Steve Jobs gave Jony Ive this 'impossible task' when they first met and it saved Apple from bankruptcy
Steve Jobs gave Jony Ive an ‘impossible task’ when they first met and it incredibly saved Apple from bankruptcy.
The late co-founder made his return to Apple in 1997 after a 12 year hiatus from the company and it was with the help of designer Ive that the pair saved the firm from going under.
But it was the very first time they ever met that changed the course of the company’s future.
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Appearing on an episode of the BBC’s Desert Island Discs podcast, Ive recalled the first conversation he’d had with Jobs.
There, he shared that the tech mogul asked him to create a network computer that had internet connectivity.
The request came ‘literally days’ before Apple was expected to hit bankruptcy.
Ive explained: “We started work from the first day that we met on what became the iMac.”
The designer recalled how it became their mission to make a product ‘for people’ as computers weren’t considered a popular item in people’s personal lives yet.
The decision to design the iMac changed everything for the company and the computer became a recognizable device for people who didn’t know much about computing.
Ive went on to say: “It references immediately and unambiguously your hand, and you understand, therefore, something about this object.”
The computers were sold in different vibrant colors and the appearance of them became a huge talking point.
Within five months of the iMac’s launch in 1999, which was released with the tagline, ‘collect all five’, the company sold a whopping 800,000 units.
Ive continued: “It felt alive; it didn’t feel static; it didn’t feel stuck.”
Following the success, Ive went on to become the chief design officer and worked on more iconic products for Apple including the iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and the Apple Watch.
In 2019, Ive announced that he was leaving the tech giant after 27 years working there.
Jobs revealed a sentimental side when it was discovered that he had named one of the first Apple computers after his daughter.
Naming the PC Lisa, Jobs explained at first that it was an acronym for ‘local integrated systems architecture’.
Later though, he admitted that it was actually named after his first born child, Lisa Brennan-Jobs.
When Jobs passed away in 2011, he left behind an enormous wealth of $10 billion. But none of his children got a slice of the fortune.
As a way to ensure that his kids paved their own way in life, Jobs refused to leave behind any inheritance for them.