Seems like whenever the topic is Jonathan Ive (Apple’s Senior VP for Industrial Design), I’m the one writing about him. In the past I’ve compared him to Lost’s Jack Shephard and suggested that perhaps he might be a candidate for Steve Jobs’s office someday. Given that Ive is hardly one to hog the spotlight, that guess is probably off the mark. Still, short of Steve Jobs, Ive has probably had more influence than any one person at Apple and it’s an influence you can see in pretty much any Mac product over the last ten years.
So a profile in BusinessWeek is well-deserved for the man who has turned Apple’s products into lusted-after objets d’art. Ive and his team are responsible for the design of the original iMac, iMac G4, iMac G5, the iPod, etc., etc., ad infinitum. The article talks a bit about how design at Apple differs from design at other computer companies and how the “Steve & Jony Show” has changed Apple’s fortunes (the company’s stock is up 232% in the last 10 years).
Next year will mark the 10-year anniversary of Steve Jobs’s return to Apple and the company has arguably never been stronger. And while much of that is due to Steve’s power and savvy, Jonathan Ive is one of the people who makes it happen.
Finnaly i know who is responsible to the looks of my tools of trade :)
I see this man as a god. I hope he never leaves Apple.