In an interview with design magazine Dezeen, German industrial designer Richard Sapper revealed that he was once recruited by Steve Jobs to do design work for Apple. The interview doesn't specify when the recruitment happened, but it could have been in the early 80's when Apple was just starting out, or in the mid-90's after Jobs returned to the company.

NewImage

Jobs once wanted to hire me to do the design of Apple [computers] but the circumstances weren't right because I didn't want to move to California and I had very interesting work here that I didn't want to abandon. Also, at that time Apple was not a great company, it was just a small computer company. They were doing interesting things so I was very interested, of course, but I had an exclusivity contract with IBM.

The 81-year old Sapper has been designing products for nearly 60 years, including lamps, phones, radios, coffee makers and an IBM ThinkPad notebook.

Top Rated Comments

koruki Avatar
141 months ago
I'm pretty sure the ThinkPad's design hasnt changed since the 80's :cool:
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chocolaterabbit Avatar
141 months ago
On the fifth row, second from right, is a clock face that looks suspiciously like that Swiss Federal Railways clock, that was in the news around November of last year.

It is the Swiss Railways clock, in watch form. But this was just a watch he owned, he had nothing to do with the design.

----------

“at that time Apple was not a great company, it was just a small computer company.”

He wasn't a passionate visionary artist, he was just a worker. You don't join a startup company because is big and powerful, you join a startup company because you love the dream too.

I can imagine (even if he's millionaire today) how bad that sentence sounds today.

That's a bit harsh on him, since there could have been many reasons for him to decline joining Apple. Steve might have failed to convince him that Apple's vision was worth working for. Or his style of design was different to how Apple wanted their design.

Looking at Thinkpads, they are of a different philosophy to Macbooks. One's utilitarian and a workhorse, the other is sleek and modern. Both are some of the best designs in laptops thus far, but for entirely different reasons.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Daze & Confuse Avatar
141 months ago

Looking at Thinkpads, they are of a different philosophy to Macbooks. One's utilitarian and a workhorse, the other is sleek and modern. Both are some of the best designs in laptops thus far, but for entirely different reasons.

Agreed. The ThinkPad is an incredibly good design.

I have learnt however that MacRumors is the worst place to discuss design. Just look at the panning the Phillipe Starck yacht or the Ruth Asawa fountain got.

Both beautiful things in their own ways, but not 2mm thick aluminium slabs designed by a certain Brit, so immediately dismissed by those who prefer to be told what they like.

(And before I get destroyed - I think the design of my MacBooks and iPods are beautiful. But the only and best (there's no such thing - design is not a race) style in which something should be designed? Absolutely not.)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kas23 Avatar
141 months ago
The ThinkPad looked great for 1992.

It hasn't aged so well, though.

I suppose. But, yeah, it never evolved. It basically stayed the same forever. The Lenovo ones still look like they were made 15 years ago.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
inscrewtable Avatar
141 months ago
This sound like one of those "guy who declined to manage the Beatles" stories.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drunken Master Avatar
141 months ago
The ThinkPad has got to be one of the ugliest laptops in the history of computing. Thank God IBM had an exclusivity deal with this guy.

The ThinkPad looked great for 1992.

It hasn't aged so well, though.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...