Jonathan Ive Discusses Steve Jobs and Apple Watch in 'The New Yorker' Interview

[BvizioN]

I'd rather have a slightly bigger devices that has more battery stamina and takes superior photos.

Maybe you would love something like this
But hey... good look finding room for it in your pockets.

 

[Zxxv]

The worlds top designer. Wrong date on article.

maybe it comes out in print on that day?

 

[H2SO4]

I disagree, I think he can go anywhere he wants - I think any company will give their eye teeth for him.

I disagree with your disagreement. Look below your post……

Actually seriously, he probably can go where he likes, (for now), god knows why tho - I actually think he’s washed up.

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Maybe you would love something like this
But hey... good look finding room for it in your pockets.

Strange, bigger phones from back in the day used to fit in pockets. Maybe pants have shrunk or hands have become smaller through the generations.

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Remember how people reacted to this?

Image

There will be some that derided it but come on, that phone design is Sig. Ni. Fi. Cant. Ly. cleaner than the 6.

 

[viorelgn]

If Apple are serious about portraying the Apple Watch as a luxury item, they have to build their own retail stores for it, or offer it in high-end jewellers.

 

[robbyx]

I still don't get why I want/need a "smart watch" Maybe one day if it can replace the smart phone completely, otherwise I look forward to Apple showing me why I have to get this (or any) smart watch...

I still don't get it either. That said, I don't for a moment believe that the Apple Watch will ever replace your iPhone. Anyone who thinks that will happen is living in a retro scifi fantasy. Not only will it be quite some time before all of a phone's components can be reduced in size enough to fit a watch form factor, but more importantly:

Why would Apple want to sell you an iPhone OR an Apple Watch when they can sell you an iPhone AND an Apple Watch. It will always be a companion accessory, never its own platform.

 

[Zxxv]

From original article

He described the previous day as “momentous.” His iPhone 6 softly chimed a text alert every minute or two. To those of Ive’s generation, the new phones were perhaps large and slippery enough to trigger nostalgia for the small, tough phones of a decade ago. I asked Ive about the slightly protruding camera lens that prevents the iPhone 6 from resting comfortably on its back. Ive referred to that decision—without which the phone would be slightly thicker—as “a really very pragmatic optimization.” One had to guess at the drama behind the phrase. “And, yeah . . .” he said.

 

[sdz]

Please don't tell me that I should have a case on my phone. I don't want a case. If you can show me real evidence why the protruding camera is technically superior to a flush camera I may reconsider my opinion. But until then I will assume that Jony Ive is suffering from design anorexia. Worst single design flaw on any iPhone since the deeply recessed headphone jack on the early model. Period.

Design Anorexia -- That made me laugh. +1

So true. Apple is premium, Apple is great. It should design products like that.
A protruding camera is something I would expect from Samsung.

I love the simplicity of Apple Design. I love clean straight surfaces.

And to the other guy here telling me I should wear a case on my iPhone: No I wont. I will never do that. I pay for the materials and the feeling of the product. I wont put it in a plastic / leather / whatever case.

 

[Zxxv]

If Apple are serious about portraying the Apple Watch as a luxury item, they have to build their own retail stores for it, or offer it in high-end jewellers.

From the original article

The next day, I visited Ive in his studio. The table previously covered with a flat cloth was now uncovered: it was a glass-topped Apple Watch display cabinet, accessible to staff from below, via a descending, motorized flap, like the ramp at the rear of a cargo plane. Ive has begun to work with Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice-president of retail, on a redesign—as yet unannounced—of the Apple Stores. These new spaces will surely become a more natural setting for vitrines filled with gold (and perhaps less welcoming, at least in some corners, to tourists and truants). Apple had not, overnight, become an élite-oriented company—and it would sell seventy-five million iPhones in the final quarter of 2014, many of them in China—but I wondered how rational, and pure of purpose, one can make the design of a V.I.P. area. Ive later told me that he had overheard someone saying, “I’m not going to buy a watch if I can’t stand on carpet.”

 

[sdz]

Maybe you would love something like this
But hey... good look finding room for it in your pockets.

I'd rather kill myself...

