Are you cooler than ex-Apple design guru Sir Jony Ive?
- Reference: 1740483907
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/02/25/jony_ive_desert_island_discs/
- Source link:
For those unfamiliar, Desert Island Discs tasks its guests (castaways) with choosing eight audio recordings (usually music), a book, and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island. These are interspersed with general discussions about the guest's life and the reason for their choices. The show has been broadcast since 1942.
Ive is responsible for guiding the aesthetics behind some of Apple's most successful products, said to have had a hand in Newton models, the iPhone, the iPod, the iPad, the Watch, and various iMacs.
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Among the more interesting snippets, Ive expressed some regret for his contributions to the iPhone, which itself revolutionized cell phone design more generally. He told host Lauren Laverne: "The nature of innovation is there will be unpredicted consequences, and I celebrate and am encouraged by the very positive contribution (of the iPhone), the empowerment, the liberty that is provided to so many people in so many ways.
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"Just because the not-so-positive consequences, I mean they weren't intended, but that doesn't matter relative to how I feel responsible, and that weighs, and is a contributor to decisions that I have made since, and decisions that I'm making in the future."
Reflecting on the impact of smartphones on everyday life, he added: "It's something that is both important and difficult. When you can connect to people, but it can be anywhere in your house, or while you're travelling, that alone is extremely powerful and you need a very particular resolve and discipline not to be drawn in and seduced to be constantly exercising their capability. But we've [Ive's family] worked very hard recognizing just the power of these tools to use them, I think responsibly and carefully, and like everybody, I find that difficult."
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Ive also touched on his first time using an Apple Macintosh, saying: "The joy of being able to type on that and to see a page on the screen and then use a laser printer and also choose the sounds. This was the first computer that let you actually change the alert chimes, and I was shocked that I had a sense of the people that made it. They could have been in the room, and you really had a sense of what was on their mind and their values and their sort of joy and exuberance in making something that they knew was helpful and reminded me of how important design was."
He spoke of his decision to [5]leave Apple in 2019 , telling Laverne: "I mean it was not a difficult decision, it was a difficult transition having been at Apple for nearly 30 years, and I feel so much of me was there and so much of there was me. It was just the right time. I think, as a team, I think we'd finished a lot of the things that we'd been working on for a long time."
Ive went on to form his own design agency, Lovefrom. Last we heard from the firm, it was collaborating with luxury hi-fi manufacturer Linn on a [6]$60,000 vinyl turntable . The Register noted the irony that Ive's contributions at Apple have indirectly contributed to the near-extinction of physical music media through the iPod and iTunes, later exacerbated by the advent of Spotify and the ability to stream most of the world's music to the iPhone or indeed any smartphone.
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But you don't want to hear about that. Let's judge his music taste.
[8]OpenAI in talks with Jony Apple Ive and Softbank over iPhone-but-for-AI monster
[9]Man who nearly killed physical media returns with $60,000 vinyl turntable
[10]COVID-struck holiday rentals firm Airbnb shacks up with ex Apple design honcho Jony Ive in multi-year deal
[11]IVE HAD ENOUGH! iQuit. Jobs done. Jony cashes out at Apple to run his own design biz
DISC ONE: Really Saying Something (US Extended Version) – Bananarama, Fun Boy Three
[12]Youtube Video
DISC TWO: De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da – The Police
[13]Youtube Video
DISC THREE: Main Theme - Carter Takes a Train – Roy Budd
[14]Youtube Video
DISC FOUR: Singin' in the Rain – Harry Ive, an iPhone recording of his son singing the song, which is nice
DISC FIVE: Don't You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds
[15]Youtube Video
DISC SIX: Define Dancing – Thomas Newman
[16]Youtube Video
DISC SEVEN: Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75: 3. Clair de lune. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by Claudio Arrau (piano)
[17]Youtube Video
DISC EIGHT: "40" – U2
[18]Youtube Video
Ive's book choice was "the complete set of Jeeves & Wooster novels by P G Wodehouse," his luxury item was a bed, and his favorite song was "40" by U2.
I don't know what I expected really. Arguably, much of this would be enjoyed by most people who hit their teens and 20s during the '80s in Britain. U2 stands as one of the most boring, annoying, whiny bands in this writer's mind, and [19]we raked Bill Gates for expressing his love for them. I'll never understand why CEOs and other high-powered exec types always seem to fall back on the most milquetoast music.
