How Jony Ive, Apple's design guru, planned his own obsolescence
Jonathan Ive led Apple's product design for decades, from the technicolor iMac that revived the company's fortunes in the late '90s to the softly minimalist iPhone that turned it into one of the world's largest companies.
For nearly half that time, he's been trying to leave.
As early as 2007, when the chubby original iPhone was first being assembled in Shenzhen, China, Ive, who goes by Jony, was contemplating an early retirement to a 17th century mansion in the West of England, where he could tinker on the occasional luxury product while being close to his family.
The incredible success of the iPhone, combined with the terminal illness of former Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, forced Ive to put those plans on hold. Instead of disappearing into the countryside, he ascended,