 

[tomegun]

I read every post so far and nobody mentioned the possibility that the watch may collect data as good or better than other fitness trackers with added functionality. It is like we are caught in a lazy catch 22 - too lazy to use the device to track activity and not wanting a device that allows us to check data without picking up our phones.

Here is something that will change once it is voiced: if this device was half the cost, probably half of the people saying they aren't interested will be interested. You say that to a naysayer and they will deny it even though it is true deep down inside.

This will just be another part emotional, part for the love of new tech purchase for me. If G2 is better, I will get that too.

 

[sdz]

I read every post so far and nobody mentioned the possibility that the watch may collect data as good or better than other fitness trackers with added functionality. It is like we are caught in a lazy catch 22 - too lazy to use the device to track activity and not wanting a device that allows us to check data without picking up our phones.

Fitness Data Tracking is nonsense with these devices.
What you really need is cardiac frequence and blood sugar.
Those sensors would be interesting for that price.

Furthermore: Battery Life should be 30days+. Or they should use a fuel cell to power the wrist device.

 

[robbyx]

There will be a day when a smart watch will be as much a necessity as a smart phone. Until that day arrives it will be a luxury item until it and the world it has been intended to support (Internet of things) develops to that point. I hope the day never comes where a gvt mandate forces one of these wrist devices on every man, woman and child...but it wouldn't surprise me.

By that point, it will be implanted. I don't personally think a smart watch will ever be a necessity. I think most people have never cared about smart watches (look at sales) and all of a sudden Apple fan websites are blowing up with people raving about how it's s game changer, the start of a new platform, soon to be an essential piece of tech, etc. Just because it has an Apple logo. No one was excited about smart watches before. I'd bet that 99% of the Apple fanboys and fangirls oooooooing and ahhhhhing over the Apple Watch never bought another kind of smart watch, despite similar features. The Apple Watch doesn't really do anything that other products don't do, other than bringing a much better interface (we hope) and tighter integration with one's phone. Both of these things are great and will likely help the Apple Watch sell more units, but there's no killer app.

 

[69Mustang]

Why did you read this article? It is titled: "Jonathan Ive Discusses Steve Jobs and Apple Watch in 'The New Yorker' Interview"
More Importantly, why did you post that you annoyed by his words?

Because, like, ya know, opinions man. People have them. Also who says the poster read the article. Could have seen Ive's picture and posted.

Because....drama.
How else do you get drama if you dont post!

Not everyone is a fan of Ive. Not every opinion is going to be positive. This is an internet forum after all. Where else would they post their thought on Ive? In an article about Skylake chips being delayed?

OT: I'm on record for skipping Gen 1 for my kid and getting Gen 2. Hopefully Gen 1 will get continuous updates so by the time Gen 2 rolls out it will be a more fully fleshed product. As for Ive, as long as he's not adverbing everything (beautifully, stunningly, unapologetically, etc.), he's seems like an okay dude.

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Maybe you would love something like this
But hey... good look finding room for it in your pockets.

Why show a picture of a camera from Samsung when the iPhone 6 with the same thickness as the 5S would have gone a long way towards remedying the protruding camera and bigger battery complaints? Hyperbole is useful sometimes but points can be made without it. I've never met anyone who thought the 5S was too thick. I'm sure they exist, I've just never met 'em. Anecdotal and all that.

 

[robbyx]

I read every post so far and nobody mentioned the possibility that the watch may collect data as good or better than other fitness trackers with added functionality. It is like we are caught in a lazy catch 22 - too lazy to use the device to track activity and not wanting a device that allows us to check data without picking up our phones.

Here is something that will change once it is voiced: if this device was half the cost, probably half of the people saying they aren't interested will be interested. You say that to a naysayer and they will deny it even though it is true deep down inside.

I totally agree on price. Once it's under $200, I think the potential market gets much bigger. It's a nice accessory for your phone. It should be priced accordingly.

As for fitness trackers, I honestly don't think most people care. Who has time to accumulate and download and make sense of all this pretty much useless/narcissistic data? They've been around for years and remain a niche market. I do think there's a market for health-related wearables, but such a product needs many more sensors and probably still only appeals to a relatively small group of people.

