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Jony Ive and the Transformation of Apple

2022-07-20 | 🔗

Upon the return of Steve Jobs to Apple, Jony Ive found his role transformed. Given more freedom and authority to have innovative designs find their way into products, Ive and Jobs set out to restore Apple's reputation in the industry.

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This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Transport of technologies like five g to create a more connected and meaningful future today, listen to them was ones on. I, how radio app apple pie, guests, reverie you get your pod guests, welcome two texts: a production from I heart radio. The either and welcome to tech stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland, I'm an executive producer with I heart radio and held the tech. Yet On monday, I published an episode about johnny ives journey to apple and I've, if you don't know, is He designer famous for his influence at apple, He had a hand in the look and aesthetic at the company for twenty years recently, he and apple have cut ties, so we're going to continue his story in this episode
This is really not just an episode about Johnny I've and his influence its really an episode. That's about apple in its transition. From a company that was in serious trouble to one that became a tastemaker like this is the period in which apple, itself underwent a massive transformation, so, while It is going to take a crucial part of that story. It's require us to talk about some other stuff too. Now, where we left off, I was in a really delicate position. He had recently been promoted to apple's director of industrial design. This was five years after he had joined apple, he joined apple as a designer. The ninth member of the design team, five, years later, the
going director of industrial design, recommended I've for the jobs that this was a really remarkable journey. I mean that's a short amount of time to go from. Entering in as a base, member of a team to becoming the leader of that team. I've came into apple in the early nineties, which was a period where co founder steve. Ups was effectively banished from apple. I talked about that in the last episode and you know jobs after he had been pushed to the side in the mid, eighties. He left apple and founded a different computer company called next big and little e big ex big t This company would end up designing computers meant for the educational sector at least primarily, but the computers were really expensive. And they had a fairly limited suite of software, because software helpers aren't likely to dedicate time and resources to make stuff for a platform that
I have a very large install base. It just doesn't make sense you never going to make back the investment you made in order to make the thing in the first place, so We must make more sense as a developer, to create software for computers that a lot of people use instead of an upstart company. That's true: to muscle its way into a pre existing market and over at apple. had become pretty rocky in no small part due to the chaos going on with the team that was responsible for building the next generation of the macintosh operating system. That old, eject, had ballooned out of control with feature creep and internal struggle within the team and so the then ceo gil amelio moved to acquire. The next computer company and the idea was that wild next wasn't getting much traction in the market, its operate system was really good and could serve as the next generation of the mac operating system and the internal
build of the next mac. Ios apple could be set aside for the time being made, we could be rescued and fixed, but Emilio felt that and in the state that it was in within apple it wasn't going to be ready for the market, so he decided to acquire next and use that operating system instead, so apple acquires now and then Steve jobs came back to apple initially as an advisor, but within short order. He became the interim ceo and then eventually the permanent, ceo and jobs was not happy. Actually, up on various stories of apple's history. There are a lot of tales about jobs not being happy, and part of that was the The jobs of standards were that the deputy beat up and when products failed to meet his standards, he got mad jobs had come back to apple and,
he did. What he saw apple is producing so many different models of macintosh computers, because the pre He has leaders thought, though aid to address the issues apple had was to expand the product line by making a tonne different macintosh models, but it got to the point where the companies own sales team had trouble. Explaining why one model would be more suitable for a specific customer over the other model. If your sales team can't say oh based upon your This is what you should get there. You know, you're in trouble, such was muddled, the products were confusing jobs was enraged and he wasn't shy about voicing his opinions now. I've as the head of industrial design was lay concerned for his team. Jobs was particular,
the angry about the direction of apple's design team, he said that he felt the quote: unquote. Sex had been taken out of products that they no longer had the appearance of something people wanted to interact with an word, got around. The jobs was planning on looking outside apple to find someone in design to come in and realign the company and to lead that team, meaning I would be a job. So I've talked with his team and they even discussed the possibility of creating their own design firm. If the whole department should find itself sacked but I have advised his colleagues to wait and see what jobs would do and the created a kind of showcase, with the design department, so I've It was just a matter of time before jobs would make his way to the design department and see exact He held things had gone totally wrong in jobs's mind and I
