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Apple's secretive internal training program praises Picasso, has full-time faculty
The Apple University, as the company's training courses have been called, was established by Steve Jobs in an effort to get employees acquainted with how Apple does things. Courses there are not mandatory, but getting employees to enroll is apparently never an issue, according to Brian X. Chen's investigations in the New York Times -- which is worth reading in full. It's an unsurprisingly secretive setup, and no pictures of the classrooms (or their contents) have ever surfaced. Chen talked to three employees who have taken classes, and the courses are apparently unequivocally Apple: polished and planned to the finest detail. ("Even the toilet paper in the bathrooms is really nice") It has a full-time faculty (plucked from Yale, Harvard, MIT, Pixar and more) that create and teach courses, with recent classes including one on how to blend resources from recently acquired companies into Apple. Others focus on important decisions in the company's past: the move to offer iTunes on Windows PCs is given as an example, a decision that turned out to be a big success. The university also touches heavily on design philosophy: one course shows a slide of The Bull, Picasso's famous deconstruction of a bull drawn in 1945. "You go through more iterations until you can simply deliver your message in a very concise way, and that is true to the Apple brand and everything we do," said one student. Examples of what not to do also come up. In the case of TV remotes, Google's own 78-button remote is compared unfavorably to Apples's stripped-down iteration.
Apple engineer explains where the iPhone came from
Offering a rare interview in the run-up to another legal fray between Samsung and Apple, the senior engineer behind the iPhone has explained where it all started, part of Apple's plan to communicate how groundbreaking the original iPhone was. Talking to the WSJ, Greg Christie explained how the secret project, Purple, brought the iPhone to life. At some point, the former Apple boss told him straight: the team had two weeks, or he would assign the project elsewhere. "Steve had pretty much had it... He wanted bigger ideas and bigger concepts." In the end, the "shockingly small" team had outlined a touchscreen phone with swipe-to-unlock, no physical keyboard and all the music-playing features of the company's iPod series. They ran early software tests on a plastic touchscreen, hooked up to a dated desktop Mac [seen above] -- an effort to emulate a low-powered mobile processor.
Steve Jobs wanted Sony VAIOs to run Mac's operating system
If Steve Jobs had gotten his way, that VAIO in your lap could've been running OS X, Apple's operating system. It sounds like fiction, but consider the source: former Sony president Kunitake Ando. The revelation, which stems from an interview Ando gave to Japanese journalist Nobuyuki Hayashi in 2011, highlights the close relationship Jobs reportedly shared with Sony's co-founder Akio Morita -- a relationship that led Jobs to make an exception to Apple's walled off ecosystem. And according to Ando, it was on a 2001 golf trip in Hawaii that Jobs decided to surprise Sony executives with a version of Mac OS X running on a VAIO, four years before the Intel transition was made public. As we all now know, that Apple/Sony partnership wasn't meant to be. For Sony, the proposal was simply a case of bad timing, as it ran counter to not only the success the VAIO line was experiencing at the time, but also the wishes of its engineering team. After having spent so much time optimizing VAIO for Windows, Ando says Sony's engineering team saw OS X on VAIO as a diversion of resources and were "opposed [to] asking 'if it is worth it'." It was because of these two factors that Sony never pursued the prospect of Mac-compatible VAIOs any further. While we'll never know the impact Mac-compatible VAIOs would've had on Sony's bottomline today, the news does come at an odd time for the struggling Japanese tech giant. Recently, its VAIO PC division's been surrounded by rumors of a possible sale; rumors Sony isn't exactly dismissing as inaccurate. And with Sony now looking to home entertainment and gaming as two key areas for growth, that potential sale seems right in line with the company's current strategy.
