Jony Ive Talks Design, Steve Jobs, Future Tech and More on Stage at TechFest 2017

[dv8r]

Seriously don't get all the Ive hate. I still think he's one of the best guys at Apple but that his powers are far limited under the current Apple administration and that he could do much better if he were unleashed.

I agree. He was a great designer, but judging by the current product portfolio, he is a lazy designer.

I don't think Ive is all happy about how Apple is run at the moment. At all keynotes and events, he either doesn't attend or sits there with a grim look and arms crossed. Just watch through the keynotes. He doesn't go on the stage to elaborate design because he has nothing to celebrate.

Then he should quit, it’s not like he can’t get a job anywhere else... maybe at a car manufacturer, that seems to be his real passion. But then again, not really. While Tim is as boring a CEO as they come, he is not to blame for Apple products looking stale, Ive is. The Watch Edition didn’t come about because Tim wanted something for rich *******s to buy, but because Ive wanted to try out new materials... frankly I don’t even think Apple would have ventured into car-making if it wasn’t because of Ive.

I get he also probably was quite busy on the technology side and probably in realising his dearest friend's Apple Campus, but I just think that his political power at Apple is too limited and that he isn't free to do just what he wants, like Steve gave him the opportunity and guidance when he was still around.

Yeah Apple is starting to sound like the folks at the Bluetooth Alliance: next year it will be great.

I see this promise of greatness as a admission of guilt, we could not do it the right way, but just you wait until technology catches up, then you’ll see! If you are out of ideas, claiming to have great things in the pipe is easy, you can always claim to wait for something new to be invented. And while we wait for that “great thing” we get worse keyboards, useless touchbars, silly mouse designs, stale phone designs, dead product categories, ugly and useless chargers, dongle hell, lazy updates to remotes... but hey: next year it will be great...

 

[thr33stones]

Seriously don't get all the Ive hate. I still think he's one of the best guys at Apple but that his powers are far limited under the current Apple administration and that he could do much better if he were unleashed.

Bear in mind that Cook is a MBA/Operations guy whose job always was running operations most cost effective. This is why we get old designs, an Apple Watch 1 next to the 3 and things like that - it's cheaper to keep tooling and old tech and that will generate greater margins. No risks taken, no investment done. With Steve, he didn't care much about money, he wanted to produce the best possible thing - Ive quoted that on multiple occasions. He wanted to make excellent products and brought new tech that wasn't just a cost-added feature on the high end models.

I don't think Ive is all happy about how Apple is run at the moment. At all keynotes and events, he either doesn't attend or sits there with a grim look and arms crossed. Just watch through the keynotes. He doesn't go on the stage to elaborate design because he has nothing to celebrate.

I get he also probably was quite busy on the technology side and probably in realising his dearest friend's Apple Campus, but I just think that his political power at Apple is too limited and that he isn't free to do just what he wants, like Steve gave him the opportunity and guidance when he was still around.

I dont hate Ive, I any creative envys his position team and power in a brilliant company making really good products, but the secret makes the whole thing more appealing and when he does an interview there is a clamour to see what he says and get a better insight to the secrets behind the process and products - instead its the same stale repeated BS coughed in an a really sincere and thoughtful wrapper, I would prefer if there was nothing said than being fed the existing dross

 

[Karma*Police]

Sheep will believe anything this company puts out, it's how they make so much money. Jony could say a shined up ball of cow dung was magical and took them five years to make and people would lap it up.

Thank goodness for people like you then to explain the internal workings of Apple and providing inside knowledge that only top Apple executives are privy to. And for a second there, I thought you weren't making any sense.

 

[Bacillus]

The red pimple on the side of the Apple Watch was genius

Man, that must have been a real group accomplishment. I estimate took 25 designers to work it out, 25 more to get The Joniship out of the ApplePark gardens to convince him that this was the best panacea to get around a new Watch form factor. Mark my words: that develish red pimple will become of historic proportions. It will become The great little pimpy monument that marks the End of Design Innovation.
[doublepost=1507495067][/doublepost]

The Notch is a subjective stance on how others accept it for what is or rebuke it. You can firmly believe in whatever you so choose, but nor do you have evidence of what the average (Non-tech) consumer will care about. On a tech site, the Notch is the end of the world for some. In the real world for the average iPhone user, not many likely care. I don't have an issue it, that's my preference.

