1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? You know? Last week 5 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: I mentioned on a tech News episode that Johnny I've 6 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: a Sir Jonathan a k a. Jonathan Paul I've has 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: pretty much completely broken ties with Apple and that this 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: is a big deal at the very least, it's what 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: you would call an historic moment. So Johnny, who spells 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,480 Speaker 1: his name j O n Y because of course he does, 11 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: first joined Apple way back in and had a hand 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: in designing tons of Apple products, from the iconic iPhone 13 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: to Apple's spaceship headquarters. He's had a hand in all 14 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: of that. His reputation is one of perfectionism and critical 15 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: attention to the smallest of details. He also earned a 16 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: reputation for being somewhat coddled by Apple. You know, you 17 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: could say that reputation might be unfairly earned, but he 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: has one, and some would even say he cared far 19 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: more about the form of a product than he did 20 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: for the function, and he certainly had issues with that 21 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: throughout his career. But today, I thought we would go 22 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: into a lot more detail on his life, In fact, 23 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: so much detail that it's going to require more than 24 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: one episode. So this is part one. And before I 25 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: really get started, I want to shout out a book 26 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: that I used as a primary source for this episode 27 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: or these episodes. That book is titled After Steve, How 28 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: Apple Became a trillion dollar Company and Lost its Soul, 29 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: And it's written by Trip Michael. Now, as that title suggests, 30 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: the book primarily focuses on what happened at Apple in 31 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: the wake of Steve Jobs's death in two thousand eleven, 32 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: and how folks like Tim Cook and Johnny I've would 33 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: change the course of the company and somewhat kind of 34 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: battle against each other in that process. It's a good book, 35 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: and while the title does indicate a particular perspective and 36 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: narrative there, it is not just an opinion piece. In fact, 37 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: Michael cites more than four hundred fourteen sources. I know 38 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: because the PDF that comes with the audio book has 39 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: sixty two pages. That's just a list of all the citations. 40 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,359 Speaker 1: He also includes a bibliography of works that complement his own. 41 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: Those works include books and movies and more. It's really 42 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: impressive stuff. Anyway, I don't know Michael personally. I have 43 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: no connection to him. I don't have any connection to 44 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: this book. I just thought I would give it a 45 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: shout out if you are interested, because the information I'm 46 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: going to be talking about here a lot of it. 47 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: There's a lot more detail in the book. But it's 48 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: not the only source I used, but it is a 49 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: prime source. And also, like I said, I got the 50 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: audio book, so it's available on platforms like Audible. So 51 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: let's get to Johnny I've and Apple. Johnny I've was 52 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: born near London in nineteen sixty seven. His father was 53 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,959 Speaker 1: a teacher who taught design and technology at what we 54 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,559 Speaker 1: would consider the high school level. His mother taught theology 55 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: and later on became a therapist, and I've's grandfather was 56 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: a machinist and Johnny's father, in addition to his teaching job, 57 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: had also tried his hand at silversmith ing. So Johnny 58 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: quickly was attracted to the process of creating things, not 59 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: just designing them, but actually fabricating them. And like a 60 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: lot of kids who would later get into fields like engineering, 61 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: Johnny would take stuff up heart to learn how it worked. 62 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: I don't know what his success rate was for putting 63 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: it back together again, but he certainly took it apart 64 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: to understand how things worked. His father would teach him 65 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: how to sketch out ideas before committing to build them, 66 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: and I gave Johnny an appreciation of design. He would 67 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: ask his father endless questions about how things were built 68 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: and why they were built the way that they were so, 69 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: not just how did they put this together, but why 70 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: did they choose this method over some alternative method. When 71 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: he was still a child, his family relocated to a 72 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: rural neighborhood about two hours north of London. Johnny enrolled 73 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: in a school called Walton High School, where he continued 74 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: to develop his skills in art and design. He also 75 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: became active in various social issues like feminism and things 76 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: of that nature. Uh he wasn't nearly as strong in 77 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: most of the traditional curriculum at school, but that really 78 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: didn't concern him very much because from the beginning, his 79 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: plan was to attend a technical college after high school, 80 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: and a technical college wouldn't require high marks in those 81 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: classic subjects. I've also attended a summer program that had 82 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,799 Speaker 1: a focus on design with I've learning more advanced drafting techniques, 83 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: as in like draftsmanship. So it married his love of 84 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: art with his love of design and engineering. And as 85 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 1: a senior project I've said about designing a working portable projector. 86 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: Uh So, the projectors that were being used in his 87 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: high school were these big heavy things. They're very clunky 88 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: and cumbersome. You couldn't easily move them from classroom to classroom. 