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The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

fastcompany.com

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Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#261

Post by imwillofficial »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #252
imwillofficial wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. To clarify the M1 Macs, not Pro, Max, or Ultra can only support one external display. This also seems to be the case with the non-Pro/Max/Ultra M2 macs.

I'm not sure most people (including reviewers and resellers) assume the phrase "M1 Mac" excludes macs with M1 Pro, M1 Max, or M1 Ultra chips (or even know which Mac models include which M1 variants), so beware this communications confusion may be likely to reoccur.

Agreed

The parent comment: “Maybe by next decade, all the MacBook "pro" models will support more than one external display.”

The 13” M1/M2 MBP is the only one that doesn’t support more than one external display.

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#262

Post by antipaul »

scyzoryk_xyz wrote: post #9

That bit about the firing of the designer who used the river metaphor in that email is such a good lesson for anyone: Never ever ever ever announce moves like this if there is still money on the table that can still be taken away from you. No matter how awesome your company is, how great the team, product or how wonderful the atmosphere is. This guy thought he wrote a heartfelt goodbye to his beloved team and was ins…

We really have no idea why they decided to fire him.

From the story, it looks like a benign email with an apropos quote.

But while that could’ve indeed been the email, maybe he was also going around saying Apple is done, come join me in my new gig, Ive is dumb, etc.

And team members then complained it hurt their morale.

So Dye and Ive put their door down.

I’m not saying this is what happened. But do we really know the full story?

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#263

Post by the_af »

ksec wrote: post #225
the_af wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “not all ideas make the cut, even the best ones” I'm not sure I understand. If the best ideas don't make the cut, which ones do? Or was Jony acknowledging a flaw in Apple's process?

>“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. -Steve Jobs.

But that's "good" ideas. I wouldn't object to that. Instead, Jony said the best ideas. By definition, this means you're necessarily choosing a worse idea, because there's nothing better than the best idea. Seems like a bad process to me!

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#264

Post by the_af »

simonh wrote: post #238
the_af wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “not all ideas make the cut, even the best ones” I'm not sure I understand. If the best ideas don't make the cut, which ones do? Or was Jony acknowledging a flaw in Apple's process?

They are discussing design ideas. There might be many, many reasons why a product with an absolutely killer design could get cancelled anyway.

This means a better design idea won. So the idea that got cut wasn't the best!

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#265

Post by the_af »

sumedh wrote: post #221
the_af wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “not all ideas make the cut, even the best ones” I'm not sure I understand. If the best ideas don't make the cut, which ones do? Or was Jony acknowledging a flaw in Apple's process?

> If the best ideas don't make the cut, which ones do? The best idea might be too expensive for the market so you go with the next best one?

If it was too expensive, then it wasn't the best.

Whichever way you put it, it's either a flawed process or a weird turn of phrase by Ive.

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#266

Post by the_af »

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #214
the_af wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “not all ideas make the cut, even the best ones” I'm not sure I understand. If the best ideas don't make the cut, which ones do? Or was Jony acknowledging a flaw in Apple's process?

Carful to remember the “some of”… but the best ideas might be too risky, not as practical, timed poorly, too controversial, etc.

Then they are not the best...

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#267

Post by the_af »

kergonath wrote: post #226
the_af wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “not all ideas make the cut, even the best ones” I'm not sure I understand. If the best ideas don't make the cut, which ones do? Or was Jony acknowledging a flaw in Apple's process?

Not all the best ones do, it is quite straightforward. Some bad ones also do occasionally make the cut, but it tells more about the nature of ideas than Apple’s process at this point.

If that was Ive's meaning, that humans sometimes choose a worse idea than the best one, then it's both a truism and an empty platitude...

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#268

Post by culpable_pickle »

the_af wrote: post #263
ksec wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. -Steve Jobs.

But that's "good" ideas. I wouldn't object to that. Instead, Jony said the best ideas. By definition, this means you're necessarily choosing a worse idea, because there's nothing better than the best idea. Seems like a bad process to me!

Quantifying best is very difficult. Is it the best technically but market conditions makes it less appealing? Or is it the best fit for the market but it’s a nightmare to build and so they can’t pump enough of them out to be reasonable.

The products that launch end up being good enough in all areas but rarely/never the best in all areas.

It’s the sign of a healthy business IMHO

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#269

Post by bradknowles »

the_af wrote: post #267
kergonath wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all the best ones do, it is quite straightforward. Some bad ones also do occasionally make the cut, but it tells more about the nature of ideas than Apple’s process at this point.

If that was Ive's meaning, that humans sometimes choose a worse idea than the best one, then it's both a truism and an empty platitude...

In Re: Betamax vs. VHS, what does "best" mean?

Re: The dissolution of Apple’s legacy design team

#270

Post by the_af »

culpable_pickle wrote: post #268
the_af wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's "good" ideas. I wouldn't object to that. Instead, Jony said the best ideas. By definition, this means you're necessarily choosing a worse idea, because there's nothing better than the best idea. Seems like a bad process to me!

Quantifying best is very difficult. Is it the best technically but market conditions makes it less appealing? Or is it the best fit for the market but it’s a nightmare to build and so they can’t pump enough of them out to be reasonable. The products that launch end up being good enough in all areas but rarely/never the best in all areas. It’s the sign of a healthy business IMHO

If quantifying "best" is so difficult, then maybe Ive should have worded his words of consolation better, maybe? Otherwise it's just an empty platitude.
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