1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: Be there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: and how the tech are You? So? On Monday, I 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: published an episode about Johnny I've's journey to Apple and I've, 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: if you don't know, is a designer famous for his 7 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: influence at Apple. He had a hand in the look 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: and aesthetic at the company for twenty years, and recently 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: he and Apple have cut ties. So we're going to 10 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: continue his story in this episode. But this is really 11 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: not just an episode about Johnny I've and his influence. 12 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: It's really an episode that's about Apple in its transition 13 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: from a company that was in serious trouble to one 14 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: that became a tastemaker. Like this is the period in 15 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: which Apple itself underwent a massive transformation. So while I 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: is going to take a crucial part of that story, 17 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 1: it's going to require us to talk about some other 18 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,039 Speaker 1: stuff too. Now where we left off, I was in 19 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: a really delicate position. He had recently been promoted to 20 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: Apple's director of Industrial Design. This was just five years 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: after he had joined Apple. He joined Apple as a designer, 22 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: the ninth member of the design team. Five years later, 23 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: the outgoing director of industrial design recommended I've for the job. 24 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: So this was a really remarkable journey. I mean, that's 25 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: a short amount of time to go from entering in 26 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: as a basic member of a team to becoming the 27 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: leader of that team. I've came into Apple in the 28 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: early nineties, which was a period where co founder Steve 29 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: Jobs was effectively banished from Apple. I talked about that 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: in the last episode, and you know, Jobs at or 31 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: he had been pushed to the side. In the mid eighties, 32 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: he left Apple and founded a different computer company called 33 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: Next Big End, Little E, Big X, Big T. This 34 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: company would end up designing computers meant for the educational sector, 35 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: at least primarily, but the computers were really expensive and 36 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: they had a fairly limited suite of software. Because you know, 37 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: software developers aren't likely to dedicate the time and resources 38 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: to make stuff for a platform that doesn't have a 39 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: very large install base. It just doesn't make sense. You're 40 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: never going to make back the investment you made in 41 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: order to make the thing in the first place. So 42 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: it would just make more sense as a developer to 43 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: create software for computers that a lot of people use, 44 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: instead of an upstart company that's trying to muscle its 45 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: way into a pre existing market. And over at Apple, 46 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: things had become pretty rocky, in no small part due 47 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: to the chaos going on with the team that was 48 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: responsible for building the next generation of the Macintosh operating system. 49 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: That whole project had ballooned out of control with feature 50 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: creep and internal struggles within the team, and so the 51 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: then CEO Gil Emilio moved to acquire the Next Computer Company, 52 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: and the idea was that while Next wasn't getting much 53 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: traction in the market, it's operating system was really good 54 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: and it could serve as the next generation of the 55 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: mac operating system, and the internal build of the next 56 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: mac os at Apple could be set aside for the 57 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: time being. Maybe it could be rescued and fixed. But 58 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: Emilio felt that in the state that it was in 59 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: within Apple, it just wasn't going to be ready for 60 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: the market, so he decided to acquire Next and use 61 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: that operating system instead. So Apple acquires Next, and then 62 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs came back to Apple, initially as an advisor, 63 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: but within short order he became the interim CEO. And 64 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: then eventually the permanent CEO, and Jobs was not happy. Actually, 65 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: if you read up on various stories of Apple's history, 66 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: there are a lot of tales about Jobs not being happy, 67 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: and part of that was the fact that Jobs, as 68 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: standards were at the tippy tippy top, and when products 69 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: failed to meet his standards, he got mad. Jobs had 70 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: come back to Apple and hated what he saw. Apple 71 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: was producing so many different models of Macintosh computers because 72 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: the previous leaders thought the way to address the issues 73 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: Apple had was to expand the product line by making 74 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: a ton of different Macintosh models. But it got to 75 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: the point where the company's own sales team had trouble 76 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: explaining why one model would be more suitable for a 77 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: specific customer over any other model. If your sales team 78 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: can't say, oh, based upon your needs, this what you 79 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: should get, then you know you're in trouble. So the 80 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: message was buddled, the products were confusing, and Jobs was enraged, 81 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,799 Speaker 1: and he wasn't shy about voicing his opinions. Now, i've 82 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: as the head of industrial design, was really concerned for 83 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: his team. Jobs was particularly angry about the direction of 84 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: Apple's design team. He said that he felt the quote 85 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: unquote sex had been taken out of the products that 86 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: they no longer had the appearance of something people wanted 87 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: to interact with, and word got around that Jobs was 88 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: planning on looking outside Apple to find someone in design 89 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: to come in and realign the company and to lead 90 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: that team, meaning I would be out of a job. 91 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: So I've talked with his team, and they even discussed 92 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: the possibility of creating their own design firm if the 93 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 1: whole department should find itself sacked. But I've advised his 94 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: colleagues to wait and see what Jobs would do, and 95 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: the team created a kind of showcase within the design department. 