wanted to showcase the work his team had created with designs that the company had not accepted. These are these were ideas that no one else in apple had approved, so they put on display a lot of the more radical designs that had failed. Find their way through apple's bureaucratic process and sure enough when job- did come down and take a look at the design department. He was in asked by what he saw, the things that he looking at from team. They weren't at all representative of the actual products, the job. The phone so boring and uninspired. According to trip mikel the author of after steve if a book that I used extensively in my research here, jobs, and I've Actually, he said you we've been very effective. Have you I am paraphrasing, because jobs could use a lot of what Mr Spock would call. colorful metaphors in his language. What jobs meant was that
I and his team were standing designers. They were creating amazing work, but they weren't adept at getting that work at, did by leadership at apple and that's all big component of paying a department head. It's not enough to be an effective manager. A leader as to have vision and a way to commute that vision to others and get by on to get them to support that vision. So a leader has to be able to convince other people to try new things or, at the very least, come to the table and negotiate a way forward. I was unquestionably a great designer, but It. Might have been that he was not yet a great leader, at least in that sense, but then, I was also felt that the pre he s, regime at apple was rife with incompetence, and so I'll jobs gave I've a little bit of a hard time, it was clear that he placed on all the blame on apple's previous leadership that the
company had become so weighed down by people afraid to take risks or more you're saying competing directly against the ensconced pc market, rather than creating a compelling alternative that they were incapable of listening to I've and his team and so billy. The fault was on them more than it was on I've and the news was the jobs, saw this and felt that the design team was doing great work that they were brilliant and innovative, so jobs knew that the department was the right group of people to make his vision of what apple could be into a reality, and this began working relationship that would develop into a fierce friendship between jobs and I've. It also meant job would end his search for a new head have designed. So I was safe in his job jobs and I've bonded. For a shared fascination with the form of products and
by form. I really actually mean a bunch of different things, not just the physical she although that is a huge part of it I was actually really obsessed with materials. He would carefully go through each and every sample of various metairie as to determine what was right for any given project, and, in his mind, specific effects that the materials should pull off weather as a shiny metal, surface or a very smooth curve of glass or a pebbled leather cover and jobs was very much the same way. So the two spent age is talking about different material. Also what was possible with each wine or what petitions existed with them and how to The solution to meet those limitations- or you know in most cases with eyes if he
I'm fault in a material. He was far more likely to just reject the material outright and find something better that met his expectations, even if a man scouring the entire world to find what he wanted, and jobs the wasted no time once he returned to the leadership role, he gave the newton programme, the axe and ninety. Ninety eight, I talked about the apple newton in the last up, a suit that was a little less than six years after the apple Newton had debuted, and that wasn't it to create a new product line, but because of some real limitations with the hardware and more, moreover, the software, it did not work. It was a failure, but steve jobs didn't just acts products he axed entire layers of in german jobs essentially laid off the general managers overseeing the various business units within apple. In fact, he did that in a single day like it was an armageddon where he laid off.
legions of general managers and that pro will contributed to some people at apple, using the phrase getting jobs to as a way of saying, you got fired apple head it had silos of departments, so little feudal states each with its own leader that was locked we cut off from the other departments and jobs those silos down. He essentially reorganized the entire company into a more cohesive and collaborative operation. Now, the team it would still have leaders like I was leader of the designers for industrial design, and these would if people had deep expertise in whatever field it was that they were representing. So there are people who could manage. Others, but they also knew how to do the stuff that the team was doing, the team they were managing was doing
