Now ehats going to jappen is a power struggle amongst the design team to do something different, not better, in order to get noticed.
People who who complain about iPhones looking similar... take a look at Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Porsche. Great design that knows it’s DNA for decades. Similar is not equal to same.
Ives desktop, portable, and mobile devices are top class. They are the best looking, best feeling, best functioning devices there are.
Unless Apple has secured a major portion of Ives time in His new venture, there will be trouble.
I tend yo believe the WSJ article a bit more now. Tim appointing an ops guy over design is like saying ops is more important and that design needs to report to ops. The problem with that is ops has no clue what to do with pushing boundaries. Ops is all about fitting things neatly into a box design is about escaping that box. Ops exists to make the design feasible. Not the other way around.
Until tim gets this, I’m a bit concerned. And Apple never concerns me.
You can replace many jobs: accountant, receptionist, supply chain manager, HR, etc. because those jobs are like putting legos together.
The He designers CREATE their own legos.
Having a lead designer who has proven aesthetic taste, industrial design knowledge, and an understanding of how to design functionally is key. But placing a spreadsheet guy in a design lead role is beyond ridiculous.
If tim not showing up hurt morale, then Ive Going away hurting it more, this move just killed it. I can’t imagine being on that team and your hero leaves, causing you to speculate which of your number gets promoted or who the new design lead will be ... only to have mr. Sneakers and spreadsheets come waking through your door.
This is an example of boardroom buddies thinking they can do it all.
I hope they learn fast. This could get rough in a hurry.
What makes you so sure Williams is just a “spreadsheet guy”? What makes you so certain Hankey and Dye aren’t sufficient as lead designers in their own rights?
I'm not so sure. I think it's more accurate to say that you need someone with taste and clarity of vision to direct designers.
Design is how it is going to work, engineering is how you make it work. Both fields deal with constraints but I think in design the constraints are more abstract until a prototype or mockup is created.
So, while I share your concern that having operations in charge will generate bias towards engineering assessments, and that could end up being a bad thing, over the past few days I've been thinking that as long as a product person is in charge and not a sales person, the world is not going to end. Mr Williams may well be someone who can lead the teams to produce beautiful devices.
Now ehats going to jappen is a power struggle amongst the design team to do something different, not better, in order to get noticed.
People who who complain about iPhones looking similar... take a look at Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Porsche. Great design that knows it’s DNA for decades. Similar is not equal to same.
Ives desktop, portable, and mobile devices are top class. They are the best looking, best feeling, best functioning devices there are.
Unless Apple has secured a major portion of Ives time in His new venture, there will be trouble.
I tend yo believe the WSJ article a bit more now. Tim appointing an ops guy over design is like saying ops is more important and that design needs to report to ops. The problem with that is ops has no clue what to do with pushing boundaries. Ops is all about fitting things neatly into a box design is about escaping that box. Ops exists to make the design feasible. Not the other way around.
Until tim gets this, I’m a bit concerned. And Apple never concerns me.
You can replace many jobs: accountant, receptionist, supply chain manager, HR, etc. because those jobs are like putting legos together.
The He designers CREATE their own legos.
Having a lead designer who has proven aesthetic taste, industrial design knowledge, and an understanding of how to design functionally is key. But placing a spreadsheet guy in a design lead role is beyond ridiculous.
If tim not showing up hurt morale, then Ive Going away hurting it more, this move just killed it. I can’t imagine being on that team and your hero leaves, causing you to speculate which of your number gets promoted or who the new design lead will be ... only to have mr. Sneakers and spreadsheets come waking through your door.
This is an example of boardroom buddies thinking they can do it all.
I hope they learn fast. This could get rough in a hurry.
What makes you so sure Williams is just a “spreadsheet guy”? What makes you so certain Hankey and Dye aren’t sufficient as lead designers in their own rights?
Probably has something to do with his job. He’s the guy who “gets stuff” for Apple.
His is mechanical engineering education saves him a bit. But he’s primarily been and is currently an “ops guy”
throwing that guy in a position as overseeing design only lends credence to the wsj report that Apple has lost the plot a bit when it comes to design as being at the tip of the spear in Apples dna. Under this new structure, the design guys aren’t pushing the culture, the spreadsheet man is. Hope that changes quick.
I'm not so sure. I think it's more accurate to say that you need someone with taste and clarity of vision to direct designers.
