3年之后，乔纳森·艾维（Jony Ive）离开苹果的原因，终于浮出水面。没错，确实与库克有关。2019年，这个被称为“最像乔布斯的人”，放弃苹果首席设计师位置，挥别自己供职27年的老东家，另立门户。这几乎是苹果设计团队发生的最大人事震动。
要知道，乔纳森是Mac、iPod、iPhone、Apple Watch等一系列苹果产品的打造者和设计师，曾被视为乔布斯的接班人、一度声望高过库克。
当时，乔纳森对自己离职的解释为“个人新追求”。
如今，随着一本名为《After Steve》的书籍出版，更为深层的原因被曝光在大众视野中——
理念不合。
而将这一切抽丝剥茧来看，或许还要从乔布斯离开、库克登台说起。
Apple Watch是最后一根稻草
时间回到2014年，Apple Watch发布会前夕。
经过2年时间开发、打磨后，这款苹果的全新产品，终于要登台亮相。
与此同时，它还有一个更加意义非凡的身份——
这是乔布斯离开后，苹果推出的第一条全新产品线。
乔纳森作为设计总监，对于产品设计的话语权，在这时也达到了前所未有的高度。
其个人大胆、极简、创新的风格在Apple Watch上体现地淋漓尽致。
比如外壳的材质甚至使用18K金，搭配柔软的皮革。在外形和质感上，都接近极致。
而这一切，其实都是为了配合他一个更为大胆的规划：把Apple Watch打造成一款时尚单品。
为此他认为，对于Apple Watch而言，得到《Vogue》的称赞比任何科技评论家的观点都更重要。
怎么去搞定这些时尚媒体？
一个帐篷，成为了关键。
乔纳森提出，他们想要2500万美元（折合人民币约1.6亿），用来铲掉发布会现场的24棵树，再搭建一个外观豪华的白色帐篷。
为了让这场活动，看上去像高端时装秀一样“非凡”。
矛盾便在此刻激化。
负责苹果发布会的工作人员，很难理解“铲除树木”的做法，更无法接受这惊人的成本。
尤其是在库克担任CEO后，苹果对于成本支出的把控更加严格。
而且他们认为，相较于对外观的极致展现，用户应该对手表能实现的功能更为期待。
另一边，乔纳森缠身在这些争论中身心俱疲，一度和库克提出了离职的想法。
最终，矛盾还是被推到了库克面前。
在《After Steve》一书的描述中，这个场面充满了戏剧色彩：
在大家讨论乔纳森的想法时，库克坐在一旁的椅子上轻轻晃动。
作为CEO，他一直指望着乔纳森——被乔布斯称为自己灵魂伴侣的人——来领导产品开发。
这位设计师对于公司的价值如此之大，以至于他担心，如果乔纳森离开，将会导致投资者抛售股票。
按照高管们的估计，乔纳森的离职将会使得苹果市值至少减少10%，大约为500多亿美元。
想到这里，库克在椅子上坐定，然后说：
我们应该这么做。
也就是同意了乔纳森价值1.6亿的“帐篷计划”。
实际上，这只是库克与乔纳森行事风格迥异的一次外化。
更多摩擦还体现在日常的合作共事中。
比如库克追求功能、追求实用主义，对产品的外观不是非常关心，所以他很少造访苹果的设计工作室。
但是在过去，乔布斯几乎每天都会去设计工作室，和乔纳森保持着密切的合作。
团队建设上，苹果内部想要组建规模达数百人的设计团队，而乔纳森认为团队只要维持在20人左右就好。
而为了稳定住乔纳森、不影响公司股价，库克之后开始减少乔纳森的工作职责。
2015年，他任命乔纳森为苹果首席设计师。
不过，乔纳森坐在这个高高在上的位置上，其实充满了沮丧和疲惫。
职位、工作内容的变化，使他逐渐远离了产品一线设计。
过去每周都要进行的产品评价，最后甚至一个月都不会做一次。
与此同时，库克的一些做法也令乔纳森不满。
比如库克聘请了前波音公司财务主管James?Bell担任公司董事，取代营销主管Mickey?Drexler；提高公司财务部门的发言权……
种种现象、桩桩件件，都写满了四个大字：理念不合。
最终，事情还是以乔纳森离开苹果，落下帷幕。
2019年，乔纳森出席了最后一场苹果发布会。
之后不久，便传出了离职消息。
虽然消息释出突然，但明显可以感觉到，内部早已准备周全。
乔纳森先在接受英国金融时报采访时，宣布将正式离职苹果，下一步组建设计公司LoveFrom，并会继续以外包公司形态参与苹果业务，苹果将是其第一个客户。