That said, I'm in no position to point fingers, having absolutely dreadful taste myself. In my late 30s, I continue to identify as a metalhead at the furthest reaches of extremity, though have come to realize that this is music for the supremely privileged. Once you have children, you have little time or space for the active listening and devotion required, and the often spirtually/politically incorrect subject matter is not conducive to the positive and safe atmosphere I wish to foster in my household. Now I think Brian Eno's Apollo, techno, and [20]SomaFM's Deep Space One channel are a pretty good time.
I'm starting to think that if I was more of a normie growing up, I could be a billionaire executive as well. You can listen to the episode [21]here . As usual, sound off in the comments. ®
Get our [22]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z733M_UkJZjo34YU3DoWowAAAUE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z733M_UkJZjo34YU3DoWowAAAUE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z733M_UkJZjo34YU3DoWowAAAUE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z733M_UkJZjo34YU3DoWowAAAUE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/27/jony_ive_leaves_apple/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/10/jony_ive_linn_turntable/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z733M_UkJZjo34YU3DoWowAAAUE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/28/openai_ive_apple_ai/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/10/jony_ive_linn_turntable/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/22/airbnb_shacks_up_with_former/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/27/jony_ive_leaves_apple/
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mll7g3GjaI8
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5CrU-r55Yo
[14] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO0dHPhDuLs
[15] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR-B4tHmaF8
[16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvEwsc0Qmnw
[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7uV-HYBx-Y
[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ln7R_wnfQM
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/16/bill_gates_reddit_ama/
[20] https://somafm.com/deepspaceone/
[21] https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00289vf
[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Born in the early 70s I think U2 are boring and bland through and through. Oh and Edge can't play, its all reverb & delay tricks.
They Might Be Giants? Lol no wonder you think U2 are good.
If we're here putting down our qualifications, I'm in the process of digitising my music library to play on a little Hiby thing for work and on to my music server at home. I've got Abba, I have Alphabeat, I have Motorhead, Black Flag, Mark Knopfler, The Anchoress, The Beat, The Specials, The Selecter, UB40, Status Quo, Bruce Springsteen, Manic Street Preachers, Meryl Streek, Public Image Ltd, The Alarm, Big Country, Buena Vista Social Club etc etc etc. I think the only genre I don't care for is happy hardcore, euro house, bulgarian folk trance etc.
And with all of this music at my beck and call, even I with the username I've got can tell you beyond all certainty U2 have always been boring and the nepo baby's Inhaler band are just as fucking bland.
But then some people like bland. That's why Coldplay exists. That's why you can still buy magnolia emulsion at B&Q. Some people want to be challenged, have their heart made to race, to feel from the effects of a guitar and drums. Some people though would genuinely enjoy taping away on a Mac listening to musak designed for elevators.
But U2 are fucking boring man.
So bland and boring it's a surprise that all his products weren't beige
Then again, someone who listens to John Coltrane and Aphex Twin probably wouldn't end up designing featureless rectangular black slabs that sell by the truckload.
Re: So bland and boring it's a surprise that all his products weren't beige
So that's what I've been doing wrong all these years!!!
Still if I would have to switch my music tastes to those Blando choices, then I think I'll pass...
Re: So bland and boring it's a surprise that all his products weren't beige
Beige as white,
Re: So bland and boring it's a surprise that all his products weren't beige
> 'someone who listens to John Coltrane and Aphex Twin probably wouldn't end up designing featureless rectangular black slabs that sell by the truckload'
... neither would someone listening to Fela Anikulapo Kuti's 'International Thief Thief' , I guess.
Re: So bland and boring it's a surprise that all his products weren't beige
> Aphex Twin
Can't find that in the article. Go me a link where it says he listens to? I hope not, or [1]else I have to....
[1] https://youtu.be/TZ827lkktYs?feature=shared&t=247
Do I have to have an opinion of U2?
I never thought of U2 as boring. I just didn't think of them much at all, to be honest. Their music was, with a couple of minor exceptions, utterly forgettable for me.
