Is it just me, or is Jonathan Ive the only Apple exec able to convincingly recreate Job's reality distortion field?
Every time one of these videos comes out, a bunch of guys are paraded out, each one trying to imp Job's style, vocabulary, and delivery, but each one coming across as some guy trying to copy someone else, rather than exude their own sense of style and originality.
To be even less charitable and more cynical, it comes across as a bunch of corporate suits with succession on their minds, all believing that Job's unique style and power of persuasion are necessary to sustain Apple when he eventually steps down, and that the most likely candidate to succeed him will be someone who most effectively recreates those traits as CEO.
But if so, they miss the mark, in that those traits can't be copied. They can't exist if they're not authentic, if they don't originate from the strength of a unique individual's vision, passion, and frame. You don't get those by mimicking someone else in the hope of increasing your odds in the corporate succession game.
Without looking them all up on Wikipedia, I'm sure they are all highly accomplished in their own rights, driven and passionate about what they do, thankful to have amazing jobs at the coolest company in the universe (Google excepted; not taking sides, but that's a debate for another thread), and have even contributed to and influenced Steve Jobs' vision and direction at times.
But none of them is Steve Jobs, and never will be, and the harder they try the more obvious that is. Only Ive comes across as someone with as strong a sense of individuality and frame as Jobs, and that's because of all the execs, he tries the least to mimic Steve, if at all.
He has nothing to prove, having lead designed practically all of Apple's products since Steve returned to Apple, and acts like it. The difference is subtle, but to me, very apparent in videos like this.
EDIT: To unharsh on those guys a bit, they're much more successful than I, and probably 99% of all other human beings are at this point. So /salute to them for that.
But that makes me wonder even more why they seem to feel the need to try to recreate Jobs' style, instead of developing their own. Surely, to get where they are, they have an abundance of talent and a wealth of experience, all of which should contribute to a strong frame, and the lack of a need to copy someone else's.
To reduce Jobs down to the essentials, I think it's really his frame, and his ability to frame Apple's products, that is the crux of his RDF and marketing ability. But there are equally effective ways to accomplish that without aping his vocabulary (pro tip - only Jobs can use the word 'exciting' to describe Baudrillardian consumer products without a hint of irony or corporate BS jargon; no one else should even attempt it).
I wish these guys would realize that and find their own path, be their own person.