jobs at one really big mistake that he was the egg made way back in the seventies was to bring in people who are really adept at business, but they didn't know how computers worked and that that disconnect It led to all sorts of trouble down the line. and then jobs gave I've a critical assignment. On new that the company needed to launch a product that would put it back in the minds of consumers. They needed to capture the rebel yes and innovative spirit of the company. In its early days, jobs those are how the internet was playing an increasingly important role in while everything and so he wanted apple to create a desktop computer with the express purpose of being a machine that would work well with the internet, Jobs also wanted to ditch some traditional features found on most personal computers of the day. For example, he didn't
What this new computer to have a floppy disk drive something that was standard on other machines at the time. He also wanted to ditch cereal boards, which, if not familiar were used as a communication interface with computers, so they can connect with other peripherals right, send information two to and receive information from those peripherals jobs he's wanted to incorporate usb technology in this new apple computer, and he also gave I team one other directive He wanted the design for this computer to be quote, joyful and quote, and I've and his team would take on that challenge. We're going to take a quick break when we come back talk more about this project and how it really helped turn things around for apple. But first these messages- I I I I I I I 's success is yours for the asking and with survey monkey all you have to do is
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the so the team led by Johnny. I've decided that the computer should be innovative, but not threatening. So I need to look. Futuristic but it also needed to look accessible. It couldn't be something where you're like. Oh that looks cool, but I don't want to touch it so one big point of inspiration was the cartoon. The jet, since you know me budgets, jetson and so on. All the since lived in a world that was simultaneously futuristic and also anchored the aesthetic of the nineteen fifties, while the imac wouldn't look like it came straight out of the nineteen they did have elements of the familiar along with the novel. Now the original imac was not flat screen. Computer like later models, would turn into. It was an all and one computer that look like a very colorful cr t monitor. Before the imac. The team had
is a laptop prototype that had translucent plastic built in The body of the computer and I've decided he wanted to incorporate that element into the imac, I have presented his ideas to jobs and jobs. did a lot of them, but why the jobs really liked was a sketch. I showed him and I've described it as a computer. That looks as though it was about to jump off the deck and go do something and that really resonated with jobs, so I returned to his team with jobs isn't but, and they refined that design began to move more in that specific direction and they created a model like so much. They would actually take that to other departments in order to show it off to them. The team Those a polycarbonate shell for the computer for a couple isn't one, it's a very
call material. So it's it's resilient, but also it can hold a tinted color really effectively. It doesn't fade over time at least not rapidly, so so it would hold whatever color you wanted to give it, and as for those others. They initially created computer shells that were either orange or purple or a bluish greenish color. That would end up being called bondy blue the process to make. The shells was expensive, both because of needing to make the polycarbonate translucent and also the process itself was sort of a customized one. They couldn't rely on existing manufacturing processes that all had to be built from scratch in order to mass manufacture these now, this meant that it would cost apple. Sixty dollars per unit per per computer case, just the case, not the internals, and that was much more expensive than the typical computer case was
However, I was very happy to find out that steve jobs wasn't really concerned about manufacturing costs because deep jobs saw the need to bring customers back to apple, as well as to attract new customers to the company. and he thought it was going to be short sighted to worry about production costs and that this really going to be a swing for the fences kind of product, a We need a home run, so we're going to swing as hard as we can so because, the case was translucent. I've and his team worked with other departments to figure out how the sir, tree layout that would be in the computer underneath would be visible and attract if they wanted it to look sophisticated and not messi's, another consideration that really set apple apart. It also be the foundation for the types of computer rigs that are are very popular today. Their allotted
get cases out there that have transparent glass panels. But you can see the interior right. You can see the the fan in the various components, many of them decked out with Ellie dees, and that's the kind of rig the gamers prefer these days, and I feel that we can thank apple, in particular, and specifically johnny ive and his team for setting. as down that kind of pathway. I feel like the imac, was sort of an early example of that aesthetic that extends all the way down to today. Obviously, The shapes are very different today than the imac was, but there are those those elements I feel that have carried through when it came time to unveil the imac thing nearly went pear shaped one of the the components jobs really wanted in this computers. Design was a cd slot so that you irs could just insert a compact disc into the slot. It would go into the computer and then they could.