96 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: So I've knew it was just a matter of time 97 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: before Jobs would make his way to the design department 98 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: and see exactly how things had gone totally wrong, at 99 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: least in Jobs's mind. And I've wanted to showcase the 100 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: work his team had created with designs that the company 101 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: had not accepted. These are these were ideas that no 102 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: one else in Apple had approved, So they put on 103 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: display a lot of the more radical designs that had 104 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: failed to find their way through Apple's bureaucratic process. And 105 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: sure enough, when Jobs did come down and take a 106 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: look at the design department. He was impressed by what 107 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: he saw. The things that he was looking at from 108 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: the team, they weren't at all representative of the actual 109 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: products the Jobs had found so boring and uninspired. According 110 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: to Trip Michael, the author of After Steve, a book 111 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: that I used extensively in my research here, Jobs turned 112 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 1: to I've and essentially he said, you haven't been very effective, 113 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: have you. I am paraphrasing because Jobs could use a 114 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: lot of what uh Mr Spock would call colorful metaphors 115 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: in his language. What Jobs meant was that I've and 116 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,559 Speaker 1: his team were astounding designers. They were creating amazing work, 117 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: but they weren't adept at getting that work accepted by 118 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: leadership at Apple. And that's, you know, a big component 119 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: of being a department head. It's not enough to be 120 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: an effective manager. A leader has to have vision and 121 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: a way to communicate that vision to others and get 122 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: buy in to get them to support that vision. So 123 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:42,679 Speaker 1: a leader has to be able to convince other people 124 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: to try new things, or at the very least come 125 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: to the table and negotiate a way forward. I've was 126 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: unquestionably a great designer, but it might have been that 127 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: he was not yet a great leader, at least in 128 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: that sense. But then Jobs also felt that the previous 129 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: regime at Apple was rife within competence, and so while 130 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: Jobs gave I've a little bit of a hard time, 131 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: it was clear that he placed almost all the blame 132 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: on Apple's previous leadership, that the company had become so 133 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: weighed down by people afraid to take risks, or more 134 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: interested in competing directly against the ensconced PC market rather 135 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: than creating a compelling alternative, that they were incapable of 136 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: listening to I've and his team, and so really the 137 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: fault was on them more than it was on i've. 138 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: And the good news was that Jobs saw this and 139 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: felt that the design team was doing great work, that 140 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: they were brilliant and innovative. So Jobs knew that the 141 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: department was the right group of people to make his 142 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: vision of what Apple could be into a reality, and 143 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: this began the working relationship that would develop into a 144 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: fierce friendship between Jobs and I've. And it also meant 145 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: Jobs would end his search for a new head of design, 146 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,079 Speaker 1: so i was safe in his job. Jobs and I've 147 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: bonded over a shared fascination with the form of products, 148 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: and and by form, I really actually mean a bunch 149 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: of different things, not just the physical shape, although that 150 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: is a huge part of it. I've was actually really 151 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: obsessed with materials. He would carefully go through each and 152 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 1: every sample of various materials to determine what was right 153 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: for any given project. He had in his mind specific 154 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: effects that the materials should pull off, whether it was 155 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,959 Speaker 1: a shiny metal surface or a very smooth curve of 156 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,679 Speaker 1: glass or a pebbled leather cover. And Jobs was very 157 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: much the same way. So the two spent ages talking 158 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: about different materials and what was possible with each one, 159 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: or what limitations existed with them, and how to find 160 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: a solution to meet those limitations or you know, in 161 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: most cases is with I've, if he found fault in 162 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 1: a material, he was far more likely to just reject 163 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: the material outright and find something better that met his expectations, 164 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: even if it meant scouring the entire world to find 165 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,559 Speaker 1: what he wanted. And Jobs wasted no time. Once he 166 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: returned to the leadership role, he gave the Newton program 167 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: the Acts in n I talked about the Apple Newton 168 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,400 Speaker 1: in the last episode that was a little less than 169 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: six years after the Apple Newton had debuted, and that 170 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: was an attempt to create a new product line, but 171 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 1: because of some real limitations with the hardware and more 172 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: more over, the software, it did not work. It was 173 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,080 Speaker 1: a failure. But Steve Jobs didn't just acts products. He 174 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: acted entire layers of management. Jobs essentially laid off the 175 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 1: general managers overseeing the various business units within Apple. In fact, 176 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 1: he did that in a single day, like it was 177 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: an armageddon, where he laid off, you know, legions of 178 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: general managers, and that probably contributed to some people at 179 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: Apple using the phrase getting jobs as a way of 180 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: saying you got fired. Apple had created silos of departments, 181 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: so little feudal states, each with its own leader that 182 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,079 Speaker 1: was largely cut off from the other departments, and Jobs 183 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 1: knocked those silos down. He essentially reorganized the entire company 184 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: into a more cohesive and collaborative operation. Now the teams 185 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: would still have leaders, you know, like I've was leader 186 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: of the designers for industrial design, and these would be 187 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: people who had deep expertise in whatever field it was 188 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: that they were representing. So they were people who could 189 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: manage others, but they also knew how to do the 190 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: stuff that the team was doing. You know that the 191 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: team they were managing was doing. Jobs said, One really 192 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: big mistake that he and Wozniak made way back in 193 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: the seventies was to bring in people who are really 194 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: adept at business, but they didn't know how computers worked, 195 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: and that that disconnect led to all sorts of trouble 196 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: down the line. And then Jobs gave I've a critical assignment. 