89 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: So I've thought, here's a challenge. Here's here's something that 90 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: I can solve. I can create a projector that is portable, 91 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 1: that's easier to move around. So he made a projector that, 92 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: when it was in its collapsed form, was like a briefcase, 93 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: you know, pretty heavy one. And when it opened, hydraulic 94 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: arms would unfold the projector and it would immerge urge 95 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: into place as a fully working projector. And people who 96 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: saw it said that just watching it kind of unfold 97 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: itself was a very satisfying experience, like everything moved just so, 98 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: and it was like an early example of i've's attention 99 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: to detail and creating things that have a pleasing effect 100 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: on the person looking at them. Anyone who is familiar 101 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: with Apple products knows that that's a big selling point 102 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: for the stuff that's come out over the last couple 103 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: of decades. I've attended Newcastle Polytechnic largely thanks to a 104 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: scholarship that was provided by a guy named Philip Gray. 105 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: Philip Gray was a managing director for Robert's Weaver Group, 106 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: that's an architecture firm in the UK. And part of 107 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: this deal was that I've would agree to work at 108 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: Robert's Weaver Group as an intern while attending college, and 109 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: then would work there full time after graduation for some 110 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,359 Speaker 1: amount of time. I'm not sure how much, but that 111 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: was all part the agreement. Now, one story Michael relays 112 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 1: in his book After Steve is particularly amusing. While he 113 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: was at college, I've was living on a pretty tight budget, 114 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: and he also had a long distance girlfriend whom he 115 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: would write to regularly. Now this is in, you know, 116 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen eighties, before the real days of texting 117 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: and email, so we wrote letters to each other back 118 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: in those days, physical letters. Now I've decided to attempt 119 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: something somewhat cheeky. He didn't know if it was gonna work. 120 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: He drew the picture of a stamp on an envelope 121 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: and it was in all ways with a normal stamp 122 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: identical like he He copied it precisely and just drew 123 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: it directly on the envelope itself. Put a letter to 124 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: his girlfriend and there sent the letter off, and she 125 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: sent back a response which told I've that he could 126 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: sketch a convincing enough copy of an official stamp to 127 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: fool the post office into carrying the mail to its destination. 128 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: And I'm a little tickled that the guy who would 129 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: later be largely responsible for how popular certain apple products 130 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: would become was playing with counterfeiting back when he was 131 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: in college. There's more to that story, but I'm going 132 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: to leave that to Michael's book to flesh it out. 133 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: So if you want to hear more about that and 134 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: the silly turn it took, you should check out the book. 135 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: While the style at the time, as Grandpa Simpson would say, 136 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: was to favor a chaotic collection of shapes and bright colors, 137 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: that wasn't i've's preference. Now, if you don't know what 138 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: I'm talking about, in the nineteen eighties, things went a 139 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: bit haywire in the design world. All you have to 140 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: do just go on a search engine and search for 141 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties style that's all you have to put in, 142 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: and you will see what I mean. It was a 143 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: troubled time of different shapes and and neon colors in 144 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: no particular organized form, and I've hated all of that chaos. 145 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: He preferred the more simple linear style of an earlier 146 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: art movement within art and architecture, and and uh products 147 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: even called bow House. Now that's not the band with 148 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: Peter Murphy in which we would learn that Bella legos 149 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: he is dead. That is an amazing song and a 150 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: phenomenal band. And if you don't know it, well, I 151 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: think I just out of myself as a goth. Anyway, 152 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: I'm talking more about an art and architectural movement that 153 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: originated in Germany. The focus in bau House was to 154 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 1: find a synthesis of aesthetic and function, and that's really 155 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: what I've preferred to just those weird shapes and colors 156 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: of the dominant nineteen eighties designs. He saw those as 157 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: being ugly and grotesque and superfluous and unnecessary. He he 158 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,479 Speaker 1: felt that you really should have a product where everything 159 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: that is in that product is necessary for that product 160 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: in some way, that less is more. Meanwhile, I was 161 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: getting practical experience. As an intern at the Roberts Weaver 162 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: Group firm, he received assignments to create pitches for clients, 163 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: so he wasn't just you know, running errands or running 164 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: support for designers there. He was actually put in charge 165 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: of a few projects. I would bristle whenever someone would 166 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: ask him to compromise on his design, and he didn't 167 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: really like doing that. It was something that kind of 168 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: revealed to him that design consultant is a tough gig 169 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: because you are not the final voice on the approach 170 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: to design. Your your client has input, and that can 171 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: be a difficult thing. I could respect this because as 172 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: someone who is a writer, h there were times when 173 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: I would submit articles to an editor and received feedback, 174 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: and my first response was always to get angry at 175 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: the feedback. Not a mature response, but it was how 176 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: I would feel. I would think, like, oh, they don't 177 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: get what I'm going for here. Usually that wasn't really 178 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: the case, because I unlike I've am not brilliant. I've, however, 179 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 1: bristled because he felt that he really did have the 180 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,559 Speaker 1: best idea and he hated having to compromise on that. 181 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: That also meant that some other folks over at the 182 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,439 Speaker 1: Roberts Weaver Group felt that he probably wasn't a good 183 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: fit for the company because the secret to being a 184 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: great consultant is being adaptable and being able to, you know, 185 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 1: incorporate client feedback into designs. So they felt that maybe 186 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: this would not be the right fit for him. Now, 187 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,559 Speaker 1: one thing that I've encountered around this time was an 188 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: Apple Macintosh computer. Those originally were launched in ninety four. 189 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,680 Speaker 1: He admired the sign of the computer, and he loved 190 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: the marketing campaign that launched the Macintosh. Now, in case 191 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:08,719 Speaker 1: y'all don't remember, I'm sure a lot of you are 192 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: familiar with this commercial because it was a famous commercial 193 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: directed by Ridley Scott, of all people, and it played 194 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: during the Super Bowl in so it really got a 195 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: lot of eyeballs on it. But in case that's well 196 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,079 Speaker 1: before your time you don't know what I'm talking about, 197 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 1: the commercial played off the oppressive themes of George Orwell's 198 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: Night four, the novel. So in this commercial, everything looks 199 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: very gray and dim, and you have this group of 200 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: drone like employees are clad in this baggy gray clothing 201 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,439 Speaker 1: shuffling into a theater and they're a film is playing 202 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: that consists of a closeup of a man's face, and 203 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: that man is yelling out essentially fascist propaganda that also 204 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: stresses that conformity is key. Then a woman runs in, 205 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 1: this athletic woman holding a sledgehammer, and she does a 206 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: hammer throw. She twirls around and throws the sledge hammer 207 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: through the screen. And then you hear a narrator say, 208 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: quote on January, Apple will introduce the Macintosh, and you'll 209 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: see why nine four won't be like four end quote. 