AppleInsider Staff
Vanity Fair on Friday posted to YouTube the full 25-minute video of an interview with Apple SVP of Design Jony Ive, who discussed a range of topics at the publication's New Establishment Summit, including his beginnings at Apple and "copycat" devices.
The video was filmed during Ive's panel last week, which had the design guru sit down for a rare one-on-one interview with Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.
As previously reported, much of the talk revolved around Ive's time at Apple, including how the company chose him to design early PowerBook models, how he conducts day-to-day operations and his thoughts on cofounder Steve Jobs.
Also discussed were Apple's recent product unveilings, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the Apple Watch. Ive said that he's always been interested in the history of watches, seeing the wrist as prime real estate for technology as it keeps vital information available at a glance.
During a question and answer session following the formal interview, Ive was asked if he felt flattered that Chinese phone maker Xiaomi's handset designs are aesthetically similar to certain iPhone models. At the time, much was made of Ive's response, with some publications reporting that he "slammed" the firm's design tactics. But the full video reveals otherwise.
"I'll sound a little bit harsh, and perhaps a little bit bitter, because I don't see it as flattery," Ive said. "I'm just talking about this issue in general — I see it as theft."
In a subsequent interview, The Economic Times asked Xiaomi CEO Hugo Barra for his thoughts on Ive's comments, shortening the quote to, "I don't see it as flattery. I see it as theft." Barra said that, although he had not seen the Vanity Fair talk and is aware of the design language comparisons, he doubted Ive would make such a pointed remark.
"I would expect Jony to be even more aggressive than he was in answering this question," Barra said. "Jony is one of the classiest people in the industry. I would bet you anything that he did not say the word Xiaomi in his answer. He is speaking generally about how he feels which is what I would expect from any world-class designer."
-m.jpg)
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Sponsored Content
60 Comments
I'm not sure this is the full interview is it? It doesn't include some of the earlier clips we've seen such as the one about Steve calling him vain. Brilliant interview though, a really enjoyable watch.
VF are certainly milking this. They really should just release the entire video, but oh no.. clicks equal money do they not?
It's interesting to hear Jony talk about why Apple didn't do a large screen before. Apparently they weren't able to get a larger screened phone to be thin, lightweight, and have a small bezel. He's obviously happy with the balance that was found with the iPhone 6 and 6+. I wonder what changed that enabled them to overcome that hurdle.
Loved his answer to the Xiaomi question. :D Now I see Xiamoi has fired back saying the iPhone 6 takes design cues from things HTC was doing 5 years ago. Hmm...I'd love to know what exactly they're referring to.
I hope the full interview will stimulate lot of interesting discussion on a variety of topics, but who am I kidding? It's going to be about one thing. And we all know what that is.