Sir Jony Ive hasn’t agreed to too many interviews during his time as Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design. But the London Evening Standard has managed to tie him down for a rare interview in which he talks about Apple’s design process, and why its competitors have the wrong goals.
How does Apple do it? How do they keep secret products that require huge billion dollar deals, years of planning and cutting-edge technology up until the moment Apple wants to announce it? How does Cupertino consistently leap frog the competition to market with new products at such low prices, then keep that lead for years? And how does Apple do all of this while maintaining record profits and 40% gross margins?
BusinessWeek has a fantastic look at the intricacies of Apple’s supply chain, which is the best on Earth. The secret? Hoarding lasers, they cheekily suggest. But that’s not actually all that far off.
As the legal battles between Apple and Samsung continue, the Korean electronics giant is seeking depositions from a number of Apple designers behind the company’s revolutionary iPhone, including its Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Jony Ive.
Back in 1997 at the beginning of the Second Jobs Dynasty, Apple introduced a special edition Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (TAM) to celebrate the company’s 20th year in business. The TAM was positioned as a high-end luxury system, selling for $7000 and delivered by a tuxedo clad technician, but highlighted where Apple was heading in industrial design with a vertical orientation, elegant fit and finish, and an LCD display later adopted by the iMac.
In this promotional video a (then) relatively unknown Apple designer named Jony Ive (with a full head of hair) shows off his newest baby and explains the company’s design philosophy. The TAM was a flop in the marketplace but foreshadowed Apple’s subsequent design renaissance, and has since become a coveted collector’s item.
[via 512 Pixels]
At Apple’s press events, Scott Forstall is the guy who introduces the company’s latest developments with the iOS firmware. He also pops up in the company’s infamous marketing videos in which they use words like “amazing,” “revolutionary,” and “magical.” But Scott’s not just that guy who gets up on stage every so often. He’s an incredibly important member of Apple’s executive team, and in a profile by Bloomberg Businessweek, he’s described as a “mini-Steve” who’s driven, obsessed over little details, and a magnificent salesman.