Former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive says he still frequently asks himself “What would Steve do?” – despite Jobs specifically requesting that he shouldn’t.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Ive shared that Jobs had directly told him before his death in 2011: “I really don’t want you to be thinking ‘Well, what would Steve do?'”
The legendary designer, who helped craft iconic products like the iMac, iPhone, and Apple Watch, spoke warmly of his collaboration with Jobs, defending the Apple co-founder’s reputation for being demanding. “If you have such a clear, pure view of creating something new… if you are serious about actually wanting to develop and make it, you can’t just say ‘well, here’s an idea,'” Ive explained. “Because if that’s how you’re going to behave, it will remain an idea.”
The British-born designer, who moved from Essex to San Francisco in 1992 to join Apple, noted that Jobs immediately understood his vision when he returned to the then-struggling company five years later. “It was remarkable that, despite the limitations of my ability to communicate, Steve understood what I thought and how I felt,” Ive said.
Ive said he fears that the technology he has helped to create could now be interfering with human creativity, adding that he finds it difficult to monitor his own use of technology. Ive also expressed both his excitement and concern about the threat posed by AI and its unchecked speed of development: “We need time to understand and react,” he said.
Steve Jobs died in 2011 from pancreatic cancer. Today would have been his 70th birthday. The emotional impact of Jobs’ passing was evident in Ive’s admission that he couldn’t bring himself to read anything about his former colleague and friend for a decade after his death in 2011.
After leaving his role as chief design officer, Ive continued to work with Apple as a consultant through LoveFrom until 2022, when the partnership officially concluded. Ive has since officially confirmed his involvement in an AI hardware project with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Among Ive’s musical choices on the long-running BBC radio show were “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds and part of the soundtrack from the Disney Pixar robot movie Wall-E.
(Via The Guardian.)