Eddy Cue gives acceptance speech as Steve Jobs is inducted into Bay Area Business Hall of Fame
Last Thursday, November 7, Steve Jobs was posthumously inducted into the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame. Accepting the award for Jobs was Apple's SVP Eddy Cue, who has now tweeted a link to a video of the event. As TechCrunch notes, Cue's speech was at times very emotional and talked of the deep friendship he and Jobs had: "He was a colleague, but most important, he was my friend. We talked every day, we talked about everything," Cue says. "Even in my darkest days, he was there for me. When my wife had cancer, he was there for us. He helped me with the doctors and the treatments, he told me a lot about what he was going through, and her. And in many ways, she's here tonight because of him, so thank you, Steve." Cue also told this story of Jobs' precision in deciding how the light should hit the original iMac on stage when it was first introduced -- a level of detail that we are all so familiar with from Jobs now: He taught me many things but none more important than '"do what you love." That's what he did every day. It wasn't about fame; it wasn't about fortune; it was about creating great products. And not accepting anything less than perfection. As I was coming in today, I was trying to remember a story of the first time I learned that from Steve. We were launching the iMac, in Bondi blue ... we were doing this at the Flint center in Cupertino. Unfortunately we couldn't get the venue, Stomp was there the night before, we were launching it the next day and we could only get in at midnight. So we come in at midnight, we were going to do rehearsals ... one of the things we wanted to do was have the iMac come out from the stage as he was introducing it. And we'd shine some lights. I was sitting out in the crowd ... and the iMac comes out and the light comes on it and I said "wow, that is so cool!" Steve stops the whole thing and says "stop, this sucks!" He says, "it should come out at the side where you can see the color, the light should be shining at this side and when it turns to the front that's when it should turn on ... 30 minutes later we do the whole thing again and when I see it come out I said, "Wow, he was absolutely right; it's incredible." He had that level of detail for everything he did, and that's what he taught us. You can check out the video montage of the event below.
This LEGO Steve Jobs is just as adorable as you'd imagine
Etsy is a great place to find odd things, and you don't need to poke around on the site very long to find something unique. Case in point: This ridiculous adorable Steve Jobs figurine crafted from LEGO blocks. From the iconic jeans and black T-shirt to the glasses crafted from transparent blocks, it's a pint-sized spitting image of the Apple co-founder. The figure is available for a pretty reasonable US$24.86 (I know, that doesn't sound reasonable, but have you seen how much they charge for LEGO sets these days? It's absurd). Of course, if you're not into buying pre-made plastic-block creations, you could always grab your LEGO set and attempt to recreate mini Jobs all on your own. Note: I'm not recommending you try to make anything out of those notoriously hard-to-work-with tiny blocks. Have you ever tried to peel two of those apart? Say goodbye to your fingernails!
Steve Jobs in the Apple Campus 2 video
On October 1, 2013, Apple made a presentation at the Cupertino, Calif., city hall as part of the effort to seek approval to begin construction on Apple Campus 2. Part of the presentation included the video you see below, which features Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs being quoted at several points. The video quality isn't that great, so it's obvious that this is a copy that may have been made on-site at the presentation. However, it's amazing to see Jobs, architect Norman Foster and others talking about the project. Construction is expected to begin this year, with occupancy coming sometime in 2015.
Daily Update for October 30, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Have Apple media events become boring and all too predictable?
