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.
Check It Out: Hodinkee Does the Watch-Lover’s Interview with Sir Jony Ive
Glad I took the time to read the article, as I found it to be interesting and informative.
On a personal note, I had stopped wearing a watch years ago, until the Pebble came along. That changed my view of what something on my wrist could do for me. When the AW came out, I saw the expansion and refinement of that concept and bought a Series 0.
I wore it every day until replacing it with a GIS only Series 3, which I have worn every day since.
I don’t look at my AW as a watch, but mostly as an extension of my iPhone. Even though it occupies the same space as my watches have in the past. Turns out it’s a very convenient place to locate it.
Reading the article helped me better understand how it came to be, and that the AW was developed on Mr. Cook’s watch (no pun intended. Well, maybe a little), not under Mr. Jobs.
In my opinion the AW is one of the finest examples of Apple’s unusual and continuing capacity to take the concept and functionality of an existing product category and redesign it into something much more useful and pleasing to use. This capacity, I believe, was developed and nurtured by SJ, until it became part of Apple’s organizational infrastructure and culture. The AW is evidence – again, in my opinion – that this capacity remains in place and continues to evolve under TC.
A load of crap. Apple watched people put the 6th Generation iPod Nano on a watchband and suppliers came up with a wide variety of styles. Two years later, Apple decided to cut out the middleman. They discontinued that style Nano to sell watches and wristbands – an idea from Apple consumers. I think Sir Ives’ best days are behind him and he’s waxing Distortion Field.