Apple has announced a new product I did not see coming:
Apple today announced the release of a new hardbound book chronicling 20 years of Apple’s design, expressed through 450 photographs of past and current Apple products. “Designed by Apple in California,” which covers products from 1998’s iMac to 2015’s Apple Pencil, also documents the materials and techniques used by Apple’s design team over two decades of innovation.
I’m more into this stuff than almost anyone, and I find this odd. Even after last year’s “40 Years in 40 Seconds” video, something this retrospective feels weird.
Especially this bit:
The book is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs wasn’t one to look back. In fact, he donated Apple’s internal historical collection to Stanford upon his return to the company.
(Then again, Apple says the project has been in the works for eight years. Wild.)
Make no mistake, I will be buying one of these tomorrow, but I can’t help but wonder what’s behind it. Jony Ive’s fingerprints are all over this, and he’s quoted heavily in the press release. Is this his farewell tour, or just a project he wanted to get out the door now that Campus 2 is almost done?
Apple has been more in touch with its history in the last few years, but this is different. It’s Ive’s history.
I just wish it covered more than Ive’s hits of the last two decades. If you want a book like this that spans all of Apple’s history, check out Iconic.