Last week, Tim Cook and co. took the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and introduced a slew of new products. Indeed, for a single media event, there sure were a lot of products Apple managed to squeeze in; OS X Mavericks, iWork, iLife, refreshed Retina Display MacBook Pros, a completely re-designed Mac Pro, a new iPad Mini with Retina Display, and last but not least, the alluring and unbelievably svelte iPad Air. Whereas Apple's media events were once praised far and wide, some of the company's more recent media events have been met with a collective "that's it?" type of mentality. This, to a large degree, is to be expected given that some people will never be happy until Apple releases a branded HDTV set that can be controlled with a brand spankin' new iWatch. Interestingly enough, a new and rather peculiar narrative emerged last week in the wake of Apple's media event. This new narrative posits the notion that the format of Apple's media events in and of themselves have become predictable and rather boring. Writing for the New York Times last week, Nick Bilton championed this very idea: Here's the script: Timothy D. Cook comes out on stage in his signature jeans and black shirt - usually untucked. He shows off some statistics. Then other execs take the microphone to show off new software that we've already seen. There are a few jokes; the audience laughs. Then comes Philip W. Schiller, Apple's head of marketing, who talks about new hardware and confuses everyone by touting an "Intel Xeon E5 chip," and a "10 MB L3 cache and Turbo Boost," and "cores" and other things most people know absolutely nothing about. (It's as if he's speaking Klingon.) Then Mr. Cook is back on stage to introduce a new version of an iPad or iPhone or iPod. Then Mr. Schiller again to explain, in Klingon, the guts of the new iPad or iPhone or iPod. Then there's a video of Jony Ive talking about the new iPad or iPhone or iPod. "It's the best [iPad or iPhone or iPod] we've ever made," Mr. Ive says in his smooth British accent. The shows are like watching someone perform the same magic show over and over. Eventually it stops looking like magic. Bilton's argument is interesting and opens up an interesting debate. So while Betteridge's law of headlines is typically applicable, please note that I didn''t title this post to merely answer my own question with a definitive "No." On the contrary, I think the question is ripe for dissection and discussion. I myself think that Bilton may be onto something, and below are a few discussion points I think are worth considering. 1. Apple is a victim of its own success Apple every so often shakes up industries to their very core. Every few years, Apple is able to introduce a "one more thing" type of feature or product that really gets folks jazzed up. These moments naturally set a high bar of expectation for Apple. So by the time Apple's next media event rolls around, the rumor mill is already churning; "Just what will Apple wow us with this time?" the headlines typically read. The reality, though, is that the interim years between major product announcements are by their very nature somewhat less interesting. Introducing a smaller version of the iPad, for example, will never be as exciting as the unveiling of the original. That said, when one expects every Apple media event to change the world, each event is measured against a standard that no company on earth could ever live up to. Consequently, Apple media events are more likely than not to feel like a let down, which can easily bleed into downright boredom. It's important to remember that Apple, historically speaking, has never been one to wow us with earth shattering products every 12 months. Remember that there was nearly a six year gap between the introduction of the iPod and the release of the first iPhone. Nonetheless, the media before each and every Apple event likes to ponder what Apple's "One more thing" announcement will be. In truth, the majority of Steve Jobs' "one more thing" announcements would have been yawn-inducing if they had been evaluated with the same type of microscope analysis that they are analyzed with today. To illustrate, here are a few "one more thing" products Steve Jobs, the mac daddy himself, introduced over the years: Colorful iMacs - MacWorld San Francisco 1999 iPod Mini - MacWorld 2004 iPod Shuffle - MacWorld 2005 Apple TV - September 2006 Safari for Windows - WWDC 2007 It's all to easy to imagine how such product announcements would be greeted today. Riding high on the success and immense impact of the iPod/iPhone/iPad trifecta, the expectations that shroud Apple are greater than they are for any other company. The result, arguably, is that when Apple fails to live up to these expectations at every media event, the takeaway is that the event was boring, a predictable dud. 2. The Apple rumor mill has removed Apple's ability to surprise us There are no shortage of rumor-based Apple blogs that do a great job of keeping us abreast of the latest rumors and supply-chain checks. Though Tim Cook vowed to "double down" on product secrecy, barely a week goes by without some new rumor about Apple's iWatch plans or speculation regarding upcoming hardware. As a result, one can reasonably argue that Apple media events have become somewhat boring and stale because we already know what Apple is going to say. Take the most recent iPhone media event where Apple introduced the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. Before both products were unveiled, we already had a pretty good idea as to what Apple's 2013 iPhone lineup was going to look like, right down to the fingerprint authorization sensor on the 5s and the colors on the 5c. The gold iPhone 5s? Leaked photos of the device, not to mention the other models, leaked a few weeks before Apple officially introduced it. The slow-motion video recording feature on the iPhone 5s? 9to5Mac began floating that rumor back in July. Indeed, the only things we typically don't know ahead of a new iPhone launch tend to be the pricing and the components. Given the complexity and scale involved in getting a new Apple product to market, Apple is faced with the almost impossible task of keeping a tight lid on the entirety of its supply chain. That being the case, if the public at large already knows what Apple is going to announce, Tim Cook could roll out on stage on a Segway while sporting a tank top and the presentation would still be underwhelming. 