Jony Ive from Apple says he still has a lot to do at Apple

Jony Ive is not done with Apple yet.

Vogue editor Anna Wintour asked Ive on Monday if he planned to stay at Apple for another 25 years or if he was considering playing politics or being flirted on his boat. In a characteristic response, Ive said that he still learns a lot and that he still has a lot to do.

"In fact, I feel pretty anxious and I feel that there is a lot to do and a lot of opportunities, especially in the area of ​​expert collaboration," Ive said. at the Wired25 conference at SFJazz Center in San Francisco. He added that the design team had just moved into the company's new Apple Park campus and that his expertise was "absolutely unprecedented". There are font designers sitting next to haptic experts and colorists, he noted.

"The energy, vitality and sense of opportunity are extraordinary and very exciting," Ive said. "It's kind of intoxicating because we try to solve the opportunities that we have."

The executive, who now oversees the designs of the Apple Store, added that the last thing he had learned was how to associate glass with a structural framework.

"We have been doing this for a long time, and we are still surprised and have learned a lot," Ive said. "If you lose that childlike enthusiasm, I think it's probably time to do something else." When Wintour asked him about it at that time, Ive replied, "Oh, no, my God."

Ive's first design for Apple under Steve Jobs, then CEO, was a candy-colored iMac all-in-one. He then designed Apple's most iconic products, including the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. He was responsible for the design of the hardware until Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook expanded his work to include the software aspect of the software in 2011. Then, in 2015, Cook promoted Ive to position of director of design. He has entrusted some day-to-day management tasks to redesign Apple stores, its new campus and other products.

Apple, which became the first multi-trillion US company in August, has exploded in recent years. The company introduced in September its new iPhone XS and XS Max phones, and he plans to release his slightly cheaper iPhone XR later this month.

Bring back humanity

But along with Apple's rise to power, some questions arise as to how mobile devices are changing our way of life, whether it's good or bad. In January, two of the major shareholders of Apple issued an open letter asking Apple to adopt a socially responsible approach to the use of children's devices. He mentioned mental health issues and other issues related to intensive phone use.

In response, Apple has promised to introduce new features to help parents manage the use of their smartphones by their kids. In June, WWDC announced its new Screen Time feature in iOS 12, which allows parents to monitor and limit the time their children spend on their Apple devices.

The first question Wintour asked Ive was about device dependence. He acknowledged that devices are sometimes used unexpectedly and that Apple always has more to learn.

"It's good to be connected," he said. "The real problem is what you do with this link.I think the nature of innovation is that it is impossible to predict all the consequences." In my experience, there has been surprising consequences – some fabulous and others less. "

But he noted that device dependence is not really the big challenge. Instead, it's the "way the environment and context affect how we relate to each other". Apple strives to make interactions less transactional and "restore humanity" by adding elements such as the animated Memoji and adding new features to Messages.

"We do not see our responsibility end when a product is shipped," Ive said. "What is important is that we learn a lot of information and influences about our future activities, and we firmly believe that we have a moral and civic responsibility."

He quoted something that Jobs has already said. "We do things to try to express our gratitude for the species, for humanity."

"That's exactly why we do what we do," Ive said. "That feeling of saying thank you and appreciating the people you will probably never meet."

Secret

But that does not mean that Apple should be less secretive.

"I think it would be weird not to be," Ive said. "I do not know a lot of creators who want to talk about what they do when they're halfway in. I've been doing it for quite a long time, so I feel responsible for not confusing or adding more noise on what is being worked on because I know that sometimes it does not work. "

I've also added that he saw Pinterest's co-founder and product manager Evan Sharp as one of the next rising stars of the technology. He noted that he had "a huge admiration" for Sharp and that he had learned from him.

"One of the reasons I hold him with the same respect as me, is his way of looking at the world," Ive said.

NASA is 60 years old: the space agency has pushed humanity further than anyone and plans to go further.

Take it to the extreme: mix crazy situations – eruptive volcanic eruptions, nuclear collapses, 30-foot waves – with everyday technologies. This is what happens.