197 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: Jobs knew that the company needed to launch a product 198 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: that would put it back in the minds of consumers. 199 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: They needed to capture the rebellious and innovative spirit of 200 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: the company in its early days. Jobs also saw how 201 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 1: the Internet was playing an increasingly important role in well everything, 202 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: and so he wanted Apple to create a desktop computer 203 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: with the express purpose of being a machine that would 204 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 1: work well with the Internet. Jobs also wanted to ditch 205 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: some traditional features found on most personal computers of the day. 206 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: For example, he didn't want this new computer to have 207 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: a floppy disk drive, something that was standard on other 208 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: machines at the time. He also wanted to ditch serial boards, which, 209 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: if you're not familiar, were used as a communication interface 210 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: with computers. They could connect with other peripherals right and 211 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: send information to and receive information from those peripherals. Jobs 212 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: instead wanted to incorporate USB technology in this new Apple computer, 213 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: and he also gave Ive's team one other directive. He 214 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:21,599 Speaker 1: wanted the design for this computer to be quote joyful 215 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: end quote, and I've and his team would take on 216 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: that challenge. We're gonna take a quick break. When we 217 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: come back, we'll talk more about this project and how 218 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: it really helped turn things around for Apple. But first 219 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: these messages. So Johnny I've and his team got this 220 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: assignment from Steve Jobs, and they got to work. Uh, 221 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: they had the parameters and then pretty much a blank 222 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: canvas that they could use where they could create the 223 00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: next generation of consumer Macintosh computers. It would be called 224 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: the iMac. And yeah, this was the beginning of Apple 225 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: using that lower case I in front of its various 226 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: product names. The iMac would be the first of those 227 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: those products, the first major one anyway. So the team 228 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: led by Johnny I've decided that the computer should be 229 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,359 Speaker 1: innovative but not threatening. So I needed to look futuristic, 230 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: but it also needed to look accessible. It couldn't be 231 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: something where you're like, oh, that looks cool, but I 232 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: don't want to touch it. So one big point of 233 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: inspiration was the cartoon The Jetsons. You know, Meet George 234 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: Jetson and so on. Well, the Jetsons lived in a 235 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: world that was simultaneously futuristic and also anchored in the 236 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: aesthetic of the nineteen fifties. While the iMac wouldn't look 237 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: like it came straight out of the nineteen fifties, they 238 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: did have elements of the familiar along with the novel. Now, 239 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: the original iMac was not a flat screen computer like 240 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: later models would turn into. It was an all in 241 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: one computer that looked like a very colorful CRT monitor. 242 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: Before the iMac, the team had created a laptop prototype 243 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: that had translucent plastic built into the body of the computer, 244 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: and I've decided he wanted to incorporate that element into 245 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: the iMac design. I've presented his ideas to Jobs, and 246 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: Jobs rejected a lot of them, but one that Jobs 247 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: really liked was a sketch that I've showed him, and 248 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: I've described it as a computer that looks as though 249 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: it was about to jump off the desk and go 250 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: do something, and that really resonated with Jobs. So I've 251 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: returned to his team with Jobs as input, and they 252 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: refined that design. They began to move more in that 253 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 1: specific direction, and they created a model. The Jobs like 254 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: so much they would actually take that to other departments 255 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: in order to show it off to them. The team 256 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 1: chose a polycr abinate shell for the computer for a 257 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: couple of reasons. One, it's a very strong material, so 258 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: it's it's resilient, but also it can hold a tinted 259 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: color really effectively. It doesn't fade over time, at least 260 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: not rapidly, so so it would hold whatever color you 261 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: wanted to give it. And as for those colors, they 262 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: initially created computer shells that were either orange or purple, 263 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: or a bluish greenish color that would end up being 264 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: called Bondie blue. The process to make the shells was expensive, 265 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: both because of needing to make the polycarbonate translucent, and 266 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: also the process itself was sort of a customized one. 267 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: They couldn't rely on existing manufacturing processes. It all had 268 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: to be built from scratch in order to mass manufacture these. Now, 269 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: this meant that it would cost Apple sixty dollars per 270 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: unit per per computer case, just the case, not the internals, 271 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: and that was much more expensive than typical computer case was. However, 272 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: I was very happy to find out that Steve Jobs 273 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 1: wasn't really concerned about manufacturing costs because Steve Jobs saw 274 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: the need to bring customers back to Apple as well 275 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: as to attract new customers to the company, and he 276 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: thought it was going to be shortsighted to worry about 277 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: production costs and that this was really going to be 278 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: a swing for the fences kind of product. A we 279 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: need a home run, so we're gonna swing as hard 280 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 1: as we can. So because the case was translucent, I've 281 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: and his team worked with other departments to figure out 282 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: how the circuitry layout that would be in the computer 283 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: underneath would be visible and attractive. They wanted it to 284 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: look sophisticated and not messy, So this was another consideration 285 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,359 Speaker 1: that really set Apple apart. It would also be the 286 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: foundation for the types of computer rigs that are are 287 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: very popular today. There are a lot of computer cases 288 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: out there that have trend his parent glass panels so 289 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,400 Speaker 1: that you can see the interior right. You can see 290 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: the the fans and the various components, many of them 291 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: decked out with L E. D s and that's the 292 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: kind of rig that gamers prefer these days, and I 293 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: feel that we can thank Apple in particular, and specifically 294 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: Johnny I've and his team for setting us down that 295 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: kind of pathway. I feel like the iMac was sort 296 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,119 Speaker 1: of an early example of that aesthetic that extends all 297 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: the way down to today. Obviously, the shapes are very 298 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: different today than the iMac was, but there are those 299 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: those elements I feel that have carried through. When it 300 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: came time to unveil the iMac, things nearly went pear shaped. 