3. Tim Cook and Phil Schiller can't even come close to matching Steve Jobs' charisma Due to the repetitive nature of Apple's presentations, Bilton theorizes that Apple's current executive team simply doesn't have the showmanship chops to make such events as interesting as they were when Steve Jobs used to run things solo. Now there's certainly no denying that Jobs was a master showman. His iPhone introduction at Macworld 2007 arguably constitutes one of the greatest product introductions in history, even seeping into the mainstream. To wit, it was comically parodied by Tina Fey on 30 Rock. So perhaps Apple's media events seem a little stale because Tim Cook, despite his Southern charm and Auburn football loving ways, simply can't hold a candle to Steve Jobs when it comes to wowing us with excitement. Say what you will about Jobs, but the man could sell. Jobs possessed an "it factor" that simply can't be taught. He was charming, grandiose, persuasive, biting at times, and even funny. Can you even imagine Tim Cook introducing the original iPhone and prank calling Starbucks? Same thing goes for Phil Schiller. Schiller, Apple's VP of worldwide marketing, is a decent public speaker, but he lacks the pizazz that seemingly emanated so easily and naturally from Jobs. Jobs spoke his mind, wasn't afraid of offending, and was simply an entertaining guy to watch take the stage. Put simply, he was captivating. That being the case, perhaps Jobs, a storied legend in Silicon Valley, possessed so much charm that he was deftly able to make the mundane seem exciting. Perhaps previous media events held during the interim years between major product announcements always seemed fresh and exciting because there was no telling what Jobs would do or say. Now the one current Apple executive who seems to possess the "it factor" on stage is Craig Federighi. To be sure, he's a likeable guy who's quick with the jokes, but Steve Jobs he is not. The ability Steve Jobs had as a presenter can be summed up thusly: When Jobs was alive and healthy, he handled 95% of the presentation duties all by himself. Without Jobs, presentation duties at Apple media events are often shared between as many as four or five people. Long story short: perhaps Apple media events are in fact boring because there's no showman like Jobs in the mix anymore. 4. Apple media events are meant to inform, not entertain Again, Apple media events do have a somewhat predictable pattern. An argument can be made, however, that Apple's media events are structured in such a way to inform the masses about Apple's latest hardware and software, not entertain Apple nerds faithfully following liveblog updates as fast as they can refresh. So sure, we know we're going to see a video detailing the manufacturing process used in Apple's latest hardware. And of course, we're going to see a video detailing the myriad of creative ways in which people are using their iPads or iPhones. For anyone who makes sure to check out every Apple media event, the routine is old hat. But that routine is arguably necessary to get the word out about the latest and greatest from Apple. The structure of Apple's media events makes it easy to divide up all of the announcements into compartmentalized reports. In other words, the grand purpose of these media events is to provide an extensive, if not predictable, tour of what Apple has been up to. Form there, online and print publications distill the most important announcements into articles meant for mass consumption. You're not likely to read about Haswell chips and Iris graphics in the LA Times, but you are likely to see a front page story about how thin and light the new iPad Air is. To that end, Apple's media events accomplish their underlying task, even if the events themselves are long, boring and predictable. Another point to consider; many of Apple's announcements, while important, are only interesting to a small subset of users. If you don't use iMovie or GarageBand, for example, why would you care about cool updates to those apps? I mean, what percentage of iPad users really care about Apple reinventing the textbook? These announcements are a necessary part of Apple's media events but don't exactly keep folks glued to their computer screens. 5. Apple media events are, in fact, too predictable. It's time to liven them up! Predictability is the mother of boredom. Routine is the antithesis of excitement. So yes, perhaps Apple's media events are growing stale. The entire format is the same time and time again and it'd sure be nice to see Apple mix things up. Maybe switch up the presentation roles. Maybe introduce some fresh blood up on stage. Maybe Apple should shorten the length of their media events and keep everything to a tight 45 minutes. What do you folks think? Are Apple media events utterly boring these days? Were they ever particularly exciting to begin with? Is this much ado about nothing? Please chime in in the comments below and speak your mind. Just try and keep it somewhat entertaining.
