Stephen Fry Profiles the iPad and Steve Jobs for Time Magazine
Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the iPad are set to be the cover story for the upcoming issue of Time, and as part of the coverage, British actor/comedian Stephen Fry describes his visit to Apple headquarters to learn about and play with the iPad, as well as to meet Jobs himself. Yesterday, Fry posted a video of the unpacking of his iPad and associated accessories.
While Fry's lengthy Time article offers little in the way of new information on the iPad, it does provide an interesting glimpse into the Apple mystique, and his conversations with Jobs and other Apple executives share some of the giddy excitement and nervousness that many Apple fans would likely feel if granted inside access to Apple's devices and top minds.
I have met five British Prime Ministers, two American Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson and the Queen. My hour with Steve Jobs certainly made me more nervous than any of those encounters. I know what you are thinking, but it's the truth. I do believe Jobs to be a truly great figure, one of the small group of innovators who have changed the world. He exists somewhere between showman, perfectionist overseer, visionary, enthusiast and opportunist, and his insistence upon design, detail, finish, quality, ease of use and reliability are a huge part of Apple's success.
During the interview, Jobs offers a sentiment shared by Fry that the revolutionary and immersive nature of the iPad can not truly be felt until one gets their hands on and uses it. Unlike smartphones, which were a relatively obvious evolution for mobile phones, the new generation of tablet devices which are being led in mindshare by the iPad must create their own market space, and to do so the experience must be compelling."I think the experience of using an iPad is going to be profound for many people," he says. "I really do. Genuinely profound." That rings a bell. "I've heard it said that this is the device for you," I reply. "The one that will change everything." "When people see how immersive the experience is," Jobs says, "how directly you engage with it ... the only word is magical."
Fry closes his profile with an interesting observation that it is a shame that his good friend Douglas Adams is no longer alive to see what is the closest device yet created to his famed Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.Top Rated Comments
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"I put to designer Ive the matter of all the features that are missing from the iPad. "In many ways, it's the things that are not there that we are most proud of," he tells me. "For us, it is all about refining and refining until it seems like there's nothing between the user and the content they are interacting with."
That's not what he's supposed to say. Tech journalists are obsessed with spec lists and functions. Does it do this? Does it do that? They often look at devices as the sum of their features. But that kind of thinking isn't in Apple's DNA. The iPad does perform tasks — it runs apps and has the calendar, e-mail, Web browsing, office productivity, audio, video and gaming capabilities you would expect of any such device — yet when I eventually got my hands on one, I discovered that one doesn't relate to it as a "tool"; the experience is closer to one's relationship with a person or an animal.
I know how weird that sounds. But consider for a moment. We are human beings; our first responses to anything are dominated not by calculations but by feelings. What Ive and his team understand is that if you have an object in your pocket or hand for hours every day, then your relationship with it is profound, human and emotional. Apple's success has been founded on consumer products that address this side of us: their products make users smile as they reach forward to manipulate, touch, fondle, slide, tweak, pinch, prod and stroke."
Jonny Ive has the right idea, not for techies and tech journalists, but for the vast majority of everyone else. The key in writing, movie-making and tech tools is not what you cram in, but what you leave out.
We shall see.
:cool:
To me this is the key quote from the Time article:
Jonny Ive has the right idea, not for techies and tech journalists, but for the vast majority of everyone else. The key in writing, movie-making and tech tools is not what you cram in, but what you leave out.
Ironically, vast majority of people is not using Apple products. Failed execution of the vision?
Ironically, vast majority of people is not using Apple products. Failed execution of the vision?
No, not now - but that shouldn't retract from their vision, their goal of what a truly perfect should be. Good point, I agree. But you have to stay true. Or else, you're just another follower.
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