Victor Marks
In a conversation at The New Yorker's TechFest conference in Manhattan on Friday, Apple chief designer Jony Ive gave a small glimpse into the development of the upcoming iPhone X, and the time that it takes for technology to catch up to ideas — and AppleInsider was there.
Update: Per the request of The New Yorker, the full transcript and audio from the 2017 TechFest event have been removed. Full text coverage can be found below:
Jony Ive recalls how Steve Jobs taught him to say no, especially when it hurts to do it
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
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The title says "Audio and Transcript."
I see the transcript. Where is the audio?
This man played a major role in bringing Apple to where it is today, but primarily because Steve Jobs held his minimalism in check. That remains true even though Jobs was a fan of minimalism. Steve has been gone 6 years and it shows. Ive is the man responsible for gutting the MacBook Pro of pro features (e.g., built-in functionality that allows us to live a happy MBP lifestyle without endless dongles and card readers), and Ive is responsible for touting a new iPhone with an unsightly Notch as being something "lovely to behold." I therefore could not care less what Ive thinks these days. I used to think Apple made brilliant things because of Ive. I no longer feel that way today.
Just because someone has done great things doesn't mean they always will. And Ive has been monetarily compensated for his work far more than any of us would be compensated even if we worked through 4 life spans. Ive therefore needs no special thanks or worship from us, the Apple faithful.
Steve Jobs once said, "It's rare that you see an artist in his 30s or 40s able to really contribute something." Steve was obviously talking about people other than himself because he contributed in a powerful way until the day of his death. But Ive has just been coasting on the memory of Steve since 2011. It's time to get some young blood into Apple to not merely "surround" Ive (with ideas) but rather to "replace" Ive. Apple started as a company with kids in their 20's. They had a youthful fire that rocketed them to greatness through Steve Jobs. Look at who gets on the Apple stage these days. They are mostly aging men with gray hair and very little fire in their eyes. I say this as a man of 46. Despite my age, I know the importance of youthful ideas to keep a company alive and kicking. It's time for Ive to go. He's run a great race, no question. But it's time he pass the baton to someone better than himself.
When Jony says “And or there's just a flippancy and just this general sense of, "Well, we just have to get it done," and this, sort of, sense of inevitability.”. That statement to me confirms what the loss of Steve Jobs means. Apple cannot be the same without Steve Jobs and has to become something else. No one, no matter how much they want or try to, will be able to keep Apple being the Apple we knew. Not anyone there now or that may join the company regardless of their age. Steve Jobs did’nt make Apple what it was because he was young, but because he was who he was. There will forever only be one Steve Jobs. We can all see the things that Apple is doing that we can be pretty sure Steve would never have done or allowed. The best example of this is the plethoria of different iPhones you can buy today. Eight, count them. When Steve died you could only buy one the 4S announced the day before he died. When Steve came back to Apple one of the first things he did was eliminate the complex product line. Today I have the same problem as people did then. I want a certain feature in my phone but it only comes in the “plus version” but I don’t want a phone that big. So I go without. So the iPhone has become like BBQ sauce where there are too many choices on the shelf in front of you to make the choice obvious or without sacrifice. So I guess this says that Jony is back to doing what he did before Steve came back. Being “ineffective”.