Jonathan Ive on Design and Apple's Focus on Great Products Instead of Profits

[EvanBlive91]

Quite the genius! I am ruined by his Retina Display in the iPad,so much so,that it is all I will buy,so it is mandatory for any purchase.I fear the MBA's will never see them however, due to untethered power needs of the display.I would like to see it in the iMac,as well as the TB Cinema Display. Please make that happen Sir
Jonathan!
I highly admire this man!

Don't worry my dear, haswell, IGZO, and liquidmetal batteries will take care of that

 

[AidenShaw]

Don't worry my dear, haswell, IGZO, and liquidmetal batteries will take care of that

I'm holding out for the one with the flux capacitor.

 

[xyion1]

Best argument of the thread.

Steve Jobs told Obama (and Walter Issacson) that they needed 30,000 Engineers in order to move factories to the US..its in Chapter 41 of the Biography (emphasis mine)

Jobs went on to urge that a way be found to train more American engineers. Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China, he said, and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. “You can’t find that many in America to hire,” he said. These factory engineers did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges, or trade schools could train them. “If you could educate these engineers,” he said, “we could move more manufacturing plants here.”

Perhaps slightly disingenuous for him to say and me to use as a counterpoint, but still valid as to why manufacturing isn't in the USA.

 

[spiderman0616]

Ive is not a 'genius'. That word is bandied about way too often. Albert Einstein was a genius. Beethoven was a genius. Nikola Tesla, genius.

Jonny Ive is a talented designer who was lucky enough to be in a conducive environment for his designs to shine through. Many people can come up with elegant designs, but invariably in a large corporate environment the design gets corrupted until it bears little resemblance to the initial idea. Ive was lucky to have Jobs around to make sure the elegance of the idea stayed true.

I can go along with that.

 

[Ochyandkaren]

Will this suffice?

Careful design = high cost.
That is just math.


But can you really measure the amount of money and human effort Apple puts on R&D?


: According to UBM analysis, it says.
: AH!
: It is the Internet, arguing with someone else suppositions.

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Probably because many of us are aware that Dell makes magnesium-cased Latitudes for the higher end markets, and those blow Apples away on every spec but "thin and light".

It's absurd to only compare $2500 Apples to $500 Dells, when the $2500 Dells put the $2500 Apples to shame.

: Denial.
: Denial.

 

[FreeRange1]

If your goal isn't making money, then why not lower your profit margins and sell your stuff at a reasonable price?

Well aren't you the clever one? We can see by your icon how far your head is up... never mind. The reality is that Apple products provide much greater value to consumers than say, oh, I don't know, Wintel products. Isn't it funny that those products struggle to eke out pennies of profit? Why is that? Could it be because they are faceless commodities that all do the same thing, and not all that easily or well? Whereas Apple has built an incredible ecosystem that brilliantly manages our digital lives through truly unique offerings that generate the highest consumer satisfaction levels in all the markets in which they serve. Its not just the hardware, its the total experience around service, support and platform.

 

[Ochyandkaren]

I'm holding out for the one with the flux capacitor.

: I wonder reading you guys and gal and i am thinking: What a bunch of Sad people. Hate that someone Love what you cannot afford or dislike, that is called Envy. It is ugly.
I t is like my d*ick is bigger than yours. Who cares?!

: Your wife may NOT be the most beautiful woman in the word but she IS the BEST in the world for you. Apple is the Best in the world for me. Why should i care about yr envy?

: It make me laugh, tho.

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If Apple's Focus on Great Products instead of profits, why not assemble iPhone in America instead of chineese sweatshops?

So assemble in China is all about the human cost?
NO!, even the unfair NYTime article acknowledge it.
It is as much about cluster enterprising, the time it will take to assemble in the USA will be unsustainable.

: Hope you did not type that in a China made PC running windows or any Apple computer, tho.

: Make people in the USA accept high taxes, it will permit better roads/public transports and more flexibility regarding workforce migration.

 

[Ryth]

Ive is not a 'genius'. That word is bandied about way too often. Albert Einstein was a genius. Beethoven was a genius. Nikola Tesla, genius.

2:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzwXqkGApBk

 

[Ochyandkaren]

maybe true from an artist's standpoint... but the truth is Apple reaps the highest profit margins of all mobile phone manufacturers... they are all about maximizing profits.

: Confounding effect with predisposition.
English is not my mother language, perhaps It is not yrs also.

----------

2:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzwXqkGApBk

: Who cares if he is a genius. Does he care?
Why should you?

: Envy kills.
: Hope he/she do sport instead of hunting apple related sites with nonsenses, or the envy will kill his/her heart.