210 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: And the commercial is again one of the most famous 211 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,080 Speaker 1: of all time. It implied that the PC industry was 212 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: one of forced uniformity and there was no personality to 213 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: the products, and the ad didn't even show the Macintosh 214 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 1: computer itself. The Macintosh is nowhere to be seen in 215 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: this original version of the commercial. The ad just claimed 216 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 1: that Apple was going to forge a new path all 217 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: on its own, and I've absolutely loved the advertisement. Now, 218 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: before he would graduate Newcastle Polytechnic, I've had to present 219 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: what the college referred to as a blue Sky project. 220 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,679 Speaker 1: This was meant to show off a design without having 221 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: to worry about the constraints of actually being able to 222 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: make the thing, so students were given a lot of 223 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 1: leeway they could they could propose things that weren't necessarily 224 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: technically possible at the time. I've thought up of a 225 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: way to pay for items using a medallion like device 226 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: that could, when brought into close contact with a point 227 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: of sale register, transmit payment wirelessly. So he was essentially 228 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: thinking about a way to replace credit cards and to 229 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: have a more elegant means of being able to transfer funds, 230 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: and it was a predecessor to contactless payment that would 231 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: evolve many many years later. I'ves design intrigued, the judge 232 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: invited to score students submissions, to the point where, according 233 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: to Michael's book, that judge so impressed asked how high 234 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: a score he could give I've And traditionally a seventy 235 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: would be considered an A, and the judge was told 236 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: he could score it however he thought was appropriate, so 237 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: he gave I've a ninety, when usually seventy would be 238 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: the top result, which is a big old yell zam. 239 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: Al Right, We've got a lot more to say about 240 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: Johnny ives early days, including his move to Apple, but 241 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: before we do that, let's take a quick break. Okay, 242 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: we're up to nine and that was a year that 243 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: would bring a big change to Johnny I've's life. The 244 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: Roberts Weaver Group folded. There was a big financial crisis 245 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: in the UK, a recession, and one of the victims 246 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: of that recession was this consulting firm, the Robert's Weaver Group. 247 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: So i was no longer obligated to work at this 248 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: company because the company had essentially gone away, So instead 249 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: he joined a design consultancy company called Tangerine lowercase tea 250 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: kind of funny that he would take on a gig 251 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: at a company named after one type of fruit, and 252 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: then would become famous for working at a different company 253 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: named after a different kind of fruit. In fact, he 254 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: would make the transfer from one directly to the other. 255 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: Clive Grenier, who had met I've a couple of years earlier, 256 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: was largely responsible for recruiting I've to join Tangerine, and 257 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: I've quickly got to work on several different projects, including 258 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: one that was to design sinks sinc basins. Really, that 259 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: one didn't go so well because i'ves very um remarkable 260 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: pitch was one that the company just wasn't comfortable adopting. 261 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: It was a little too aggressive in its departure from tradition. 262 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: And that's another case where i was getting a little 263 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: frustrated that as a consultant he couldn't necessarily design something 264 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: and have it stay his design and have it remained unchanged, 265 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: that he would have to bow to client wishes. So 266 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: he then was brought in on a project called Juggernaut, 267 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,880 Speaker 1: and Juggernaut was a project that involved Grenier. It also 268 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: involved one of the co founders of the company and 269 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: I've and the client in this case was a tiny 270 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: little computer company called Apple. Juggernaut was a project aiming 271 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,280 Speaker 1: to create some novel computer and tablet designs. I think 272 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:43,159 Speaker 1: there were four devices in total, including a tablet with 273 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:47,360 Speaker 1: a separate keyboard, a couple of portable computers, a couple 274 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,199 Speaker 1: of desktop computers that kind of thing. I've was in 275 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: charge of, mainly working on the tablet concept, and he 276 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: was also given the task to pack up and ship 277 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:01,240 Speaker 1: the prototypes which they made out of a phone, and 278 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: send those to Apple. So I've took meticulous care and 279 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 1: packaging these prototypes. You know, he wrapped each one very carefully. 280 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:13,679 Speaker 1: He packed them into the box so that there'd be 281 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: no chance of them being damaged unless you know, something 282 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: crazy happened to the box. He even included some folded 283 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: Tangerine branded shirts in the box as well, And this 284 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:29,159 Speaker 1: was a very early example of making the process of 285 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: unboxing a Johnny I've designed project a real experience. That 286 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:37,879 Speaker 1: that it would show that there was an incredible amount 287 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 1: of consideration in just the packaging of the product, but 288 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 1: let alone the design of the product. This would be 289 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: something that Apple would embrace after I've would join the company, 290 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,920 Speaker 1: largely really after I've joined the company and Steve Jobs 291 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: would return to it. Apple was impressed with this presentation 292 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: and the designs, and they invited the Tangerine t to 293 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,119 Speaker 1: come out to California and to present their ideas in person. 294 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: So Johnny I've got to go to California. I think 295 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: that at that point it was his second time traveling 296 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: to California. He had already been there once and found 297 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:17,199 Speaker 1: it really appealing. Well, while he was there, I've was 298 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: taken aside a couple of times by Apple executives and 299 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: essentially told that he had a job with Apple if 300 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: he wanted one, that he could come over and join 301 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: their team. His colleagues over at Tangerine would tell him 302 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: back in the UK that really he had no options. 