Jony Ive Discusses Design Philosophy, Relationship with Steve Jobs, and Future of Apple in New Interview

[brianvictor7]

Especially when its as bas as ios 7

Personally I like most aspects of iOS7. There are a few things that irritate like how they show the album covers if you turn your iPhone to landscape mode, but really it is a very nice interface overall ... In my admittedly humble opinion

 

[samcraig]

Coincidence that this interview comes out around the same time as the book that's theorizing that Apple is on the decline. Hard to tell.

 

[rdlink]

I wouldn't expect them to make a game changing product every year, but it's been about 7 making a 9.7" iPod touch is not considered an innovation.

Aside from the fact that you seem to be trolling, you can't be serious about the iPad being a "9.7" iPod Touch."

It revolutionized mobile computing almost instantly. It destroyed the netbook industry. It turned the laptop industry on its head. It put a product that "technically" been around since the late 90s in tens of millions of peoples' hand in short order. If you don't consider the iPad innovative you have not a clue what the word means.

 

[numlock]

Ok then, 51 million iPhones sold in the last quarter and over 20 million iPads. If iOS 7 was that awful why would people be buying new phones with that software on it? Word of mouth alone would put people off it. Plus I know several people who have not upgraded because they hate change and don't want to deal with it. So this idea that everyone is forced to upgrade is bogus. And as far as not being able to downgrade that's been true of all iOS releases. It's nothing unique to iOS 7.

everyone is put in a rather uncomfortable position its just a matter of how they deal with it. but pressure is certainly put on people.

and you are right that not allowing downgrading is not ios7 specific but it dosent make it irrelevant to the discussion.

everything i mentioned skews the statistics.

as for your first point. people want the newest. some probably have to have touch id. obviously they cant have that without ios7.

why dont you give ios6 (which you criticize) the same treatment? was apple maps not a failure of sorts/shredder animation etc etc because millions of people bought iphone 5 and just as many upgraded? come on it isnt this simple and you know it

 

[unplugme71]

I think he should have already quit. I have yet to see another innovative product from apple since 2007 with the iPhone. Even then, the iPhone has kept the same design que and really has yet to make a drastic design change (in my opinion)

iPad
Mac Pro


Sure the iPhone has relatively the same shape, but what do you want from a mobile phone? Do you want it shaped in a figure S or a 8 ? Seriously, think about it - not everything that is innovative has to be the shape of something. Look at all the hardware put into the phone? M7 coprocessor, touch id, etc..

Those things were never in a phone nor could be imagined.

 

[iCore24]

Do you guys know where I can see the full article about the interview?

Here you go.

http://time.com/jonathan-ive-apple-interview/

 

[Macca68]

Interview?

It`s interesting that Jony Ive uses the exact same words to describe Steve Jobs that he used in his speech at the commemoration event for Steve in 2011.

A bit odd, isn`t it? Strange on Jonys or on the journalists part.

 

[kdarling]

Ive pretends to be innovative and it's clearly not the case, he was inspired by Braun design...

True, Jon Ive / Apple often takes inspiration from shapes and colors that Dieter Rams used, especially for Braun.

and as Jobs mentioned, 'Good artists copy; great artists steal'... so who is honest here ? Ive or Jobs ?

A better quote for this case would be what famous designer Philipe Starck (yes, the one who did Jobs' yacht) said to Dieter Rams at an LA exposition.

Starck ran right up to Rams without even saying hello, and cried out, "Apple is copying you!"

Rams replied, "To me, it's a compliment."

Too bad Apple and Ive aren't as classy when it comes to others being inspired by their work.

 

[jonnysods]

Depends on how you define "innovative". A lot of people scoffed at the iPad, calling it a large iPhone, but it's completely changed the tablet industry. Remember when Netbooks were the hot thing and everyone thought they were going to be huge? The iPad singlehandedly killed the Netbook. Does that qualify as innovative?

I consider the Macbook Air innovative, along with the Retina-Display Macbook Pro. I'd even call the Magic Mouse innovative. It's by far the more enjoyable and most intuitive mouse I've used in the 20 years I've been using computers.

Most of these products didn't turn an industry upside down like the iPhone, but that doesn't mean they're not innovative.

This.

These guys are tech game changers. We all forget it so quickly.

 

[oliversl]

The more Ive speak in public and do side jobs, the more Apple product suffers.

He is the master of UX design and he delegates the job to a marketing team, and we end up with an ugly vista like interface. Three years for an earphone design? And just a few months for the most successful OS in Apple's history?

 

[shiekh]

The metal case to the iPhone is nice, but a plastic case would save one from the danger of electrocution; form over function is not always good design.