 

[eezing]

what an incorrect statement. Every competitive company's goal is to maximize profits. Their goal is to make money.
Jonny is trying to make it look like Apple is different than any other company, when in it's definition it's the same as Samsung, RIM, Google etc, ... their goal is to make money.
Apple makes great products to get money, but money is still the main driving force.

Also, if a two-toned iPhone is their 'best work yet'.. then i'm unpleasantly surprised.

He's saying that if Apple approaches their business from the standpoint of trying to make a great product, then people will in return buy it.

Compare to Ferrari... Ferrari is in the business of making a great sports car... If it was solely about profits, they'd build a 25K compact that gets 40 MPG.

Some companies have a vision and they actually try to stick to it. I think the 40 billion in the bank probably overshadows Apple's vision of trying to create a great product.

Yes, profits are important, we all need to eat.

 

[AIP5]

You're absolutely crazy if you think Apple is anything close to the company that is Samsung, RIM, etc. Their views on everything are completely opposite. Apple has ALWAYS been about the superior product and user experience. You cannot argue this because they've never worried about market share in PCs or other products.

And RIM, that's a good one. Look where they are at now.

Of course Apple's goal is to make money...BUT instead of taking a money first, design second approach, they took the exact opposite...and you cannot argue this because it's working.

Look at MS...their goal is to make money. But it's their first goal. And here is the statement from Ballmer that explains why they are no longer the superior company...

There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get.

Apple created a superior device and the profits followed. Same with the iPad. Same with the iPod. Same with whatever else they come out with 90% of the time.

Meanwhile most of these other companies you mentioned are completely fine with putting out tons of versions of phones a year so they can maximize profits instead of developing and banking on ONE superior product. How many phones does Samsung make, have out on the market?



Um...no...he's talking about Apple. Jonny Ive IS Apple just as much as Steve Jobs was.

I'm pretty sure Jonny is speaking for Apple and about Apple. This has ALWAYS been their philosophy. Design first. Profits second.

I think you need to calm down a bit and stop drinking so much Apple-ade (is that term still around?). Reach9 was very obviously talking about corporations in general. No corporation exists for any other purpose except to make money. If that was not its main purpose, then it would be bankrupt within a few years. Even non-profit organizations all focus on making money: after all, they hold fundraisers and seek donations. Why? Because cash flow keeps that non-profit alive the same way cash-flow keeps a corporation alive. Whenever you have an entity employing people for work, there has to be cash flow because no one works for free. Apple is no different; each product it makes is designed to net them a profit for a very simple reason: to keep it alive and functioning.

You have to take a look at Apple as what it is technically: a coporation. As Steve Jobs himself called it, it's Apple, Inc., where "Inc." stands for Incorporated: aka a corporation.

 

[REBORNKING307]

that what happens when it's a good design, it sticks around for a while.

you don't just change something just to make the customer feel like they need to upgrade to latest and greatest gadget. Apple is basically telling their customers to not upgrade from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4s (or 3G to 3Gs). That's what any decent company should do.[/QUOT


I can understand not making huge changes each year, but honestly, Mac lover to Mac lover where is the huge lead huge the very first iPhone to iPhone 4s? Tell me what has blown you away since the Keynote in 2007? Apple changed the game with the iPhone now the rest of the industry is catching up, some believe Apple has been passed up.

I just want a design that blows away the industry like it did 5 years ago

 

[lazard]

Steve Jobs told Obama (and Walter Issacson) that they needed 30,000 Engineers in order to move factories to the US..its in Chapter 41 of the Biography (emphasis mine)



Perhaps slightly disingenuous for him to say and me to use as a counterpoint, but still valid as to why manufacturing isn't in the USA.

His exact quote was he couldn't find 30,000 engineers in the US that would work for the wage he pays the Chinese engineers.

 

[Ochyandkaren]

His exact quote was he couldn't find 30,000 engineers in the US that would work for the wage he pays the Chinese engineers.

No.
It is about labor mobility. USA have decrepit public transportation and with almost NO cluster of mass engineering plants.
: Funny that he/she actually may vote Republican believing in low taxes.

: They like misinformation, it is their weapon.

 

[AIP5]

He's saying that if Apple approaches their business from the standpoint of trying to make a great product, then people will in return buy it.

Compare to Ferrari... Ferrari is in the business of making a great sports car... If it was solely about profits, they'd build a 25K compact that gets 40 MPG.

Some companies have a vision and they actually try to stick to it. I think the 40 billion in the bank probably overshadows Apple's vision of trying to create a great product.

Yes, profits are important, we all need to eat.

