“It’s a simple statement to place on a technology product — alongside the obligatory ‘Assembled in China’ — but it speaks volumes about the emphasis Apple places on the work of Mr. Ive, the company’s shy, unassuming and relatively unknown senior vice-president of industrial design,” Hartley reports. “While the Apple spotlight is focused on the computer titan’s bombastic chief executive, Steve Jobs, among the hordes of Macfaithful, Mr. Ive is often hailed as the design genius who helped fuel Apple’s turnaround from also-ran computer maker to the king of high-end electronics.”
MacDailyNews Take: “Also-ran?!” Also-rans do not dictate the direction of the market for well over 30 years. An example of an also-ran computer maker would be Compaq. Or Gateway. Also-rans, by definition, do not lead; they follow at a great distance. If Hartley is referring to units shipped (market share), okay, fine, but that’s the only measure that would work – not revenue share and certainly not mind share. By any objective measure, the PC industry’s leader for over three decades has clearly been Apple. Hartley would have done better to use the dreaded “niche” in that spot instead.
Hartley continues, “The 43-year-old Briton is responsible for leading the design team that created many of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s signature, culture-shifting products, including the colourful iMac, the iPod music player, the iPhone and now the iPad tablet computer… His work has become the focus of design-school case studies, while his creations, including the original iPod, have joined the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.”
“Although Mr. Jobs receives the lion’s share of the credit for Apple’s rise from the doldrums to a company with a US$215-billion market capitalization today, Mr. Ive is seen by many analysts as the man who helped turn many of the Apple founder’s ideas into products,” Hartley reports. “There are even whispers that Mr. Ive is on the short list to replace Mr. Jobs as chief executive when the Apple founder eventually steps down.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “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…” – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, August 20, 2003
ChrissyOne:
Still waters run deep, I think Tim Cook is up to the task especially with the rest of the known team. There are, by the way, tens if not hundreds of top notch “obsessed” people in the ranks at Apple that can work in sync to keep all cylinders firing. Kawasaki is a bit of a broken record though.
I stopped reading at “Macfaithful”.
Not sure Ive’s got enough “schmooze” in him to be a good CEO; give him his own title of CAO — Chief Aesthetics Officer.
Steve jobs picked and groomed him. Steve’s not letting Apple go in a hurry and will be around for a long time- iCal that.
Who designed the Cube?
@ Macintosh,
“John Ive would be great as a CEO, because he really has the patience and attention to detail that Steve has.”
Steve and patience in the same sentence. LOL
What planet did you say you just arrived from?
Jony Ive has been able to perform Apple magic because Jobs carved out the necessary space for him to be creative as an industrial designer. Ive has learned a lot of what he knows on the job, which is fine as long as his shop continues to put out beautiful, iconic products. He seems to be a thoughtful team player, which is precisely what Jobs needed to fill the role he plays for Apple. Jony Ive would have been wasted talent at a place like Hewlett-Packard or Microsoft, because none of these companies know how to foster creative genius in-house, and to make that creative genius part of the production DNA (and not some irrelevant “research lab”). Sony used to have such creative genius in its operations and manufacturing centers, but it long ago lost it after becoming an unfocused, international multimedia conglomerate. People still think of Apple as a relatively small, focused computer company, but it now has some 25,000 employees!
@MEES,
Ive, but it was based on the NeXT Cube.
No need to worry for now. Steve has still at least 10 good years at Apple!!!
@ Mees
The cube was a great design, it was just a lousy price-point. The cube, many forget, was the first silent computer in a world of PCs (and other Macs) with 11 fans that sounded like Harrier exhaust nozzles. I had a Quicksiler G4 tower that was useless for audio recording because of that horrible racket. It’s easy to forget, now that we live in a world where all of Apple’s machines, and even most PCs, are quiet or silent.
@c1
was i the only one that understood your first post? you are on target with your guy comment, but i would not dismiss him because of his apparent ego. similar to the feelings like -Bring it On’s, arrogance in the right people, is a sign of profound knowledge and confidence in a direction or vision. in those people, arrogance is the sign of speaking with confidence in deference to the “small” voices.
sometimes the discussion on the successor to steve jobs being the selection of apple’s next ceo denigrates steve’s role at apple. he just happens to be the ceo. steve is much more than just the ceo. tim cook as his ceo replacement could work if someone like jonnie was the chairman of the board and the board was hand picked by steve to be the community of vision for the future of apple. that would be a living organism that does not die with the loss of one soul. what steve gives apple is rock solid stability in vision and that is part of what is propelling them.
you are right, guy would not want the job, but he might be one of the good people to put on the new board. not to be patronizing, but you might also be a good candidate.
It takes a certain amount of arrogance to know you’re right and not listen to doubters. My shot back at Bring It was mostly just a joke. I agree with your sentiment here.
