Jony Ive Becomes Vital Post Steve Jobs

A few paragraphs on Jony Ive in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs have been exceprted to highlight just how important the designer has become to Apple, post Jobs.

There's a theory that I have embraced and strived to perpetuate in the hearts of Softpedia readers worldwide, and that is: Jonathan Ive is likely the next best thing to Steve Jobs (at Apple) in terms of vision and love for the beautiful, as well as charisma.

I am confident in my prediction that Apple will do well as long as Ive is on their payroll, as well as on stage at the company’s iconic events.

Now, BBC extracts some pieces from Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs to emphasize the importance of Jony Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, for Apple's ongoing success.

According the biography, Jobs regarded Ive as vital for Apple: "If I had a spiritual partner at Apple it's Jony. Jony and I think up most of the products together... he has more operational power than anyone else at Apple except for me," he said, according to Isaacson’s book.

That doesn’t mean the duo didn’t have their quarrels. Isaacson’s book also reveals that Ive often became upset when Jobs took too much credit for his ideas.

"I pay maniacal attention to where an idea comes from, and I even keep notebooks filled with my ideas," he told the biographer. "So it hurts when he takes credit for one of my designs."

Soon after Jobs resigned as CEO, Tim Cook was instated as the company’s new chief executive. Yet the man lacks both a ‘monstrous ego’ and artistic sensitivity, two of many prominent traits of Steve Jobs.

Of these two characteristics, at least one is most visible in Ive. But the designer doesn’t believe this image is healthy for Apple Inc.:  According to Isaacson, Ive reacted defensively when outsiders regarded Jobs as the only ‘ideas guy’ at Apple - "that makes us vulnerable as a company," Ive said.

But regardless of how many undiscovered visionaries Apple may have on its payroll, Ive is clearly one of those watched closely by the Apple board of directors.