Jonathan Ive takes over user interface design role at Apple

[Arthur]

It's great to see Scott Forstall (SVP of iOS) and John Browett (SVP of Retail and former Dixon's CEO) leave Apple.

 

With Jonathan Ive now in charge of the design of both hardware and software, iOS and OS X will hopefully look much nicer than they do currently.

 

Source: The Verge

 

Apple has just announced a major executive shake-up: Senior VP of iOS software Scott Forstall is leaving Apple at the end of the year — he'll be serving in an advisory role to CEO Tim Cook until his departure. Additional executive changes include the departure of retail head John Browett, with Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi being tapped for additional responsibilities.

 

To make up for the departure of Forstall, Jony Ive will now provide leadership and direction for human interface across the entire company — it sounds like Ive will be getting a major opportunity to bring his famed hardware design sensibility to Apple's software. Eddie Cue, who has been responsible for Apple's digital storefronts, will get increased responsibility in the form of Maps and Siri. Obviously, that's a major challenge for Cue to take on, and it isn't unreasonable to think that the failure of iOS 6 Maps at launch may have directly lead to his removal as iOS VP.

 

Craig Federighi, who previously served as VP of Mac software, will now be in charge of both iOS and OS X. Apple says this move will help unify software strategy across the two platforms; it sounds like he'll be the one most responsible for assuming Forstall's duties. Finally, VP Bob Mansfield — whose retirement was announced earlier this year before he announced his intentions to stay on in a less defined role — will head up a group known as Technologies, with a focus on semiconductor and wireless hardware.

 

As for John Browett, Apple's Senior VP of retail is out after less than a year on the job. There's no word as to why he left (or was dismissed), but Apple says that a search for a replacement is underway. In the meantime, the company's retail team will report directly to Cook. All told, removing Browett and Forstall from Apple is a significant shake-up, as Forstall was a huge component behind the rapid rise and success of the iOS platform. Adam Lashinsky, author of Inside Apple, theorized on Twitter that Forstall was the "DRI" — directly responsible individual — for Maps and Siri, and thus "paid the price" for Apple's troubles with those two key iOS features. The DRI model was one that Steve Jobs believed strongly in during his role as Apple's CEO, and it looks like the concept lives on under Tim Cook's direction.

[Edu-IT]

Be interesting to see how this pans out.