Stephen Fry, the great British actor, writer and comedian, just wrote a newspaper column that for the Apple faithful is no joke. Writing for The Telegraph, Fry announced that Jony Ive — the great product designer who powered Apple’s aesthetic sense and corporate resurgence — was being kicked upstairs by Apple. Frye is pretty much a PR guy for Apple, so it’s not as strange as it might seem that the announcement comes from him. Ive is taking on the lord-like title of chief design officer, but some believe he’s beginning his time in the sunset.
If so, it’s understandable. Ive is richer than Midas — and he just saw his Apple Watch come to ludicrously successful fruition. Topping off a run that includes the MacBook and the iPhone, that’s quite a career. Apple is calling the new job a promotion, meaning at the very least Ive will continue to walk around Apple with his feet not quite touching the floor. But he may not be quite as hands on. Now 48, Ive is headed back to Britain, according to Frye.
