Tripp Mickle's Book 'After Steve' Covers Apple's Rise to Trillions

Wall Street Journal correspondent Tripp Mickle has a book coming out called After Steve with an eye-catching subtitle, “How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul.” It goes on sale May 3, 2022 and is available to preorder today. From the website: “His research shows the company’s success came at a cost. Apple lost its innovative spirit and has not designed a new category of device in years. Ive’s departure in 2019 marked a culmination in Apple’s shift from a company of innovation to one of operational excellence, and the price is a company that has lost its soul.”

Is Apple Product Design Better Without Sir Jony Ive?

It’s a heretical thought for some but…has Apple product design actually got better since Sir Jony Ive left? Writing for Bloomberg Businessweek, Alex Webb argues that devices now focus on function rather than form, to the benefit of the user.

Evans Hankey, who now heads the industrial design team, has overseen plenty of other tweaks that seem to indicate a change of philosophy. Take the iPhone. The latest iterations have ditched the curved edges that made the display liable to crack if dropped on its side. Or the Apple TV remote, whose symmetry made it visually appealing, but meant that users often inadvertently pressed the wrong buttons by holding it upside down. The design was revamped in May. “Since Jony Ive left, there’s not that gravitational force driving aesthetic before function,” Paul Found, a lecturer in industrial design at the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury, England. “Those who have taken over are now listening to what customers are saying.”

AWS4 Love, Design Meets Science, Apple's PG TV Dreams - ACM 481

Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet can’t get enough of Apple Watch Series 4, even though Jeff is wrong about the Infograph Watch Face. They also find it interesting that a designer got recognized by the world of science, and they weigh whether or not Apple’s plan to avoid sex, violence, and politics with its original TV shows will hurt its streaming service.

Senate Net Neutrality, Nader's Whiff, Jony Watchman - ACM 462

The U.S. Senate passed legislation that would restore Net Neutrality in the country, but Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet explain why they don’t think it will go any further. They also break down Ralph Nader’s kind-of-weird whiff in complaining about Apple’s share buyback program. They cap the show with a look at how Sir Jony Ive is a watch-man, though Steve Jobs wasn’t involved with Apple Watch.

Hodinkee Does the Watch-Lover's Interview with Sir Jony Ive

Check out this great interview with Sir Jony Ive by Hodinkee‘s Benjamin Clymer. It’s essentially the watch-lover’s interview with Jony Ive. Here’s a snippet:

A publicist makes his way toward the rope – yes, it’s velvet – and straightens the post to which it is attached. He looks at it once more, and adjusts it again. It all feels very natural. The elevator bank opens and Jony strides off. He swiftly passes the twice-considered rope and is greeted by the team. I go in for a hearty handshake. But as with each time I converse with this man who has designed much of the world around us, I stumble at his kindness. “So nice to see you, Ben.”

Beautifully written, this interview includes annotations by Mr. Clymer to explain why he asked what he asked. And all of it is a piece by a fine timepiece enthusiast for fine time piece enthusiasts. One of the tidbits I found particularly interesting is that Jony Ive said he never talked about watches with Steve Jobs, and that the Apple Watch was first discussed a few months after his passing. This is a great interview.

New McDonald's Ad Pokes Fun At Apple to Promote 'STRAW'

Fast food chain McDonald’s has a new ad for a product called “the STRAW.” It pokes fun at Apple, in particular Jony Ive, as it features white backgrounds and a British narrator. The product will released along with four new shakes in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Check out the Suction Tube for Reverse Axial Withdrawal in the commercial.

Thinking Differently about Apple's $299 Coffee Table Book

Apple launched a new product on Tuesday, a coffee table book titled Designed by Apple in California. It will come in two sizes, 13″ at $199 and 16″ at $299, and both contain some 450 photographs of Apple products. I have very mixed feelings about this, but the short version is that Bryan Chaffin gets why Apple is making this book. Read on for more.