301 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: One of the components the Jobs really wanted in this 302 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: computer's design was a c D slot so that users 303 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: could just insert a compact disc into the slot. It 304 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: would go into the computer and then they could, you know, 305 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,080 Speaker 1: load information from the c D. So he wanted it 306 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 1: to be a little slit in the computer and to 307 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 1: be as unobtrusive as possible. But when it came time 308 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: to actually unveil the design and Jobs looked at the 309 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 1: prototype that he was going to show off. He saw 310 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: that the iMac had a c D tray that would 311 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: extend out from the computer. You would put the CD 312 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: into the tray and then retract the c D tray 313 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: back into the computer and he was furious. But when 314 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,679 Speaker 1: he was lashing out super angry that the thing he 315 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: wanted wasn't part of the iMac, he was told the 316 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: problem was the technology he wanted in the computer didn't 317 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: exist yet. No one had built a working version of 318 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,439 Speaker 1: what he was envisioning, and that, you know, that was 319 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: the issue. Johnny. I've actually stepped up to talk Steve 320 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: Jobs down, Johnny. I've said, you know what you're thinking 321 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: of right now, that's the next one of these, that's 322 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 1: the next iMac. We can't do it yet, but ex 323 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: generation we will. However, we have to ship this version. 324 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: And remarkably, Johnny Ives approach really worked. It calmed down 325 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs and he went on to rehearse what the 326 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: presentation that would unveil the iMac would become. And you 327 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: can actually watch that presentation online. This was done way 328 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: back in so if you do find a copy of 329 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,439 Speaker 1: it that there are copies on YouTube. The video quality 330 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,679 Speaker 1: is pretty bad, but it is late nineties and you 331 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 1: can watch as Jobs calls the iMac quote the excitement 332 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,919 Speaker 1: of the Internet, the simplicity of Macintosh end quote. Jobs 333 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: then goes on to essentially slam the competition, saying that 334 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: consumer computers that are on the market are all slow 335 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: and ugly, that they have lousy displays, and if they 336 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: have any networking capability in them at all, it's pretty limited. 337 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: So he was really trying to set up how the 338 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 1: iMac would contrast with what he was claiming to be 339 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,400 Speaker 1: the status quo. And the technical specs on the iMac were, 340 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 1: you know, they were impressive for the time, but you 341 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 1: would laugh at them now because Jobs talks about having 342 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: a ton of memory in this computer, which was thirty 343 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: two whole megabytes worth, and that the processor ran it 344 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,399 Speaker 1: up blistering two three mega hurts. That processor was the 345 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: G three power PC processor, by the way, that's why 346 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: this computer is sometimes referred to as the iMac G three, 347 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: because that was the processor that powered it. But he 348 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,360 Speaker 1: really wanted to focus on the impact of industrial design 349 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 1: of the computer, and that's really what we want to 350 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 1: talk about. Two. We don't want to I'm not going 351 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: to run down all the technical specs because that's not 352 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: really what these episodes are about. We're talking about the 353 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: aesthetic of Apple. So when Jobs revealed the iMac, the 354 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: crowd could only see the front of the machine. Initially 355 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: they could just see the face of the iMac right, 356 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: it looked like a sleek, rounded computer, so instead of 357 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: sharp corners, that had rounded corners. And while they could 358 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: only see one face of the computer initially, they went 359 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: ahead and went banana. And then Jobs brought in a 360 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: camera that could you know, the camera operators could circle 361 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: the iMac and the feed was sent live to movie 362 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,880 Speaker 1: screens that were in the presentation hall, so everyone could 363 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 1: see the translucent plastic along the sides and the back 364 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: of the computer. Um and Jobs showed off how the 365 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,959 Speaker 1: iMac had a handle as well in the back, like 366 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: along the top, and that was a design factor that 367 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: Johnny I've had suggested because he thought it looked cool. 368 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: It wasn't practical. People weren't going to be carrying around 369 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 1: their iMac computers everywhere, but it was something that just 370 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,119 Speaker 1: made it look like you wanted to get your hands 371 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: on it. That was the whole point of it. So 372 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:01,640 Speaker 1: this was not a practical component added into the design. 373 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: It was one at least not practical in the sense 374 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,679 Speaker 1: of physically practical. It was practical in the sense of 375 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: marketing because it was another thing that made you want 376 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: to pick one of these things up and purchase it. Right. 