303 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: He had to take up that offer. They were very 304 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: generous in saying, this is an incredible opportunity. You will 305 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: do amazing things there. You should take the job. So 306 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: in the fall of nineteen, I've would relocate, he would 307 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: change his home address from London to San Francisco and 308 00:19:56,119 --> 00:20:02,399 Speaker 1: he would join Apple. Now, the Apple of nineteen was 309 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: very different from the Apple of today thirty years later. 310 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: In fact, it was really different from the Apple of 311 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 1: two thousand seven, that's when the iPhone debut, or even 312 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: the Apple of two thousand one, when the company unveiled 313 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 1: the iPod. The Apple of n while founded by some 314 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,919 Speaker 1: somewhat rebellious techno anarchist types, which might be going a 315 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 1: bit far, but Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniac both enjoyed 316 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: thumbing their noses that respectability and authority back in the day. Well, 317 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: now that company was in the hands of a different 318 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: set of leaders altogether. So it's probably a good idea 319 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,240 Speaker 1: to do a quick rundown on what had happened at Apple, 320 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,479 Speaker 1: because that's a very important component of this overall story. 321 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,880 Speaker 1: So we're gonna give a cliffs notes version of Apple's 322 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: history leading up to nine and a little bit beyond. Actually, 323 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: so back in the nineteen seventies, Steve Jobs and Steve 324 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: Wozniak created a partnership and then later brought in another 325 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: person named Mike Markola to turn that partnership into Apple Incorporated. Now, 326 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: the first Apple model was really more of a hobbyist 327 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: kit than a out of the box computer. And while 328 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,200 Speaker 1: hobbyists were interested in the Apple One, that really wasn't 329 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: a suitable product for the mainstream. And that would change 330 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,919 Speaker 1: dramatically with the introduction of the Apple two line, a 331 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: fully built computer system, and ultimately the Apple Too line 332 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: would include numerous offshoots. You know, you'd be like the 333 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: Apple to see, the Apple to E, the Apple to G, 334 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: and the list goes on. The Apple Too would be 335 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:45,679 Speaker 1: a truly enormous success for the young company. So Jobs 336 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: and Wozniak founded Apple, but neither of them would be 337 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: the person to lead the company. Mike Markola, who I 338 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,919 Speaker 1: said earlier he was a primary investor in Apple. He 339 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: owned like twenty of Apple in the early days. He 340 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,640 Speaker 1: brought in a guy named Michael Scott, not that one, 341 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: to serve as the first CEO for Apple because Markola 342 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: felt that neither Jobs nor Wozniak really had the experience 343 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 1: to lead a company. They they had the vision, but 344 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: not the know how, so Michael Scott would serve as 345 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:24,400 Speaker 1: CEO until by then he had made some serious waves 346 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: in the company and and some pretty pretty big enemies 347 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:32,679 Speaker 1: as well. In early one, he famously fired about half 348 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 1: the team responsible for designing the Apple Too because he 349 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: said they were redundant. He said, we don't need all 350 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,400 Speaker 1: these people because the folks that we've got, like, we've 351 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: got twice as many as we need. Let's get rid 352 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: of them. He also made some pretty harsh comments about it. 353 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 1: He at one blind had said that as soon as 354 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:52,919 Speaker 1: it stops being fun working for Apple, he was going 355 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,360 Speaker 1: to quit, and instead he said, you know what, I've 356 00:22:55,359 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: rethought it now. I figure I'm going to keep firing people, uh, 357 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: in order to make it more fun to work at Apple, 358 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: Which that's pretty brutal like that. I'm sure it was 359 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: kind of an off the cuff, humorous remark, but it 360 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: comes across as as pretty nasty when you consider this 361 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: is the livelihood of people we're talking about here. So 362 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,880 Speaker 1: he was effectively removed from power after making that statement, 363 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 1: though he would actually stay on for several more months 364 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: before officially retiring. Mark Coola would take over as CEO 365 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: duties for the time being, which would actually stretch on 366 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 1: for a couple of years, at which point in the 367 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 1: company would then bring on a man named John Scully 368 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 1: to be the new CEO and president, and it was 369 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: Scully's involvement that would lead to Steve Jobs leaving Apple. 370 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: So Jobs was already proving to be a marketing genius. 371 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: He was known more for his feel for design, his 372 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: vision of what could be popular, and his ability to 373 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,679 Speaker 1: sell the designs, rather than as say an engineer or 374 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: a computer scientist. So he wasn't really thought of as 375 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: the person who can make stuff work. He was the 376 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: person who could see how a particular presentation of technology 377 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: could have a really powerful impact on customers. Jobs had 378 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 1: seen designs at the Xerox Park facility that's p a 379 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 1: r C. And those designs convinced him to incorporate some 380 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,440 Speaker 1: of those ideas into Apple products. You could say that 381 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs effectively he stole ideas like you know, the 382 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: computer mouse and the graphics user interface from things that 383 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 1: he saw at the Xerox Park facility, or you could 384 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: just say he was inspired by it. Really just depends 385 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,919 Speaker 1: on your point of view and his work to to 386 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: do this, like his work to make this computer a thing, 387 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: made Jobs something of a target for Scully, who had 388 00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: come over from PepsiCo in order to lead Apple. Jobs 389 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: had a reputation of being very difficult to work with, 390 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: and as he spearheaded projects that would evolve into a 391 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 1: very unsuccessful computer platform called Lisa. It was a very 392 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: expensive computer, didn't sell well at all, and was considered 393 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,720 Speaker 1: a flop, an expensive flop at Apple. He also had 394 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: a real direct hand in the much more successful Macintosh platform. 