With information from the the c. So he, send it to be a little slit in the computer and to be as unobtrusive as possible, but when it came time to actually unveil the design and jobs, look at the the type that he was going to show off. He saw that the imac had a sea. a trade that would extend out from the computer, you would put the city into the tray and then retract the seat trade back into the computer and he was furious, but when he was lashing. I help super angry that the thing he wanted wasn't part of the imac. He was told The problem was that technology he wanted in the computer didn't exist yet no one had died. A working version of what he was envisioning and that That was the issue. Johnny but actually stepped up to talk steve jobs down johnny. I've said
You know what you're thinking of right. Now. That's the next one of these less than the next imac. We can't do it yet. but next generation we will. However, we have to ship this version and remarkably Johnny Ives approach really worked at calm down, Steve jobs and he went on, to rehearse what the presentation that would unveil the imac would become, and you can actually watch that then online, it was done way back in nineteen. Ninety eight, so if you do find a copy of it there, there are copies on youtube. The video these pretty bad, but it is, it mind nineties, and you can watch as jobs calls. The imac quote excitement of the internet, the simplicity of macintosh. In jobs then goes on to essential a slam. The got competition saying that consumer computers that are on the market are all slow and ugly. Today,
I have lousy displays and if they have, a networking capability and them at all is pretty limited. So he was really trying to set up how the imac would contrast with what he was claiming to be the status quo and and the girl specks on the imam were the all they were impressive for the time, but you would laugh at them now a yoke talks about having a ton of memory in this computer, which was there aid to whole megabytes worth if the processor ran at a blistering two hundred and thirty three megahertz, that processor was the g three powerpc processor. By the way. That's why this the computer is sometimes referred to as the imac mac G3 cosette, that was the processor but power that but he really wanted to focus on the impact of industrial design. Of the computer and Really what we want to talk about too. We don't want to I'm not going to run down all the technical specs, because that's not really what these episodes are about. We're talking about the aesthetic of apple
So when jobs revealed the imac, the crowd could only see the front of the machine. Initially they could just see the face of the imac right look like a sleek did computers so, instead of sharp corners had round the corners and they get only see- in the face of the computer at initially, they went ahead and went banana- and then jobs brought in a camera that could the care operators could circle by mac. The feed was set live two movie scream. That were in the presentation hall, so everyone could see the translucent plastic along the sides and the back of the computer and jobs showed off how the imac had a handle as well in the back like along the top and That was a design factor that Johnny I've had suggested because he thought it looked cool. It wasn't practical,
but weren't going to be carrying around there. I met computers everywhere, but it was something that just made it look like you wanted to get your hands on it. That was the whole point of it. So this was not a practical component added into the design it was one at least not practical in the sense of physically practical. It was practical. Sense of marketing ban. it was another thing that made you want to pick one of these things up and purchase it right. So jobs agreed to that design change, even though it meant that the production costs of the case of the computer would be even higher, because it would require a special approach to make this handle that's incorporated into the cases of jobs would end up saying it looks like it came from another planet, a good planet, one that has better designers, which huge accolades
better than all the other designers on earth. Now. max off a ton of issues for one day. the all in one design meant that apple could actually ship and I'm act in a single box. The contained the computer, the keyboard and the mouse more on the mouse in the second there no components to connect apart from the keyboard and mouse to the computer right, so you didn't have to connect speakers to it. You didn't have to enact the monitor to the tower. All of that was in integrated. It was one thing so that really simplified the setup process. Apple, make sure that the customer wouldn't need to install any software or do anything complicated. They wanted. to work out of the box This was the beginning of that idea of it just works. Although the wasn't how Steve jobs described it. Yet he would later describe apple products as it just works. That would become one One of the mottos of the company
So all you really had to do was take imac out of the box, plug it in turn. on nor have the the keyboard emails connected, and you are a good to go. There really sick, by the process of connecting to the internet as well and doing so well, using a really attractively designed computer case and It really was a showcase for ives work and his team's work their collaboration on each design element got the spotlight, I said, the imac was a watershed product for apple. The company had been in danger of bankruptcy due to mismanagement of the previous regime and apple and jobs, both needed a slam dunk hit or a grand slam hit if you prefer, and the imac delivered now I did mention the computer mouse. That was one part of the imac. That was not a slam, dunk the computer mouse for the imac was small and it was
