Apple’s chief designer is the highlight of the “Celebrating Steve” special event
This 80-minute film, shot live on the Apple campus Oct. 19, was posted Sunday night, disappeared for half a day, and reappeared Monday afternoon. It features a tribute from Tim Cook, a rare public appearance of Bill (“The Coach”) Campbell, a speech by Al Gore and performances by Norah Jones and Cold Play.
But for me the most touching part was Jony Ive’s brief remarks — in particular the things he had to say about Steve Jobs and the fragility of ideas:
Steve used to say to me — and he used to say this a lot — “Hey Jony, here’s a dopey idea.”
And sometimes they were. Really dopey. Sometimes they were truly dreadful. But sometimes they took the air from the room and they left us both completely silent. Bold, crazy, magnificent ideas. Or quiet simple ones, which in their subtlety, their detail, they were utterly profound.
And just as Steve loved ideas, and loved making stuff, he treated the process of creativity with a rare and a wonderful reverence. You see, I think he better than anyone understood that while ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile, barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily just squished.
We’re attached the YouTube version. It’s also available on Apple’s (AAPL) home page.
UPDATE: We’ve also attached a 7:30 YouTube that shows just Ive’s remarks.