My first impression of them as a kid in the 80's was that they looked like a student band that was trying too hard. Bono was sure he was the coolest cat in the room, when he actually just looked like a tit. Their guitarist called himself "The Edge", but didn't seem to be playing well enough to be worthy of the title. Both of these were good reasons to turn my attention elsewhere.
So I carried on with my mix of pop, hard rock, blues rock, metal and classical. Later I added a little hip hop. (The good stuff. To quote: "Guns, b*tches and bling were never part of the four pillars, and never will be.")
I don't like judging folks based on their music taste, but I struggle not to feel deeply suspicious of anyone who fails to be cheered by Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now", so that would probably be in any selection I made.
The rest would depend on my mood. After all, the idea of planning for a desert island is faintly ridiculous. If it happens by accident then you get what washes up on shore with you. If you're actually planning it ahead of time that rather suggests things have gone very, very badly for you... and perhaps your time could be better spent elsewhere?
Re: Do I have to have an opinion of U2?
It was a sad day when Scroobious Pip stopped making new music, it's true.
Re: Do I have to have an opinion of U2?
> It was a sad day when Scroobious Pip stopped making new music, it's true.
Very true. There would be a lot of very happy people if he chose to restart.
His companion, Dan le Sac, is still making music - most recently he did the music for one of the Tron games.
Re: Do I have to have an opinion of U2?
@Philip Storry
"Bono was sure he was the coolest cat in the room, when he actually just looked like a tit."
Obligatory mention of the cover of "Achtung Bono" , which emphasised exactly that, by the brilliant HMHB
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Achtung_Bono_cover.jpg
Re: Do I have to have an opinion of U2?
Their guitarist called himself "The Edge", but didn't seem to be playing well enough to be worthy of the title.
He got that name because of his physical appearance, his face.
I saw them early on, still at school I did the classic lie to parents about doing some homework round a friends house and we stole away on the train. Missed the last train back and had to phone dad from a payphone and confess to get fetched back. It was a good gig and I eventually bought War on cassette. Not bothered with them since.
U2 stands as one of the most boring, annoying, whiny bands in this commentard's mind. And I'd happily add Oasis, Blur and lots of more recent pop music to this list.
Now, let's collect loads of down votes...
No Hawkwind?
Humph...
Re: No Hawkwind?
> No Hawkwind
Well, he designs his own Silver Machines...
Re: No Hawkwind?
As a child of the 50's, I have the perspective to say for sure that Ive's not cool enough for Hawkwind.
I still treasure my Space Ritual vinyl, which by pure coincidence I'm listening to at this moment.
Are you cooler than ex-Apple design guru Sir Jony Ive?
Scott Forstall certainly is
Metal
"often spirtually/politically incorrect subject matter is not conducive to the positive and safe atmosphere I wish to foster in my household"
Just play some of the (many) Death Metal tracks where lyrics are unintelligible then nobody will know if the subject matter is offensive or not.
Though to be fair. some metal has appropriate lyrics (IMHO) e.g. lyrics of Sabbath classic "War Pigs" still as relevant as ever (unfortunately). But probably wouldn't play Maiden "Charlotte the Harlot" or stronger in a family environment.
Re: Metal
"War Pigs" though has that moment where Ozzy rhymes "masses" with "masses" which feels like biting on aluminum foil.
"for mine own part, it was Greek to me."
Apart from the Debussy tapped out by Arrau his musical selection was all Greek to me.
Being christened Jony Ive and its obvious permutations and embellishments I can see why Sir J might wish to even the score with the world but the curse of the mobile "smart" phone has inflicted on the planet smacks of Trumpian retribution.
P G Wodehouse not a bad choice but the complete works as I wouldn't want to leave Psmith behind. The luxury item would obviously be a seagoing yacht. :)
Design?
Mostly cosmetic at Apple and "inspired" (practically copied) Dieter Rams white package designs for Braun.
He didn't design the OS, the actual GUI (only styles) or electronics, or mechanical structure. Hyped even more than Apple.
I mean fine. It’s for the radio. You don’t want people turning off. There are some legit bangers on there (I’m about the same age as Mr. Ive, so I have a similar pop cultural background). I’m probably have chucked in some Cure, Pixies, Cult, L7, Babes in Toyland… - or, at least, I’d like to think I would. But perhaps if I did I’d have people turning off in droves?
people turning off in droves?
