Jony Ive

The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products

By: Leander Kahney

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The best-selling author of Inside Steve's Brain profiles Apple's legendary chief designer, Jonathan Ive.

Jony Ive's designs have not only made Apple one of the most valuable companies in the world; they've overturned entire industries, from music and mobile phones to PCs and tablets.

But for someone who has changed the world as much as he has, little is widely known about Apple's senior vice president of industrial design. Unlike his former boss and creative partner Steve Jobs, Ive shuns the spotlight. Naturally shy and soft-spoken, he lets his work speak for itself and concerns himself only with his craft.

In the first book to focus on Ive, Leander Kahney offers a rigorous and systematic examination of a remarkably creative career and provides insight into the principles underlying Ive's success.

Having covered Apple as an editor since the 1990s and interviewed Ive on numerous occasions, Kahney offers a unique perspective on how this man designs killer products that attract fanatically loyal customers.

©2013 Leander Kahney (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"An adulating biography of Apple’s left-brained wunderkind, whose work continues to revolutionize modern technology.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Fascinating peek into Johny & Apple lives

Learning about Johny's childhood and how he grew up in a design home through his magnificent dad and his influence on the UK education system was great.

How Johny made it to Apple was very interesting. Along the way, many things to learn about Apple evolution on the design front. At some point the book seemed to be about Apple but you still feel Johny's presence in the narrative.

Favorite part was about the design and manufacturing philosophy, challenges, and triumphs.

The accent of the narrator is enjoyable and an integral part to the whole experience.

Its a story about a legendary designer who is ubiquitously present in our daily lives. Highly recommended to both Apple fans and otherwise.

OS X

Any additional comments?

Removed one star for the narrator, who was otherwise fantastic, pronouncing OS X as "oh ess ex" instead of "oh ess ten."

Great Look Inside

... to an individual who note only helped shape the top comoany of the world, but it gives us an idea of how thought excellence can make a better world.

Great listening experience.

@MikeOlsen_me

Jonny I’ve

A good synopsis of how things evolved (or didn’t) over the years at Apple. Book should be updated to include Ive’s current status with Apple.

How Jony had worked at Apple

Like it a lot. Great resource to know Apple more. Would recommend it to any apple stockholder

Was hoping to get to know the man behind the name.

What did you like best about Jony Ive? What did you like least?

In short, it is not his story, it is a story about him. Most of the book is about telling the resume of this great artist. The story is told in third person most of the time and you don't get the feeling you are being entered into his mind, or understand who the person is. It tells the story of Apple, and it tells the story of how Jony got there, but not how Jony felt in certain occasions, or what went through his mind during different challenges. I was hoping to get more first person insight into his world, but it is okay of a book.

Not an authorized bio - don't expect Isaacson

I didn't know this wasn't an authorized biography. I did note that it was short in length, but I was eager to learn more about the lead designer at Apple.

I got a long list of accomplishments and insight on what he did and what was done but bottom line is I still don't feel like I know what he's like as a human being. Even little facts - I would expect to be able to know things like, what was his starting salary at Apple? I did learn that he made something like 50 million once... but where did he start? What was his first meeting with Jobs like?

There are some good observations - particularly I enjoyed the sequence of manufacturing iphones/imacs, detailing from the aluminum billet, the laser drilling, painting, etc. There are about 2 parts where the manufacturing detail is laid out. Apple doesn't disclose it, but it seems Kahney got some sources and also intuited some of it out. Painting, thermal expansion, tooling, properties of plastic vs glass vs aluminum, all of these are things I hadn't thought about.

Very much missing are nice anecdotes, like the ones in Isaacson's "Steve Jobs," that could really give Ive a depth of character. If you read Isaacson's book, you might remember the bit about somebody seeing Steve in his Porsche shouting on the phone - "make it more ____ing BLUE!" or some other great tidbit that gave you insight into his character. Nothing there, and I missed it. For example, Ive and Rubenstein would yell at each other. What did they yell? did they curse? were they funny? No quotes. And then supposedly Rubenstein got fired by an ultimatum, "he goes or I goes," but that's delivered more as a hearsay rather than a direct quote.

Anyway, it's an unauthorized bio on a guy who's really private so it's a tough task to tackle... that's why that's my headline.

Love it!

Very insightful story about multiple personalities around Jony Ive and Apple history. I would recommend.

Worthy

I think I’ll listen to it again soon! Yes, it’s that good and very interesting

Fascinating

Very good story about John Ive. Not as good as the Jobs biography. But still very insightful. Like most writers about this new topic of "design" he treats it like the next penicillin or a cure for cancer. So a little pretentious, but for Apple it has been the key to billions.