I think you need to separate Ive from Apple for just a second. Ive's the mastermind behind Apple products, and sure, he has pumped out some great products. But you need to take into account that Tim Cook and SJ (and a few other executives) are all great businessmen... who in the end do what corporate executives are supposed to do: make that corporation money. There's absolutely no reason for Apple to have such a huge profit margin on iPhones at the cost of carriers (and even deny a carrier access to iPhone simply because the carrier is not offering enough up front cash, aka T-Mo). Unless of course, profit was the motive.

What I'm trying to say is that Ive does what he's best at: design a product without worrying about profits. Tim Cook and Co do what they're best at: optimizing the product and the manufacturing line to maximize profits for the company they work for. Two separate professions, two separate goals, with a hint of overlap. Really depends on which perspective you look at it from.

 

[Rogifan]

that what happens when it's a good design, it sticks around for a while.

you don't just change something just to make the customer feel like they need to upgrade to latest and greatest gadget. Apple is basically telling their customers to not upgrade from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4s (or 3G to 3Gs). That's what any decent company should do.

And doesn't apple get knocked all the time for this so-called planned obsolescence? Now people are b**ching because we don't have a new iPhone every 6 months to compete with Android OEM's and we don't get complete redesigns so you can let the world know you've got the latest and greatest phone.

 

[greytmom]

Man, you people are full of rage.

It was a speech. Do any of you work for companies? Ever heard upper management give a speech and talk about mission, vision and values? Ever rolled your eyes and thought, "since when?"

Relax.

 

[Swordylove]

"We are really pleased with our revenues but our goal isn't to make money. It sounds a little flippant, but it's the truth. Our goal and what makes us excited is to make great products. If we are successful people will like them and if we are operationally competent, we will make money," he said.

Oh puhleeeezzz... Like hell I'm gonna believe that. For you alone, Jony, as a passionate designer, I might believe that. But for the whole Apple corporation, not in a million years. In fact, what Apple is doing right now is contradictory to your statement. I'm talking about the iPhone and iPad. The sheeps are always there ready to be milked right? Money money money!

 

[samcraig]

Look - let's not get into a whole Mac vs. PC debate. Fact is - both models work. They are different. Everything else is puffery

Well aren't you the clever one? We can see by your icon how far your head is up... never mind. The reality is that Apple products provide much greater value to consumers than say, oh, I don't know, Wintel products. Isn't it funny that those products struggle to eke out pennies of profit? Why is that? Could it be because they are faceless commodities that all do the same thing, and not all that easily or well? Whereas Apple has built an incredible ecosystem that brilliantly manages our digital lives through truly unique offerings that generate the highest consumer satisfaction levels in all the markets in which they serve. Its not just the hardware, its the total experience around service, support and platform.

 

[Rogifan]

Man, you people are full of rage.

It was a speech. Do any of you work for companies? Ever heard upper management give a speech and talk about mission, vision and values? Ever rolled your eyes and thought, "since when?"

Relax.

Yes and when's the last time a company has talked about money and profits in their mission and value statements? Profit is a consequence of running a good business and providing products and services people want.

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Oh puhleeeezzz... Like hell I'm gonna believe that. For you alone, Jony, as a passionate designer, I might believe that. But for the whole Apple corporation, not in a million years. In fact, what Apple is doing right now is contradictory to your statement. I'm talking about the iPhone and iPad. The sheeps are always there ready to be milked right? Money money money!

You know the minute you throw around the word "sheep" you lose all credibility. Just sayin'..

 

[Swordylove]

You know the minute you throw around the word "sheep" you lose all credibility. Just sayin'..

And credibility is important for my comment why?

 

[koruki]

If Apple's Focus on Great Products instead of profits, why not assemble iPhone in America instead of chineese sweatshops?

How exactly does assembling the iPhone in American make it a greater product when Steve mentioned in the past its nearly impossible to mass produce such a phone in the States due an industry that no longer exists as well as Unions that make it impossible.

 

[REBORNKING307]

Yes----it is sad. But in my years of using the internet, I've realized that nerds are the angriest people out there. Every new design sucks. Everything a company says is a lie. Every product released is a conspiracy. Everything Apple releases is a sign of the absence of Steve Jobs.

It's really stupid, and a good reason to stay away from sites like this when an iPhone launch is imminent.

See, this is whats wrong with not just Apple but America as a whole. You have become so loyal to the company that you betray yourself. The compant has lost it's touch and people who love and hate Apple feel that way. It's time for Ives and his team to really work hard on building innovative products or do nothing at all. Has anyone noticed that there are phones availible to Asia and Europe that are not availible here because everyone knows that between those phones being so advanced, and everyone being stuck on the same ol crap that they will never sell here.

 

[Cavalier777]

Smdh

then why not use top tier GFX, ever?

 

[Rogifan]

I think Ive really just wanted to hang out with Kate. . Wow is she beautiful.