 

[Rogifan]

everyone is put in a rather uncomfortable position its just a matter of how they deal with it. but pressure is certainly put on people.

and you are right that not allowing downgrading is not ios7 specific but it dosent make it irrelevant to the discussion.

everything i mentioned skews the statistics.

as for your first point. people want the newest. some probably have to have touch id. obviously they cant have that without ios7.

why dont you give ios6 (which you criticize) the same treatment? was apple maps not a failure of sorts/shredder animation etc etc because millions of people bought iphone 5 and just as many upgraded? come on it isnt this simple and you know it

I don't think iOS 6 or 7 are failures. I think those that dislike something complain the loudest. Prior to iOS 7 people were complaining that skeuomorphism had to go and iOS was getting stale (The Verge had a front page story called "it's always 73 and sunny in Cupertino"). Now people are complaining that iOS is too flat/white/colorful, blah blah blah. All this tells me is those who dislike are the most vocal and probably the majority of iOS users had no real issues with iOS 6 and don't with iOS 7 either. Because their life is about more than their smartphone and icon designs or font type.

 

[numlock]

I don't think iOS 6 or 7 are failures. I think those that dislike something complain the loudest. Prior to iOS 7 people were complaining that skeuomorphism had to go and iOS was getting stale (The Verge had a front page story called "it's always 73 and sunny in Cupertino"). Now people are complaining that iOS is too flat/white/colorful, blah blah blah. All this tells me is those who dislike are the most vocal and probably the majority of iOS users had no real issues with iOS 6 and don't with iOS 7 either. Because their life is about more than their smartphone and icon designs or font type.

come on. considering how quick you are to ridicule some of the ios6 highlights im surprised if you dont have a keyboard shortcut for some of those green felt comebacks.

all im saying is that posting numbers like this (skewed to begin with as i pointed out) dosent prove anything. iphone 5 sales figures and ios6 update figures didnt validate maps, siri and some horrible designs just like 5s sales figures dont validate what jony and co sent out.

if people had the choice to downgrade then these numbers could start to mean something.

 

[thekeyring]

what the heck is "another innovative product" anyway? You want the iphone to make toast? Cook rice? Kill rats?

The g4 powerbook was an innovation. The black macbook was an innovation. The iphone 5c with its sturdy steel frame and silky, seamless plastic cover is certainly an innovation. The square nano with radio and a clip was an innovation. Everything they bring out has involved innovative approaches to design, manufacture, reliability. My 2nd gen nanos have lasted longer than a lot of people's cars for god's sake. How is that not innovative, to have a little gizmo that holds a lot of music and plays it into your car stereo or your kitchen radio or your brain through earbuds, all while being willing to take a beating being thrown around in purse, pocket or car console?! It's amazing for what it cost me. Amazing.

It's fashionable to bash apple for not being innovative since steve jobs died. I'm starting to find it as tiresome as any other "fashion" that people don't have the sense to abandon for some other briefly trendy idea. It feels about as old as saddleshoes to me. 1950s!!

Bring your own gizmo to market if you don't like the pace of apple's rollouts. Remember: Make it good; if you can't make it good, make it big; if you can't make it big then at least make it red. Good luck.

/rant

+1

 

[mdelvecchio]

I think he should have already quit. I have yet to see another innovative product from apple since 2007 with the iPhone. Even then, the iPhone has kept the same design que and really has yet to make a drastic design change (in my opinion)

i know youre trolling, but you may want to check out a device called an "ipad" -- it changed tablet computing forever. iphones have gotten amazingly thin yet sturdy, the retina macbook is the finest laptop ever created, and the new pro is an amazing triumph of design & engineering.

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I'm looking forward to a new product this year from Apple.

always been curious about this -- why? are their current products bothering you somehow?

 

[flash84x]

I think he should have already quit. I have yet to see another innovative product from apple since 2007 with the iPhone. Even then, the iPhone has kept the same design que and really has yet to make a drastic design change (in my opinion)

You must be blind and cannot sense touch?

Are you suggesting it not be a rectangle?

 

[SmileyBlast!]

Jony Ive should just keep his Trap Shut.

He is de-constructing the mystic and making it easier for competitors to replicate his process.

Good for consumers (how can buy better competitor products), but bad for .

 

[mdelvecchio]

I wouldn't expect them to make a game changing product every year, but it's been about 7 making a 9.7" iPod touch is not considered an innovation.

hahahahahahah. yyyyyeah..... it's just a big ipod touch. much like how a swimming pool is just a big bathtub. uh huh.

thanks for the old-school trollin', havent heard that one in years.

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Two words: 8MP Camera....

meaning? anybody who knows anything about digital photography knows pixel count is mostly irrelevant -- it's about pixel size, pixel quality, sensor size, etc.. if you simply cram in more pixels you get noisier, crummier pixels.