Steve Jobs' childhood home named a 'historic resource'
A few weeks ago we reported that Steve Jobs' childhood home was poised to become a historical site, pending an evaluation by the Los Altos Historical Commission. Now comes word via the San Jose Mercury News that the vote was unanimous and that Jobs' childhood home has now been designated a "historic resource." This by no means turns the house into something like a museum, but rather makes any effort to renovate or otherwise change the property subject to commission approval. The vote is the culmination of a two-year effort by the commission to preserve the one-story, ranch-style home as it stands. Chairman Frank Bishop praised the work of his colleagues and city staff, which included extensive research and a property evaluation. "The documentation looks very complete -- better than some of the books as far as accuracy goes," Bishop said. The designation will add another layer of review if renovations to the home are ever sought. The commission would be able to make a recommendation to the city council about any proposed changes. Over the past few years, Jobs' childhood home has become something of a tourist attraction for hardcore Apple fans hoping to soak in a piece of Apple history. The house, of course, is attached to the famed garage where Jobs and Steve Wozniak assembled the first Apple I computers.
The house where Steve Jobs built Apple is now a historic landmark
It doesn't seem like Patricia Jobs, sister of famed Apple co-founder Steve, is exactly onboard with her family home being designated a "historic resource" by the Los Altos Historical Commission. Not that it matters, anyway. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the decision to preserve the one-story home at 2066 Crist Drive where Jobs got a start building the first Apple computers was made independent of her consent. The distinction, which Patricia can still appeal, also means any renovations/repairs to the home would first have to be reviewed by the commission -- so you can understand why the honor's both a blessing and a curse. Of course, we all now associate Cupertino as the homebase of Apple's current operations. But before Apple could build itself into the consumer tech juggernaut of modern day, and carve out a new spaceship campus, there was just Jobs, a dream and modest home that's now effectively a museum. [Image credit: Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group]
Apple's Campus 2 presentation video posted online
The City of Cupertino has posted the Apple Campus 2 Presentation: City of Cupertino Study Session video from earlier this month. Apple's Senior Director of Real Estate & Facilities Dan Whisenhunt led the presentation on Apple Campus 2 project at the October 1, 2013 Joint Study Session of the Cupertino City Council and the Cupertino Planning Commission, according to the video's YouTube notes. A few interesting tidbits from the study session video include a short video presentation to the crowd which sees UK-based architect Norman Foster who designed Apple Campus 2 note how the "spaceship" shape of the campus wasn't there from the beginning and that its design "grew into that." Foster also revealed that in 2009, Steve Jobs called him personally to enlist him as the designer of Campus 2. According to Foster, once he arrived in Cupertino, Jobs said, "Don't think of me as your client. Think of me as one of your team."
Caturday: Sasha hangin' with Steve
As one of the editors at TUAW said when this photo came in, "This man has won the Internet. You can all go home now." We'd love to see photos of your favorite feline soaking up the warmth of an Apple product, chasing a Magic Mouse, or just being a general nuisance while you're attempting to work on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone. Please let us know via our feedback page and please remember that your cat photo has to have some sort of connection to Apple or its products. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link. Many thanks to Richard for sharing this photo with us.