 

[the8thark]

There's a great clip of Steve Jobs saying they're not PCs. Just because something has a microprocessor inside does not make it a PC. He had a point - if a fridge had a microprocessor inside would you call that a PC?

Steve was not perfect. And the definition according to wikipedia:

A personal computer is a general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities and original sale price make it useful for individuals, and is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer

Sure that is only wikipedia and info there is not perfect cause it's a publicly editable database. But I do like this definition. You are correct. It's not just having a microprocessor. The computer has to be able to run on it's own with no other computing operator needed. Ie, iPad/iPhone not needing iTunes on Mac anymore. Or the Apple Watch when it no longer needs to be tethered to the iPhone.

Would a fridge's microprocessor be general purpose enough to be a PC? I'm not sure to be honest. And if the computer part didn't need an intervening operator, it would almost be a PC. The major failing of a fridge being a PC is it's size. A fridge is not useful to individuals as a computer alone, because of it's size. No one would buy a computer as large as a fridge and call it a PC these days. It's a fridge with a computer, not a PC that's also a fridge.

Wow, that's a lot of thought about is a fridge a PC and the answer is no. But an Apple Watch can be a PC once the need for the iPhone intervening operator is removed.

 

[Wild-Bill]

Ive should stick to what he knows and does well: hardware. He needs to stay far, far away from further OSX development.

 

[doelcm82]

The problem with getting into a fashion product, like watches, is exactly as Ive himself is noting - you not only need to have lots of options, but the thing he's not stating is that you have to change those options often.

Those who are wearing the watch as a fashion product will have many options to change the band, and of course they can have a watch face for any occasion. New bands from Apple and third-party sellers will appear from time to time. I don't expect the shape or size of the main watch to change all that often.

I'm a non-watch-wearer and not into fashion, and neither are you (since you have worn the same watch for nine years), so probably Apple's fashion strategy shouldn't be based on advice from either you or me.

The good thing about watches is that once you nail down the internals, change can just be made to the outward appearance.

I still have hopes that Apple will provide a way to replace the internals with more powerful (and less power-hungry) innards for about the same price as the $350 model. If I get used to relying on a watch again, I'm going to want its capabilities to grow.

I still don't see the Apple Watch as a game changer, certainly not in the same way I saw the iMac, iPod, Macbook Air, iPhone, iPad. Those things were obviously going to be big hits because they changed the conversation in the market.

The main reason that people see those products as game-changers is that they changed the game, and we can see that with hindsight. Read comments from before or shortly after they were released, and you'll see that many of those comments are eerily similar to yours. Skepticism before an Apple product's release is historically unreliable.

I can't help thinking about the 1960's and early '70's tv and movie depictions of communication devices that so often were wrist-worn devices. It just does not seem to me, to be a natural thing to talk to your wrist or do anything other than the occasional glance.

I'm looking around the airport lounge. There is a man talking on an iPhone. Think about the way people hold their iPhones (or similar smart phones). That's not what someone from the 1970s would consider natural. We had phones that were sturdy and meant to wrap your whole hand around, not hold gently between your outstretched fingers. Another guy is typing onto his iPad. Computers in the 1980s had full-travel keyboards similar to typewriters. The few computers that had "chicklet" keyboards were derided as toys. Now the chicklet keybord is on my MacBook Pro, and ten feet away there's a guy using a keyboard with practically no tactile feedback.

If people find the Apple Watch to be useful, then the use of it will come to seem as natural as holding a 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus next to your ear.

I'm a huge watch fan, love my Seiko automatic that I've worn daily for the past 9 years and plan to keep wearing for at least another decade. But Apple is not convincing me that I should want, let alone purchase, an Apple Watch.

Apple may never convince you to purchase an Apple Watch (some people still insist that a "dumb" mobile phone is all they want or need), but the effort to convince you and me and everyone else has barely begun.

 

[meaning-matters]

Buy a battery case. Both problems solved, and it keeps your phone in good nick too.

But then the battery case won't be kept in good nick, and these things are expensive.

 

[doelcm82]

Hyperbole is useful sometimes but points can be made without it. I've never met anyone who thought the 5S was too thick. I'm sure they exist, I've just never met 'em. Anecdotal and all that.