377 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: So Jobs agreed to that design change, even though it 378 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: meant that the production costs of the case of the 379 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: computer would be even higher because it would require a 380 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: special approach to make this handle that's incorporated into the 381 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: case itself. Jobs would end up saying it looks like 382 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: it came from another planet, a good planet, one that 383 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: has better designers, which huge accolades for Johnny. I've right 384 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: saying that Johnny Ivan his team were better than all 385 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: the other designers on Earth. Now, the IMAX solved a 386 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: ton of issues. For one thing, the all in one 387 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:53,399 Speaker 1: design meant that Apple could actually ship an iMac in 388 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,199 Speaker 1: a single box that contained the computer, the keyboard, and 389 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: the mouse. More on the mouse in the second there 390 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: were no components to connect apart from the keyboard and 391 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: mouse to the computer, right, So you didn't have to 392 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,439 Speaker 1: connect speakers to it, you didn't have to connect the 393 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: monitor to the tower. All of that was integrated. It 394 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:17,639 Speaker 1: was one thing, So that really simplified the setup process Apple, 395 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: and to make sure that the customer wouldn't need to 396 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: install any software or do anything complicated, they wanted it 397 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,520 Speaker 1: to work out of the box. Like this was the 398 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: beginning of that idea of it just works, although that 399 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 1: wasn't how Steve Jobs described it yet he would later 400 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: describe Apple products as it just works. That would become 401 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 1: one of kind of the mottos of the company. So 402 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,640 Speaker 1: all you really had to do was take the iMac 403 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,640 Speaker 1: out of the box, plug it in, turn it on, 404 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,159 Speaker 1: you know, have the keyboard and mouse connected, and you 405 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: were good to go. They really simplified the process of 406 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 1: connecting to the Internet as well and doing so well 407 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: using a really attractively designed computer case. And it really 408 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: was a showcase for ives work and his team's work. 409 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,199 Speaker 1: Their collaboration on each design element got the spotlight. And 410 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,439 Speaker 1: like I said, the iMac was a watershed product for Apple. 411 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: The company had been in danger of bankruptcy due to 412 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: mismanagement of the previous regime, and Apple and Jobs both 413 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: needed a slam dunk hit or a grand slam hit 414 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:27,160 Speaker 1: if you prefer, and the iMac delivered. Now, I did 415 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: mention the computer mouse that was one part of the 416 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: iMac that was not a slam dunk. The computer mouse 417 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: for the iMac was small and it was circular in shape, 418 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 1: not like egg shaped or oblong like your typical computer mouse, 419 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: but more like almost like a perfect circle, and it 420 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,040 Speaker 1: also had a very short chord. So it was very 421 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: pretty to look at. It had the same translucent polycarbonate 422 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 1: plastic and had the same color features as the parent 423 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 1: iMac that it came with, But the mouse itself was 424 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: awkward to use. The size and the shape meant it 425 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,199 Speaker 1: was a little challenging to keep things on track, because 426 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: if the mouse rotated even a little bit under your hand, 427 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 1: then it meant whenever you moved the mouse, the cursor 428 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: was going to go in the direction you had not 429 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:20,680 Speaker 1: intended it to go on um and the cable length 430 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: also meant it could get a little hard to use 431 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,439 Speaker 1: as well. It could, you know, limit you. And so 432 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,879 Speaker 1: this particular mouse, which would gain the derogatory nickname the 433 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:34,679 Speaker 1: hockey Buck, wasn't lauded like the iMac was. It was 434 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: very pretty, but it was not practical, and this would 435 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: not be the last time that I've and his team 436 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,719 Speaker 1: would design something that would be criticized as emphasizing form 437 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 1: over function. But the iMac it became the fastest selling 438 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: computer in Apple's history. At that point. The company moved 439 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: eight hundred thousand units by the end of its first 440 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: year in existence. More importantly, it marked a reverse soul 441 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:05,400 Speaker 1: of Apple's fortunes. So for two years, essentially the company 442 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: had been reporting massive losses. It had been operating in 443 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: the red, but the IMAX popularity gave Apple a profitable 444 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,159 Speaker 1: quarter in early and then it was off to the races. 445 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: The company that so many people had shrugged off as 446 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,920 Speaker 1: having lost its way appeared to be not just back 447 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: on track, but leagues ahead of the competition. And it 448 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:34,119 Speaker 1: was largely thanks to Ive's design team that tam was 449 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,399 Speaker 1: already hard at work on another product, one similar in 450 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 1: many ways to the iMac, and this was the eye Book, 451 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,200 Speaker 1: which was a nod to the iMac and the intended 452 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: purpose to serve as a computer that could quickly connect 453 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,400 Speaker 1: to the Internet. So this was a clamshell laptop computer 454 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: that also featured rounded corners, so you didn't have these 455 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: sharp corners of your typical laptop. It also featured colorful 456 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: rubber accents that bordered a polycarbonate white plastic case to 457 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,720 Speaker 1: give it kind of a whimsical appearance. There are elements 458 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: of translucent plastic in that case as well, and a 459 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: lot of the design elements that made the IMAX so 460 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:20,119 Speaker 1: compelling found their way into the Eyebook design. By the 461 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: time Steve Jobs is ready to unveil this new computer 462 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: in nine, a year after the iMac had come out, 463 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: the crowd was already on board. You should really watch 464 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: this presentation, the Eyebook unveiling presentation, to see how the 465 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: cult of Apple was off to a big start. Even 466 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: as early as nine, the crowd had not even seen 467 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: a single image of the laptop. But as soon as 468 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 1: Jobs revealed that Apple had a new consumer laptop to 469 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 1: show off after referencing the incredibly popular iMac, he was 470 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: already getting crazy amounts of applause. He got even more 471 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: when he revealed that the name of the laptop was Eyebook, 472 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: and he still hadn't actually shown off the ding dang 473 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: darn thing. Because Apple was known as using this naming 474 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 1: convention of power in front of its professional grade hardware, 475 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: so a power Mac was meant for professionals, whereas the 476 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,880 Speaker 1: iMac was meant as a consumer product. Well, the professional 477 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: grade horrible Mac computer was called a power book. So 478 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 1: he said, since we have the iMac, this is going 479 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 1: to be the Eyebook, and that alone got a huge 480 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: ovation from the crowd. I mean, it really was bonkers, 481 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: and Jobs had to have been flying high. His audience 482 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: was already on his side. He didn't have to win 483 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: them over. They were providing him a ton of energy. 