Glad he and his pompous product introduction videos are gone.
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'After Steve' Examines the Tensions That Led to Jony Ive's Departure From Apple
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I’m not going to lie… I miss Jony Ive’s. His legacy at Apple will live on forever.
It's hard to know, looking at it as a customer from outside the business. But I've been a customer for quite some time, and I'd say that during "peak Ive" we saw products become more and more form over function. Yes, this was the driving force behind some incredible design and engineering, but IMHO a step too far. Beautiful though they are, and a pleasure to use, when Apple products start to become more a piece of engineering-art than a functioning tool, then they're missing their primary purpose, surely. With Steve around, the balance seemed just about right. But when he left us, a seemingly unconstrained Ive eventually wasn't good for Apple.
lost its soul? With the possible exception of the Apple Watch there hasn’t been a single product that Ive was responsible for after Jobs’ death that was on par with the iMac original, the iPod, or the iPhone.
By contrast since he’s left Apple’s product quality has finally returned to its prior status and they actually have started to reimplement some personality into their computers (ref: pleasantly vibrant new iMac colors)
By contrast since he’s left Apple’s product quality has finally returned to its prior status and they actually have started to reimplement some personality into their computers (ref: pleasantly vibrant new iMac colors)
Apple's software has never felt so stale. Without Jobs & a proper software team, there is no progress being made on the software front. Apple Silicon is great, but without software to match it has become more of a toy.
Who didn't love the iOS 7 Miami Vice color scheme?
I was glad to see Mr. “Form Over Function” shown the door. Now get rid of Federighi and hire someone who can squash bugs and create a truly usable iPadOS!
So I’m guessing the docudrama movie based on this book probably won’t air on AppleTV+!
So I’m guessing the docudrama movie based on this book probably won’t air on AppleTV+!
Tim Cook is all and only about profits.
For Tim Cook, the customer are the institutional shareholders, the board and the execs. Not you.
Under Tim Cook, Apple has lost its soul, obviously, but it has lost so much more than that. (No space to explain. It will take a book to go into.)
But under Tim Cook, profits have soared, yes, that figure looks good on paper, which is the only metric for many people,
Hope Tim Cook leaves sooner than later.
For Tim Cook, the customer are the institutional shareholders, the board and the execs. Not you.
Under Tim Cook, Apple has lost its soul, obviously, but it has lost so much more than that. (No space to explain. It will take a book to go into.)
But under Tim Cook, profits have soared, yes, that figure looks good on paper, which is the only metric for many people,
Hope Tim Cook leaves sooner than later.
We all know Tim Cook is not a tech visionary, neither is Ive, case in point iOS 7, 2016 MacBook Pro and so many other issues with products since Steves passing. Tim Cook is very good at seeing stupidity and not suffer fools for it.
Remember Forstall with the mess that was Maps.
That retail guy who made a mess requiring Cook to kick him then take over.
Apple is in a good position, but we have to admit, all the products they develop are at a peak right now. But Tim has navigated it well. The only areas where I see them making some impact is to enter the EV market and more focus on health.
Remember Forstall with the mess that was Maps.
That retail guy who made a mess requiring Cook to kick him then take over.
Apple is in a good position, but we have to admit, all the products they develop are at a peak right now. But Tim has navigated it well. The only areas where I see them making some impact is to enter the EV market and more focus on health.
Even with Ive’s departure, he painted the canvas of basically what Apple is today in terms of designs. I don’t care what the Internet says, he’s still a legend at Apple and always will be, especially being that he was handpicked from Steve Jobs, and he carried the company forward with designs that no other manufacture was doing in terms of execution for years, so for that, alone he made his mark in this industry as a ‘tech artist’.
Is it better that he’s no longer with the company? That’s not my place to make that judgment. I won’t remember Ive for leaving, I remember for what he was able accomplish while he was employed under Apple.
Is it better that he’s no longer with the company? That’s not my place to make that judgment. I won’t remember Ive for leaving, I remember for what he was able accomplish while he was employed under Apple.
Ive suffered by not having a figure like Steve to say, NO! Ending up with thinner and thinner devices, losing ports and having problematic keyboards (understatement). Since his departure we have the return of ports, reliable keyboards and larger batteries. Hoping the future holds modular, upgradable and repairable devices as this seems to be where Dell etc see a market.
Maps were a mess, but Forstall’s contribution to Next, Apple, Mac OS X, iOS was overwhelmingly positive.
All good things come to an end eventually. I don’t think Tim Cook is a visionary per se, but the ARM chips are the biggest leap forward in desktop performance since the advent of the PC. Who in the tech team was the main inspiration behind this? They should get a medal! I take what I said back if it was Tim.
Why on earth would Jony reject a processor?
I don’t think it’s that things are moving slower under Cook, I just think that there’s a lot less that needs to be done under Cook.
Before the iPod, MP3 players and digital music distribution was an absolute disaster.
Before the iPhone, phones were hard to use, not very fun and lacking in features that we just don’t think about these days.
What exactly does Apple need to do now? Almost all of the markets that they are in are, other than minor issues here and there, mostly perfected.
The problem is something like an iPhone, a product so big that it changes so many fundamentals of not just phones but society itself doesn’t happen every year, or even every decade, or even every 50 years.