Design is how it is going to work, engineering is how you make it work. Both fields deal with constraints but I think in design the constraints are more abstract until a prototype or mockup is created.
So, while I share your concern that having operations in charge will generate bias towards engineering assessments, and that could end up being a bad thing, over the past few days I've been thinking that as long as a product person is in charge and not a sales person, the world is not going to end. Mr Williams may well be someone who can lead the teams to produce beautiful devices.
That’s actually WHY you must have a design lead at the fore. Design pushes boundaries. The engineering side is the legos. “Can’t do that because it gets too hot. That wattage won’t work here. This is how a hinge works.” Etc.
Design pushes engineering to accomplish an ideal form and function. Engineering takes that ideal and makes it happen.
When engineering is at the fore, you simply have a set of knowns and operate from that. Dreams die. Creative Vision (and the push to make impossibilities come to life) is lost. With design at the fore, you have a vision of the future with beautiful form that functions in ways that are either refinements to a set of knowns or are complete redos To gets past currently understood limitations in order to achieve the vision. And it takes serious impetus to push for that.
Design must push engineering. It’s the proper order. The other way doesn’t work. That’s how you become Microsoft.
Hopefully williams is a temporary measure while they sort out a proper head of design.
I'm not so sure. I think it's more accurate to say that you need someone with taste and clarity of vision to direct designers.
Design is how it is going to work, engineering is how you make it work. Both fields deal with constraints but I think in design the constraints are more abstract until a prototype or mockup is created.
So, while I share your concern that having operations in charge will generate bias towards engineering assessments, and that could end up being a bad thing, over the past few days I've been thinking that as long as a product person is in charge and not a sales person, the world is not going to end. Mr Williams may well be someone who can lead the teams to produce beautiful devices.
That’s actually WHY you must have a design lead at the fore. Design pushes boundaries. The engineering side is the legos. “Can’t do that because it gets too hot. That wattage won’t work here. This is how a hinge works.” Etc.
Design pushes engineering to accomplish an ideal form and function. Engineering takes that ideal and makes it happen.
When engineering is at the fore, you simply have a set of knowns and operate from that. Dreams die. Creative Vision (and the push to make impossibilities come to life) is lost. With design at the fore, you have a vision of the future with beautiful form that functions in ways that are either refinements to a set of knowns or are complete redos To gets past currently understood limitations in order to achieve the vision. And it takes serious impetus to push for that.
Design must push engineering. It’s the proper order. The other way doesn’t work. That’s how you become Microsoft.
Hopefully williams is a temporary measure while they sort out a proper head of design.
Williams is credited with driving the Apple Watch launch. Look at teardowns and progress of that tiny wrist borne mircocomputer.
Can you really point to any signs at all of Engineering letting the dream die?
The critisms of the watch to me are:-
- Yes, it could be a 1mm thinner but you look at the teardowns an I have no idea where they would get that space from other than battery.
- Why did they waste resource trying to make the "founders" gold edition?
Neither support an agreement of engineering not letting the design vision drive the outcomes.
If you have people who can "lead from the side" so to speak then they don't need to tick some tradional box on their profile. Designer can step up and lead for their push and advise for engineering and vis versa. Marketing can be there from day one injecting themselve as required. Then the most important thing for the Senior member is to know when to jump in and say no or not yet.
If we can judge JW by the Apple Watch and it's public developement so far then I'm not at all suprised he is being given to show he can be the next CEO. Plus build up the team who will support him in the process.
I'm not so sure. I think it's more accurate to say that you need someone with taste and clarity of vision to direct designers.
Design is how it is going to work, engineering is how you make it work. Both fields deal with constraints but I think in design the constraints are more abstract until a prototype or mockup is created.
So, while I share your concern that having operations in charge will generate bias towards engineering assessments, and that could end up being a bad thing, over the past few days I've been thinking that as long as a product person is in charge and not a sales person, the world is not going to end. Mr Williams may well be someone who can lead the teams to produce beautiful devices.
Yes, and Williams can lead the reset out of the thin, light, minimalist hole that Apple fell into. Apple products aren't great because they LOOK great --- the look is part of the greatness. The rest is being able to do the job superbly well -- and that's the part that, particularly the Mac line, has been missing: the butterfly keyboard is a prime example. Another example -- although a mirror image -- is the Apple Watch: under William's leadership it migrated from a fashion trinket to a functional marvel that many CRITICIZED how it looked! Had the thin, light, minimalist ideology prevailed the Apple Watch would be just another FitBit. Instead, it's a big, fat, clunky marvel of engineering who's beauty comes from what it does rather than how it looks.
