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Jony Ive talks relationship with Steve Jobs, design culture, more in Charlie Rose interview

Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 1.54.12 PM

Following the extensive 60 Minutes piece last December, Charlie Rose has shared yet another interview with Apple design head Jony Ive. In the 35 minute interview, Rose and Ive discuss the qualities that “make Apple Apple” and the role of design in the company’s identity.

The interview starts by focusing on the qualities that Apple looks for in employees to create a culture driven around innovation and design, noting that the focus is never monetary, but rather entirely design and product:

We’re very clear about the hierarchies here. Our job isn’t to make money for Apple. Our job is to make the best products that we can. We trust if they are good and we trust if we are competent and we do our jobs in trying to describe them and we are competent in making them, they will be attractive and bought. They will be bought in volume and we will make money.

One interesting tidbit in the interview comes with Ive telling a story of a time he and late Apple CEO Steve Jobs were shopping in Italy. Ive described how both of them immediately noticed a certain change in reflection on a knife that was for sale, something that Ive believes shows how close he and Jobs were and just how like-minded they were when it came to noticing design qualities.

Also on that relationship, Ive talked about how in his early days of working with Jobs, he would try to get the former CEO to be slightly nicer when it came to analyzing design ideas. Jobs, however, didn’t buy Ive’s theory and said that Ive was too worried about wanting the rest of the design team to like him. Ive explains that this led to the culture of the team being focused on designing the best products, not letting “personal frailties” get involved.

Ive was also asked about how he views himself, a designer of technology products, having to keep the idea of technical limitations in mind while creating the look of a device. Ive explained that one thing he’s always tried to be good at is admitting when he is wrong and tacking the full blame for his screw ups:

I think I’m part artist, part designer, part engineer, part builder, and part craftsman. But in all of that, I’m comfortable with being surprised and being wrong and I’m the first person to raise my hand when something I thought would be good was actually appalling. It’s important to be very self-critical.

Finally, Ive pointed out that products that Apple designs and releases are very much a representation of the company’s beliefs, ideas, and personalities. “The products are the physical manifestation of a set of beliefs,” Ive said.

The full 35 minute interview, which I highly recommended if you are at all interested in the story behind many of Apple’s design decisions, is available below:

YouTube rip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrPS4ca1tgg

HD Hulu stream (requires Flash on OS X):

[hulu id=arcj1apo2u9wltpdaosyqg width=1000 height=563]

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Comments

  1. devator84 - 8 years ago

    “HD Hulu stream (requires Flash):” played just fine on my iPhone without flash…

    • applegetridofsimandjack - 8 years ago

      Need flash to run the ad lol.l.

    • PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

      That’s the beauty of Flash; I haven’t installed it on my Mac and whenever I hit a site that has it I simply grab my iPhone or iPad.

      “iOS. Possibly the best Flash player available”.

  2. yojimbo007 - 8 years ago

    Wonderful interview!..ives at his best !!

  3. Greg Kaplan (@kaplag) - 8 years ago

    “I’m the first person to raise my hand when something I thought would be good was actually appalling”

    Umm yea, not sure you were the first to raise your hand with the antenna lines there, Johnny.

    • Inaba-kun (@Inaba_kun) - 8 years ago

      Or with the Magic Mouse, which was a terrible mouse to begin with made even worse by sticking the charging port underneath it.

      This rather says it all – https://twitter.com/jonyiveparody/status/674749292494491648?lang=en-gb

      • acslater017 - 8 years ago

        It’s fine if you don’t like it, but don’t confuse “I don’t like it” with “appalling” or bad design.

        Personally, I like the Magic Mouse. Its low profile means my hand lies nearly flat on my desk. I don’t disagree that putting the mouse on its back to charge is awkward, but it’s all about tradeoffs – putting the charging port on the front or rear edges would mean either disrupting those lines or raising the whole thing upward. Given that you charge the thing every few months, it’s an occasional bit of awkwardness for a pleasant experience the other 99.9% of the time.

  4. It looks to me that the only the not getting thinner at Apple is Jony

  5. I thought Jony was thoughtful and fascinating – despite Charlie Rose being (in my opinion) a terrible interviewer. He didn’t seem to ask many questions, rather he made some fawning comments in a non-coherent bumbling way, and then sat and waited for Jony to pick up the ball and turn it into something interesting. I may not agree with all the decisions that Ive and his team make, but I think they get most of them right, and absolutely appreciate that a lot of thought has gone into the products – and love the fact that design is given such pre-eminence at Apple :)

    • acslater017 - 8 years ago

      I found his Cook interview to be the same way. He comes off like a fanboy who just wants to set up his Apple subjects to say profound Apple-y things.

      His topics also seem like recycled stuff we’ve been hearing for 3-4 years now: Most profitable store per square foot, we cannibalize our own products, tell me about Steve, blah blah.

  6. bdkennedy11 - 8 years ago

    I forgot how boring Jony’s interviews are. I didn’t get past 5 minutes.

  7. Charlie Rose is a terrible interviewer. How did he make it this far?? Just babbling softball questions. Although, Apple’s PR team probably prevents any real questions from being asked, which is why they keep giving Rose all these interviews.

    My first two questions . . . Did you know that those big iPhone silhouettes on the wall behind you are missing the camera bump? Don’t you think that is a little misleading?

    Followed by, what happened to that Scott Forstall guy?

  8. vamseenunna - 8 years ago

    can’t wait got Ive’s biography, “To flog a dead horse”

  9. David Kaplan - 8 years ago

    This is Apple porn. How about that gold Apple Watch too! All around incredible.

  10. Mr Maxo (@mrmaxo3000) - 8 years ago

    How can Charlie keep interrupting Jony? God he needs to ask his question accurately and succinctly and let the the great Jony Ive speak. He keeps acting as if he is on par with Jony’s design ability – insulting.

  11. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    When are they gonna get someone competent to interview Ive?

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com