另一边，苹果官方也同步上架声明。
库克评价说，乔纳森在设计领域独一无二，在苹果复兴中的作用不容小觑，从1998年开创性的iMac，其后iPhone，到最新的苹果新总部——宇宙飞船设计，都功成于他。
乔纳森则表示，自己离开任职近30年的苹果，核心原因是个人新追求。
“一些重要的项目都已完成，比如开始于2004年的项目Apple Park。”
自此，最像乔布斯的人正式挥别苹果。
在离开之际，他召集设计团队一起看了一部电影《Yesterday（昨日奇迹）》。
这部电影探讨了“艺术与商业之间的永恒冲突”。
逐渐瓦解的苹果传奇设计团队
而乔纳森的故事，并不是个例。
被称为乔纳森“头号副手”的丹尼尔·考斯特（Daniel Coster），同样是在“理念不合”的困局里，最终选择离职。
1994年，丹尼尔来到苹果，后来成为苹果传奇设计团队一员。
帮助苹果东山再起的初代彩色iMac，正是出自他之手。
之后，他还参与开发了各代iPhone、iPad的开发，Apple Watch的表带专利也是以他的名字命名。
但在几年前，丹尼尔在对iPad外观的一次全新升级中，碰了钉子。
当时，他的设计让新款iPad可以机身更轻、线条更流畅，手感上有了大幅提升，得到了不少内部设计师的认可。
然而，苹果的运营团队却驳回了这一设计。
他们认为，这样的设计将意味着需要从头开发新功能、重新设计机身内部逻辑，花费成本将达数十亿美元，并且这笔支出短期内带来的收益不明显。
由此，这款iPad设计，被内部毙掉了。
这种注重成本的理念，也让设计团队不少人感到沮丧。
2016年，丹尼尔离开了苹果，加入GoPro公司，担任设计主管。
这一消息，让GoPro当时的股价上涨16%。
克里斯托弗·斯金格（Christopher Stringer），同样是苹果设计团队老将，1995年加入苹果。
他的代表作除了iPhone、iMac、iPad外，还有Apple Pencil和HomePod。
然而在HomePod亮相当年，他挥别苹果，创建了自己的音响品牌。
因为在开发过程中，他意识到苹果并不打算将HomePod作为主力产品推出，仅仅是一种“爱好”罢了。
这会导致HomePod的开发进程缓慢、功能上也不够齐全。
而且，音箱产品能为苹果带来的收益的确非常有限，很难类比iPhone、iPad这样的核心产品。
由此，克里斯托弗退出苹果，创立了自己的品牌Syng。
同样的，这些困扰还出现在了软件设计团队中。
伊姆兰·乔杜里（Imran Chaudhri），1995加入苹果。
曾是苹果多点触控技术的开发人员之一。
2017年，伊姆兰离开苹果，给出的理由是：公司的创新突破越来越少，无法满足他的创作。
除了以上提到的设计师，还有Doug Satzger、Daniele De Iuliis等多位设计师，都在2017年先后离职。
而因为苹果不同于一般巨头公司，其核心设计团队规模在过去20年时间里，一直保持在20人左右规模，所以每一个成员的离去，都会为公司带来一定影响。
如今，苹果的设计团队中，还有Richard Howarth、Evans Hankey、Alan Dye在内的几位老将在任。
但从《After Steve》一书的梳理中可以明显感受到，离职人数远超过在任人数。
One More Thing
值得一提的是，关于乔纳森，似乎是因为没有了乔布斯的把控，他的设计在一段时间也受到人们吐槽。
比如被戏称为擦丝器的Mac Pro。
还有最开始推出的Apple Watch黄金版，售价高达3万人民币，意在进军奢侈品市场。
然而这一想法当时并不被一些手表行业的人看好，后来这一18K黄金版的产品也被苹果下架。
You know, Jonathan, the maker and designer of a range of Apple products such as Mac, iPod, iPhone and Apple Watch, was once seen as the successor to Jobs and was once more prestigious than Cook.
