Ive Got A Secret
May 26, 2015 3:29 PM Subscribe
Stephen Fry announces in an exclusive interview that Jony Ive has been promoted to Apple's Chief Design Officer (CDO). Ive becomes the third C-level executive at the company, a step up from his former position as Senior Vice President of Design. Tim Cook followed up on Fry's announcement with a company-wide email detailing all of the changes to the management structure of the design department.
Wow, this is big news. We might start seeing Ive's design philosophies realized in Apple's entire lineup! Sincerely, the year 2002 A.D.
posted by No-sword at 3:49 PM on May 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by No-sword at 3:49 PM on May 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
This is probably a lot bigger deal within the design community, than tech. Before today, there wasn't a well-known precedent for a designer holding a C-level role within a company. Honestly, we don't even know how to staff /train/recruit for exec level positions within design, and Jony has been the template for a long time... which is actually kind of problematic, because so much of it was the result of trust and friendship between him and Jobs. Not something you can directly fold into a company's processes.
posted by danny the boy at 3:54 PM on May 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by danny the boy at 3:54 PM on May 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
Basically, for a lot of people, this is validation that the work they spend their lives doing is in fact critical to the success of a company (in any sector)-- just as important as the COO, CFO, CTO, etc.
posted by danny the boy at 3:56 PM on May 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by danny the boy at 3:56 PM on May 26, 2015 [5 favorites]
Best take I've seen on this here.
Basically: this is more about him getting promoted to a position where he can spend most of his time in England and yet still retain his influence over Apple's design, where previously he was pretty much required to stay hands-on in Cupertino.
posted by Ryvar at 4:01 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Basically: this is more about him getting promoted to a position where he can spend most of his time in England and yet still retain his influence over Apple's design, where previously he was pretty much required to stay hands-on in Cupertino.
posted by Ryvar at 4:01 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Dieter Rams must be getting a sweet royalty check...
posted by stenseng at 4:37 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by stenseng at 4:37 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Seems a bit weird to announce the promotion this way with the celebrity interviewer in a foreign country first
It's not a foreign country for Jony.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:44 PM on May 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's not a foreign country for Jony.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:44 PM on May 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I initially read that as Stephen Fry becoming the CDO. Very weird day.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 4:45 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 4:45 PM on May 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Hugh Laurie in charge of iTunes?
posted by j_curiouser at 4:45 PM on May 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 4:45 PM on May 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Hugh Laurie in charge of iTunes?
House would get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree because reason.
posted by srboisvert at 5:07 PM on May 26, 2015
House would get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree because reason.
posted by srboisvert at 5:07 PM on May 26, 2015
Yeah, I absolutely believe Ryvar's link that this means Ive will leave Apple in a couple of years.
I'm looking very forward to his post-Apple design career.
posted by xthlc at 5:42 PM on May 26, 2015
I'm looking very forward to his post-Apple design career.
posted by xthlc at 5:42 PM on May 26, 2015
Basically: this is more about him getting promoted to a position where he can spend most of his time in England and yet still retain his influence over Apple's design, where previously he was pretty much required to stay hands-on in Cupertino.
This might come off as so brave, and I might be wrong, but to me this feels like punch #2 of the one two punch that makes apple mediocre. Jobs' death being the first of course.
I think it'll remain a good company, but will likely never be a great company again.
The apple watch feels completely unfinished and incongruous with a confusing inconsistent interface, and for all the brouhaha about perfectly aligned ports compared to the competition, they really feel like they're starting to just do a very-good-but-good-enough job at everything they're great at.
There's a lot of stupid stuff like the expanded keyboard on the 6+(and basically every "feature" it adds, and the lack of any real standout point to it being larger. And I own one!) that just feels like it never would have been awkwardly mumbled out before.
They'll keep making nice quality stuff that works well, but I just can't see them pulling off another "woah" moment like the iPhone ever again. And I think that design wise, they'll pretty much stagnate too.
And this is from someone who has, even recently, been called an apple shill or whatever on this site.
posted by emptythought at 5:49 PM on May 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
This might come off as so brave, and I might be wrong, but to me this feels like punch #2 of the one two punch that makes apple mediocre. Jobs' death being the first of course.
I think it'll remain a good company, but will likely never be a great company again.
The apple watch feels completely unfinished and incongruous with a confusing inconsistent interface, and for all the brouhaha about perfectly aligned ports compared to the competition, they really feel like they're starting to just do a very-good-but-good-enough job at everything they're great at.
There's a lot of stupid stuff like the expanded keyboard on the 6+(and basically every "feature" it adds, and the lack of any real standout point to it being larger. And I own one!) that just feels like it never would have been awkwardly mumbled out before.
They'll keep making nice quality stuff that works well, but I just can't see them pulling off another "woah" moment like the iPhone ever again. And I think that design wise, they'll pretty much stagnate too.
And this is from someone who has, even recently, been called an apple shill or whatever on this site.
posted by emptythought at 5:49 PM on May 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
This title sums up what I think is the indefinitely long future: Still the best, but no longer a leader.
posted by emptythought at 5:50 PM on May 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by emptythought at 5:50 PM on May 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
but I just can't see them pulling off another "woah" moment like the iPhone ever again. And I think that design wise, they'll pretty much stagnate too.
