Jony Ive will leave Apple later this year (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

starting his own design firm with Apple as client #1.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/27/...ne-chief-design-officer-lovefrom-company-quit

 

[Nelson Au]

This is big news for us in the design field. Jony Ive will leave Apple and start his own design consultancy with his friend Marc Newsom, also a famed industrial designer. Loveform is the new company name.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/19...s-year-create-new-studio-with-apple-as-client

 

[Carlo_M]

Hopefully Apple has prepared for this. I remember a few years back it was first rumored he was leaving and then they made some changes to keep him. But that should have put them on notice that he could leave at any time, and hopefully they've taken steps to mitigate his impending departure.

 

[DaveF]

“Third: This may be good news. Ive is, to state the obvious, preternaturally talented. But in the post-Jobs era, with all of Apple design, hardware and software, under his control, we’ve seen the software design decline and the hardware go wonky. I don’t know the inside story, but it certainly seems like a good bet that MacBook keyboard fiasco we’re still in the midst of is the direct result of Jony Ive’s obsession with device thinness and minimalism. Today’s MacBooks are worse computers but more beautiful devices than the ones they replaced. Is that directly attributable to Jony Ive? With these keyboards in particular, I believe the answer is yes.”

https://daringfireball.net/2019/06/jony_ive_leaves_apple

Good essay with other interesting concerns.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Jony Ive’s obsession with device thinness and minimalism

I think this right there is why Apple products haven’t had much appeal to me of late. The extra thinness hasn’t been worth what you lose to get it. In my book, anyway.

When they hit the right balance it’s great but when they don’t, it’s disappointing.

 

[Cranston37+]

In depth article on Ive leaving. It says his day to day involvement began tapering in 2015.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...e-to-design-chief-jony-ive?srnd=technology-vp

 

[DaveF]

The roundup of opinions
https://mjtsai.com/blog/2019/06/28/jony-ive-is-leaving-apple/

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

But in the post-Jobs era, with all of Apple design, hardware and software, under his control, we’ve seen the software design decline and the hardware go wonky.

I would say a bigger cause is that the post-Jobs era has seen a significant percentage of the company's profits shift from R&D to stock buybacks. This strategy is short-term boon to shareholders, but it has longer-term costs.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Maybe this means we’ll get slightly thicker MacBook Pros with a quality keyboard and slightly thicker iPhones without that stupid camera bump.

 

[DaveF]

My other favorite comment, that feels plausible, is that design is moved under ops because design has been making designs that can’t be built, and that’s being brought under control.

 

[DaveF]

I would say a bigger cause is that the post-Jobs era has seen a significant percentage of the company's profits shift from R&D to stock buybacks. This strategy is short-term boon to shareholders, but it has longer-term costs.

No. If that wasn’t put into buyback it would be put into dividends. That’s the money that’s going to stockholders one way or the other. It’s unlikely that given the enormity of their profits that is affecting R&D or product design per se.

 

[Ted Todorov]

This an excellent 30 min discussion between Rene Ritchie & Gruber:

Gruber will be discussing it with Ben Thompson on The Talk Show.

 

[DaveF]

Thanks. I don’t subscribe to Vector podcast, but download specific episodes of interest. Downloaded that one for later listening.

 

[DaveF]

"Jony Ive Leaves Apple, Ive’s Legacy, The Post-Ive Apple – Stratechery by Ben Thompson"

https://stratechery.com/2019/jony-ive-leaves-apple-ives-legacy-the-post-ive-apple/

 

[Ted Todorov]

Finally out (Gruber/Thompson podcast): https://overcast.fm/+B7ND6_CHc

 

[Sam Posten]

Don’t have hate it when mods merge threads and the later one gets the headline???? :/

 

[DaveF]

Don’t have hate it when mods merge threads and the later one gets the headline???? :/

They were posted almost simultaneously and neither had followup yet. I went with the one with the more explanatory headline.

 

[Sam Posten]

Hey man 30 seconds is still 30 seconds =p

 

[Clinton McClure]

 

[DaveF]

I’m a Eurogamer. All games are scored by a complex calculus of gameplay. Simply being fastest is only a small part of the overall scoring.