Jony Ive says Apple has 'energy and vitality' and he is nowhere close to done

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Apple's chief design officer, Jony Ive, addressed a handful of topics during Wired Magazine's 25th-anniversary event on Monday, including his long-term prospects with the company.

Image Credit: Shara Tibken
Image Credit: Shara Tibken


There remains a lot to do, Ive told Vogue editor Anna Wintour, responding to the question of whether he might stay with Apple for another 25 years. The executive, quoted by journalist Shara Tibken, also noted that he enjoys the team he works with.

The "energy and vitality and sense of opportunity...it's extraordinary and it's very exciting," Ive said.

"If you lose that childlike excitement, I think then probably it's time to do something else," he added later in the interview. Asked whether he's reached that point, Ive simply said "Oh goodness no."

The designer is often credited with much of Apple's success, having been responsible for key design work on products like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. In recent years his work has extended to retail and software, for example purging skeuomorphism from iOS 7 in favor of a flatter, more synthetic look.

Asked about why Apple is so intensely secretive, Ive offered a personal angle rather the standard view that the company wants to maintain a competitive edge and better impress people at launch events.

"I think it would be bizarre not to be [secretive]," he said. "I don't know many creators who want to talk about what they're doing when they're halfway through it.

"I've been doing this for long enough where I actually feel a responsibility to not confuse or add more noise about what's being worked on because I know that sometimes it does not work out," he continued. The company is known to develop concepts that never see the light of day, such as a full-fledged TV set.

The interview concluded with Ive saying what keeps him up at night is the divisiveness in the U.S. amongst the citizenry, which has intensified as of late. He declined to elaborate on the matter.
baconstangpatchythepirate
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 40
    I remember when Cook promoted Ive to Chief Design Officer and everyone in the tech press said its a sure sign he’s on his way to retirement. Oops...
    wlympatchythepirate
  • Reply 2 of 40
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    Jony looks so out of place in that suit.
    EddyMacbaconstang
  • Reply 3 of 40
    We just need to know one thing... Does he pronounce it "Joanie" or "Johnny"?
  • Reply 4 of 40
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    New macs or I can’t hear you.
    davgregmattinozdysamoria
  • Reply 5 of 40
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,844member
    entropys said:
    New macs or I can’t hear you.
    There have been new macs. 
    patchythepiratewatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 40
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,036member
    entropys said:
    New macs or I can’t hear you.
    There have been new macs. 
    Not desktop - and not iMacs.
    docno42
  • Reply 7 of 40
    "I've been doing this for long enough where I actually feel a responsibility to not confuse or add more noise about what's being worked on because I know that sometimes it does not work out.” This is one of Apple’s strongest attributes. Keep quiet and stick to the company mantra so the message to the public is clear. All people knew about the first iPod was “500 songs in your pocket”. In contrast, you have Microsoft, less so today, which has many of their employees discussing development, feature set and strategy, often at odds with each other.
    christopher126wlymbaconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 40
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    JWSC said:
    Jony looks so out of place in that suit.
    Not helped by bad chair choice.

    I think he needs a young upstart to challenge him and increase the capacity.
    More so in interface than hardware, still there are areas og hardware that could use fresh eyes.

    If they do exist Apple needs to put them on stage or screen to sell thier own work. 
    dysamoriadocno42watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 40
    rain22rain22 Posts: 132member
    I'm convinced he won't be done until he has a wafer thin iPhone that gets 2 minutes of battery time. 
    zoetmbradarthekatdysamoriaavon b7
  • Reply 10 of 40
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    rain22 said:
    I'm convinced he won't be done until he has a wafer thin iPhone that gets 2 minutes of battery time. 
    Yes.  If he ever goes, I would hope Apple hires or promotes someone who still cares about form, but cares a LOT more about function and practicality.   I think in recent years, Apple has placed form over function far too often.   And in the case of iPhones, it's a sad joke because the phones aren't robust enough to not use a case, which hides the form anyway.    Whenever I see a phone without a case I think, "oh, that's a really nice phone - maybe I should upgrade" and then I discover that it's the phone model I already have. 

    Apple's decision to not let end-users replace the battery or upgrade memory or storage may have been to force people to upgrade their computers more often (and may have been partially caused by the obsession with thinness and no seams in the case), but I think that's going to backfire in the long run.   I think people will upgrade less often because of the cost and Apple might even lose some customers who no longer want to pay what Apple now gets for its laptops, which IMO has ventured into ludicrous territory.
    baconstangdysamoriadocno42uktechie
  • Reply 11 of 40
    mattinoz said:
    JWSC said:
    Jony looks so out of place in that suit.
    Not helped by bad chair choice.

    I think he needs a young upstart to challenge him and increase the capacity.
    More so in interface than hardware, still there are areas og hardware that could use fresh eyes.

    If they do exist Apple needs to put them on stage or screen to sell thier own work. 
    Disagree. He needs to DEVELOP young upstarts and I still in them what he’s learned. He’s likrly doing that already. Google is full of young upstarts. And the energy and enthusiasm often get mistaken for good design. Look at “material design for example.” It’s just a copy of apples efforys from the past -but done only halfway. It’s not new. It’s old. It’s not nice looking or more effective either. 

    The thing about great great designers is that their designs don’t age as they do. Great designers not only perfect what’s happening now, but they are actively hunting for what’s next. And great designers don’t latch onto fads. They create them. I’ve has created many fads: the candy looking Mac enclosures, the metal and glass proliferation in computing, and hunkered down on minimalism in UI. And it has benefitted the world. 

    Sure, a young upstart can come in and everyone will say “wow! Look at that! It’s so different and lively!” Then 6 months later, it won’t be noticed or even appreciated. It will just create a culture of looking for the next throwaway thing. 