Some time ago I guessed either Ahrendts or Williams would replace Tim Cook. Guess it’s Williams.
Thankfully! Williams watch: Superb example of engineering and design worthy of Jobs Ahrendts: Turned Apple Stores into car showrooms.
But, in actuality, I don't think Tim is going anywhere. He's not in it for the money. He's there because he loves Apple. That's what got him there and that's what'll keep him there. That's what sets the truly great leaders apart from the "corporate CEOs".
I'm not so sure. I think it's more accurate to say that you need someone with taste and clarity of vision to direct designers.
Design is how it is going to work, engineering is how you make it work. Both fields deal with constraints but I think in design the constraints are more abstract until a prototype or mockup is created.
So, while I share your concern that having operations in charge will generate bias towards engineering assessments, and that could end up being a bad thing, over the past few days I've been thinking that as long as a product person is in charge and not a sales person, the world is not going to end. Mr Williams may well be someone who can lead the teams to produce beautiful devices.
That’s actually WHY you must have a design lead at the fore. Design pushes boundaries. The engineering side is the legos. “Can’t do that because it gets too hot. That wattage won’t work here. This is how a hinge works.” Etc.
Design pushes engineering to accomplish an ideal form and function. Engineering takes that ideal and makes it happen.
When engineering is at the fore, you simply have a set of knowns and operate from that. Dreams die. Creative Vision (and the push to make impossibilities come to life) is lost. With design at the fore, you have a vision of the future with beautiful form that functions in ways that are either refinements to a set of knowns or are complete redos To gets past currently understood limitations in order to achieve the vision. And it takes serious impetus to push for that.
Design must push engineering. It’s the proper order. The other way doesn’t work. That’s how you become Microsoft.
Hopefully williams is a temporary measure while they sort out a proper head of design.
Williams is credited with driving the Apple Watch launch. Look at teardowns and progress of that tiny wrist borne mircocomputer.
Can you really point to any signs at all of Engineering letting the dream die?
The critisms of the watch to me are:-
- Yes, it could be a 1mm thinner but you look at the teardowns an I have no idea where they would get that space from other than battery.
- Why did they waste resource trying to make the "founders" gold edition?
Neither support an agreement of engineering not letting the design vision drive the outcomes.
If you have people who can "lead from the side" so to speak then they don't need to tick some tradional box on their profile. Designer can step up and lead for their push and advise for engineering and vis versa. Marketing can be there from day one injecting themselve as required. Then the most important thing for the Senior member is to know when to jump in and say no or not yet.
If we can judge JW by the Apple Watch and it's public developement so far then I'm not at all suprised he is being given to show he can be the next CEO. Plus build up the team who will support him in the process.
You must realize that you reinforced my point with the Watch example. That was Ive and team pushing it and engineering forced to reinvent. That’s the way it should be. And that’s the way it was. Williams at the fore flips the script upside down.
You mistske this as a knock on Williams. It’s a knock on the arrangement. Williams is fine in a different role. He just should not be overseeing design. So hopefully it’s a temporary setup. Otherwise, Apple could realistically just be Samsung with another brandmark on their building. You really need to get that.
Now ehats going to jappen is a power struggle amongst the design team to do something different, not better, in order to get noticed.
People who who complain about iPhones looking similar... take a look at Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Porsche. Great design that knows it’s DNA for decades. Similar is not equal to same.
Ives desktop, portable, and mobile devices are top class. They are the best looking, best feeling, best functioning devices there are.
Unless Apple has secured a major portion of Ives time in His new venture, there will be trouble.
I tend yo believe the WSJ article a bit more now. Tim appointing an ops guy over design is like saying ops is more important and that design needs to report to ops. The problem with that is ops has no clue what to do with pushing boundaries. Ops is all about fitting things neatly into a box design is about escaping that box. Ops exists to make the design feasible. Not the other way around.
Until tim gets this, I’m a bit concerned. And Apple never concerns me.
You can replace many jobs: accountant, receptionist, supply chain manager, HR, etc. because those jobs are like putting legos together.