Oh man, I adore that notch. Another thing I didn't realize we missed until Apple.....blah
Frankly, I'm hoping for a standalone notch - with TouchBar
(via a dongle)

there is only 1 advantage that staying with apple products has: integration between macOS devices and iOS devices.
they control it. only they control it.
and it generally works.
for apple, the entire eco-system of inter-capable deices and, of late, cloud services, is the reason to stay with apple products.
google is trying to do this but google's result is still very disjointed.
but with google's product array announced a day or so ago google is catching up.
for all its new efforts, microsoft still is very much desktop focused.

So they will be the only company to provide a full-functional iPhone <=> MacBook dongle interface
(ehhh....with the added value that fully utilizes the lightning advantage over USB-C ...ehhh...that is restricted by the USB-C side...ehhh...so they'd better use USB-C in the phone anyway)
[doublepost=1507495793][/doublepost]

Why is that a big deal? You can always dress that up with faux bezels. If you have physical bezels, you can't expand the viewable area. Besides, the notch will be a defining element of the iPhone's design for years to come and stand out amongst the sea of generic looking Android phones.

To be ensure its availability, they may provide an extra software notch template in iOS 11

 

[Quu]

Thank goodness for people like you then to explain the internal workings of Apple and providing inside knowledge that only top Apple executives are privy to. And for a second there, I thought you weren't making any sense.

I'm glad you see it my way. See was it that hard to admit how wrong you was?

 

[Bacillus]

Just so you know, sticking the Apple Pencil into the lightning port of the iPad is the only way I ever charge my Pencil these days.

I think the design is unorthodox and clever and handily solves a thorny issue without the need for extra cables or adaptors.

Feel free to be amongst those who consider it the definite answer to the selfie stick...

 

[Abazigal]

Feel free to be amongst those who consider it the definite answer to the selfie stick...

Yeah, I have definitely noticed that as well. Have never been tempted to use it as a selfie stick though.

 

[Bacillus]

Yeah, I have definitely noticed that as well. Have never been tempted to use it as a selfie stick though.

Neither am I, but let's not underestimate the selling rate in the Far East...

 

[Karma*Police]

I'm glad you see it my way. See was it that hard to admit how wrong you was?

hahaha, no it wasn't that hard.

 

[Atomic1977]

Maybe Apple needs a girl on the team.

 

[nexusrule]

All marketing lies. He lost contact with the real world.

iPhones, due to the volume they have to be produced, couldn't use OLED until this year, and you can't have bezelless devices without OLED, only OLED display can be curve. That doesn't mean they hadn't thought 5 years ago that if they could they would do a bezelsless design.
[doublepost=1507506070][/doublepost]

His statements are a proof for me that his ego has become bigger than his ideas. If the latest iPhone really took him and his team 5 years, I’m not seeing a bright future. Oh wait... it took him 6 years to develop a new MacPro if it sees the light next year... how long we have the iMac design? Sigh...

Apple historically has always kept the same designs for their devices for many years, desktop, laptop, wifi bases, everything, only doing small changes and incremental redesigns very far away one from another. Probably you started using Apple products with iPhones and mistake the fact that until a certain point they changed it a lot for what's good design. They were changing it often because the technology didn't allowed them to make what they thought was the optimal design. Then it did allowed them and stopped making too much change. Good design is the opposite of what you think. If you redesign often it means your design was weak, and wrong, or just random. Study a bit of design theory so you will be able to really understand what design is and what good design is.
[doublepost=1507506679][/doublepost]

Does he ever credits his team? He makes it sound like he is the only designer. He should compliment his team more instead of boosting his, already huge, ego.

He always say we and us, never I or me.

 

[Bacillus]

Apple historically has always kept the same designs for their devices for many years, desktop, laptop, wifi bases, everything, only doing small changes and incremental redesigns very far away one from another. Probably you started using Apple products with iPhones and mistake the fact that until a certain point they changed it a lot for what's good design. They were changing it often because the technology didn't allowed them to make what they thought was the optimal design. Then it did allowed them and stopped making too much change. Good design is the opposite of what you think. If you redesign often it means your design was weak, and wrong, or just random. Study a bit of design theory so you will be able to really understand what design is and what good design is.

Joni Ive's design book demonstrates exactly the opposite of this grand theory

 

[LordVic]

pple historically has always kept the same designs for their devices for many years, desktop, laptop, wifi bases, everything, only doing small changes and incremental redesigns very far away one from another.

depends what Apple you are talking about.

