TO CELEBRATE APPLE’S
20th birthday, Jony Ive went
all–out and designed the Twentieth
Anniversary Macintosh (TAM). More
a technical showcase than a viable
mass–market product, the TAM
contained a number of high–end
technologies and was meant as
a futuristic exploration of where
computer design could go. Its all–
in–one, (almost) flatscreen form
was a precursor of the iMac that
would arrive almost 10 years later.
Another important legacy of this
Mac was its removable trackpad,
which was later replicated in the
Magic Trackpad.
Although it never sold well (it
was priced at $7,499, equivalent to
roughly $9,300 today) and was
aimed at the “executive” market,
Ive’s design set the scene for much
of what was to come later in the
computing world.
APPLE WASN’T JOKING when it used the
word “nano”. When the iPod nano was launched
by Steve Jobs, he asked the keynote audience
whether they ever wondered what the coin pocket
in a pair of jeans was for. “Well, now we know,” he
declared, pulling out the miniscule iPod nano.
If Apple proved it could do tiny with the iPod mini,
it did it again in triplicate with the iPod nano,
demonstrating Ive’s ability to outdo himself when it
came to delivering tech in a small, light package.
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY MACINTOSH (TAM) 1997
iPOD NANO 2005
THE CREATOR OF ICONIC
DESIGNS BECOMES AN ICON
IN HIS OWN RIGHT
As Jony Ive started to gain fame, he also started to
appear in Apple videos, explaining how his latest
work expressed the inner beauty that is produced
when form meets function. Even these videos took
on their own aesthetic: white backgrounds, products
tumbling through the air in slow–motion, Ive’s
soothing voice. They demonstrated just how
seriously he took design, although they received
their fair share of parodies, too.
Jony Ive on video
Image rights: Apple.
Feature
40 SEP 2019 maclife.com