The apple watch feels completely unfinished and incongruous with a confusing inconsistent interface
Unfinished? I'd say that the Apple Watch is where the iPhone 2G was, which is to say - gorgeously created, still waiting for native apps, still waiting to be tweaked, still figuring out how it's going to be used. It's certainly not yet a wonder device, but there's also an immense amount of potential in the device, and most reviews of it have (in my mind) completely missed the point of what the Apple Watch is for.
The iPhone deals with the forefront of your conscious thought; the Apple Watch is a device that operates at the back of your mind. Notifications are there to be ignored, not to be fiddled with immediately. It took a long time for some interesting apps to come out for the iPhone, that really took advantage of the full potential of what's possible; we've yet to see any interesting apps for the Watch yet. After all, it's hardly been a month. Sometimes, "woah"s happen slowly, not with a launch and a bang.
posted by suedehead at 7:23 PM on May 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
The apple watch feels completely unfinished and incongruous with a confusing inconsistent interface
Unfinished? I'd say that the Apple Watch is where the iPhone 2G was, which is to say - gorgeously created, still waiting for native apps, still waiting to be tweaked, still figuring out how it's going to be used. It's certainly not yet a wonder device, but there's also an immense amount of potential in the device, and most reviews of it have (in my mind) completely missed the point of what the Apple Watch is for.
The iPhone deals with the forefront of your conscious thought; the Apple Watch is a device that operates at the back of your mind. Notifications are there to be ignored, not to be fiddled with immediately. It took a long time for some interesting apps to come out for the iPhone, that really took advantage of the full potential of what's possible; we've yet to see any interesting apps for the Watch yet. After all, it's hardly been a month. Sometimes, "woah"s happen slowly, not with a launch and a bang.
posted by suedehead at 7:23 PM on May 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
The apple watch feels completely unfinished and incongruous with a confusing inconsistent interface ... I just can't see them pulling off another "woah" moment like the iPhone ever again.
I'm not sure why you feel this way. I've been wearing the watch for just over a month now, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I wear it for almost every waking moment. (Ok, not the shower.) I'm far more impressed with the watch than I was with the 1st gen iPhone. Remember, that shipped without 3rd party apps, or an app store, or even copy/paste, as the critics endlessly harped on and on. Whereas the watch feels much more like a finished product, easily on par with the iPhone 3GS on the iPhone timeline from gen 1 to the iPhone 6.
If this is Jony Ive's work, it is very very fine work indeed, but I'm more inclined to credit the whole team at Apple. For example, the fitness tracking is changing behaviors in subtle but definite ways - for the better. The glances have really eliminated the need to pull out the phone in meetings. And in wearing it for a month, it has drawn almost zero notice, because it is quite and understated and just plain useful.
I think it'll remain a good company, but will likely never be a great company again. ... Still the best, but no longer a leader.
I will totally take the other side of that bet, as long as the speculators don't drive management into stupid stock manipulation exercises at the expense of their focus on products.
posted by RedOrGreen at 7:28 PM on May 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'm not sure why you feel this way. I've been wearing the watch for just over a month now, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I wear it for almost every waking moment. (Ok, not the shower.) I'm far more impressed with the watch than I was with the 1st gen iPhone. Remember, that shipped without 3rd party apps, or an app store, or even copy/paste, as the critics endlessly harped on and on. Whereas the watch feels much more like a finished product, easily on par with the iPhone 3GS on the iPhone timeline from gen 1 to the iPhone 6.
If this is Jony Ive's work, it is very very fine work indeed, but I'm more inclined to credit the whole team at Apple. For example, the fitness tracking is changing behaviors in subtle but definite ways - for the better. The glances have really eliminated the need to pull out the phone in meetings. And in wearing it for a month, it has drawn almost zero notice, because it is quite and understated and just plain useful.
I think it'll remain a good company, but will likely never be a great company again. ... Still the best, but no longer a leader.
I will totally take the other side of that bet, as long as the speculators don't drive management into stupid stock manipulation exercises at the expense of their focus on products.
posted by RedOrGreen at 7:28 PM on May 26, 2015 [4 favorites]
And this is from someone who has, even recently, been called an apple shill or whatever on this site.
I always liked Applostle because I seldom saw it.
posted by juiceCake at 9:33 PM on May 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
I always liked Applostle because I seldom saw it.
posted by juiceCake at 9:33 PM on May 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hugh Laurie in charge of iTunes?
House would get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree because reason.
Coincidentally, Bertie Wooster would also get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 11:52 PM on May 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
House would get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree because reason.
Coincidentally, Bertie Wooster would also get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 11:52 PM on May 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Far more affably than House though.
posted by vanar sena at 12:12 AM on May 27, 2015
posted by vanar sena at 12:12 AM on May 27, 2015
Hugh Laurie in charge of iTunes?
House would get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree because reason.
Coincidentally, Bertie Wooster would also get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree.
Apple has done a fine job of drunk-driving iTunes in to plenty of trees itself, without needing any help from fictional characters.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:31 AM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
House would get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree because reason.