484 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: So he then went through the technical specs of the laptop, 485 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 1: which again not really important for this podcast, so I'm 486 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: not going to go through them, And then he finally 487 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: showed off the design. And when he did, he showed 488 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: off this tangerine colored, rubber accented laptop, so like, all 489 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: the color parts are rubber that overlay the white polycarbonate plastic. 490 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: And it was a nice nod to Ive's past I 491 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: think because in case you don't remember from the last episode, 492 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: Johnny I've came to Apple after he had been working 493 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: at a design consultancy firm called Tangerine. Even the Apple 494 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: logo on the front was tangerine and color against the 495 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: white polycarbonate plastic on the back. You had the entire 496 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: bottom of the laptop coated in this, you know, tangerine 497 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: shaded rubber, except for the Apple logo which was in white. 498 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: So very nice little accent nods. Jobs continued with the presentation, 499 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: even though you can hear the audience roaring like he 500 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: didn't pause for them too a shout out their their 501 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 1: joy at seeing this, and they would roar again when 502 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: Jobs revealed that the computer had a handle near the 503 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: hinge of the laptop, which would let you carry the 504 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: laptop like a briefcase, which just goes to show we 505 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: were easier to please way back in. He also showed 506 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: how the laptop didn't have a latch, so it wouldn't 507 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: latch closed and you wouldn't have to press anything in 508 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: order to open it. Uh, the hinge was had enough 509 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: tension in it to keep the laptop closed under normal conditions. 510 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 1: He also showed how the communication ports didn't have covers, 511 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: which made them easier to access. You can really see 512 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: ives influence here, his desire to make the products something 513 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: that you would want to use, and trying to avoid 514 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 1: any components that would make that experience frustrating. Jobs announced 515 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 1: that the Eyebook would be available in the colors tangerine 516 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: or blueberry upon their first release. Later on, Apple would 517 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: include a couple of other colors. They had Indigo, graphite, 518 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: and key line. I never owned an Eyebook, but I 519 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:00,640 Speaker 1: have to say that the color and do signs really 520 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: actually do look super inviting. I mean, I know that 521 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: my phone is technically more advanced than those computers are, 522 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: but still I kind of would like a Tangerine eyebook 523 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 1: because it's just really pretty. And that goes to show 524 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: how i'vean his team were geniuses. They tapped into something 525 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: really powerful. They were able to come up with an 526 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:24,680 Speaker 1: aesthetic that had an instant appeal, and I've, with his 527 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: tendency towards simplicity and minimalism, kept his team from adding 528 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: in superfluous or distracting features or embellishments. Now we're gonna 529 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: take another quick break. When we come back, i'll talk 530 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: about and I've designed product that sadly did not see 531 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: the kind of success that the iMac and eyebook would. 532 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 1: But we'll do that after these messages. So I don't 533 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: want to give the impression that Johnny I've was incapable 534 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,240 Speaker 1: of failure. We already saw that the IMAX mouse was 535 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: kind of a misstep that people didn't really like using it. 536 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 1: And if you don't like using a product, that's a 537 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,920 Speaker 1: that's a huge design problem. Right. It can look as 538 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,240 Speaker 1: gorgeous as anything, but if people don't like using it, 539 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: it's a failure. Well, ivan Apple did turn out a 540 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: few misfires. The eyebook and iMac were both really well 541 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: performing products, but one that wasn't was the power Mac 542 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 1: G four Cube, which had a G four processor in it, 543 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 1: which is what gave it its name, just as the 544 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: iMac G three would be called that well. The power 545 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,720 Speaker 1: Mac G four Cube was meant for professional users because 546 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: it had the power designation right, so it was more 547 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: powerful and included more features than what you would find 548 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: in consumer Macintosh computers, and also had a hefty price 549 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: tag to go along for the ride. The design of 550 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: the power Cube was incredibly striking, because, as the name 551 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 1: tells you, the computer's form factor was that of a 552 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: cube rather than a tower. However, I should mention it 553 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,359 Speaker 1: wasn't a perfect cube and measured seven point seven by 554 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:17,240 Speaker 1: seven point seven by nine point eight inches or twenty 555 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:21,680 Speaker 1: by twenty by twenty five centimeters. Further, the cube had 556 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:26,799 Speaker 1: a housing that was made of clear acrylic glass, and 557 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 1: i've's team chose that design because it gave the computer 558 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:34,240 Speaker 1: this sort of illusion of hovering just above the desk 559 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,440 Speaker 1: it would sit on because the bottom of the case 560 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: of this acrylic case would uh hold up the computer 561 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 1: a couple of inches. The computer had no internal fan 562 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,360 Speaker 1: inside it to dissipate heat. Instead, it relied on a 563 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 1: grill in the top of the computer case that allowed 564 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: heat to escape passively. It also didn't have a physical 565 00:34:56,160 --> 00:35:00,399 Speaker 1: power button. Instead, it had a touch sensitive button that 566 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 1: as soon as you made contact with it, would power 567 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: on the computer or would make a power down computer 568 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 1: go to sleep, which was a problem some people had 569 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:12,759 Speaker 1: where they would accidentally graze this touch sensitive button and 570 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: turn their working computer into sleep mode, and that was frustrating. 