you happened to rather like a flailing competitor's clunky approach to something, because it had a particular odd character - but the march forward always brings about a sweeping evolution to an entire market segment, usually due to a single competitor's methods/styles/approach to that market in general, or a particular demographic.
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