At the time, Jonathan interpreted his departure as a “personal new pursuit”.
Now, with the publication of a book called After Steve, a deeper reason has been exposed to the public–
The idea is different.
Judging from all this, we may have to start with the departure of Steve Jobs and the appearance of Cook on the stage.
Apple Watch is the last straw.
Time goes back to 2014, on the eve of the Apple Watch launch.
After 2 years of development and polishing, this new Apple product is finally going to make its debut.
At the same time, it has a more meaningful identity–
This is the first new product line launched by Apple since Jobs left.
Jonathan, as the design director, has an unprecedented voice on product design at this time.
Its bold, minimalist and innovative style is reflected incisively and vividly on Apple Watch.
For example, the shell is even made of 18-karat gold with soft leather. In terms of appearance and texture, it is close to the extreme.
All this, in fact, is to tie in with a bolder plan: to turn the Apple Watch into a fashion item.
To that end, he believes that it is more important for Apple Watch to be praised by “Vogue” than the views of any technology commentator.
How to deal with these fashion media?
A tent became the key.
Jonathan suggested that they wanted $25 million (about 160 million yuan) to shovel up 24 trees at the event and build a luxurious white tent.
To make the event look as “extraordinary” as a high-end fashion show.
The contradiction intensifies at this moment.
It is difficult for the staff in charge of Apple’s launch to understand the practice of “uprooting trees”, let alone the astonishing cost.
Especially since Cook became CEO, Apple has tightened controls on costs and expenses.
And they believe that users should look forward to what the watch can do rather than the ultimate display of appearance.
On the other hand, Jonathan was so exhausted in these arguments that at one point he proposed the idea of leaving with Cook.
In the end, the contradiction was pushed in front of Cook.
In the description of After Steve, the scene is full of drama:
Cook rocked gently in his chair while everyone was discussing Jonathan’s idea.
As CEO, he has been counting on Jonathan-the man Jobs called his soul mate-to lead product development.
The designer is so valuable to the company that he fears that if Jonathan leaves, it will cause investors to sell shares.
According to executives’ estimates, Jonathan’s departure will reduce apple’s market value by at least 10%, or more than $50 billion.
Thinking of this, Cook sat down in his chair and said:
Here’s what we should do.
In other words, he agreed to Jonathan’s “tent plan” worth $160 million.
In fact, this is just an externalization of Cook’s and Jonathan’s very different styles.
More friction is also reflected in daily cooperation.
Cook, for example, pursues functionality and pragmatism, and is not very concerned about the appearance of products, so he rarely visits Apple’s design studio.
But in the past, Jobs went to the design studio almost every day and worked closely with Jonathan.
In terms of team building, Apple wants to build a design team of hundreds of people, while Jonathan believes that the team should be kept at around 20 people.
In order to stabilize Jonathan and not affect the company’s share price, Cook later began to reduce Jonathan’s job responsibilities.
In 2015, he appointed Jonathan as Apple’s chief designer.
However, Jonathan sat in this high position, in fact, full of frustration and fatigue.
With the change of position and job content, he gradually moved away from the product front-line design.
The product evaluation that used to be conducted every week will not even be done once a month.
At the same time, some of Cook’s practices also upset Jonathan.
For example, Cook hired James?Bell, the former chief financial officer of Boeing, as the company’s director, replacing Mickey?Drexler;, the head of marketing, to increase the voice of the company’s financial department.
All kinds of phenomena and piles are full of four big words: the idea is different.