You can buy Steve Jobs on a piece of toast for $20 (yes, you read that correctly)
I love Etsy for the simple fact that you can find products on it that you'd never see elsewhere. Like, for example, a ridiculously accurate representation of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs burnt into a piece of toast. For this piece of used-to-be-edible art, you must pay a measly US$20. Ok, maybe that's a little bit steep for a charred chunk of bread, but hey, when you create a new market -- as Etsy user ggat seems to have -- you're allowed to set the price. The bread in question is your standard white fare, which is then burnt using a laser to create the portrait. To ensure the toast doesn't fall victim to various forms of degradation it is coated in a spray varnish. Why would you want such a thing in the first place? I'm not sure, but I can sleep soundly tonight knowing that if the urge strikes me, a slice of Jobs toast is just a click away.
Al Gore praises Tim Cook as 'a fantastic CEO'
Tim Cook already has plenty of fans, but just in case you were wondering, we can add former US Vice President Al Gore to the list as well. Speaking with Bloomberg, the almost-43rd-President of the United States called Apple's head honcho "a fantastic CEO." This should come as little surprise, given that Gore is indeed seated on Apple's board of directors, but it's a nice pat on the back in the midst of the utterly absurd "the sky is falling on Apple" mania. "Can you imagine trying to follow Steve Jobs?" Gore continued. "Well, Tim's done it, and he's done it in his own unique way. Next week, there's yet another announcement from Apple. I invite people to tune in for that. They're really hitting on all cylinders." Gore, of course, was referring to the October 22 event in which it is expected that Apple will reveal the next devices in the iPad line... and maybe even something you aren't expecting.
USPTO confirms 'Steve Jobs patent'
Last December, the US Patent and Trademark Office gave Apple a tentative rejection on 20 claims by Apple regarding the "Steve Jobs patent" after it was anonymously challenged by one of Apple's rivals. The patent covers a "touch screen device, method and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics." However, that December 2012 decision was not the end of the story. Foss Patents has picked up on a decision granted last month by the USPTO that upholds the 20 claims covered by US Patent No. 7,479,949. The September 4, 2013, report reaffirms Apple's patents on a wide range of multitouch technology found in devices like the popular iPhone and iPad. You can read the complete report over at Foss Patents. Enjoy.
Woz, Kottke, Hertzfeld discuss the 'Jobs' movie
John Vink, who was an Apple engineer between 1996 and 2012, managed to grab three of the people portrayed in the 2013 movie Jobs for a long discussion about the movie and Steve Jobs. It's an episode of John Wants Answers with Daniel Kottke, Andy Hertzfeld and Steve Wozniak. Kottke was a friend of Jobs from Reed College who traveled to India with the Apple co-founder, and later became an early Apple employee and Macintosh team member. Hertzfeld wrote much of the original Macintosh operating system software and later went on to co-found three companies, and Wozniak needs no introduction. The team tells some fascinating stories about Apple and Jobs, and it's well worth your time to watch the video for an Apple history lesson. [via The Mac Observer]
This young Steve Jobs action figure is insanely lifelike
Japan's Legend Toys is set to release a young Steve Jobs action figure that is insanely lifelike. As noted by CNET, the 12-inch figure of Jobs captures his likeness from the late 1970s and early 1980s, complete with his moptop haircut and a stunningly detailed 1:6-scale Apple I accessory. This isn't the first time there's been a Steve Jobs action figure. I showed off one I obtained back in 2010, before Apple made the company cease sales of it. Then in 2012, Icons Productions announced Apple had threatened a lawsuit if it didn't stop selling its Steve Jobs action figure. So they did. As for the Legend action figure, the company told CNET that they have heard nothing yet from Apple, so plans to sell the action figure are still on. "We think all the Steve fans will want to collect these historic symbols to remember him and to witness the history of the legend," a Legend spokesperson told CNET. "We think you can feel that we are not just making a commodity -- all our artists including sculptors, painters, tailors and all our staff are working wholeheartedly to recreate our spiritual mentor." The young Steve Jobs action can be pre-ordered now for US$199.99.
