150-WORD BOOK REVIEW: Jony Ive by Leander Kahney

jony_ive_1It’s interesting that the title of this book ignores Sir Ives’ knighthood, but why mention that when this hagiographic book tells of a saint? This particular designing saint who served under God Jobs and who helped us to revere Apple products.

While I enjoyed this well-written book, at times it was stodgy and like reading Apple promotional literature. Moreover, there are no direct interviews with Sir Ives and there is even a page at the end of the book called ‘Secrecy and Sources’ that sums up how much of this book comes from Third Party sources.

What is clear, however, from this book is that Sir Ives is not only an industrial design genius, he is also an egotist, strategist and was an expert player in the court of God Jobs. In a year that has seen the 500th anniversary of Machiavelli’s The Prince, Sir Ives’ continuing hold on power at Apple means a follow-up book will be even more interesting. Something has to go wrong for this man…

REVIEW: 7/10

Monty (709 Posts)

Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.