395 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 1: But jobs involvement with Macintosh was really disruptive too. You 396 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: had the existing Macintosh team that had been working on 397 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: the computer system before Jobs essentially invaded and took over 398 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: the project, and this caused an enormous amount of disruption 399 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 1: within that team. Uh, those stories are pretty fascinating on 400 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 1: their own, but you know, it goes beyond what we 401 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: want to talk about today. So the Apple board of 402 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: directors became concerned about Steve Jobs because the projects he 403 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: was heading up were costing a huge amount of money, 404 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,919 Speaker 1: but they had a questionable record when it came to 405 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: success in the actual marketplace, and Scully was told that 406 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: he needed to contain Jobs, and ultimately Scully would strip 407 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: Jobs of most of his authority, pushing him to the 408 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 1: periphery of Apple and Markola actually cited was Scully now 409 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,880 Speaker 1: the guy who had originally invested in Jobs and Wosniacs 410 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,679 Speaker 1: idea ended up siding with the new leader of Apple, 411 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 1: and Jobs, hurt and infuriated, left the company in nineteen. 412 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,719 Speaker 1: There's some versions of the story that say that he 413 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 1: was effectively fired or at least given so little to 414 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: do that he had he was, at least in in 415 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: practical terms, no longer working for Apple. There are other 416 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: versions where he took a much more active stance and 417 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:49,440 Speaker 1: and quit in um the company because of this this 418 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: opposition he faced. So it really again depends upon whom 419 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,639 Speaker 1: you believe. The outcome is the same either way, and 420 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: I don't think it ultimately matters. UM. It does sound 421 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: Scully did Jobs dirty, but Jobs himself what didn't do 422 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: many favors for himself by being um somewhat difficult to 423 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: work with. Now let's flash forward to nine. We were 424 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 1: in eighty five when Jobs left the company by ninety two. 425 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,160 Speaker 1: Apple had been operating without either of its co founders 426 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: for seven years because Wozniak had effectively left Apple in 427 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,359 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty one after he had been severely injured in 428 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,679 Speaker 1: a plane crash, and in a more official capacity he 429 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: left in nine eight five, but he to this day 430 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: remains an Apple employee in a largely symbolic capacity. So 431 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 1: would be the last full year of Scully leading Apple. 432 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,440 Speaker 1: He had initiated a project to create what he called 433 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,920 Speaker 1: a personal Digital Assistant or p d A, and yeah, 434 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,919 Speaker 1: Scully or someone on his team was the first to 435 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,840 Speaker 1: coin that term, and that would become the Apple Newton 436 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: Message Pad, a product that would later invite ridicule due 437 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: to overpromising an under delivering, particularly when it came to 438 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: handwriting recognition. Scully had also made the decision for Apple 439 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 1: to transition to run on the power PC microprocessor. That 440 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: was a decision that would send Apple down a very 441 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: rocky path. In fact, it was so rocky that ultimately 442 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: it would threaten to bankrupt the company. Now I've joined 443 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,199 Speaker 1: Apple just as tensions in the company were growing, with 444 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: different leaders in different departments playing tug of war of 445 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: where the company should go. Scully would essentially get ushered 446 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: out of Apple in early and a German leader named 447 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: Michael Spindler came in to replace him. Not the time, 448 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: Apple was on unsteady financial ground, having sunk a lot 449 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: of money into the development of the Newton, which had 450 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: turned out to be a flop, and had also experimented 451 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: in other types of consumer hardware like digital cameras, and 452 00:28:55,840 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: those experiments had also largely failed. So Spindler made another 453 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: decision that further hurt the company. He allowed other companies 454 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 1: to build clones of Apple products. Now, until this point, 455 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: Apple was very careful to hold onto its own intellectual property. 456 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 1: The company took a totally different route than what IBM did. See, 457 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: IBM had used off the shelf components to build its 458 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: personal computers, but that meant that other companies could also 459 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: use those same components, plus get a licensed copy of 460 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: the same operating system or or nearly the same as 461 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: what IBM was using, and build IBM clones. There was 462 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: nothing to stop them. There was no reason because there 463 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: was nothing IBM trademarked on any of those things. They 464 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 1: were all products that you could just buy and assemble yourself. 465 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: The IBM clone market was largely responsible for convincing IBM 466 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: to get out the computer you know, the consumer computer space, 467 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: and Apple had dodged that problem by keeping everything in 468 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: house until spind came in and changed course. Spindler would 469 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,480 Speaker 1: eventually get pushed out of Apple himself, and a new 470 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: CEO named gil Emilio would come in. I'll talk more 471 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: about him and his effects on Apple, and then how 472 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: this ties into Johnny I've as well. After we come 473 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: back from this break, Okay where we left off. Gil 474 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: Emilio had just become CEO, replacing Spindler, and Emilia was 475 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: known for rehabilitating companies that were in financial trouble, and 476 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: by this point Apple was starting to flirt with bankruptcy. 477 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: He would make more massive cuts to the budget, he 478 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:48,120 Speaker 1: would hold layoffs across the company. UH he authorized projects 479 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: aimed at updating the operating system on Macintosh computers, and 480 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: those projects would end up languishing due to feature creep 481 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: and internal struggles in Apple. UH. It was another one 482 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: of those cases where something going on inside Apple had 483 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: the capacity to take the whole company down. Things looked 484 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: really grim, so Apple's board of directors decided that Apple 485 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: should acquire a little computer company called Next Big in 486 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: little E, big X big T. That company was founded 487 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: by drumroll please, Steve Jobs. The idea was that the 488 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 1: operating system for Next computers, which were really interesting computers, 489 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: but they were super expensive and they weren't really selling well, 490 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,239 Speaker 1: but that the operating system would become the foundation for 491 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:38,400 Speaker 1: the new mac Os, that the project that Amelio had launched, 492 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: which was kind of mired in internal politics, would get 493 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:46,959 Speaker 1: pushed aside, and the Next operating system would be used 494 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 1: as the the bedrock for mac Os. That meant that 495 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs came on board Apple as an advisor, but 496 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: he didn't stay an advisor for very long. Steve Jobs 497 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,680 Speaker 1: was actually able to rest control of the company away 498 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 1: from Emilio. Technically there was another CEO between Emilio and Jobs, 499 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: but it's not really much point in talking about him. 500 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 1: So he he leveraged the company's terrible market performance into 501 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 1: an argument that only he, Steve Jobs, the co founder 502 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: of Apple, would be able to set the company right. 