In the end, it ended with Jonathan leaving Apple.
In 2019, Jonathan attended the last Apple launch.
Soon after that, news of his departure came out.
Although the news was released suddenly, it was obvious that the interior had been well prepared.
Jonathan first announced in an interview with the Financial Times that he would formally leave Apple, the next step is to set up a design company LoveFrom, and will continue to participate in Apple’s business as an outsourcing company, and Apple will be its first customer.
On the other hand, Apple officials also announced that they were on the shelf at the same time.
Cook commented that Jonathan was unique in design and played a significant role in Apple’s renaissance, from the pioneering iMac in 1998, the subsequent iPhone, to the latest Apple’s new headquarters, spaceship design.
Jonathan said that the core reason for leaving Apple, where he has worked for nearly 30 years, is his new pursuit.
“some important projects have been completed, such as the project Apple Park, which began in 2004.”
Since then, the person most like Steve Jobs has officially waved goodbye to Apple.
As he left, he summoned a design team to watch the movie “Yesterday”.
The film explores the eternal conflict between art and commerce.
The gradually disintegrating legendary design team of Apple
Jonathan’s story is not alone.
Daniel Daniel Coster, known as Jonathan’s “number one deputy”, also chose to leave in the dilemma of “disagreement of ideas”.
Daniel came to Apple in 1994 and later became a member of Apple’s legendary design team.
He wrote the original color iMac that helped Apple make a comeback.
After that, he also participated in the development of various generations of iPhone and iPad, and the watch band patent of Apple Watch was also named after him.
But a few years ago, Daniel hit a snag in a new upgrade to the look and feel of iPad.
At that time, his design made the new iPad lighter and smoother, and the feel was greatly improved, which was recognized by many internal designers.
However, Apple’s operations team rejected the design.
They believe that such a design would mean the need to develop new features and redesign the internal logic of the fuselage from scratch, costing billions of dollars, and that the benefits would not be obvious in the short term.
As a result, the iPad design was killed internally.
This concept of focusing on cost has also frustrated many people on the design team.
In 2016, Daniel left Apple to join GoPro as design director.
The news sent GoPro’s share price up 16% at the time.
Christopher Stringer (Christopher Stringer), also a veteran of Apple’s design team, joined Apple in 1995.
In addition to iPhone, iMac and iPad, his masterpieces also include Apple Pencil and HomePod.
However, in the year of HomePod’s debut, he waved goodbye to Apple and founded his own audio brand.
Because during the development process, he realized that Apple did not intend to launch the HomePod as its main product, it was just a “hobby”.
As a result, the development of HomePod is slow and not fully functional.
Moreover, the benefits that speakers can bring to Apple are indeed very limited, and it is difficult to compare core products such as iPhone and iPad.
As a result, Christopher quit Apple and started his own brand, Syng.
Similarly, these troubles also appear in the software design team.
Imran Chaudhry (Imran Chaudhri), joined Apple in 1995.
Used to be one of the developers of Apple’s multi-touch technology.
Imran left Apple in 2017, citing fewer and fewer innovative breakthroughs that could not satisfy his creation.
In addition to the designers mentioned above, a number of designers, such as Doug Satzger and Daniele De Iuliis, all left their jobs in 2017.
Because Apple is different from other giant companies, the size of its core design team has been maintained at about 20 people over the past 20 years, so the departure of each member will have a certain impact on the company.
Today, there are several veterans in Apple’s design team, including Richard Howarth, Evans Hankey and Alan Dye.
However, from the combing of the book After Steve, it is clear that the number of departures far exceeds the number of incumbents.
One More Thing
It is worth mentioning that Jonathan seems to be without the control of Jobs, his design has also been complained about for some time.
For example, Mac Pro, which is jokingly called a wire eraser.
There is also the initial launch of the gold version of Apple Watch, which sells for up to Rmb30, 000 and is intended to enter the luxury market.
However, the idea was not favored by some people in the watch industry at the time, and the 18K gold version was later removed from Apple’s shelves.
相关文章