circular in shape not like egg shaped or oblong like your typical computer mouse, the moral almost like a perfect circle, and it also had a very short cord, so it was very pretty to look at it had the same translucent, polycarbonate plastic, had the same color features as the parent. I mac that it came with But the mouse itself was awkward to use the size and the shape meant it was little challenging to keep things on track, because if the also rotated even a little bit under your hand. Then whenever you move the mouse, the cursor was gonna go in the direction you had not intended it to go on and cable length also meant it could get a little hard to use as well. It could limit you, and so this I get our mouths which would gain the door I got to re nickname the hockey puck wasn't lauded like the imac was. It was very pretty, but it was not
practical- and this would not be the last time that I've in his team would design something that would be criticised as emphasising form over function, but there I make it became the fast. selling computer in apple's history. At that point, company moved eight hundred thousand units by the end of its first year in existence. More importantly, It marked a reversal of apple's fortunes so for two years essentially, the company had reporting. Massive losses have been operating in the red, but the imax popularity, gave apple a profitable. order in early nineteen. Ninety eight, and then it was after the races, the company, that so many people had shrugged off as having lost its way. A bearded to be not just back on track, but league ahead of the competition, and it was largely thanks to ives design team that I was already hard at work
another product one. In many ways to the imac- and this was the eyeballs- which was a nod to the imac and the indented. Purpose to serve as a computer that could quickly connect to the internet this was a clamshell laptop computer that also featured rounded corners. So you didn't have these sharp corners of your typical laptop. It also featured colorful rubber accents that bordered a polycarbonate white plastic case to give it kind of a whimsical appearance There are elements of translucent plastic in that case as well, and a lot of the design elements that maybe I max so compelling found their way into the eye book design, by the time Steve jobs, ready to unveil this new computer in nineteen. Ninety nine. After the imac had come out. The crown It was already on board
You should really watch this presentation, the eye book, unveiling presentation to see how the cult of apple was off too, big start, even as early as ninety. Ninety, nine, the crowd even seen a single image of the laptop but as soon as jobs revealed, that apple had a new consumer laptop to show off after referencing the incredibly popular imac he was already getting crazy amounts of applause, got even more when he revealed that the name of the laptop was I book and he still hadn't actually shown off the ding dang darn thing, apple- was known as using this naming convention of power in front of its professional grade hardware. So a power mac was meant for professionals, as the imac was meant as a consumer product. Well, the professional grade horrible mac computer was called a power book. So
what he said since we have the imac. This is going to be. The ibook That alone got a huge ovation from the crowd, and he literally was bonkers. and jobs had to have been flying high his audience was already on his side. He didn't have to win them over for providing him a ton of energy so hidden went through the technical specs of the laptop which again not really important for this podcast, so I'm not going to go through them, and then He finally showed off the design and when he did, he showed If this tangerine colored rubber, accented laptop so like all the color parts are, rubber that overlay, the the white polycarbonate plastic and it was a nice nod to ives past. I think, because in case you don't remember from the last episode
johnny. Ive came to apple after he had been working at a design, consultancy, firm, called tangerine. the apple logo on the front was tangerine and color against the white polycarbonate plastic on the back Add the entire bottom of the laptop coded in this tangerine shaded rubber, except for me apple logo, which was in white, so very nice little accent nods. jobs continue with a presentation. Even though you can the audience roaring like he didn't pause for them too. View shout out there their joy. at seeing this and they would roar again when jobs revealed that the computer had a handle near the hinge of the laptop which would lead you carry the laptop like a briefcase which just goes to show. We were easier to please way back in nineteen. Ninety nine
He also showed how the laptop didn't have a latch, so wouldn't latch closed, and you wouldn't have to press anything in order to open it at the hinge was had enough tension in it to keep the laptop closed under normal conditions. Are you also now. The communication ports didn't have covers, which made them easier to access. You can really The ives influence here his desire to make the product something that you would want to use and trying to avoid any components that would make that experience. Frustrating jobs announced that the but could be available in the color. Tangerine or blueberry upon their first release later on. apple would include a couple of other colors. They had indigo graphite key lime? Her own did I book, but I have to say that the color and designs really actually do look super inviting I mean I know that my phone is technically or advanced than those computers are, but still I cried would like a tendering I book, because it's just really pretty and I
goes to show how Ivan his team were geniuses. They tapped into something really powerful they were able to come up with an aesthetic they had an instant appeal I, with his tendency towards simplicity and minimalism, kept his too. from adding in superfluous or distracting features or embellishments. Now we're Take another quick break when we come back I'll talk about, and I've and product. That, sadly, did not, be the kind of success that the imac and ibook would but we'll do that. After these messages, I I I I I I I 's success- is yours for the asking and with survey monkey all you have to do,