571 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: The cubic form factor placed other limitations on this computer, 572 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,799 Speaker 1: namely in order to fit all the components into that 573 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:27,920 Speaker 1: small space, and meant Apple would not be able to 574 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:32,640 Speaker 1: include expansion slots, so you couldn't expand out the capabilities 575 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:34,799 Speaker 1: of the computer beyond what it could do out of 576 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 1: the box. The trail list CD slot that jobs had 577 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,319 Speaker 1: wanted for the iMac would find its way into the 578 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: G four Cube and Johnny I've relished the challenge of 579 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: creating a form factor of a computer that was unique 580 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 1: among PCs. And while the design meant Apple had to 581 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: make some massive compromises, Johnny Ivan his team did manage 582 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 1: to get it all working, and the process really solidified 583 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:05,279 Speaker 1: a shift in Apple's operations. The design team would now 584 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:10,319 Speaker 1: have a much larger influence in product development than it 585 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,240 Speaker 1: had ever had before because Jobs was such a huge 586 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:18,040 Speaker 1: ally for industrial design. While the physical appearance of the 587 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:21,960 Speaker 1: Cube was striking, it failed to find a real market. 588 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 1: Critics said that Jobs actually didn't identify a target market 589 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: for the device, and that the lack of features, paired 590 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 1: with a high sticker price meant that most folks in 591 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,719 Speaker 1: the market for a more powerful Mac We're gonna go 592 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,800 Speaker 1: with a more traditional PowerMac computer, not the Cube. Also, 593 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:45,200 Speaker 1: the injection molding fabrication process for the Cube's case sometimes 594 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:48,839 Speaker 1: had errors which introduced flaws like cracks in the clear 595 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 1: acrylic case, so some customers were frustrated that it wasn't 596 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 1: up to the standards of the previous models. Where you know, 597 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: Johnny I was known for going and inspecting the manufacturing 598 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: process to make absolutely certain that the design he created 599 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: would come out flawlessly. This was a case where that 600 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:12,239 Speaker 1: did not happen, at least in some instances. Leading up 601 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 1: to the Cube's release, Apple had enjoyed nearly three full 602 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:21,160 Speaker 1: years of profitability, but the Cube underperformed drastically, and Apple 603 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:25,120 Speaker 1: said that poor Cube sales led to a ninety million 604 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:28,320 Speaker 1: dollar shortfall for the company just won the cube alone. 605 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,080 Speaker 1: I think it was a hundred eighty million dollars less 606 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 1: than what they had projected total, so the Cube accounting 607 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:39,719 Speaker 1: for about half of that shortfall, and so that was 608 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 1: a pretty tough quarter, and it was another reminder that 609 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:47,760 Speaker 1: leaning more on form over function can sometimes have negative consequences. 610 00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:52,120 Speaker 1: Now we'll say that despite the poor sales, the presentation 611 00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:55,439 Speaker 1: the Jobs gave in order to introduce the cube went 612 00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 1: over like gangbusters, so that initial excitement didn't progress into 613 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 1: sales unfortunately. But it was another case where the cold 614 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,359 Speaker 1: of Apple was in full display. Jobs came out and 615 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: the crowd went gaga for the presentation once they saw 616 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,160 Speaker 1: the design of the cube, particularly when Steve Jobs turned 617 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 1: the case upside down and revealed that there was a 618 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:22,840 Speaker 1: handle on the underside of the computer and by unlocking 619 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:27,799 Speaker 1: the handle, he could pull out the internals of the 620 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,480 Speaker 1: computer in one smooth motion. You didn't have to fiddle 621 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:34,600 Speaker 1: with with screws or anything like that and remove a panel, 622 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,560 Speaker 1: You just lifted it straight out of the case. I 623 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:41,520 Speaker 1: will say that was an amazing design choice, like something 624 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 1: that made it super easy to access the internals, really 625 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,760 Speaker 1: really cool. It's just unfortunate that because of the form factor, 626 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 1: there wasn't a whole lot you could do, Like you 627 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:54,880 Speaker 1: couldn't really slot in expansion cards into it or anything 628 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:59,280 Speaker 1: because there wasn't the space for it. But the design 629 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 1: choice to make that a feature super cool, now it 630 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:08,759 Speaker 1: just didn't sell well. So it was a kind of 631 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:12,120 Speaker 1: a black mark on Johnny i'ves record at that point, 632 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,560 Speaker 1: not that it was entirely his fault, I mean it 633 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:18,800 Speaker 1: was it was a company wide failure, right because again, 634 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,319 Speaker 1: the decision to go with that form factor placed so 635 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:24,360 Speaker 1: many limitations and restrictions on the rest of the teams 636 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 1: that it was pretty much impossible to create something that would, 637 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,200 Speaker 1: you know, go toe to toe with the other more powerful, 638 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:38,560 Speaker 1: professional level computers that Apple was creating and also justify 639 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,400 Speaker 1: the very high price tag. So a lot of people said, 640 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:46,960 Speaker 1: it's more like a very expensive toy rather than a 641 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:52,360 Speaker 1: computer that justifies the high price. However, it was the 642 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:56,280 Speaker 1: next big product line that would really push Apple into 643 00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,400 Speaker 1: a new trajectory. It was the product line that I 644 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:03,719 Speaker 1: argue really saved Apple and put it on a pathway 645 00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:11,319 Speaker 1: to becoming ridiculously uh successful. The product wouldn't come out 646 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: till two one, and the first really breakthrough model of 647 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: it wouldn't emerge until two four. I am, of course 648 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:24,480 Speaker 1: talking about the iPod. Now, I have done episodes on 649 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:26,479 Speaker 1: the iPod before, so we're not going to go through 650 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:29,719 Speaker 1: all of that. I will say it was not the 651 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:33,400 Speaker 1: first MP three player. It was Apple's first MB three player, 652 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:36,360 Speaker 1: but it wasn't the first in the world. So Apple 653 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,439 Speaker 1: is very rarely first to market with a technology that's 654 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:44,280 Speaker 1: not really the company's m oh, that's not what it does. Instead, 655 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:48,759 Speaker 1: Apple is known for designing top of class examples of 656 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:53,360 Speaker 1: technologies that someone else has already created. So no, iPod 657 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:55,640 Speaker 1: was not the first MP three player. It was just 658 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,439 Speaker 1: the first one that would become a runaway success, though 659 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:01,560 Speaker 1: as I said, it took a bit of time for 660 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:04,520 Speaker 1: that to happen. Now, the first model of the iPod 661 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,799 Speaker 1: had some features that the company would quickly drop. For 662 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:11,880 Speaker 1: one thing, it had a mechanical method for scrolling through songs. 