No problem, it is a bit of an older piece, but some relevant thoughts. Morrison and Fujisawa were all the rage back in '08 before minimalism went mainstream for the third (or is it fourth?) time. I think it is interesting if you track where simplification stated, I hate to say it, but it was in cars. In the 90’s form and color were massively expressive. Post memphis, post modern, bio inspired. Frog was full swing with “Form follows emotion” and everyone was following with computer mice that looked like actual mice and Oakleys that looked like they hatched out of an egg on Alien 3 (they still look like that, but that is another story), iMacs looks like plastic gum drops and MacBooks (iBooks) looked like weed alien plastic purses. Into that weird form soup, 2 cars came out of the VW California studio in the mid 90’s, the VW Concept 1 (New Beetle) and the Audi TT. Radically simple forms that influenced the entire category to move to simple shapes (though no one else pulled it off with the same level of restraint)… then comes the iPod, apple’s canonization of Braun, DWR enshrined the Eames and LeCorbusier, Dwell made you yearn for a creepily empty home, while “fuckyournoguchicoffeetable” poked fun at us all. and everything snaps to minimalism and the needle has staid pretty firmly planted there in product for over a decade… but as other people pointed out, what was minimalism with an air of luxury and insideryness (oh you get it, I get it too)… has given way a bit to over simplification, which sometimes slides into cheapness. The automotive world moved on with the BMW Z4 (GINA concept) and unfortunately even Audi abandoned its Bauhaus inspiration. You can see it leaking into product with over designed gaming mice that looks like they could be Optimus Primes tooth in a Michael Bay film. Fractal inspired form work is leaking into all kinds of things that have no reason to be shaped that way.
My thoughts. I think for brands like Apple, minimalism will stick. Look at the iPhone 7, they are moving to more of a Porsche like philosophy. This is our thing, and we will massage it as needed. Other consumer brands will shift with consumer buying patterns… so if you find that really nice coffee maker or what have you, snap it up. In 12-24 months it might look like a Decepticon.