503 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: So Steve Jobs would become the interim CEO of Apple, 504 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: and not that long afterward he would become just the 505 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: plain old CEO. Like that, he would there be nothing 506 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: interim about it, he would become the CEO. Now I 507 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: give you that truncated history of Apple, because it's during 508 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: these tumultuous years, the end of Scullies leadership at the company, 509 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: the rise and fall of Spindler and Emilio, and the 510 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 1: return of Jobs that I've began to establish himself within 511 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 1: the company. And honestly, knowing what we do about what 512 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: was going on at Apple, and how talented I've is 513 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: as a person, it is more than a little bit 514 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: surprising that he actually endured all of that chaos and 515 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 1: that he stuck around long enough to have the opportunity 516 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 1: to help redefine Apple's place in computers and personal electronics 517 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: along with Steve Jobs's return. It's amazing he lasted that long. 518 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: So when I've started in he was just the ninth 519 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: member of Apple's design team. One of his first assignments 520 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: was to work on the design of the second generation 521 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,600 Speaker 1: Newton message pad device. So I thought the first generation 522 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: of the Newton was really too bulky, it was too unusual, 523 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 1: it didn't feel good to hold, and then it lacked 524 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 1: an aesthetic appeal that would invite users to pick up 525 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: the device and actually use it. So i've's design would 526 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,080 Speaker 1: win him tons of awards, Like he redesigned the Newton 527 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: message pad. He overhauled how it looked and how the 528 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 1: cover would work with the device. He turned it into 529 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:01,680 Speaker 1: more like a uh spiral taw blit note book, you know, 530 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: like an actual physical notebook with paper in it, and 531 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: the lid of the Newton message pad, and this one 532 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: would flip over the top on a hinge and fold 533 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,520 Speaker 1: against the back of the device, and in that hinge 534 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,759 Speaker 1: you would nestle the stylus for the device because this 535 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: this is a tablet computer where you actually did have 536 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,440 Speaker 1: to use a stylus in order to interact with the 537 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 1: tablet itself. And um, yeah, he got lots of accolades 538 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,160 Speaker 1: for this design that people thought that it was a 539 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: brilliant approach. However, the products continuing issues with handwriting recognition 540 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: really plagued the device and it just it was really 541 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,279 Speaker 1: raked over the coals critically. Now in case if you 542 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: don't remember, the news and the whole idea was that 543 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: you had a tablet computer that could accept your handwriting 544 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: as input, so you would use a stylus, you would 545 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,560 Speaker 1: jot down notes on the screen, you know, writing it 546 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: out in Longhand, and the computer would detect the movements 547 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:04,520 Speaker 1: of the stylist against the screen and interpret that as 548 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:08,759 Speaker 1: letters and then create a text version of whatever it 549 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,400 Speaker 1: was you were writing on the screen. But the handwriting 550 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 1: recognition wasn't very good, so using a Newton could be frustrating, 551 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: so frustrating that the Simpsons made a whole joke about 552 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: it in an episode Eat Up Martha instead of Beat 553 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:25,239 Speaker 1: Up Martin. So I've had made the physical act of 554 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: holding a Newton more pleasing, but the operations still fell 555 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:30,839 Speaker 1: far short, And to be clear, that was something that 556 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: was totally out of Ive's control. He was working on 557 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,319 Speaker 1: the physical product design, not on the operating system or 558 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: the software. Now. Reportedly, I was initially frustrated, and by 559 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:47,200 Speaker 1: some accounts he was miserable at Apple during this time period, 560 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: and I said that it was remarkable that he didn't 561 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:52,879 Speaker 1: quit in those chaotic days. But by some accounts there 562 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,520 Speaker 1: were numerous times where he did consider quitting and was 563 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 1: only convinced not to by his temp team leader, who 564 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,880 Speaker 1: is a man named uh Robert Brunner. He was the 565 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,439 Speaker 1: director of industrial design at the time, who was kind 566 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,960 Speaker 1: of telling I've like you need to stick around because 567 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,319 Speaker 1: things are going to change at this company, which was 568 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 1: truly prophetic. So under Spindler, Apple's process had shifted from 569 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:26,200 Speaker 1: really focusing on aesthetics to focusing on performance, with more 570 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 1: of an emphasis on processor speed and less care given 571 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,760 Speaker 1: to the design of the computers themselves. Really all about 572 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:38,840 Speaker 1: efficiency and power, which is such a stereotypical thing to 573 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:42,880 Speaker 1: associate with a German leader that I hesitated to even 574 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,719 Speaker 1: talk about it because it does feed into a stereotype. 575 00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:47,839 Speaker 1: But in this case that actually was what was going on. 576 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: The idea was, oh, the actual physical design of these things, 577 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 1: the appearance of them, that doesn't matter as much as 578 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: how fast they are, how powerful they are, And I 579 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,759 Speaker 1: imagine for I'VE that had to have been torture. The 580 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,920 Speaker 1: design process was also chopped up. The team would have 581 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,880 Speaker 1: about half the time to go through the design process 582 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:13,279 Speaker 1: as they did before Spindler had become CEO. And like 583 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: I said, Robert Brunner was the director of Industrial Design 584 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:18,320 Speaker 1: at the time and was the leader of the team, 585 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:22,160 Speaker 1: and he would stay on with Apple until ninety six. Slash. 