Jony Ive, the SVP of Industrial Design at Apple, recently spoke at the British Business conference during the 2012 summer Olympics in London. Ive talked about how he started at Apple in 1992 and witnessed Apple’s “near death experience” and what he learned during that time. He spoke about how the iPhone was shelved multiple times because it wasn’t perfect due to proximity issues and about how Apple had to make sure it adjusted to many different user factors. Sir Ive said this about the iPhone:
There were multiple times when we nearly shelved the phone because there were multiple problems. I hold the phone to my ear and my ear dials a number. The challenge is that you have to develop all sorts of ear shapes, chin shapes, skin colour, hairdo… it seemed insurmountable
Perhaps the most notable thing Jony Ive said was how Apple’s main goal wasn’t to make money, but to make great products. According to The Telegraph, Ive said the following:
Our goal isn’t to make money. Our goal absolutely at Apple is not to make money. This may sound a little flippant, but it’s the truth, our goal and what gets us excited is to try to make great products. We trust that if we are successful people will like them, and if we are operationally competent we will make revenue, but we are very clear about our goal
If you’re unaware, Jony Ive was the man behind the design of some of the most influential Apple products like the iMac, iPod and iPhone. He is known for his minimalist yet extremely functional designs that we’ve come to know and love today.
Source: The Telegraph via The Loop via TUAW