I think Guy, specifically, seems less interested in the job of administrator, at least from what little I know of him. He strikes me as more of a hands-on Tony Stark type.
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And if Guy were to join the board, I’d happily take his evangelism job.
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C1,
My baby is still humming along. Or, eh, not humming along.
In the 90s, Guy Kawasaki had this column (usually the final page I think) at the MacWorld or MacUser magazine. He would impart ‘great insights’ and often the articles were fun reads. I suppose many Mac users needed that in a way how the Republicans gathered around Rush Limbaugh after Clinton’s first win.
Anyway, I know a lot of media (shockingly even the ones in the UK) like to pimp Johnny Ive more kudos than he might be entitled. I am talking about the absurdities like Ive alone was the differentiating factor (or the true and shy genius behind) that had revived Apple. These are rubbish, if anything both him and Jobs should be criticised for that Puck Mouse fiasco. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they had tried it though, it takes guts to go for the insane designs to change paradigms, but it was what it was, a poor design decision.
There’s only one Jobs, we like Apple, but seriously, when we say that, many of us imply Jobs. I am long time investor on AAPL (since 1999), and I know it’s not kosher, but like I said, it is what it is. Apple is Jobs, but not the other way around.
The success of Apple Corp is the result of team work.
Design without direction, supply & manufacturing knowledge,marketing and software would not give us the iPad.
Steve is the conductor to a whole orchestra.
He is not irreplaceable but replacing him is nigh impossible.
Dieter Rams rocks alright :
http://designmuseum.org/design/dieter-rams
I don’t believe Guy Kawasaki could run a large company (doesn’t have the experience), but he is a brilliant mind and is very perceptive. Running a company is a lot different than being a theoretician. Guy can write inspired prose, something I don’t think Jobs could ever do. Kawasaki has a big impact on those who actually pick up books and read them. He has every right to believe he belongs to the “inner core” of the Apple aristocracy.
@ bring it on
looks like you hit a nerve! Lmao! Don’t you know Steve jobs is god and can do no wrong? Blasphemer! Too funny, esp because you might be right!
“Don’t forget about Tim Cook. He may not have the same aesthetic sense as Jobs, but he could easily let Ive and others take that charge.”
And has proven experience. We don’t know a single thing about Ive’s ability to strategize and execute. More importantly, why would Ives even want the job? He can effectively design the worlds coolest gadgets (by designing Apples, stuff, and being copied by the likes of Sony, HP, LG, etc) from his current office desk. What’s the point?
I swear, you guys will know exactly who Steve chose as CEO when you see one of them start to dress in black. If they don anything turtlneckish, there will be no doubt..
Mr. Ive for assistant king.
Time for a brief (and probably familiar) lecture on organizational behavior:
1) Apple is required to remain an entrepreneurial company if it is to continue its trend of kicking everyone else’s ass.
2) Therefore, no marketing oriented person can be allowed to take the reigns of management. ‘Marketing as Management’ is how you get present day Microsoft, Sony, Adobe, HP, ad nauseum.
3) Therefore a creativity / productivity oriented person is required to be in the position of CEO.
4) However, this person must also have relational skills, meaning that they can get along with marketing oriented people. The very best managers are those who can both create and effectively communicate with staff. Witness Steve Jobs.
Does Jonathan Ive have the commanding communication skills that are required? I don’t know. He reminds me a lot of one of my brother friends who has the total leadership skills, but how comfortable is he bossing people around when required? Can he commandingly deal with counter-personality marketing people to effectively keep them happy while making sure they STFU regarding how to run the company?
Hmm, well, let me wade into the breach dear friends…
@ C1 5:29. My G4 Quicksilver is in my office as a footstool as I ruminate and ponder the meaning of the univer…zzzzz
I love Jonny Ive. From what I know, he is just not CEO material. CEO’s need to drive companies and kick arse. He seems like such a nice guy. Maybe I am wrong here, but I don’t see it.
I think the most likely candidate is Tim Cook. I do not see Tim having anywhere near the same kind of vision that Jobs has about he future, and going hells-bells towards it. So let me just say it, Steve Jobs is truly unique. Everyone knows it. We should stop saying who can succeed Jobs at apple. No one can. No one should. Apple will be a different company without Jobs involved. That is okay, but ….this too shall pass. Apple will not be the same without Jobs. We can just hope they produce better products. I am not convinced (but then I am a professional skeptic). I hope to be proven wrong.
Sorry.
And Guy Kawasaki? No. I would rather have some demented graphic designer at the top–they have style and vision. But Guy does have the ego. I miss Guy’s involvement btw.
I vote for…..Ron Paul
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Or Forrest Gump. He owned Apple stock at some point. He might be good at the top.