“Sir Jonathan, said on Monday that there were ‘multiple times’ when the device was almost scrapped because the technology giant could not work out how to get around certain design flaws,” Katherine Rushton reports for The Telegraph. “‘We nearly shelved the phone because we thought there were fundamental problems that we can’t solve. With the early prototypes, I held the phone to my ear and my ear [would] dial the number,’ he said. ‘You have to detect all sorts of ear-shapes and chin shapes, skin colour and hairdo… that was one of just many examples where we really thought, perhaps this isn’t going to work.’”

“Apple eventually overcame the problem and has sold nearly 250m iPhones since its launch in 2007,” Rushton reports. “Speaking at a British Business conference running alongside the Olympic Games, Sir Jonathan said that it was not uncommon for Apple’s designers to feel they are ‘pursuing something that we think ‘that’s really incredibly compelling,’ but we’re really struggling to solve the problem that it represents.’”

Rushton reports, “However, the designer added that the firm does not get enough credit for its decisions to stop working on devices that are ‘competent’ as opposed to ‘great.’ ‘Our goal isn’t to make money. Our goal absolutely at Apple is not to make money. This may sound a little flippant, but it’s the truth. Our goal and what gets us excited is to try to make great products. We trust that if we are successful people will like them, and if we are operationally competent we will make revenue, but we are very clear about our goal.’”

Much more in the full article here.