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Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

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Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#41

Post by swombat »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #29
ugh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there anyone who can replace Ive in his current position? If you think there’s not then you already have the answer to the question whether Ive could become CEO. His ability as a CEO doesn’t even figure into it, at least not very much. He can’t be CEO and designer at the same time and a designer like Ive is at least as important for Apple as a good CEO. I used to like the idea of Ive as a CEO but in hindsight that…

Not promoting someone because they're too good at their current job is a mistake bad companies make.

There's a difference between not promoting someone from lead code monkey, and not promoting someone from head of industrial design at Apple. The latter is a valid landing point for the rest of your life.

Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#42

Post by thepointyhat »

He designs stuff that looks pretty, but you can't open it to isolate power or replace the battery easily.

It's dangerous. Having watched my MacBook Pro go up in flames and nearly take my house with it, I have first hand of how awfully designed Apple stuff is from a safety and engineering point of view.

Also, I want to replace my iPod battery after 3 years (Nano 4th gen). Can I? Nope, not without special tools, high risk procedures and a flipping soldering iron.

Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#43

Post by Newgy »

nobody31415 wrote: post #36
chrislomax wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally think it's impossible to replicate what Apple have done. It's not just one thing that has caused a change but a series of changes starting when they introduced the iMac. Apple is more of a "love mark" than a technology company. Back in 95, Microsoft was a love mark, people loved it when a new version of windows came out, now people dread it. People started looking for an alternative and Apple was there,…

You could take everything you just said and apply it to Sony in 1980. Then their founder, Akio Morita, retired with poor health and they diversified into lots of sensible business decisions about owning studios Then some little computer company in California moved in on their territory and began making beautiful, simple, well made upmarket products.

By "sensible" you mean "disastrous." Owning Sony Pictures has been a consistent money loser, and the studio IP concerns at Sony Music and Pictures hamstrung their electronics arm from innovating in the face of the iPod threat.

Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#46

Post by alexwolfe »

nknight wrote: post #44

Great, but... Ive only does industrial design, as far as I know. The other side of the coin is the software, and if that declines, Ive's going to be creating very well-designed paperweights. So who does Apple's software design?

I imagine he has some voice in the aesthetics of the software design. But it's true that the whole package (hardware and software) is the combination that makes apple products great.

Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#47

Post by jcurbo »

Kliment wrote: post #14

Those are some damn nice CNC mills in the background of that photo. Wonder how much use they get.

Speaking of that photo, the documentary it's from (Objectified) is very good and is on Netflix Instant Queue. (Might be available other ways but that's how I watched it)

Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#48

Post by nobody31415 »

Newgy wrote: post #43
nobody31415 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could take everything you just said and apply it to Sony in 1980. Then their founder, Akio Morita, retired with poor health and they diversified into lots of sensible business decisions about owning studios Then some little computer company in California moved in on their territory and began making beautiful, simple, well made upmarket products.

By "sensible" you mean "disastrous." Owning Sony Pictures has been a consistent money loser, and the studio IP concerns at Sony Music and Pictures hamstrung their electronics arm from innovating in the face of the iPod threat.

It was a very 'sensible' decision if you are an MBA! If Sony had been a little more flexible and far sighted it could have worked. But as you say, it resulted in the DAT tape and minidisk being restricted to protect the studio.

It's the same sensible that means Apple shouldn't have started iTunes (we aren't a record company) and Amazon shouldn't have done Kindle (we aren't a computer company) !

Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#49

Post by coob »

nknight wrote: post #44

Great, but... Ive only does industrial design, as far as I know. The other side of the coin is the software, and if that declines, Ive's going to be creating very well-designed paperweights. So who does Apple's software design?

Forstall appears to have same tyrannical streak as Jobs.

Re: Steve Jobs left designer Jony Ive more power than anyone at Apple

#50

Post by jad »

nknight wrote: post #44

Great, but... Ive only does industrial design, as far as I know. The other side of the coin is the software, and if that declines, Ive's going to be creating very well-designed paperweights. So who does Apple's software design?

> So who does Apple's software design?

Scott Forstall is responsible for iOS. My understanding is that Eddy Cue is responsible for the iTunes Store, including the App Store, and now, iCloud. He was promoted to Executive Vice President back in August. I'm not sure who's in charge of Mac software.

You can see brief profiles of the various people here: http://www.apple.com/pr/bios/

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