Former Apple CEO John Sculley: Tim Cook doing a terrific job
Former Apple CEO John Sculley recently told CNBC Asia that he thinks Tim Cook is doing a fine job. "I think Cook is doing a terrific job. He's not trying to be Steve Jobs; only one person could be Steve Jobs and that was Steve," he said. Sculley was the CEO of Apple from 1983-1993 and Jobs' initial successor, once Jobs was ousted from the company. Many believe that Sculley fired Jobs in 1983, which he denies. "I was never the person who fired Jobs, that was a myth," he said. Today, Sculley has praise for Cook and Apple's current lineup of products: "Steve could make the big creative leaps. What Tim is doing is continuing the Apple philosophy of no compromise and quality of their products and great styling. I think people are giving Apple a bum rap on what is still a great company with great products," he said.
How Steve Jobs learned the importance of design
Fast Company has published an extremely interesting preview of Harmut Esslinger's new book on the early years of Apple, in which he sheds light on some of his first dealings with a young Steve Jobs. Esslinger first joined up with Apple in the early 1980s and, with the help of his company Frog Design, built the "Snow White" design language that Apple used for many years. In the excerpt, Esslinger recalls how he helped emphasize quality design to Jobs, who wasn't used to looking at things through a designer's eyes. "We also discussed American design, and I offended him when I insisted that American computer and consumer electronics companies totally underestimated the taste of American consumers -- Sony's success with clean design being the proof," Esslinger writes. "He was gracious enough to concede that Apple didn't make the cut, but he also said that he was out to change all that, which was why he was looking for a world-class designer." It's a very enjoyable read, so be sure to check out the full piece.
Original iPhone team recalls its stressful development
The New York Times last week provided a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what it was like working on the original iPhone development team. Much of the article is sourced from Andy Grignon, a former Apple engineer who helped work on the wireless components for the iPhone. Needless to say, working on the first iteration of the iPhone was an exhilarating and harrowing experience. Grignon recalls working seven days a week and relays that he gained about 50 pounds during the two or so years the original iPhone was in development. What's particularly interesting is that the iPhone was still a wonky beta product at the time Steve Jobs introduced it during Macworld 2007. The iPhone could play a section of a song or a video, but it couldn't play an entire clip reliably without crashing. It worked fine if you sent an email and then surfed the web. If you did those things in reverse, however, it might not. Hours of trial and error had helped the iPhone team develop what engineers called "the golden path," a specific set of tasks, performed in a specific way and order, that made the phone look as if it worked. But even when Jobs stayed on the golden path, all manner of last-minute workarounds were required to make the iPhone functional. On announcement day, the software that ran Grignon's radios still had bugs. So, too, did the software that managed the iPhone's memory. And no one knew whether the extra electronics Jobs demanded the demo phones include would make these problems worse. Of course, the iPhone introduction went off without a hitch, and was arguably Jobs' finest product introduction. One piece of previously undisclosed information revealed by Grignon is that the iPhone demoed by Jobs on stage was configured to always display five bars. Then, with Jobs' approval, they preprogrammed the phone's display to always show five bars of signal strength regardless of its true strength. The chances of the radio's crashing during the few minutes that Jobs would use it to make a call were small, but the chances of its crashing at some point during the 90-minute presentation were high. "If the radio crashed and restarted, as we suspected it might, we didn't want people in the audience to see that," Grignon says. "So we just hard-coded it to always show five bars." Overall, the article provides amazing behind-the-scenes tidbits detailing the tremendous amount of work that went into getting the iPhone to market. What's more, the article reminds us that Apple working on a phone in the first place was itself a risky undertaking that was only made possible by teams of engineers working upwards of 80 hours a week, often in compartmentalized and secretive teams. Even then, there was no guarantee that the device would go onto become the iconic and successful device that it did. The full article is rather lengthy, but well worth reading in its entirety for anyone with even a passing interest in Apple history. For a trip down memory lane, check out Jobs' full iPhone introduction below.