Steve Jobs (2nd coming) Apple? THis is absolutelyuntrue. Under Steve Jobs, many of his products did see changes from iteration to iteration. this was intentional as new looks and feels are incentive to get you to replace older devices.

if your iPod worked as perfectly well as the latest iPod to be released? why buy a new one? Because it'll look different and be identifiable. this was a key method Apple used well.

while not ALl products do this, many of the more popular ones do.

Some Examples:
iPod Nano's over the years:

iphones

these are just two examples.

Where this process ends for Apple typically is when they are "done" with a product and move on to the next thing. when the iPhone came out, they really stopped working on the ipods redesigns.

however, the iPhone 6 redesign has now lasted us 4 iterations. And with the iPhone X out, seems like they're repeating the same history they already have done. once a product becomes mature and no longer "new", they move on to another device they hope to change version to version.

come the iPHone X-2 you'll probably see yet another significant change, yet the iPhone 8S should it exist, will continue the iPhone 6 design.

 

[techfreak23]

Soooo... did they ask him about that red dot on the Series 3 Apple Watch...?

 

[Bacillus]

Soooo... did they ask him about that red dot on the Series 3 Apple Watch...?

Yes, 45 designers worked on it for 5 years, and this landmark statement became the substitute for the new Series 3 form factor everybody expected
(Oah, we learned sooo much from the iPhone 6 design cycle over the years while I was whispering with the ApplePark trees...)

 

[Apple Bite]

For someone that designs incredible culture defining devices, he has a TERRIBLE dress sense. He dresses like my grandad. Good God man, use your gazillions to get a stylist. Or a mirror. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

very bad judgment there... I work with the best designers today. no going to mention company names here, all dressed like 'whatever' and they are the ones who implement what everyone will use for the next decade. just saying

 

[Lioness~]

I like Jony.

He have lots of more beautiful designs in him.
But maybe he actually have been mourning his friend who died a few years ago.
Steve was his Closest Friend....

I mean, he have to think for himself these days.
Can’t expect any of the other muppets to seriously help him with refinements.

Regarding his clothes....ah well, looks good to me. He have a few more variations then his buddy who ran that  company. Pretty much the same style though.

Not sure I would by an iPhone with that notch though

 

[Bacillus]

Joni get by. What Steve certainly would have avoided, is more glass in an iPhone.
Why the hell go for a glass backside ? I mean there is an endless list of better materials (carbon fibre, plastomeres, non metallic earths, self-repairable foams, poly carbon-derivates) that Apple got patented (as we customers funded you) and neglected to use.
I mean, did anyone in those endless offices and labs ever put a test phone on a table (there are so many btw. unbreakable glass tables out there) without crying "oopss.."
And how much contempt for customers comes with the ludicrous suggestion that glass was the only viable material because of induction charging (there were 2,5 years since 2015 to find out how much nonsense that is, were you unable to look out of the window)
This, with the endless budgets, is maddening.
Better outsource all corporate design to Lada (from Poland) - they're more compelling.

 

[x-evil-x]

Joni get by. What Steve certainly would have avoided, is more glass in an iPhone.
Why the hell go for a glass backside ? I mean there is an endless list of better materials (carbon fibre, plastomeres, non metallic earths, self-repairable foams, poly carbon-derivates) that Apple got patented (as we customers funded you) and neglected to use.
I mean, did anyone in those endless offices and labs ever put a test phone on a table (there are so many btw. unbreakable glass tables out there) without crying "oopss.."
And how much contempt for customers comes with the ludicrous suggestion that glass was the only viable material because of induction charging (there were 2,5 years since 2015 to find out how much nonsense that is, were you unable to look out of the window)
This, with the endless budgets, is maddening.
Better outsource all corporate design to Lada (from Poland) - they're more compelling.

I personally like the all glass back design it reminds me of the 4s. It feels good in the hand and feels like a quality higher end device than other materials. Ceramic also feels nice. Carbon fiber doesn't feel like "quality" even with a resin coat over it its just light but doesn't feel like quality materials(even though they are).
Which material would you rather have them choose be it feeling like a higher quality phone other than a lifeless one.

 

[kemal]

Ive is an below average industrial designer and a mediocre UI stylist.

