Turnover Hits Apple's Famed Industrial Design Team (wsj.com) 47
Apple's famous and close-knit industrial design team that works under design chief Jony Ive is undergoing major changes, WSJ reported this week. From the report: Rico Zorkendorfer and Daniele De Iuliis, who together have more than 35 years of experience at Apple, decided to leave the company recently [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], people familiar with the departures said. Another member of the team with a decade of experience, Julian Honig, plans to leave in the coming months, people familiar with his plans said. Mr. Zorkendorfer said he was taking a break from his professional life to spend time with his family, adding that he felt privileged to work on Apple's design team. Mr. De Iuliis didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Mr. Honig declined to comment.
The departures of members of the core design team that revived Apple in the 2000s and did the work behind the iPhone, iPad and watch come amid a pause in new products, as the company emphasizes new subscription services this year instead of new gadgets amid slowing iPhone sales. It also follows chief designer Jony Ive's resumption a little over a year ago of day-to-day oversight for the industrial design group.
The roughly two-dozen person team known internally as ID is responsible for establishing the look and feel of all of Apple's products, including the iPhone, one of the most successful products of all time. The tech giant has replenished its design ranks in recent years, adding creatives from apparel company Nike, independent studios and design schools. Recent hires will assume more responsibility for product development as veterans leave.
The departures of members of the core design team that revived Apple in the 2000s and did the work behind the iPhone, iPad and watch come amid a pause in new products, as the company emphasizes new subscription services this year instead of new gadgets amid slowing iPhone sales. It also follows chief designer Jony Ive's resumption a little over a year ago of day-to-day oversight for the industrial design group.
The roughly two-dozen person team known internally as ID is responsible for establishing the look and feel of all of Apple's products, including the iPhone, one of the most successful products of all time. The tech giant has replenished its design ranks in recent years, adding creatives from apparel company Nike, independent studios and design schools. Recent hires will assume more responsibility for product development as veterans leave.
Rats jumping off (Score:2)
Re: Rats jumping off (Score:1)
Who was the "smart guy"??
Elaborate
Re: Rats jumping off (Score:5, Funny)
Would this be an Apple Turnover?
{rimshot}
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Or like, the old people are retiring maybe? Even a really talented designer doesn't live forever.
Re: Rats jumping off (Score:3)
Or as Apple pivots to services in the wake of declining profits on gadget sales, these guys decided to get out while the getting was good.
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I wish I had a few more "dying" companies like Apple in my portfolio
How long do you think they'll be able to survive, living off of that paltry $200 billion in cash reserves? The end is nigh
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Oh, the company will continue to live on its savings.
It's the users who are being f****ed, but unlike a company that is low on funds, Apple has no excuse.
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3 people leaving a company with over 130,000 employees is clearly a sign of the apocalypse.
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Remove all stupid cocksuckers, bring back: MacBook Pro 2012, headphone jack, iOS 6 Scott Forstall
Or even Steve Jobs, although he probably won't smell so good. While he had his faults, I'll bet he wouldn't have let some of the latest hardware fuckups out of the Apple warehouse.
Is apple turnover a good thing or a bad thing? (Score:4, Funny)
They were so ahead of their time (Score:5, Funny)
Cylinders, Rounded Rectangles, Flat things... That team was amazing.
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Kirk: "Scotty, I need more basic shapes, the Klingon OS is quickly gaining!"
Scotty: "Coptain, I've givin 'er all she's got! There's only so many simple shapes and colors in this dimension. We already did translucent aluminum for those smelly whales."
Spock: "Did you say this dimension? Hmm. Captain, about that somewhat restraining Temporal Prime Directive..."
Euphemism (Score:2)
Yeah, we've heard those words before from various people.
The same way that "tired and emotional" is a euphemism so common, that if a journalist in the UK used it he/she could be charged for slander.
Good (Score:1)
Maybe they'll stop making terrible designs that break at nothing. Seriously Apple, make it so any water that falls in your macbook keyboard... just flow right out through canals instead of falling straight on the PCB.
Nothing left to dominate (Score:1)
Apple dominates every aspect of technology that actually matters, whether its personal computers, smart phones or smart watches. These guys made their mark laying waste to the dipshit losers at Microsoft and in the Lin-sux "community" and have earned a long and wealthy retirement.
Food? (Score:2)
Sounds like a food-related assault.
Apple has (Score:2)
Just my 2 cents
It's about the charging pad (Score:2)
Trust me, this is about the charging pad. Form got in the way of function, and the design team was accordingly invited to suicide.
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I rodent to Appletown, and... (Score:2)
...and putting the charging port on the bottom of the "Magic Mouse." [flickr.com] So that it magically couldn't be used when charging.
So hilariously stupid.
A "broken" team is a never the same again (Score:1)