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I'd even call the Magic Mouse innovative. It's by far the more enjoyable and most intuitive mouse I've used in the 20 years I've been using computers.

certainly i would. a gesture-based touchscreen on the back of a mouse! it's great. going to the physical mouse wheels on my client's HP machines is like going back in time.

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The macs are great computers and are fine, but not innovative.

or course they are. they employ the definition of innovation. guess you havent seen or used a MP or rMBP...

 

[Kendo]

Ive pretends to be innovative and it's clearly not the case, he was inspired by Braun design... and as Jobs mentioned 'Good artists copy; great artists steal'... so who is honest here ? Ive or Jobs ?

"In Gary Hustwit's 2009 documentary film Objectified, Rams states that Apple Inc. is one of the few companies designing products according to his principles."

There is a difference between designing a computer or a phone based on the principles one used in designing an electric shaver, a radio, and an electronic toothbrush... and designing a phone (Galaxy) based on the designs of another phone (iPhone) or designing a computer (Dell XPS One) and another computer (iMac).

 

[AppleFan1984]

I didn't realize we were still using the term "fanboys". 2011 called and they want their internet buzzword back.

We're OT here, but talk about dated Internet buzzphrases, "[insert year here] called and they want their [insert presumably old thing here] back".

 

[LordVic]

too many people throwing the word "Innovative" around without the understanding of the term before.

Next time you want to use it... ask yourself this:

"has this been seen/done before in any way (even if its implementation sucked)"

if you answer YES. Than it is not innovative. Thats the definition of it. Something new, a new process or method. A new not before done or seen thing or function.

an Example is the rMP. the laptop itself isn't really innovative. The screen technology was absolutely innovative. But just because you threw an innovative new screen technology into an existing device, doesn't suddenly make that device innovative on its own. As that device doesn't now suddenly do anything in a new way.

bits and pieces can be innovative. Innovation can occur on the small scale, as simple as a new way for the CPU to do something, or as large as a brand new full device that has never been seen before.

can we really REALLY stop throwing the word around every single second. it's really starting to lose any meaning it was supposed to have when you start calling everything and anything innovative just because it's in a product.

as for Ive.

he bothers me. I don't really know the specifics of the behind the scenes stuff, but there's just this attitude that he portrays, and the constant "reality distortion field" stuff he keeps spewing. To me, he is one of the people you keep in the back scenes doing his job and you don't let him talk to the public. Leave that for Cook

 

[xPad]

How about a new OS that features more than just a redesign. How about a simple feature like schedule test messages. How about an innovative project like Google is doing with Glass. How about something more than just updating a camera and processing power that nobody will use or notice at least and come out with innovative features like air gestures and eye detection. How about redesigning a new phone and not just come out with new colors and SLIGHT design changes every year. That's what I want. Sorry if I am asking to much.

No, the problem is you are asking for too little.

You're not seeing the forest for the trees. You want gimmicks (eye detection and air gestures) and half-baked tech demos (Google Glass), and are missing out on great products that improve every year (iPhone, iPad, Mac) in ways that are so intuitive and natural that you can't even recognize the quality of their changes.

Oh well, your loss.

 

[Marx55]

This is the new Apple that priorizes design versus functionality and progressively downgrades the appliations and hardware functionality:

SOFTWARE
- Missing scroll arrows.
- Missing scrolls.
- Missing color labels.
- Missing left pane colors.
- Missing resume playback on iTunes.
- Missing editing QuickTime Player features.
- Missing editing iMovie features.
- Missing electronic signatures via certificates.
- Missing folders to sort Application-side of Dock.
- Missing feature to prevent disk mounting at startup.
- Missing convenient Finder search engine like in Mac OS 9 (Sherlock).
- Etc.

HARDWARE
- Missing light pocketable Mac for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations.
- Missing disk activity light on Macs.
- Missing power-on key on keyboard.
- Missing frontal ports on Mac.
- Missing numeric keyboard with USB 3 hub.
- Missing true matte displays.
- Missing 3D displays and 3D playback.
- Missing Full Picture-in-Picture (two Digital Terrestrial Television tuners inside)
- Missing Blu-ray playback.
- Missing Thunderbolt 2 Display 4K with USB 3
- Etc.

What a shame, Apple - If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

DO NOT GET ME WRONG - I LOVE THE MAC, BUT IT COULD BE MUCH BETTER!!!

 

[xmichaelp]

I wouldn't expect them to make a game changing product every year, but it's been about 7 making a 9.7" iPod touch is not considered an innovation.

Starting a new market isn't innovation?

 

[flux73]

Two words: 8MP Camera....

One word: troll.