I only catch DID every now and again, and then only because I often listen to R4 when pootling about in the kitchen, ... but it has long been my impression that the more outre the musical selection, the shorter the clip they play. This might not actually be the case, though.
Guy Garvey included Talk Talk's New Grass in his list…
Of an age with Sir Ive of Jony but I'm missing the Floyd, the Underground, the Fall, some punk (Buzzcocks, Undertones), and more out there new romance and Britpop stuff) and some comfort stuff thrown in, maybe even some Robert Wyatt. It's obvious he never listened to John Peel, which tells us probably all we need to know.
And, for all the dross, there's always some good stuff coming out.
U2 have made some great choons, and while they became a travesty, I think we often expect too much of our pop idols. Let them enjoy their stardom, just don't expect me to want to listen to anything after Achtung Baby!
Re: John Peel
I remember where I was when I heard he had died.
Re: John Peel
I thought I did too - but then I thought I'd double check the date on Wikipedia, and it doesn't line up. I thought I was at the Wasps vs. 'Quins match at the Causeway, but it seems that was over a week later. So I can only suppose that I was talking about it with my friends - because I could have sworn that was when I found out too. And I can't believe that I wouldn't have spotted the announcement in the news, or discussed it with my wife, we were both big fans.
Re: John Peel
I think I was out of the country at the time, but by then he'd be shuffled off Radio 1 by the sinister mandarins but he was still listening to and discovering new bands all the time. The list of bands that got their breakthrough because he was prepared to listen to everyone is astonishing. He even let Blodwyn Pig stay at the farm for a few months! Hoping against hope they'd become good (they didn't have to become great).
A Peel show in the 1980s could include some death metal, hip-hop (he was early fan and the first to play Public Enemy IIRC), but also Zimbabwean Jit, The Jesus and Mary Chain and some classic funk or soul. He loved it all and, while he didn't expect everyone else to, he did expect everyone to keep discovering something new.
Mine's the one with the signed photo of Clare Grogan in the pocket…
Small talk
High-powered exec 1: "I like U2"
High-powered exec 2: "U2?"
U2 stands as one of the most boring, annoying, whiny bands in this commentard's mind
They were good(ish) around the late eighties. But somewhere along the way they sold out massively - surely nobody has forgotten when Apple gifted their latest album to everybody.
As for boring, annoying and whiny, the list of those bands is ridiculously long.
You can't hurry, love
Reminds me of a series of interviews with the then current Formula 1 racing drivers, that I remember reading back in the 1980s. All of them, almost without exception, said that they liked Phil Collins.
Not from Sir J
But a big Thumbs Up for Eno's "Apollo"
"Don't You Forget About Me" made me think of the Twelve Monkeys TV show and [1]Jennifer Goines' singing Pink... (NSFW on multiple levels, especially if you are in Germany...)
But, yeah I'm ambient these days. I've been working through some Anjunadeep sets on Youtube. And Deep Space One is sounding good so far.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDEgASduaR8
Well
At least there's no clodplay...
Jesus
My mum would have chosen a livelier bunch than that...and she's dead. Bananarama! Fuck me!
Re: Bananarama! Fuck me!
You were a teen at the time, then?
8-D
Re: Jesus
Don't dis Bananarama. They were good in their own way in their time. And they're still good today.
Re: Jesus
I don't think they were ever good but they've never taken themselves too seriously.
Don't you, forget about ...
... Jim (Kerr). One of my best friends is *the* world authority on 'Simple Minds'. He's going to be beside himself that Jony Ive also likes his favourite band, though I still don't think he'll buy any Apple products.
Re: Don't you, forget about ...
I was at university with someone in the Glasgow music scene and he had nothing good to say about them, especiall Jim Kerr. That apart, I think they had a couple of good tracks, but the same could be said of a great many bands.
I've never thought of U2 as boring, but I was born in the mid 70's, and don't listen to much recent pop music because I can't stand the sound of autotune.
I've got to ask,has the author listened to "The Joshua Tree", "Rattle and Hum", "Actung Baby" and "Zooropa"?
For the record, I enjoy a range of music from They Might Be Giants to relatively recent dance music (e.g. Justice or Jon Hopkins), but including ska / two tone (topical, because of the recent album with many artists sending their listeners to Coventry ;-), rap, a range of electronic music and some of the lighter bits of heavy metal...