“Could Jonathan Ive, the publicity-shy Essex boy who started his career designing toilets and combs, be close to performing one of the most extraordinary coups in American business history?” Chris Ayres asks for The Times Online. “Could this 40-year-old gym-toned, shaven-headed, Aston Martin-driving Brit, who lives in Twin Peaks, San Francisco, with his wife, who is a historian, and their twin sons, be the next man to run Apple Computer?”
Steve Jobs “is under growing pressure to name his ultimate replacement, as many fear that a company built on one man’s personality needs a clear succession plan,” Ayres writes.
Mr Ive and Mr Jobs are said to talk at least once a day, and Mr Ive shares his boss’s perfectionism,” Ayres writes.
“Some have suggested that Mr Ive lacks the charisma to become ‘Steve 2.0,’ and that he could never deliver Mr Jobs’s Hollywood-style press conferences,” Ayres writes.
Full article here.
Pardon us if we’re not shocked with the amazingly unique prescience of Ayres et al.:
Leading Apple is a very tricky proposition. Only one man so far has pulled it off successfully. Twice. The key ingredients seem to be a quest for perfection, a passion for the technology and the company, and the ability to relate Apple’s ideas to the world with style. Jobs is truly the charismatic force that propels Apple forward in the face of tremendous odds.
Right now, it looks like Apple’s best hope, and a very good one at that, is Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Vice President of Industrial Design… He seems to work well with the engineers responsible for the hardware. He is obviously a meticulous genius. And he has “that certain something” which, importantly, comes across on camera and in person. Whether he has the extremely rare “vision thing” that Jobs possesses; well, that’s still an open question.
Watch Ive in the Power Mac G5 intro video. Ive first appears about 40% in, at the 2:50 mark of the 6:33 minute video. Note that he is almost wearing a black mock turtleneck already. Contrast his presentation style and enthusiasm with the other Apple presenters. Can you sense the almost Jobsian, call it Junior Jobsian, aura? Ive has “it” while all of the other Apple employees in the video are just nice people talking about a computer. And Ive should only get better with time. Could we be watching Steve Jobs’ successor, Apple’s future CEO, in the 31-year-old Ive?
Jonathan Ive, Apple Computer CEO circa 2025. It has a pretty nice ring to it, doesn’t it? You heard it here first. I think Mr. Ive could pull it off. And I think Jobs thinks so, too; in about twenty years… – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, “What happens when Steve Jobs dies?” – August 20, 2003
Jobs is 52. There is at least 20 years left before he decides to retire IMO. Which means, at least 15 before we need to have this discussion.
Stop beating the grass…
Edit “There ARE at least 20 years left…”
Sorry…
no way , my money is on scott forstall
he has the looks , charisma and above all the tech knowledge to get the job done
plus he’s as cool as a cucumber without being arrogant
what aboot the way he handled that time machine cock up at the leopard unveiling ?
‘i wish i could go back in time before that happened !’
haha !
Junior Jobsian? That’s a bit much.
No need for a visionary fellow after Jobs. Steve Jobs created Apple, later rescued it and gave it its current direction. This last chapter of his reign is about consolidating Apple edge in music and creating/consolidating one in movies, corporation, cell phones and retail. When it’s all done, it will just be management time. And the next guy won’t need to be a genius at all. As an analogy, take a look at Microsoft: Gates is the genius, Ballmer is the #^&(*(&*… and well, MSFT is still flying.
My money’s on Michael Dell.
Ive would be an interesting choice as a successor. In addition, it would further highlight the philosophical differences between Apple and Microsoft: choose the creative/visionary guy, not the bean counter/salesman-of-the-month, to lead.
But yea, the discussion is probably a bit premature, though the call for at least naming a successor seems legit.
flappo: Part of the reason Apple is so innovative is because of Jobs’ arrogance, actually. That quest for ‘ultimate perfection’ – pushing beyond what’s really reasonable – is what got the iPhone out the door, not to mention countless products before that. And do you know any other CEO who, on his first day, has gone to a meeting, written down a list of almost everything the company sells, and said, “We’re not selling these anymore?”
“plus he’s as cool as a cucumber without being arrogant”
Hardly the man to fill Jobs’ shoes, I fear.
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The only problem with Steve Jobs as CEO is that he will have to step down one day. Nearly every aspect of his personality are part of what makes Apple products a hit..he IS the face of Apple. Those are large shoes to fill, and I doubt one man can do it.
I too hope we have at least 15 years before Jobs steps down, and I think we all can be reassured he will plan his succession with his usual fastidious nature.
…and it’s “Ive”, not Ives. Unless you think Apple could be better run by Burl Ives, and we could all have a Holly Jolly Christmas.
Uh yeah, right… if you think Steve is going to be around for another 15 or 20 years – you lack a total sense of reality.
As long as it doesn’t fall into the hands of the bean counters, marketers or salesmen. Once it enters into into this phase it will be the beginning of the end.
Apple is and always should be about creating great highly functional well designed products, then letting everything else revolve around that. For that, you need a creative person leading the charge.
I vote for Ive.
Naming a replacement is a good idea, you just never know when you’ll be in a car crash or your private jet will go down. I want SJ to live a long life but Apple needs to be prepared to move forward without him when that day does come up.
He’s too soft. When asked early on in a BBC interview about the iPod batteries, he said he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. “They don’t want you saying anything about it? “No.”
What kind of answer is that? Posters around here would eat him alive on a MacDaily basis.
Two things from the video:
First, IBM guy acknowledges that the G5 being launched is not as good as the technology ALREADY DEVELOPED and ready to replace gen one G5 as soon as suckers (consumers) are ready to fork over another couple thousands to get the latest and best.
Second, Steve need not worry about anyone – even with a charming Brit twang – emulating his singular ability to manipulate suckers (consumers).
Those that believe that Steve’s magic is the fact that he has great charisma are missing the point. Steve’s charisma comes from all of his other traits – his vision, his arrogance, his determination. If you are looking at charisma as your primary requisite, you are lost.
@ ChrissyOne
Your first post is dead on. Dead on.
Still, the worship around these parts continues and continues and continues. New ones (suckers) born every minute.
Would the headline be “Ive got the Jobs”?
While I am in no hurry to see Magnus Steven leave, at some point, after the iPhone is established worldwide and the Mac platform has reached 20%, Apple won’t need the marketing personality of Steve to continue. This is NOT an endorsement to push him aside, or that he won’t contribute. It is just my opinion that Apple will finally be big enough that His Steveness could then step back any time he pleased without fear of a down-spiral.
This discussion is pointless. When Jobs retires, the One Infinite Loop building will dematerialize, all iPods will turn into Zunes, and all Macs will run the Commodore 64 OS.
fm
You fools!
dont you know why Bill Gates has slowly been working his way out of Microsoft????
He has finally seen the light and will be taking over Apple!!
got to throw in a little : “jk” for all of you that cant see this as a joke
It’ll be Greg Joswiak!
Ferf:
You’ve said too much. Please prepare for “debriefing”.
Did I miss something?
The man continues to shine and proves age has nothing to do with being in his prime.
J. Ive is hip but no replacement.
Dougless
That could indeed be part of the deal Jobs had with Gates.
No kidding here.
interesting
j