586 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,440 Speaker 1: He was one of i've's mentors and really one of 587 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:28,759 Speaker 1: the chief reasons why I've was brought over to Apple 588 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,600 Speaker 1: in the first place, and he had a lot of 589 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 1: faith in I've, which was really evident with what Brunner 590 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,840 Speaker 1: would then assign to I've. I was put in charge 591 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: of refining the design for a Macintosh celebrating Apple's twentieth anniversary, 592 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:51,480 Speaker 1: the Anniversary McIntosh. In other words, I've plunged himself into 593 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:56,680 Speaker 1: the project. He looked at leaders and products across different industries, 594 00:37:56,719 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 1: like products like speakers, to determine what designs were best 595 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:03,400 Speaker 1: and how Apple could learn from and then even improve 596 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 1: upon the work that was being done by other companies. 597 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:11,400 Speaker 1: And he began to evaluate everything from the curve of 598 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:15,040 Speaker 1: the computer case to the materials that would be used 599 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:21,239 Speaker 1: for the computer itself. And I've finished design was beyond opulent. 600 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:26,040 Speaker 1: It was really taking design to the next level. The 601 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:30,160 Speaker 1: keyboard featured leather pads upon which users could rest their 602 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,799 Speaker 1: weary wrists. Uh. The keyboard was separate from the rest 603 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,560 Speaker 1: of the computer, and so you just which was unusual 604 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,240 Speaker 1: for Apple at the time because a lot of earlier 605 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 1: Apple products, not all of them, but a lot of 606 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,720 Speaker 1: them had keyboards that were built directly into the computer 607 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,600 Speaker 1: case itself. So it's all like one big unit. The 608 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,080 Speaker 1: old Apple two's were like that. It also had a 609 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:57,080 Speaker 1: track pad. It was sort of the first Macintosh to 610 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:00,759 Speaker 1: have its own track pad. The computers was made out 611 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:03,880 Speaker 1: of a mixture of metal in parts and plastic and 612 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:08,080 Speaker 1: other parts, including plastic that had metal flaking inside the plastic. 613 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:11,439 Speaker 1: It had a flat panel display. It was the first 614 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 1: Apple desktop to have a flat panel display. It was 615 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:17,959 Speaker 1: an l c D display. In some ways, you could 616 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:22,680 Speaker 1: see the foundation for what would become the iMac several 617 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:27,719 Speaker 1: years later, lurking in Ive's design of this computer. It 618 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,680 Speaker 1: also had a sideloading drive. It could have a floppy drive, 619 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,879 Speaker 1: or it could have a CD ROM drive. It had 620 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:39,040 Speaker 1: ports for television connectivity as well as ones that you 621 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,480 Speaker 1: could use to connect to an external sound system. But 622 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,840 Speaker 1: the computer itself sported prominent speakers to either side of 623 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:49,719 Speaker 1: the display, as well as its own subwhiffer, and it 624 00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:53,560 Speaker 1: was a sound system that was designed and provided by Bows, 625 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:57,640 Speaker 1: so it had a good reputation behind it. That sub 626 00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:00,759 Speaker 1: whiffer was separate from the rest of a computer. It 627 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,880 Speaker 1: also served as the power source for the device, so 628 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:04,960 Speaker 1: sort of like the power brick you might think of 629 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,840 Speaker 1: it that way, i've's team had worked very hard to 630 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:12,840 Speaker 1: make sure every single element was obviously intentional, that each 631 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:17,839 Speaker 1: point on the computer system was the product of informed decisions. 632 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,920 Speaker 1: The computer was attractive, It took up less space than 633 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,279 Speaker 1: other desktop computers at the time. It used much higher 634 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 1: quality materials for everything from the chassis to the leather 635 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,480 Speaker 1: on the keyboard to the fabric that was covering the speakers. 636 00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 1: It had a cable management system built onto the back 637 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:39,719 Speaker 1: of the computer display slash speakers, slash you know, drives, 638 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,880 Speaker 1: and this was to help avoid the problem of having 639 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:46,160 Speaker 1: this beautiful design marred by a rats nest of cables 640 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:49,000 Speaker 1: behind it. So it was really a testament to Ive's 641 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,520 Speaker 1: approach to design. That whole idea of less is more, 642 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,360 Speaker 1: but less is more did not apply to the computer's 643 00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:00,720 Speaker 1: price tag. Apple identified the target audience for this premier 644 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:05,640 Speaker 1: McIntosh the anniversary McIntosh as being the quote unquote executive market, 645 00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:10,160 Speaker 1: presumably because only executives would ever be able to afford it. 646 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,600 Speaker 1: The retail price for the computer at the base model 647 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:19,440 Speaker 1: was just under seven thousand, five hundred dollars. That, by 648 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:22,160 Speaker 1: the way, was actually a markdown because the original price 649 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:27,240 Speaker 1: was predicted to be nine thousand dollars. Now that's already 650 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:30,279 Speaker 1: really expensive if we're just talking about how much you 651 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,640 Speaker 1: would pay for a computer today. But we also need 652 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: to adjust for inflation because this was in on the 653 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:41,520 Speaker 1: twentieth anniversary of Apples incorporation. So if we adjust those 654 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:45,879 Speaker 1: figures for two thousand two dollars, we see that the 655 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:49,040 Speaker 1: original predicted price, which had been said at nine thousand 656 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:52,359 Speaker 1: dollars in today's dollars, that would be sixteen thousand, six 657 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:56,800 Speaker 1: hundred bucks. The adjusted price, that seven thousand, five hundred 658 00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:00,520 Speaker 1: dollar price tag, that would be the more reasonable thousand, 659 00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:05,799 Speaker 1: eight hundred dollars for that computer. So this anniversary edition 660 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:09,319 Speaker 1: of the Macintosh really the anniversary of Apple, not the 661 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:11,800 Speaker 1: anniversary of the Macintosh, but the anniversary of the company 662 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:17,400 Speaker 1: itself eight hundred bucks. As for the sales figures for 663 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 1: the anniversary edition of the Macintosh, you could probably guess 664 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,800 Speaker 1: that that high price tag meant not very many units 665 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:26,560 Speaker 1: were sold. According to Nichol's book, Apple sold around eleven 666 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:30,720 Speaker 1: thousand units total. I'm actually shocked that it was that many. 667 00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:38,040 Speaker 1: Um Also, reviewers kind of really criticized this particular computer, 668 00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:42,200 Speaker 1: not for its physical design so much that wasn't really 669 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:46,160 Speaker 1: where they were sticking the criticism. It was more on 670 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:50,799 Speaker 1: the various functions of the computer and its features. They 671 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:55,520 Speaker 1: said that it wasn't particularly sophisticated compared to other computers 672 00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:59,759 Speaker 1: at the time, that there were some technical, you know, 673 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:04,680 Speaker 1: downfalls of this machine, and so it didn't It wasn't 674 00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:10,279 Speaker 1: considered a success, either financially or critically, although i've's approach 675 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:15,000 Speaker 1: was really unique and like i said, it's set the 676 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:19,880 Speaker 1: ground for future Apple products too. So Brunner, the director 677 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:22,760 Speaker 1: of industrial design at Apple, would actually leave the company 678 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:26,400 Speaker 1: while this anniversary edition of the Macintosh was still in development. 