Here's an "in-depth look" at Ives' portfolio. Impressive, indeed. Mostly, I thought, because of the way Ives works.

I've been posting about Jonathan Ives for a long time. Around 2004 I started asking if it was time for him to go. That was about the time the aluminum-clad Cinema Displays were announced, and a sign post that the current design themes weren't going away.

Of course, it's hardly 100% Ives' influence on Apple that is responsible for the design of their products. There's Steve Jobs, of course; and I suspect-as others do-that what gets built at Apple is ultimately up to him.

So where does Ives fit into my design rant? Well, it starts with the rectangle and the square and ends there, basically. The G5 Tower. The Powerbook G4, the aluminum Cinema Display. All the same look-feel.

Since then we've had more aluminum and more rectangles, with the odd square thrown in. What has happened to elegant designs like the iMac G4 Flat Panel, with it's dome base and rounded corners?

As always, I present the first page of the Apple Online Store as evidence. The silhouette of almost every Apple product is the same.

Take the iPod. Turn it on its side and it's the same shape as the iMac, the Cinema Display, etc. The Apple remote? Do the same: it's the iPod, the MacBook Pro. Even the new iPod shuffle is the Mac mini and the forthcoming iTV.

They all share the same shape, the same inspiration.

I have always enjoyed what Ives has accomplished. He is passionate and unusually talented. Supremely so.

As legendary as Ives has become for the design of his Macs, his influence on packaging is equally uncelebrated. Apple is a start-to-finish company, and their packaging is part of this elegant equation. I wonder if Ives will be known, eventually, as much for the Mac as what it ships in. I suspect not, and that's a shame.

So, obviously, I'm a fan. Ives designed the Newton, and the Cube and the iMac G4 Flat Panel, three of my favorite designs to come out of Apple. By asking if its time for Ives to leave Apple, what I'm really saying is that it's time for change. No more pizza boxes, please?

I should also mention that I know, first hand, that designing something that appears simple is in fact very difficult. So I'm not suggesting that Ives and his team aren't good. They're brilliant. The proof is in the pudding.

However, if you're at all on the fence about the course of Apple's industrial design I encourage you to compare an Apple eMate to the MacBook. For better or for worse these "Macs" are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Oh yeah, and if Jonathan Ives ever writes a book about his life at Apple Computer I'll be reading it.



Don't forget How to Buy a Mac.

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=kkamVIAoNIM&offerid=78941.10000092&type=3&subid=0" >Sample and subscribe to thousands of free podcasts at the iTunes Music Store.