    Great design is timeless. And the enduring fundamental design of Apple hardware and software - which can sell without needing a refresh for long periods of time is testament to jony’s Success there. 

    Apple Music was an example of where change was done for the sake of change. iTunes interface worked very well. Then Apple Music messes it all up with version one. Now things are back to timeless design decisions that both look fresh and work well. 


    radarthekatbaconstangManyMacsAgowatto_cobraracerhomie3
  • Reply 12 of 40
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Johnny better watch out, words like that from others have resulted in an early visit form the grim reaper.
  • Reply 13 of 40
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    In contrast, you have Microsoft, less so today, which has many of their employees discussing development, feature set and strategy, often at odds with each other.
    That’s because they design by osmosis; they build something and wish it into usefulness - it never works.  Google designs by popular opinion; they slam an Apple ‘inspired’ MVP into beta and use public feedback + Agile so their ‘final’ product looks like the bastard love-child of an Apple product and a home improvement project.

    The absence of any actual design is obvious as soon as you use their products.
    ManyMacsAgowatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 40
    JWSC said:
    Jony looks so out of place in that suit.
    Haha...He's known to like Bentley's and fine hotels...you kind of need a suit or two for those. :)

    Compared to Jony's style, Zuckerberg looks like a complete twat! :)
    baconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 40
    Jony wants the iPhone to be a thin 'slab' of black glass with no buttons whatsoever. The thinner the better. Same with the iPads, the iMac, and MacBook line. :)

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 40
    seanjseanj Posts: 318member
    zoetmb said:
    rain22 said:
    I'm convinced he won't be done until he has a wafer thin iPhone that gets 2 minutes of battery time. 
    I think in recent years, Apple has placed form over function far too often.   And in the case of iPhones, it's a sad joke because the phones aren't robust enough to not use a case, which hides the form anyway.

    Apple's decision to not let end-users replace the battery or upgrade memory or storage may have been to force people to upgrade their computers more often
    Rubbish.

    Ive’s entire design philosophy is “form FOLLOWS function” which comes from his design hero Dieter Rams of Braun. Which is why, for example, the Apple Watch is rectangular - see Ram’s digital watch. Ive even copied the spot on the Ram’s design for the Series 3 - though it was yellow not red on Ram’s.
    (Though the best example of homage is the copying of Ram’s calculator.)

    Yes iPhones aren’t robust if you’re a ‘phone zombie’, walking while holding and operating it one handed. But I’m not, and having owned iPhones without cases for >6 years without cases, I haven’t got so much as a scratch.
    (Let me give you another hint, keep your phone in one pocket, your keys and coins in another.)

    Why would I need to replace my battery? My 2006 MacBook, the last of the Black Macs still charges and runs fine. Am actually a little annoyed that in 2007 I bought a spare battery for it and have never used it...
    Most people don’t want to replace memory or storage, in the same way they don’t want to to install a bigger fuel tank in their car or take a soldering iron to their TV. Which is of course what Jobs always believed computers should be, a closed design, a tool for the mind, not a Meccano kit for tinkerers.
    radarthekatJWSCdelreyjonesRayz2016ManyMacsAgodocno42StrangeDayswatto_cobraracerhomie3
  • Reply 17 of 40
    zoetmb said:
    rain22 said:
    I'm convinced he won't be done until he has a wafer thin iPhone that gets 2 minutes of battery time. 
    Yes.  If he ever goes, I would hope Apple hires or promotes someone who still cares about form, but cares a LOT more about function and practicality.   I think in recent years, Apple has placed form over function far too often.   And in the case of iPhones, it's a sad joke because the phones aren't robust enough to not use a case, which hides the form anyway.    Whenever I see a phone without a case I think, "oh, that's a really nice phone - maybe I should upgrade" and then I discover that it's the phone model I already have. 

    Apple's decision to not let end-users replace the battery or upgrade memory or storage may have been to force people to upgrade their computers more often (and may have been partially caused by the obsession with thinness and no seams in the case), but I think that's going to backfire in the long run.   I think people will upgrade less often because of the cost and Apple might even lose some customers who no longer want to pay what Apple now gets for its laptops, which IMO has ventured into ludicrous territory.
    That is silly and presumptuous. In reality, the XS phones have proven themselves to have excellent function. They have been shown to have excellent battery life relative to other phones (in the majority of tests, and my own experience supports it). They are fast. They have a top notch screen. They have fast LTE internet. In the real world the glass is comparable to other comparable models. They have the most advanced facial recognition and usually the most elegant approach to new technology. Etc. Their ‘function’ is doing fine.

    And I’ve always used my iPhones without a case.
    uktechiewatto_cobraracerhomie3
  • Reply 18 of 40
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Ive's departure would "better impress" me.  That's likely the only way the MacBook Pro will get it's SD card slot and good keyboard back.
    dysamoria
  • Reply 19 of 40
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    mattinoz said:
    JWSC said:
    Jony looks so out of place in that suit.
    Not helped by bad chair choice.

    I think he needs a young upstart to challenge him and increase the capacity.
    More so in interface than hardware, still there are areas og hardware that could use fresh eyes.

    If they do exist Apple needs to put them on stage or screen to sell thier own work. 
    It would have been funny if you had said, “Not helped by bad hair choice.”
    baconstangmattinoz
  • Reply 20 of 40
    "...purging skeuomorphism from iOS 7 in favor of a flatter, more synthetic look."

    I think that is less synthetic. What is more "synthetic" than trying to reproduce leather digitally on a piece of two-dimensional glass?
    flatter, simpler design is more "true to" the medium of digital pixels presented on a screen.
    JWSCwatto_cobraracerhomie3
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