679 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,719 Speaker 1: Brunner had grown tired of the meetings and the politics 680 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,080 Speaker 1: within the company, so he recommended to his boss that 681 00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:37,520 Speaker 1: Johnny I've been named the new director of industrial design 682 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:41,440 Speaker 1: at Apple. Apparently the original plan was to do a 683 00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:45,240 Speaker 1: talent search across top companies around the world to bring 684 00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:48,880 Speaker 1: in a new director, but Brunner warned that unless the 685 00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:52,440 Speaker 1: promotion happened from within the department, Apple would be in 686 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:56,279 Speaker 1: danger of losing the whole design team, and ultimately I've 687 00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:00,399 Speaker 1: would get the job. This was a pretty remarkable rise. 688 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:05,719 Speaker 1: I've had joined Apple in late and had become the 689 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:09,480 Speaker 1: head of his department had become a director at the company. 690 00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:14,200 Speaker 1: This coincided with the lowest point in Apple's history prior 691 00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:16,839 Speaker 1: to the return of ce Jobs. The tumultuous years at 692 00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:21,880 Speaker 1: Apple under the rotating cast of CEOs was really destructive 693 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,680 Speaker 1: to the company. The company's co founder, a man was 694 00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:28,680 Speaker 1: singular Vision was on the verge of coming back, and 695 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:30,680 Speaker 1: I would end up having a prominent role in the 696 00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:33,839 Speaker 1: development of the company moving forward. But that was not 697 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:38,480 Speaker 1: always a guarantee because when Jobs first came back, before 698 00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:42,080 Speaker 1: even becoming the interim CEO, he was at a meeting 699 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,399 Speaker 1: where he criticized the company's output in front of other 700 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:50,080 Speaker 1: Apple executives, including Johnny I've. He complained that the designs 701 00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:55,880 Speaker 1: had shifted to being these boring, utilitarian and unremarkable form factors, 702 00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:58,479 Speaker 1: something that was kind of hard to argue against because 703 00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:02,080 Speaker 1: that's really where the focus had in. He seemed intent 704 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:07,680 Speaker 1: on overhauling Apple's entire design department, and that would include 705 00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:10,800 Speaker 1: cleaning house and getting rid of many of the designers 706 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:14,200 Speaker 1: who were there, including potentially Johnny I've who had just 707 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:19,200 Speaker 1: become the director. So I've, as the department's new director, 708 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:22,120 Speaker 1: had to step up to justify the existence of his 709 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:25,960 Speaker 1: team that consisted of top designers who had come to 710 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:28,879 Speaker 1: Apple from some of the most prestigious design firms from 711 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:32,480 Speaker 1: around the world. So i'vean this team were really worried 712 00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:35,120 Speaker 1: that they were soon to be replaced, and I've even 713 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,759 Speaker 1: went so far as to float the idea to his 714 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:42,040 Speaker 1: team about creating a design firm should they find themselves 715 00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:45,520 Speaker 1: unemployed in the near future. But he also stressed that 716 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,280 Speaker 1: they should wait to hear Jobs as own decision about 717 00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:51,440 Speaker 1: that first, and so things were kind of left up 718 00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:54,239 Speaker 1: in the air until Jobs would pay a visit to 719 00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:58,000 Speaker 1: the design team's office, and that's where we're gonna leave 720 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:00,799 Speaker 1: off for this episode. Now, I know that in the 721 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:03,200 Speaker 1: grand scheme of things, that's not much of a cliffhanger, 722 00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:05,800 Speaker 1: because we all know Johnny I've would remain at Apple 723 00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:09,520 Speaker 1: and be instrumental in the company's fortunes moving forward. But 724 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:12,319 Speaker 1: I figured we can at least pretend that there's some 725 00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:15,239 Speaker 1: sort of tension there, and at the very least you 726 00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:20,160 Speaker 1: can wonder how the heck did I've convince Steve Jobs 727 00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:23,440 Speaker 1: that the design team had a lot to contribute and 728 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:26,840 Speaker 1: wasn't fully to blame for the bland products Apple was 729 00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:30,759 Speaker 1: known for prior to Steve Jobs. As return, We're gonna 730 00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:33,840 Speaker 1: leave that for the next episode, and we'll continue talking 731 00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:37,360 Speaker 1: about the role that Johnny I've played in some of 732 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:41,000 Speaker 1: the most iconic products to come out of Apple, ones 733 00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:46,120 Speaker 1: that would reposition Apple in the mind of the public 734 00:46:46,239 --> 00:46:51,720 Speaker 1: and of the media, because at this point in Apple's history, 735 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:55,520 Speaker 1: the company was really in danger of becoming a nonentity. 736 00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:58,080 Speaker 1: A lot of people had just written off the possibility 737 00:46:58,080 --> 00:47:01,200 Speaker 1: of Apple ever being relevant of her again. So there 738 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:03,600 Speaker 1: was a remarkable turn of fortune that was to come. 739 00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:06,000 Speaker 1: And while a lot of people would lay that at 740 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,000 Speaker 1: the feet of Steve Jobs, he was not the only 741 00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:14,680 Speaker 1: reason why Apple was able to make a truly amazing recovery. 742 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:18,279 Speaker 1: We'll talk more about that in the next episode in 743 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:21,400 Speaker 1: this series. If you have any suggestions for topics I 744 00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:23,719 Speaker 1: should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, please reach 745 00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:25,200 Speaker 1: out to me. There are a couple of ways to 746 00:47:25,239 --> 00:47:28,239 Speaker 1: do that. One is you can download the I Heart 747 00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:31,799 Speaker 1: Radio app. It's free to download um and if you 748 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,920 Speaker 1: navigate over to the tech Stuff part of that app, 749 00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:38,480 Speaker 1: you'll see a little microphone icon. Clicking on that will 750 00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:40,840 Speaker 1: let you record up to thirty seconds of a voice 751 00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:43,200 Speaker 1: message to me. You can even let me know if 752 00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,640 Speaker 1: I can use that voice message in a future episode, 753 00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:48,880 Speaker 1: and you can make requests there, or if you prefer, 754 00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:51,239 Speaker 1: you can reach out over Twitter. The handle for the 755 00:47:51,239 --> 00:47:55,040 Speaker 1: show is tech Stuff h SW and I'll talk to 756 00:47:55,040 --> 00:48:04,720 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I Heart 757 00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:08,520 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 758 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:11,680 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 759 00:48:11,719 --> 00:48:13,080 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.