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The To-be-Useful Edition Friday, June 28, 2019

Jony Ive, iPhone Designer, Announces Apple Departure, by Tim Bradshaw, Financial Times

Jony Ive is leaving Apple after more than two decades in which his iconic designs for the Mac, iPod and iPhone turned one of Silicon Valley’s faded giants into the world’s most valuable company and defined a generation of consumer products.

Sir Jonathan is setting up his own new venture, a creative business called LoveFrom, with Apple as its first client. The transition will begin later this year, with LoveFrom launching fully in 2020.

Jony Ive On Leaving Apple, In His Own Words, by Tim Bradshaw, Financial Times

I think that part of the timing for LoveFrom is in some ways connected to having a very clear sense about the health and vitality of the design team. I'm actually looking forward to contributing in a different way to projects we've been working together on for, in some cases, many years.

I certainly have an ambition and feel almost a moral obligation to be useful. I feel I've been fortunate enough to work with remarkable people over the last 30-plus years and have worked on some very interesting projects and solved some very difficult problems. I feel keenly aware of a responsibility to do something significant with that learning.”

What Will Apple Do Without Jony Ive?, by Tim Bradshaw, Financial Times

Mr Cook agreed: “Perhaps the most important legacy that he leaves . . . is the team.”

Inside Apple's Long Goodbye To Design Chief Jony Ive, by Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

"This has been a long time in the making," according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to discuss personnel moves. "He’s been at Apple over 25 years, and it’s a really taxing job. It’s been an extremely tense 25 years for him at Apple and there’s a time for everyone to slow down."

Initially, not much will change, because Apple has been operating with partial input from Ive for a few years, someone close to the team said.

But challenges loom. And some people familiar with Apple are already worried about the new design leadership. Now that Ive is officially leaving, longtime studio manager Evans Hankey will run the hardware design group, Apple said. Hankey is a great team leader, but Apple now lacks a true design brain on its executive team, which is a concern, a person familiar with the design team said.

Read Tim Cook's Internal Email To Apple Employees On The Departure Of Designer Jony Ive, by Ryan Mac, BuzzFeed

In an internal email to employees obtained by BuzzFeed News announcing Ive's departure, Cook said, "We will all benefit — as individuals who value great design, and as a company — as he pursues his passions and continues his dedicated work with Apple."

Jony Ive’s Six Greatest Hits (And A Few Misses), by Martin Coulter, Financial Times

Jony Ive, the man behind Apple’s most revolutionary designs, has revealed he is stepping down after almost three decades with the company.

While he oversaw the development of some of Apple’s most innovative and admired products, he also contributed to a few of the company’s less popular offerings.

A Reminiscence Of Jony Ive’s Design Legacy, by Steven Levy, Wired

In Ive, Apple cofounder and longtime CEO Jobs found someone who not only was his soulmate, but a creative spirit who challenged even Jobs to greater extremes in the pursuit of Apple-ness. Jobs and Ive knew their products could never be perfect—science, price considerations, and human frailty prevented that—but their creations breathtakingly expressed a striving for perfection. Best of all, the stuff worked. Both Jobs and Ive agreed that they were not in it for the MoMA accolades, but to serve and delight their buyers. That combination led to fantastic success, a few flops, and an easy target in comedy skits. But mostly fantastic success.

Stuff

Apple Touts Versatility Of AirPods With Wireless Charging In New Ad, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

The video is entitled “Bounce” and showcases an AirPods user moving effortlessly through city streets, bouncing off of everyday objects. Apple touts that “with wireless charging and voice-activated Siri, AirPods have never felt more wireless.”

Apple's Latest 'Shot On iPhone' Video Timed With 2019 Cricket World Cup, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

Apple this week shared a new "Shot on iPhone XS" ad highlighting the sport of cricket in India, coinciding with the ongoing 2019 Cricket World Cup in England and Wales.

Apple Continues Expanding Into Health Care By Selling Its First Diabetes Product In Stores, by Christina Farr, Kif Leswing, CNBC

Some Apple retail locations now sell a glucose monitor that integrates with the iPhone to give people with diabetes a way to track their blood sugar through Apple's Health app.

One Drop is an aesthetically designed blood glucose monitor with an associated iPhone app that integrates with Apple's Health app, as well as a separate Apple Watch app. It's the first diabetes product that Apple is selling in its physical stores, although it previously carried One Drop online.

Second Apple Store In Singapore Will Open At Jewel Changi Airport On July 13th, by Michael Steeber, 9to5Mac

Airports are unfamiliar territory for Apple Stores. Apple typically chooses suburban shopping malls, downtown retail districts, and popular city centers for new stores. But Jewel Changi is no ordinary airport. The new retail, dining, and tourist destination is an expansion of the existing Changi Airport, which was named the world’s best airport seven years in a row.

Terminology: Where Word Explorations Begin, by Timothy Buck, TidBITS

When I hear a term that’s new to me or I’m struggling to find the perfect word for a sentence, I turn to Terminology. It’s a powerful utility app for iPhone and iPad from Agile Tortoise, the creator of Drafts.

In much the same way that Drafts gives you a place to start writing, Terminology gives you a launchpad for your word explorations, and its extensible actions are powerful enough that you will usually find what you need.

Mophie Launches New Juice Pack Air Battery Case With Lightning For iPhone XS, XS Max, And XR, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Mophie today has released a new Juice Pack Air battery case with wireless charging for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. Mophie released the Juice Pack Access earlier this year, but the new Juice Pack Air has a key differentiator in that it supports Lightning connectivity.

Notes

When You Listen, They Watch: Pre-Saving Albums Can Allow Labels To Track Users On Spotify, by Micah Singleton, Billboard

To pre-save music, which adds a release to a user’s library as soon as it comes out, Spotify users click through and approve permissions that give the label far more account access than the streaming giant normally grants them -- enough to track what they listen to, change what artists they follow and potentially even control their music streaming remotely.

This lets labels access some of the data that streaming companies usually guard for themselves -- which they want in order to compete with the streaming giants on a more even playing field. But at a time when the policies of online giants like Google and Facebook has made online privacy a contentious issue, music’s pre-saving process could begin to spark concern among consumers, and perhaps even regulators.

JCPenney Has Reinstated Apple Pay In All Retail Locations, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

JCPenney earlier this year eliminated support for Apple Pay and other contactless payment options due to an April 13 deadline from Visa for retiring legacy magnetic stripe contactless technology in favor of EMV technology.

Bottom of the Page

Apple products that I've almost bought, but didn't because I love my wallet more:
(a) eMate
(b) G4 Cube
(c) Design by Apple In California (the book)

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Thanks for reading.