 

[Bacillus]

I personally like the all glass back design it reminds me of the 4s. It feels good in the hand and feels like a quality higher end device than other materials. Ceramic also feels nice. Carbon fiber doesn't feel like "quality" even with a resin coat over it its just light but doesn't feel like quality materials(even though they are).
Which material would you rather have them choose be it feeling like a higher quality phone other than a lifeless one.

Gee man, don't ask me (I'm not a materials engineer) but any of those materials I mentioned sound more robust than glass. If not, they might try synthered bubble gum (that keeps their hundreds of people busy without bringing anything new in 10 years)

 

[pedrowerner]

Soooo... did they ask him about that red dot on the Series 3 Apple Watch...?

 

[kaneda]

For someone that designs incredible culture defining devices, he has a TERRIBLE dress sense. He dresses like my grandad. Good God man, use your gazillions to get a stylist. Or a mirror. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

He needs to wear under shirt...

 

[dv8r]

Joni get by. What Steve certainly would have avoided, is more glass in an iPhone.

Like he did with the iPhone 4?

 

[9081094]

Joni get by. What Steve certainly would have avoided, is more glass in an iPhone.
Why the hell go for a glass backside ? I mean there is an endless list of better materials (carbon fibre, plastomeres, non metallic earths, self-repairable foams, poly carbon-derivates) that Apple got patented (as we customers funded you) and neglected to use.
I mean, did anyone in those endless offices and labs ever put a test phone on a table (there are so many btw. unbreakable glass tables out there) without crying "oopss.."
And how much contempt for customers comes with the ludicrous suggestion that glass was the only viable material because of induction charging (there were 2,5 years since 2015 to find out how much nonsense that is, were you unable to look out of the window)
This, with the endless budgets, is maddening.
Better outsource all corporate design to Lada (from Poland) - they're more compelling.

Your comments make me smile. You know to make your points in a refreshing way. And all your comments do make the points
[doublepost=1507573572][/doublepost]

I agree. He was a great designer, but judging by the current product portfolio, he is a lazy designer.



Then he should quit, it’s not like he can’t get a job anywhere else... maybe at a car manufacturer, that seems to be his real passion. But then again, not really. While Tim is as boring a CEO as they come, he is not to blame for Apple products looking stale, Ive is. The Watch Edition didn’t come about because Tim wanted something for rich *******s to buy, but because Ive wanted to try out new materials... frankly I don’t even think Apple would have ventured into car-making if it wasn’t because of Ive.



Yeah Apple is starting to sound like the folks at the Bluetooth Alliance: next year it will be great.

I see this promise of greatness as a admission of guilt, we could not do it the right way, but just you wait until technology catches up, then you’ll see! If you are out of ideas, claiming to have great things in the pipe is easy, you can always claim to wait for something new to be invented. And while we wait for that “great thing” we get worse keyboards, useless touchbars, silly mouse designs, stale phone designs, dead product categories, ugly and useless chargers, dongle hell, lazy updates to remotes... but hey: next year it will be great...

So true! It’s always the pipeline that’s holding the next great thing. In the meantime, everyone except Apple is delivering.
[doublepost=1507573952][/doublepost]

iPhones, due to the volume they have to be produced, couldn't use OLED until this year, and you can't have bezelless devices without OLED, only OLED display can be curve. That doesn't mean they hadn't thought 5 years ago that if they could they would do a bezelsless design.
[doublepost=1507506070][/doublepost]

Apple historically has always kept the same designs for their devices for many years, desktop, laptop, wifi bases, everything, only doing small changes and incremental redesigns very far away one from another. Probably you started using Apple products with iPhones and mistake the fact that until a certain point they changed it a lot for what's good design. They were changing it often because the technology didn't allowed them to make what they thought was the optimal design. Then it did allowed them and stopped making too much change. Good design is the opposite of what you think. If you redesign often it means your design was weak, and wrong, or just random. Study a bit of design theory so you will be able to really understand what design is and what good design is.
[doublepost=1507506679][/doublepost]

He always say we and us, never I or me.

Many vendors have started with schrinking bezels on lcd for years. If there aren’t enough oled panels for iPhone they should've make that X style years ago and position it above the current models. It feels a little bit too late to glamour about the screen now since most venders already sell oled bezelfree devices. Also Huawei pushed Apple to third place and is selling with Amoled in even greater numbers than Apple. So it can be done!