On May 2, After Apple CEO Tim Cook Made A Lot Of Structural Reforms, Jony Ive, The Company's Former Chief Design Officer, Chose To Leave When He Was Physically And Mentally Exhausted. The New York Times Compiled Ivy's Career At Apple, Including The Reasons Why Ivy Left Apple, Based On A Book By Journalist Tripp Mickle.
The Two Giants Helped Save Apple
Ivy Left Apple In 2019 After Nearly 30 Years At The Technology Company. In After Steve: How Apple Became A Trillion Dollar Company And Lost Its Soul, Mikel Describes The Careers Of Ivy And Cook And The Changes That Took Place In The Company After They Took Over.
The Book First Traces The Evolution And End Of The Cooperative Relationship Between Ivy And Cook. In The 1990s, They Helped Save The Sinking Apple. First, Ivy Was Responsible For Designing A New Computer With A Candy Colored Transparent Shell. When IMACWhen It Was Released In 1998, Jobs Commented That It Looked Like It Came From Another Planet. These Eye-catching IMacs Have Also Improved The Company's Public Awareness, Employee Morale And Profits. Apple Was Saved, And Then It Just Needs To Continue To Grow.
In The Same Year, Jobs Asked Cook To Transform The Inefficient Apple Production Line. Cook, Who Was Previously In Charge Of Compaq's Supply Chain, Is Known For His Demanding And Attention To Detail. When The Staff Proposed To Increase The Inventory Turnover Rate From 25 To 100 Times A Year To Save Money For Damaged Parts, Cook Calmly Asked, How Can We Achieve 1000 Times?
As We All Know, Ivy Has A Very Close Relationship With Apple's Co-founder And Dynamic Spiritual Leader Steve Jobs. Their Cooperation Is Full Of Tacit Understanding. Jobs Often Visits The Company's Design Studio. However, With The Death Of Jobs In 2011 And Leaving The Company To Ivy And Cook, Ivy's Identity In The Company Has Changed Greatly. Cook Seems Less Interested In Design Than Jobs. During The Creation Of Apple Watch, He Visited The Studio Much Less.
Ideas Lead To Separation
It Is Reported That In The Process Of Apple Watch Changing From Fashion To Fitness Function, Ivy Discussed With Cook On The Grounds Of Physical And Mental Fatigue And Planned To Quit The Industry.
However, The Fear That Ivy's Departure Would Affect The Stock Price Prompted Cook To Reduce Ivy's Responsibilities And Let Him Serve As Chief Design Officer. At That Time, Few People At Apple Knew Ivy's Frustration And Fatigue. These Changes Have Obviously Also Led To A Change In The Way Ivy Works, From Almost Daily Product Review To Sometimes Not Judging The Design At All For A Few Weeks.
To Celebrate iPhoneOn Its 10th Anniversary, Ivey Convened Software Designers To Conduct Product Evaluation At The Battery, A Social Club In San Francisco. After Nearly Three Hours Late, Ivy Reviewed The Feedback, But Didn't Make Any Final Decision At That Time.
Although Ivy Seemed Absent, Cook Continued To Push The Company In New Directions, Including Hiring James Bell, Former Chief Financial Officer Of Boeing, As A Director To Replace Mickey Drexler, A Marketer. Ivy Did Not Support The Change, Commenting To A Colleague That Bell Would Only Be "another Accountant".
Cook Also Annoyed Ivy By Allowing The Finance Department To Have More Say Because They Began Auditing External Contractors.
As For Ivy's Decision To Leave, The Book Introduces The Details Of One Night In June 2019. Ivy Gathered His Design Team To A Theater And Showed Yesterday In Private. Mikel Said The Choice Of The Film Is Very Appropriate Because It Is An Exploration Of The Eternal Conflict Between Art And Commerce. After The Foreshadowing Film, Ivey Told His Team: "art Needs Appropriate Space And Support To Grow."
A Day Later, The Design Team Was Told To Clear The Meeting Schedule Related To Ivy. The Latter Told Them That His Time In The Company Was Coming To An End With The Completion Of The New Building. Ivey Praised The Design Team And Urged Them To Maintain Their Identity As Apple, While Assuring Them That He Would Continue To Serve As A Consultant Through His Design Company Lovefrom.
Since Ivy Left And Received Compensation Worth More Than $100 Million, Apple's Design Factors Seem To Have Taken A Back Seat, Highlighting More Features And Performance. Designers Said That Without Ivy, They Had More Cooperation With Their Colleagues In The Engineering Field Than Before, But At The Same Time, They Also Faced Greater Pressure On Work Costs.
Mikel Wrote That Ivy's Departure Was A Shocking Exit, But It Was Ultimately Inevitable Due To Changes In Corporate Culture And Growing Frustration. Ivy Was Disappointed With Apple's Transformation From A Design Centric Entity To A More Practical Entity.
Can Apple Still Launch Products Similar To IPhones
After Jobs' Death, People Were Not Sure What Apple's "next Big Thing" Would Be. Apple's Commitment To Home Automation, Healthcare Equipment, Autonomous Vehicle, TVAnd Various Earphones Have Been Explored, And Some Have Even Launched Finished Products. But For Most Of Ivy's Remaining Term, The Core Of Apple's Device Was The Apple Watch.
Over The Years, Ivey Has Been A Key Figure In Apple's Product Design. The Designer Defines The Appearance Of The Product And Has A High Voice In Its Function, Mikel Wrote. The Staff Began To Summarize His Power In One Sentence: Don't Let God Down. Apple's Wealth Provides A Guarantee For Ivy's Perfectionism.
However, As The Story Unfolds, It Is Clear That This Watch Will Not Be The "next Big Thing". With Ivy Demanding More Control Over The Watch Than The IPhone, The Device Has Changed From A "useful Screen On The Wrist" To A Fashion Item. When It Was Finally Launched, Its Sales Were Lower Than Expected, And People Were Not Optimistic About Its Future Prospects.
At The End, Mikel Gave Up His Detached Attitude As A Reporter To Analyze The Company's Failure To Launch Another Revolutionary Product. He Wrote That Cook Was Accused Of Being Cold And Unknown. Cook Is A Bad Partner For Ivey Because Ivey Wants Every Product To Be Compassionate. Ivy Was Also Criticized For Taking On The Responsibility And Management Burden Of Software Design, And He Soon Began To Despise These Responsibilities. In The End, It Was Obvious That The Two Missed The Opportunity To Create A Great Successor To The IPhone.
Indeed, Apple Did Not Launch Another Device As Important As The IPhone After Jobs' Death, But Apple Did Not Launch Such An Important Device Before Jobs' Death. It Is Also True That Cook Did Not Play The Role Of CEO Like Jobs, But No One Thought He Could, Including Jobs Himself. On His Deathbed, He Advised Cook Never To Ask What Steve Would Do And Just Do The Right Thing.
Ivy And Cook Want Another IPhone Like Product, But As Mikel Said, There Is No Other Such Device To Launch. It Is Too Difficult To Develop Autonomous Vehicle, Medical Devices Are Too Strictly Regulated, And TV Is Less Protected Than Music. Even Earphones And Watches, Which They Actually Ship, Are Technically And Conceptually Peripheral Devices Of Apple's Greatest Product (iPhone). (small)