who is ask is the survey platform that shows you what your customers, employees and audiences across the world, really what and what to do next so go ahead. Ask the people find out. There must halves, learn about their dreams and discover their biggest wishes with survey monkey. You could ask the right people the right questions and get fresh ideas and returned the kind that lead to insights and those insights. That's where you find your neck success survey, He is used by over three hundred thousand organisations worldwide. Every day over twenty million questions are answered through their service. Giving businesses like yours, the least data about what customers, employees and audiences want. So what are you waiting for? Just ask the people give them what they want and find a path forward. It's a win win for. Everyone discover the right questions to ask the people with survey templates and more at surveymonkey dot com, slash ass
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really well performing products, but one that wasn't was the power mac g. For cube, which had a g for processor in it, which is what gave it its name just as the imam g three would be called that. Well, the Our magazine or a cube, was meant for professional users, cause it had the power designation right. so it was more powerful and included more features than what you would find in consumer macintosh computers and also had a hefty price tag. Go along for the ride, the design. of the power cube, wasn't Thirdly, striking because, as the name tells you, the computers form factor was that of a cube. Rather the tower. However, I should mention it wasn't a perfect cube and measured seven point: seven by seven point: seven by nine point, eight inches or twenty by twenty by twenty five cent to me:
further. The cube had a housing that was made of clear, acrylic, glass and ives team chose that nine, because it gave the computer the sort of illusion of hovering just above the desk. It would sit on because the I the case of this acrylic case, would have hold up computer a couple of inches The computer had no internal fan inside it to dissipate heat Instead, it relied on a grill in the top of computer case that allowed heat to escape passively so didn't have a physical power button. Instead, it had a touch sensitive button. That as soon as you make contact with it would power on the computer or would make a word computer go to sleep, which was a problem. Some people had where they would accidentally graze this touch. Instead of button and turn their working computer into sleep mode, and that was frustrating the cupid form factor
placed other limitations on this computer, namely in order to fit all the components into that small space. An apple would not be able to include expansion slots, so you couldn't expand. The capabilities of the computer beyond what it could do out of the box, the tree phyllis seedy slot that jobs had wanted for the eye mac would find its way. Into the g for cube. Donnie I've relished the job just creating a form factor of a shooter that was unique among pcs, while the design meant apple, had to make some massive compromises. Johnny ive and his team did manage to get it all working and the price, that's really solidified a shift in apple's operations that I team, but now have a much larger influence in product development than it had ever had four because jobs with such a huge ally for indeed
field design, while the physical appearance of the cube was striking, It failed to find a real market critics. Jobs actually didn't identify a target market for the device and that the lack of feet, paired with a high sticker price, the most folks. market for a more powerful mac. We're going to go with a more traditional power mac computer, not the q, also the injection molding fabrication process for the cubes case. Some am errors which introduce flaws like cracks in the clear acrylic case. So some customers were frustrated that it was Is it up to the standards of the previous models where you know johnny? I was known for, play and inspecting the manual bring process to make absolutely certain that the design he created would come out flawlessly. This was a case where that did not then at least in some instances leading
up to the cubes release apple had enjoyed nearly three full years of profitability, but the cube underperformed drastic, and apple said that poorer cube sales led to a ninety million dollar shortfall for the company, just and the cue alone, I think, It was a hundred eighty million dollars less than what they had projected total. So the cube accounted for about half of that shortfall, and that was a pretty tough quarter and it was another reminder that leaning more on form over function can times, have negative consequences we'll say that, despite the poor sales, the presentation the jobs gave in order to introduce the cube when like gangbusters, so that Initial excitement didn't progress into sales, unfortunately, but it was another case where the cold of apple, was in full display jobs came out and the crowd
went gaga for the presentation once they saw the design of the cube, particularly when Steve jobs turned the case upside down and there was a handle on the underside of the computer and buy online, king the handle he could pull out. The in of the computer in one smooth motion you didn't have to fiddle with with screws or anything like that and remove a panel. You just lifted it straight out of the case. I will say That was an amazing design. Choice like something that made it super easy to access the internals really really cool. It's just unfortunate that, because of the form factor, there wasn't a whole lot. You could do like you couldn't really slaughter. expansion cards into it or anything, because there wasn't the space for it, but the the design choice to make that a feature. Super cool now it just didn't, sell well, so