Steve Jobs just happened to be the man in charge when it was introduced, and Apple the company to take the initial step, so everyone assumes they will be the one to come up with the next big thing.
Will they? No idea, because so far we’ve seen a lot of companies attempt the next big thing and none of them have caught on.
Folding phones and tablets? Hasn’t caught on
VR glasses? Hasn’t caught on.
Sure these devices have their pockets of fans, but nothing has been able to move the cultural needle like the iPhone did. And I do not think that is the fault of Tim Cook, or Apple, or Johnny, or anyone. It’s just an industry wide question, what is next? No one knows. Even Steve probably didn’t know, apparently the last products he was working on when he was alive were an Apple TV subscription service, A slightly taller iPhone and a mini iPad (yes Steve knew About the iPad Mini).
Not exactly Earth shattering products
I like a balance but i'll always opt for form over function. Less is more, if it doesn't need to be there it shouldn't be there. The latest MacBook Pros look like they were designed by a committee of basics.
It is what it is - at least the screen and processor is good.
I definitely don't agree with this bit.
Their design team also seems to be clueless. They're just bringing back old designs (flat sides) to all of their products because there is no one like Ive there to set new design trends.
I loved Ive's designs, but things change. Apple needed to change. Tech changes constantly, and I don't care what Apple says, they're a tech company. Change or die.
I'm typing this on one of the new MacBook Pros. It's thicker and heavier than my last MacBook, and as many have mentioned, looks like some of the original MacBook Pro designs. I'm not sure how much of it was or was not designed with Ive's input, but it is a return to form for the Mac and then some. It's such a joy just to carry around, due to the rounded sides and sturdy build, and it even comes with a normal keyboard and a display that's nicer than my 4K TV or my desktop monitor. It is, without a doubt, the most well-designed notebook I've ever owned, and it's quite obviously not an Ive design.
Ive has been gone for a while. Apple's hardware has done nothing but improve since then, IMO. I am looking forward to the day where iPads get a new non-Ive design as well. I miss the days when they weren't so delicate.
I'm typing this on one of the new MacBook Pros. It's thicker and heavier than my last MacBook, and as many have mentioned, looks like some of the original MacBook Pro designs. I'm not sure how much of it was or was not designed with Ive's input, but it is a return to form for the Mac and then some. It's such a joy just to carry around, due to the rounded sides and sturdy build, and it even comes with a normal keyboard and a display that's nicer than my 4K TV or my desktop monitor. It is, without a doubt, the most well-designed notebook I've ever owned, and it's quite obviously not an Ive design.
Ive has been gone for a while. Apple's hardware has done nothing but improve since then, IMO. I am looking forward to the day where iPads get a new non-Ive design as well. I miss the days when they weren't so delicate.
Cook needs to go too. I want a CEO that will not create spy networks like the Bluetooth mesh network and not create 'always spying, even if turned off' iPhones. I dropped the iPhone in favor of a privacy phone since I go to protests and don't want to carry a faraday bag.
Not so much Apple lost it's soul as much as power grab by folks on roles they did not have before trying usurp "power vaccums" that Jobs left behind. Jobs role fits between organization cracks at times and micro managed issues at times.
Forestall forays off into ego changes to the mac GUI is not much more loopy than putting Industrial design in charge of marketing. Marketing is far more than just make product introduction sex tapes ( 'this new Apple XYZ product is ten time better than any orgasm you've ever had . blah blah blah). That's really not real marketing.
The super expensive gold container for effectively the same functional watch in stainless steel container was doomed. That should have been as obvious as turd in punchbowl to anyone who did any real quantitive marketing analysis of the product and market. If trying to make museum piece or fill up the jewel drawers of the upper 1% the super fashion stuff would be a crux .
Jobs getting up on stage and spinning the reality distort field is actually relatively inexpensive.
Jobs gave the "you be you , don't try mainly to mimic me" talk to Cook. Apparently he didn't spread that around to several of the folks under him. Apple didn't loose its soul. It has a small group of folks running around trying to be somebody else; when they didn't need to be. It wasn't like there were zero competent folks in marketing. Ive didn't need to usurp that job. Nor did Forstall need to act like the third coming of Jobs. Jobs didn't do all the work before he died (or got sick).
Some of what Jobs did wasn't "visionary" , it was 'herding cats'. Keeping some folks from going off the deep end. For example, Apple pointing out the 'amazing' front sockets on the Mac Studio. That wasn't "soul loosing" that was a period of obsessive compulsive disorder with "magical design" (can't see any vents or sockets ... it's a magical Mac).
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Nobody can honestly dismiss the positive contributions that Ive made to Apple, and to tech design in general. But nobody is perfect, and as another pointed out, Jobs + Ive seemed to be able to balance the practical with the beautiful. Without Jobs, Ive probably lost a strong counterpoint to his brainstorms — and a friend.
From the standpoint of both Apple and Ive, it was probably good to move on. Ive is now able to work on designs for any product he wants — not just tech. Do I think there were design misses during his tenure? Yes, but there were also plenty of hits. It’s only fair to mention both.
From the standpoint of both Apple and Ive, it was probably good to move on. Ive is now able to work on designs for any product he wants — not just tech. Do I think there were design misses during his tenure? Yes, but there were also plenty of hits. It’s only fair to mention both.