Coincidentally, Bertie Wooster would also get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree.
Apple has done a fine job of drunk-driving iTunes in to plenty of trees itself, without needing any help from fictional characters.
posted by Itaxpica at 5:31 AM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Coincidentally, Bertie Wooster would also get drunk and drive iTunes into a tree.
That would be cruel to the tree. Best iTunes was launched into space. Preferably toward a star or a black hole. It's incineration or pulverization would be a time to celebrate and rejoice.
posted by juiceCake at 6:56 AM on May 27, 2015
That would be cruel to the tree. Best iTunes was launched into space. Preferably toward a star or a black hole. It's incineration or pulverization would be a time to celebrate and rejoice.
posted by juiceCake at 6:56 AM on May 27, 2015
Unfinished? I'd say that the Apple Watch is where the iPhone 2G was, which is to say - gorgeously created, still waiting for native apps, still waiting to be tweaked, still figuring out how it's going to be used.
I'm not sure why you feel this way. I've been wearing the watch for just over a month now, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I wear it for almost every waking moment.
Mostly, and i realize this is going to seem like some nitpick, it's the behavior of the two buttons. They couldn't figure out if pressing the crown should always take you to the watch face, or the home screen, or what. You can end up in a place where what the button does just makes... no sense. Is it a quick shortcut to the watch face? to the home screen?
The home button was clearly defined. It wasn't something i ever had to explain to my mom, or anyone else. You press it once while you're in an app and you immediately get it. The sleep button was the same way.
Having both hardware buttons be contextual is weird and unfocused.
This perfectly sums up what bugs me. I figured it out quickly because i'm a nerd. I'm the kind of person who flashes the BIOS on my video cards and solders a broken power cable instead of buying a new one.
I just don't think it's intuitive comparatively to anything else iOS. It's not horribly designed or anything, it's nice. It just doesn't feel totally apple-y. This isn't an original macbook air type complaint where it's like "wow, this needs more work". It seems not totally well conceived.
posted by emptythought at 2:21 PM on May 27, 2015
I'm not sure why you feel this way. I've been wearing the watch for just over a month now, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I wear it for almost every waking moment.
Mostly, and i realize this is going to seem like some nitpick, it's the behavior of the two buttons. They couldn't figure out if pressing the crown should always take you to the watch face, or the home screen, or what. You can end up in a place where what the button does just makes... no sense. Is it a quick shortcut to the watch face? to the home screen?
The home button was clearly defined. It wasn't something i ever had to explain to my mom, or anyone else. You press it once while you're in an app and you immediately get it. The sleep button was the same way.
Having both hardware buttons be contextual is weird and unfocused.
This perfectly sums up what bugs me. I figured it out quickly because i'm a nerd. I'm the kind of person who flashes the BIOS on my video cards and solders a broken power cable instead of buying a new one.
I just don't think it's intuitive comparatively to anything else iOS. It's not horribly designed or anything, it's nice. It just doesn't feel totally apple-y. This isn't an original macbook air type complaint where it's like "wow, this needs more work". It seems not totally well conceived.
posted by emptythought at 2:21 PM on May 27, 2015
Mostly, and i realize this is going to seem like some nitpick, it's the behavior of the two buttons. ... I figured it out quickly because i'm a nerd.
Ok, I understand exactly what you're saying, but I think part of the problem is that you and I, we're self-acknowledged nerds. So we dig into multi-thousand word discussions about Watch mode and App mode. But I've been watching (ha) my wife and sister-in-law use their watches, and they are totally not bothered by the inconsistencies.
In fact, even I have rarely entered App mode at all - once I had Glances set up the way I wanted, that's all I've used. And non-technical users are just pressing the crown repeatedly until they get back to the watch face, which works because of the strategic placement of the watch "app" right in the middle of the app screen. Sometimes it takes one press, sometimes two, but I don't think they're even noticing.
What's more interesting is that Apple thought the "buddy button" was important enough to spoil the symmetry of the watch. Yes, I'm using digital touch, but is it enough to justify the extra button? I'm not sure, but I'm prepared to wait and see.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:36 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ok, I understand exactly what you're saying, but I think part of the problem is that you and I, we're self-acknowledged nerds. So we dig into multi-thousand word discussions about Watch mode and App mode. But I've been watching (ha) my wife and sister-in-law use their watches, and they are totally not bothered by the inconsistencies.
In fact, even I have rarely entered App mode at all - once I had Glances set up the way I wanted, that's all I've used. And non-technical users are just pressing the crown repeatedly until they get back to the watch face, which works because of the strategic placement of the watch "app" right in the middle of the app screen. Sometimes it takes one press, sometimes two, but I don't think they're even noticing.
What's more interesting is that Apple thought the "buddy button" was important enough to spoil the symmetry of the watch. Yes, I'm using digital touch, but is it enough to justify the extra button? I'm not sure, but I'm prepared to wait and see.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:36 PM on May 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
For those following along at home, John Gruber of Daring Fireball has written an exhaustive deconstruction of the political motives underlying this story.
posted by fairmettle at 4:34 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fairmettle at 4:34 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
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