It was the kind of a black mark. johnny, ives record at that point. and then it was entirely his fault. I mean it was that it was a company wide failure right because again the decision to go with that form, factor blaze, so many limitations and restrictions on the rest of the teams that was pretty much impossible to create something that would go toe to toe with the other, more powerful professional level, computers that apple was creating and also justify the very high price tag why do people said it's like a very expensive toy, other than a computer that just Why is the high price? However? It was the next big line that would really push apple in to a new trajectory. It was the in the I ordered you, these saved apple and put it on a pathway to becoming
ridiculously successful the product would come out till two thousand and one and the first really. Breakthrough model of it what no merge until two thousand and four. I am, of course talking about the ipod now I have done episodes on the ipod before so we're not going to go through. All of that I will say it was not the first mp3 player, it was apple's. First mb three will hair, but it wasn't the first in the world, so apple is very rarely first to market with a technology. That's not really the company's mo. That's not what it does instead apple is known for designing top of class examples of technologies that someone else has already created, so no I ipod was not the first time be three player. It was just the first one that become a runaway success, though, as I said, it took a bit of time for that to happen,
now the first model or the ipod had some features that the company would quickly drawn up. I think it had a mechanical method for scrolling through songs. If you looked at the face, the ipod you would see there was this circular device on the face of the ipod. Underneath screen would put your thumb on this and you would physically turn the circle. It was a scroll wheel, in other words, and you would use it to click through playlists or songs. You can scroll through menus this way, and but it physically would turn on its axis, so it had this tactile. feature that other ipods would lack in the future. Probably because this was a mechanical point failure. Although there's something really satisfying, I think of turning a mechanical component, wherein we we've seen plenty of fidget devices that aren't that,
they are right there just little physical things that you can they were in order to burn. some excess energy and the my ipod had one of those mechanical elements to it as sadly, I guess. Well, I guess it depends on your perspective, in my view, sadly, they would get rid of that in the future versions of the ipod butts I, the scroll circle were four buttons made up a perimeter around the circle and these, but His had controls like play and pause and rewind that kind of thing, now, the original ipod could hold about one thousand songs and it lacked a few things that really prevented this first generation from becoming a superstar for I didn't have a usb port. Instead, it had a firewire port which really limited how you would be able to use it also no compatible software that you could run on a pc to interact with an ipod, so it
then, if you wanted an ipod, you had to have an apple computer in order to make it work and, limitations kept the original ipod from becoming the success it would later be. But it did, though, the direction of the company and its set the tone for moving forward. The next duration of the device ditched mechanical wheel. Instead, it had a touch sensitive wheel, so capacity if tat, instead of mechanically turning a circle around, but physically it resembled the first generation. It was not a huge departure in design the mccain the wheel was gone, but the layout of the device was pretty much the same. There were a couple of other meant minor changes of the firewire port and then had a cover, instead of it being open like it was first generation of the ipod. five team would take a larger departure with the third edition of the ipod interface became touch based. There was
yet a touch screen, but there were touch buttons instead, mechanical buttons to access The controls, Ives dean, moved the control buttons above the touch we'll rather than around the perimeter of it, and the team would could need to make adjustments to their bonds, design and clean the crew, issues of spin off products. You had the ipod many which only lasted two generations, and you had the. It by nano, which was the replacement for the ipod. Many was an even smaller version, the ipod then later on. You had the ipod shuffle as well bright touch on those a little bit in the next episode, though he won't go into as much detail as we have for the the imac and and end the cube for exam. so we're going to leave it off here and in next episode. We'll talk about how the I bought design would influence apples direction and the general public's perception of the company- and me we call them pod- casts because we
named it after the ipod. That's how definitive a product that became I will talk about ives role, in creating this kind of momentum Then we'll also talk about other products, the big one, obviously being the iphone and how that design ended up just cementing apple's place as a tastemaker in consumer electronics and then We also talk about the various things that played a part in becoming less enamored of apple and ultimate. his decision one to leave the company as an employee, and then who to essentially cut ties with apple. By now, extending the contract that his design firm had established with the company Those will be things we'll talk about in the next episode in the series hope, you're enjoying these episodes. If you
suggestions for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech. Please reach and tell me you can, that, in one of two ways one way is to download the free. I heart radio app now into the text of podcast page. You that little microphone icon to record a voice message up to thirty seconds in length and, let me know through there or you can reach out on twitter. The handle for the show is tax stuff, each as w and I'll try to you again really soon. The tech stuff is I hurt radio production for more pod heart radio visit, the I, radio, app apple podcasts, wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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Transcript generated on 2022-08-03.