Jonathan+Ive+and+Apple

**Article 1: Inside the Apple iPod Design Triumph**

To develop the popular iPod, Apple relied upon the platform and reference design created by a third party, PortalPlayer of Santa Clara, California. Apple chose to PortalPlayer because PortalPlayers reputable history of yielding, according to industry sources, the highest quality of sound. “Once Apple and PortalPlayer became design chain partners, PortalPlayer then selected other design chain members and managed the design process.
 * Describe the unusual business model used in the ipod's fabrication as developed by Apple.**

Four key criteria were behind the selection of other members of the design chain, none unusual for a consumer electronics product: 
 *  highest quality sound
 *  off-the-shelf components
 *  cost
 *  time to mark (1)”

**Article 2: Jonathan Ive at the Design Museum**

Jonathan Ive is the vice-president of design at Apple and had combined a “…‘fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff’ with relentless experiments into new tools, materials and production processes, to design such ground-breaking products as the iMAC, iBook, the PowerBook G4 and the iPod MP3 player. (2) ” This care translates to an attention to detail that would have been other wised overlooked, such as the cables or the power adapters. Jonathan Ive had also assembled a small close-knit team of designers who apply “…the same lateral thinking and passionate attention to detail to the development of equally innovative new products such as the Cube, the iPod, and the PowerBook G4…(2)” The works of Jonathan Ive and his team also relates to Apple’s design heritage because “[i]n the 1970s, Apple talked about being at the intersection of technology and the arts.(2)”
 * What distinguishes the work of the team of Jobs and Ive in relation to products designed by Apple? What new materials are enabling different design?**

The new materials that have enabled different designs include… 
 *  “**Polymer** – allowing the creation of composites that meet the very specific functional goals/requirements and allowing the creator to create things that were once impossible
 *  **Twin Shooting Material** - molding different plastics together or co-molding plastic to metal gives us a range of functional and formal opportunities that really didn’t exist before (2)”

 **Article 3: Who is Jonathan Ive? **

Jonathan Ive and his design team are considered to be very important to Apple because the design team are responsible for the successes of the Apple company as well as designing innovative products for the Apple company. As stated in the article “Apple is a cult, and Apple’s design tea is an even more intense version of a cult. (3) ” Apple’s design team is also considered to be unique because “…they work closely and intensely with engineers, marketers and even outside manufacturing contractors in Asia who actually build the products. Rather than being simple stylists, they’re leading innovators [who] use new materials and production processes. (3)”
 * Describe the importance of Apple's design team. Are other companies trying to compete with Apple by creating their own design teams?**

Despite the growing success of Apple’s products, the other computer companies, such as Dell or Hewlett-Packet, feels that there is no need to aggressively compete with Apple for the computer market. The reason for this would be because these other computer companies believe that Apple is not a competitive threat because Apple “…focuses on so few products and relies heavily on so few individuals, [therefore,] it can address only so many markets. (3)” It should also be noted that “…most big corporations have neither the focus, the skills, nor the appetite for risk to build mass-produced products that feel as if they were made by high-priced boutiques in New York or London. While computer companies have focused on pinching pennies these past few decades, Apple has been perfecting its design game. The fact that rivals are now talking about design is not proof they're catching up -- but of how far they have to go. (3)”

(1) <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> http://www.designchain.com/testprint.asp?issue=summer02&template=coverstory (2) http://www.designmuseum.org/design/jonathan-ive (3) http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_39/b4002414.htm