The He designers CREATE their own legos.
Having a lead designer who has proven aesthetic taste, industrial design knowledge, and an understanding of how to design functionally is key. But placing a spreadsheet guy in a design lead role is beyond ridiculous.
If tim not showing up hurt morale, then Ive Going away hurting it more, this move just killed it. I can’t imagine being on that team and your hero leaves, causing you to speculate which of your number gets promoted or who the new design lead will be ... only to have mr. Sneakers and spreadsheets come waking through your door.
This is an example of boardroom buddies thinking they can do it all.
I hope they learn fast. This could get rough in a hurry.
What makes you so sure Williams is just a “spreadsheet guy”? What makes you so certain Hankey and Dye aren’t sufficient as lead designers in their own rights?
Probably has something to do with his job. He’s the guy who “gets stuff” for Apple.
His is mechanical engineering education saves him a bit. But he’s primarily been and is currently an “ops guy”
throwing that guy in a position as overseeing design only lends credence to the wsj report that Apple has lost the plot a bit when it comes to design as being at the tip of the spear in Apples dna. Under this new structure, the design guys aren’t pushing the culture, the spreadsheet man is. Hope that changes quick.
Saying Williams is the "guy who gets stuff for Apple" because he's Chief of Operations is like saying Schiller "is the guy who makes ads". There's no way his job is simply procurement of "stuff". Calling him "spreadsheet guy" is more than a bit hyperbolic.
From what I've read so far, it sounds like Hankey and Dye have been running ID and HI as leaders of those respective departments pretty well with minimal involvement from Ive. I'm not sure this is a step back, and may prove to be a better arrangement than that was for all we know. Williams spearheading the Watch and his interest in product design are positive signs.
Comments
Design is how it is going to work, engineering is how you make it work. Both fields deal with constraints but I think in design the constraints are more abstract until a prototype or mockup is created.
So, while I share your concern that having operations in charge will generate bias towards engineering assessments, and that could end up being a bad thing, over the past few days I've been thinking that as long as a product person is in charge and not a sales person, the world is not going to end. Mr Williams may well be someone who can lead the teams to produce beautiful devices.
His is mechanical engineering education saves him a bit. But he’s primarily been and is currently an “ops guy”
throwing that guy in a position as overseeing design only lends credence to the wsj report that Apple has lost the plot a bit when it comes to design as being at the tip of the spear in Apples dna. Under this new structure, the design guys aren’t pushing the culture, the spreadsheet man is. Hope that changes quick.
Design pushes engineering to accomplish an ideal form and function. Engineering takes that ideal and makes it happen.
When engineering is at the fore, you simply have a set of knowns and operate from that. Dreams die. Creative Vision (and the push to make impossibilities come to life) is lost. With design at the fore, you have a vision of the future with beautiful form that functions in ways that are either refinements to a set of knowns or are complete redos To gets past currently understood limitations in order to achieve the vision. And it takes serious impetus to push for that.
Design must push engineering. It’s the proper order. The other way doesn’t work. That’s how you become Microsoft.
Hopefully williams is a temporary measure while they sort out a proper head of design.
Another example -- although a mirror image -- is the Apple Watch: under William's leadership it migrated from a fashion trinket to a functional marvel that many CRITICIZED how it looked! Had the thin, light, minimalist ideology prevailed the Apple Watch would be just another FitBit. Instead, it's a big, fat, clunky marvel of engineering who's beauty comes from what it does rather than how it looks.
Williams watch: Superb example of engineering and design worthy of Jobs
Ahrendts: Turned Apple Stores into car showrooms.
But, in actuality, I don't think Tim is going anywhere. He's not in it for the money. He's there because he loves Apple. That's what got him there and that's what'll keep him there. That's what sets the truly great leaders apart from the "corporate CEOs".
You mistske this as a knock on Williams. It’s a knock on the arrangement. Williams is fine in a different role. He just should not be overseeing design. So hopefully it’s a temporary setup. Otherwise, Apple could realistically just be Samsung with another brandmark on their building. You really need to get that.
From what I've read so far, it sounds like Hankey and Dye have been running ID and HI as leaders of those respective departments pretty well with minimal involvement from Ive. I'm not sure this is a step back, and may prove to be a better arrangement than that was for all we know. Williams spearheading the Watch and his interest in product design are positive signs.