663 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:14,759 Speaker 1: If you looked at the face of the iPod, you 664 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:20,640 Speaker 1: would see there was this circular device that's on the 665 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,919 Speaker 1: face of the iPod. Underneath the screen and you would 666 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,840 Speaker 1: put your thumb on this and you would physically turn 667 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,240 Speaker 1: this circle. It was a scroll wheel in other words, 668 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: and you would use it to click through playlists or songs. 669 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:38,400 Speaker 1: You can scroll through menus this way. Um. But it 670 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 1: physically would turn on its axis. So it had this 671 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:48,680 Speaker 1: tactile uh feature that other iPods would lack in the future, 672 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:53,040 Speaker 1: probably because this was a mechanical point of failure. Although 673 00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:57,800 Speaker 1: there's something really satisfying I think of turning a mechanical component. 674 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,560 Speaker 1: I mean, we've seen plenty of fidget devices that are 675 00:42:01,719 --> 00:42:04,320 Speaker 1: that's all they are, right, They're just a little physical 676 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,920 Speaker 1: things that you can play with in order to, you know, 677 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:13,120 Speaker 1: burn off some excess energy. And the original iPod had 678 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:17,200 Speaker 1: one of those mechanical elements to it. Uh. Sadly, I 679 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 1: guess well, I guess it depends on your perspective. In 680 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,360 Speaker 1: my view. Sadly, they would get rid of that in 681 00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:26,040 Speaker 1: the future versions of the iPod. But surrounding this scroll 682 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:29,960 Speaker 1: circle were four buttons that made up a perimeter around 683 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:34,360 Speaker 1: the circle, and these buttons had controls like play and pause, 684 00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:37,359 Speaker 1: and rewind and fast forward, that kind of thing. Now, 685 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,160 Speaker 1: the original iPod could hold about a thousand songs, and 686 00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:42,720 Speaker 1: it lacked a few things that really prevented this first 687 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:46,480 Speaker 1: generation from becoming a superstar. For one thing, it didn't 688 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:50,160 Speaker 1: have a USB port. Instead, it had a FireWire port, 689 00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:54,160 Speaker 1: which really limited how you would be able to use it. Also, 690 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:56,640 Speaker 1: there was no compatible software that you could run on 691 00:42:56,719 --> 00:43:00,200 Speaker 1: a PC to interact with an iPod, so it that 692 00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:03,040 Speaker 1: if you wanted an iPod, you had to have an 693 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:06,040 Speaker 1: Apple computer in order to make it work. And those 694 00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:09,320 Speaker 1: limitations kept the original iPod from becoming the success it 695 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:12,440 Speaker 1: would later be, but it did show the direction of 696 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:14,840 Speaker 1: the company and it set the tone for moving forward. 697 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:19,400 Speaker 1: The next generation of the device ditched the mechanical wheel. 698 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:23,360 Speaker 1: Instead it had a touch sensitive wheel so capacity of 699 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:28,280 Speaker 1: touch instead of mechanically turning a circle around. But physically 700 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:31,200 Speaker 1: it resembled the first generation. It was not a huge 701 00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:35,160 Speaker 1: departure in design. Uh the mechanical wheel was gone, but 702 00:43:35,239 --> 00:43:37,239 Speaker 1: the layout of the device was pretty much the same. 703 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:39,560 Speaker 1: There were a couple of other minor changes of the 704 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:43,279 Speaker 1: FireWire port then had a cover instead of it being 705 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:45,800 Speaker 1: open like it was in the first generation of the iPod, 706 00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:49,239 Speaker 1: and ives team would take a larger departure with the 707 00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:53,560 Speaker 1: third edition of the iPod, the entire interface became touch based. 708 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:57,000 Speaker 1: There was not yet a touch screen, but there were 709 00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:02,520 Speaker 1: touch buttons instead of mechanical buttons. Two access all the controls. 710 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:06,280 Speaker 1: IVES team moved the control buttons above the touch wheel 711 00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:09,120 Speaker 1: rather than around the perimeter of it, and the team 712 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:12,640 Speaker 1: would continue to make adjustments to the iPods design, including 713 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:15,239 Speaker 1: the creation of spinoff products. You know, you had the 714 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:19,440 Speaker 1: iPod Mini, which only lasted two generations, and you had 715 00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:23,759 Speaker 1: the iPod Nano, which was the replacement for the iPod Mini, 716 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:26,480 Speaker 1: so was an even smaller version of the iPod, and 717 00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:29,239 Speaker 1: then later on you had the iPod Shuffle as well. 718 00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:31,759 Speaker 1: We'll probably touch on those a little bit in the 719 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,240 Speaker 1: next episode that we won't go into as much detail 720 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:36,920 Speaker 1: as we have for the you know, i amac and 721 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:40,359 Speaker 1: eyebook and the Cube for example, so we're gonna leave 722 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,040 Speaker 1: it off here, and in our next episode we'll talk 723 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:47,160 Speaker 1: about how the iPod design would influence Apple's direction and 724 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:50,200 Speaker 1: the general public's perception of the company. I mean, we 725 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,880 Speaker 1: call them podcasts because we named it after the iPod. 726 00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:59,080 Speaker 1: That's how definitive a product that became. And we'll talk 727 00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:04,279 Speaker 1: about ives role in creating this kind of momentum. Then 728 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: we'll also talk about other products, the big one obviously 729 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:12,239 Speaker 1: being the iPhone and how that design ended up just 730 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:19,479 Speaker 1: cementing Apple's place as a tastemaker in consumer electronics. And 731 00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:23,440 Speaker 1: then we'll also talk about the various things that played 732 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:29,680 Speaker 1: a part in I've becoming less enamored of Apple and 733 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:33,520 Speaker 1: ultimately his decision one to leave the company as an employee, 734 00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:37,520 Speaker 1: and then too to essentially cut ties with Apple by 735 00:45:37,560 --> 00:45:41,920 Speaker 1: not extending the contract that his design firm had established 736 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:45,200 Speaker 1: with the company. Those will be things we'll talk about 737 00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:48,399 Speaker 1: in the next episode in this series. I hope you're 738 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,600 Speaker 1: enjoying these episodes. If you have suggestions for topics I 739 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:54,680 Speaker 1: should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, please reach 740 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:56,879 Speaker 1: out and tell me. You can do that in one 741 00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:59,600 Speaker 1: of two ways. One way is to download the free 742 00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:03,560 Speaker 1: i art radio app, navigate to the tech Stuff podcast page, 743 00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:07,120 Speaker 1: use that little microphone icon to record a voice message 744 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:09,480 Speaker 1: up to thirty seconds in length, and let me know 745 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:12,200 Speaker 1: through there, Or you can reach out on Twitter. The 746 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:15,880 Speaker 1: handle for the show is text Stuff hs W and 747 00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:25,280 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Yeah. Text Stuff 748 00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,560 Speaker 1: is an i Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 749 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:32,319 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 750 00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:34,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.