I guess we'll never know whether the the iPhone 6 would have sold better if it had been as thick as the 5S. But we do know that it sold in record numbers at its current thickness.

My guess is that Apple tested prototypes of larger-screen phones with the same thickness as the older models, and found that more people preferred the lighter weight and reduced thickness.

 

[thekeyring]

Several really interesting things in the article, including:

Before the end of the year, prototype ancestors of the iPhone 6 were lined up in the studio, with screen sizes at “every point-one of an inch, from four all the way through to well over six.”

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Steve was not perfect. And the definition according to wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer

Sure that is only wikipedia and info there is not perfect cause it's a publicly editable database. But I do like this definition. You are correct. It's not just having a microprocessor. The computer has to be able to run on it's own with no other computing operator needed. Ie, iPad/iPhone not needing iTunes on Mac anymore. Or the Apple Watch when it no longer needs to be tethered to the iPhone.

Would a fridge's microprocessor be general purpose enough to be a PC? I'm not sure to be honest. And if the computer part didn't need an intervening operator, it would almost be a PC. The major failing of a fridge being a PC is it's size. A fridge is not useful to individuals as a computer alone, because of it's size. No one would buy a computer as large as a fridge and call it a PC these days. It's a fridge with a computer, not a PC that's also a fridge.

Wow, that's a lot of thought about is a fridge a PC and the answer is no. But an Apple Watch can be a PC once the need for the iPhone intervening operator is removed.

I know he's not perfect, I just thought it was an opinion worth sharing.

I see what you're saying, and the definition from Wikipedia makes sense, but - as with fridges that have microprocessors - we don't view iPads as PCs in a different form factor. Or iPhones as a PC you can fit in your pocket. And we won't view Apple Watch as a PC you can strap to your wrist (even when it becomes independent of iPhone). I think it matters that the people building products remember what the product is.

One of my friends was raving about a phone which you could plug a screen into - given a bit more power - and use it as a PC.

My reaction was "Why give the user a worse phone, just so it can also be a PC? Especially if the user wants a phone, not a PC?"

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

maybe it comes out in print on that day?

I was told it runs weekly.

 

[robbyx]

One of my friends was raving about a phone which you could plug a screen into - given a bit more power - and use it as a PC.

My reaction was "Why give the user a worse phone, just so it can also be a PC? Especially if the user wants a phone, not a PC?"

It's not just that. Why give the user a phone that does enough to replace a computer when you can sell him or her BOTH a phone AND a computer?

The Apple Watch will never be a stand alone device. It will never replace your iPhone. Apple makes 70% of its money on iPhone. They want more iPhone buyers. Apple Watch is a nice accessory. Sell the customer both products, not either/or.

They'll add sensors no doubt, but no one is going to type an email on the watch or do any of many many things we do on our smartphones today. The screen size is prohibitive. Sure, twenty years from now we'll probably wear some tiny little band with a ton of sensors feeding data to the cloud all day and a 3D holographic display that activates when needed. And it will do everything. And maybe that'll be the convergence of the watch and iPhone. But for the time being don't count on Apple Watch replacing your iPhone, much less becoming it's own platform. They want to sell you more products, not fewer ones.

 

[HowEver]

I think you meant, "iTeeth."

I disagree, I think he can go anywhere he wants - I think any company will give their eye teeth for him.

 

[steve333]

Ive needs to be front and centre of the Apple University (or whatever they call it) getting Apple ready for his one day retirement. Jobs you can not replace directly but Apple survived pretty well post Jobs. Post Ive will be a totally different thing. We don't want another Ive exactly but people working with the spirit and knowledge of Ive within them is what Apple needs. Not to ask what would Ive do. But to have the same thought process and way of looking at things as Ive did so even more great Apple products can be made post Ive's retirement.

Ive is the most over rated designer in the world.
White. Thin.
Big freaking deal.
No attention to ergonomics and dumbing down the internals just to make it as thin as possible is getting REALLY old.
Personally I would love to see him take a hike

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

I disagree, I think he can go anywhere he wants - I think any company will give their eye teeth for him.

He has the hype, no doubt. However, hype does not equal competence. He is a good hardware designer, but his software design choices are more questionable. Make no mistake, his greatest asset is his name, not his skills.