More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
‘I came to realize that what was really important was the care that was put into it. What I really despise is when I sense some carelessness in a product.’
The minimalist principle that designers should only design what is needed also was derived from the German pedagogic tradition.
He would carefully clear all the dust off the students’ sculptures before talking about them – even if the work was terrible.
‘There was something about respecting the work,’ Jony said, ‘the idea that actually it was important – and if you didn’t take the time to do it, why should anybody else?’
The pen’s design was not just about shape, but also there was an emotional side to it. This, believe it or not, was quite jaw-dropping, especially from someone so young.’
Jonathan’s desire for perfection meant that every single model had a tiny change and the only way he could understand if it was the right change or not was to make a physical model of it.’
They described Tangerine’s focus as being on end users, who tended to be ignored by other design firms. ‘No one was speaking about end users,’ said Darbyshire. ‘It was all about “how to deliver things reliably” not about “what should it or could it be?” This was the fundamental thing behind Tangerine that I believe we all bought into and worked hard to develop.’
So we managed to hire him on the third try. And that’s how you do it. You identify the people you think are great and work on it until you eventually get them.’
‘It doesn’t go from thought to sketch to model to production even though, in simplistic terms, that is the general sequence of events,’
Jony reasoned that he had to show the work in progress to Jobs in private, with no one else around. ‘Because Steve is so quick to give an opinion, I didn’t show him stuff in front of other people,’ Jony said. ‘He might say, “This is shit,” and snuff the idea. I feel that ideas are very fragile, so you have to be tender when they are in development.
Jony’s design team worked on the iPhone without ever seeing the operating system. They initially worked with a blank screen and later, a picture of the interface with cryptic mock icons. Likewise, the software engineers never got to see the prototype hardware. ‘I still don’t know what the lightning icon means,’ one of the designers later remarked, referring to one of the icons on the fake iOS screen.
products) went to production, Apple’s capital expenditures ballooned to even more mind-boggling levels. Apple spent $9.5 billion on capital expenditures, the majority of which was earmarked for product tooling and manufacturing processes. By comparison, the company spent $865 million on retail stores. Thus, Apple spent nearly eleven times as much on its factories as on its stores, most of which are in prime (that is, expensive) real estate locations.
His funeral two days later in Alta Mesa was attended by just four of his colleagues from Apple: vice presidents
Eddy Cue (software) and Katie Cotton (communications), CEO Cook and Jony.
To judge from the outcomes of the corporate contretemps that have come to light, Jony Ive possesses both the determination and the corporate firepower to prevail when he chooses to engage in such turf battles.
making ‘great products’ is much more important than the balance sheet.
Jony is also committed to maintaining Jobs’s renowned focus. Jobs always said that focus isn’t a question of saying yes to projects; it’s saying no.
