News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
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Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design Jonathan Ive partially lifted the veil on the secretive machinations of the Apple design process at a special “Innovation Night” event held at London’s Royal College of Art this week, where he later received an honorary doctorate.
Ive was interviewed on stage by outgoing RCA rector Professor Sir Christopher Frayling.
“I can't imagine designing without making [physical products],” Ive told the assembled horde of 700 UK design gurus. The front section of the hall was reserved for Apple VIPs, who all received Apple goodie bags.
“I love making prototypes. We go right from idea to prototypes. I just love making objects.
“Prototypes create this dramatic shift in the conversation—suddenly it becomes tangible and the silence goes away.”
Ive explained why Apple limits its product range: “When you do everything to make the very best product, it also means you're very focused on just a few products.”
Ive admitted that his drawing skills are “terrible." “And I'm a lousy presenter. So I focus on designing instead,” he joked.
BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones asked Ive what was the one thing about the first iPhone he really hated. Ive evaded the question, but stated designers “are never satisfied.”
The British-born Apple design chief was dismissive of design based on focus group: “We don't do focus groups. They just ensure that you don't offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products.”
Former toilet designer Ive was born in Chingford, Essex, England, in 1967. As well as the iMac he has won awards for his innovative designs of the aluminium and titanium PowerBook G4, MacBook, unibody MacBook Pro, iPod and iPhone.
Employee and friend of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Ive was the winner of the London Design Museum's inaugural Designer of the Year award in 2002, and won again in 2003. He was listed in the 2006 New Years Honours list, receiving a CBE, for services to the design industry.
Graduates of the RCA, the world's only postgraduate art and design school, include architect David Adjaye, artists David Hockney and Tracey Emin, film director Ridley Scott (director of Apple’s legendary ‘1984’ commercial for the launch of the Macintosh) and vacuum man James Dyson.
[Many thanks to Pascal Finette—evangelist, consultant and Open Innovation Catalyst at Mozilla Labs—who reported the sage sayings of Jonathan Ive via Twitter. Follow him at twitter.com/pfinette]
The timing of the announcement is a curious tactic for Apple. Announcing a refresh of a major product line six days out from theMacworld Expo is a little weird; I can't think why Steve Jobs wouldn'thave wanted to pull a big blue sheet off a Mac Pro (the Xserve marketis pretty specialised when you come to it) and startle the world withit. Then again, perhaps he's got something even snazzier in mind; aFlash-based MacBook Pro that costs $300, reads your mind, does yourironing and has a Time Machine that works with any wireless networkconnection.
Alex Kidman | Jan 10, 2008
The world has been rocked this week with the news that Apple has added Andrea Jung to its board of directors. That's right, that Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon. That's right, that Avon, the door-to-door cosmetics company. Clearly this indicates a radical new direction in Apple's retail strategy: as well as mass-market retailers, specialised independent resellers, company-owned stores and of course online, Apple is now going to recruit an army of enthusiastic salespeople hoofing it from house to house with sample cases.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 11, 2008
It was one of those days. There's a maxim that to err is human, butto really stuff things up you need a computer. Robbie Burns also oncesaid (in my imagination) that "the best-laid plans of mice and men haveno chance againt modern technology". We had planned our coverage of the keynote so well. We had rehearsed, tested and run through. Nothing could go wrong.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 16, 2008
"Don't forget to get there very, very early", was the advice given to me by practically everyone prior to this morning's Macworld Conference Keynote. "Things get pretty hairy", they claimed -- and they weren't referencing Australian Macworld's fine editor. So at 5am, having been woken by the loud gentleman speaking German VERY LOUDLY, I prepared towander down the chilly streets of San Francisco and wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. Annoyance doesn't quite cover my mood when another Australian journalist makes an appearance two hours later, right behind me.
Alex Kidman | Jan 17, 2008
This morning Apple released a new version of its iPhone SDK for developers. iPhone SDK beta 2 includes Interface Builder, a component of Apple’s development tools that lets developers create the interface for their applications. That seems to be the only major change in the latest build, according to the SDK’s read me, which continues to list some known issues. Apple says “this second beta is known to be incompatible with installation folders other than the default /Developer.” Given the importance of UI on the Mac, Interface Builder is a pretty critical tool in the development process, and some developers had chosen to hold off on their efforts until the SDK was revised. Apple unveiled the iPhone SDK at a special event earlier this month, allowing developers to begin building applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Several high-profile companies have already jumped onboard, demoing their applications at the event. Highlighting the demos was AOL with a native AIM client; other applications from Electronic Arts, Salesforce.com, and Apple were also shown.
