Interesting article in Businessweek about the dynamics of Apple senior management, shedding some light on the company’s approach to the Apple Watch. The article outlined the differences between CEO Tim Cook’s collaborative, structured approach to product development, and his predecessor Steve Jobs’ “it’s all in my head” method.
Jony Ive, Apple’s Head of Design, said the Apple Watch project was conceived three years ago, shortly after Jobs’ death, and long before “wearables” became a tech industry buzzword. Ive, who was responsible for the original design of the iPod and the iPad, called the Apple Watch one of the most difficult projects he has ever worked on. There’s the complexity of the engineering, and the need for new physical interaction between the Apple Watch and the human body.
There’s also the fact that for the first time, he wasn’t inventing a product category from scratch. He was inventing a product that in some ways had to conform to the specifications of a centuries-old device. Apple invited a series of European watch historians to come to Cupertino to speak to the staff. Ive noted that it took centuries for portable timepieces to migrate to the wrist, “and then it didn’t go anywhere else. I would argue the wrist is the right place for the technology.”
He expressed special pride in the Apple Watch’s defining feature, the Digital Crown, as well as in the specialized design of the watchbands and the use of the packaging box as a charging stand.
With Apple stock falling in the Summer of 2013, CEO Tim Cook decided to accelerate the Apple Watch project and made Jeff Williams the program head. The Apple Watch program included hundreds of engineers, designers, and marketing people, and Williams said that refining the product was more important than having the Apple Watch ready for the 2014 holiday season “We want to make the best product in the world,” Williams said. “One of our competitors is on their fourth or fifth attempt, but nobody is wearing them.”
For his part, CEO Cook agreed that the Apple Watch could have come out sooner, “but not at the fit and finish and quality and integration of these products.” Cook said he hoped the Apple Watch would have been be more affordable, since its health and fitness functions could help so many people, but he wasn’t going to compromise Apple’s profit margins to make that happen.
It’s clear he sees the Apple Watch as a device that will help people in their daily lives, managing their fitness, and acting as a controlling device for their TVs, home appliances, and online relationships. Cook said “I think it’s the beginning of a very long run.”