4/10/2014

Daring Fireball

By John Gruber

Field Notes new seasonal release, The Shelterwood Edition is made from America Cherry. Ads via The Deck Matthew Panzarino on Greg Christies Departure Matthew Panzarino, reporting for TechCrunch: According to multiple sources inside and outside the company, Christies exit has been known for weeks and planned for even longer. His stepping aside has been designed to allow for a transition of leadership inside the Human Interface group. Christie worked under Forstall for many years, and there may have been plenty of times he didnt agree with Ive, but there has reportedly been a distinct lack of drama in this transition. If there was any ill-will between Christie and Ive, it doesnt appear to have taken the form of any open conflict and a flare-up of friction was apparently not behind this exit. Jony Ive Expands Role in Software Design; Apple Confirms Greg Christies Retirement Daisuke Wakabayashi, reporting for the WSJ: Mr. Christies group will report to Mr. Ive, who is Apples senior vice president of design, according to the email. The team previously reported to Craig Federighi, Apples software chief. Greg has been planning to retire later this year after nearly 20 years at Apple, said a company spokesman. He has made vital contributions to Apple products across the board, and built a world-class human interface team which has worked closely with [Jonathan] for many years. Ive been asking around since the news broke this afternoon. What Ive heard, from several sources: Christie and Ive may not see eye to eye on UI design style, but his departure isnt nearly as contentious as Mark Gurmans report at 9to5Mac implies. The basic gist Ive heard is that Christie is a guy whos been in a high-pressure, high-profile job for 18 years, most of it reporting to Steve Jobs. Hes made a lot of money and is ready to enjoy it. Thats largely in line with the Apple PR line given to the WSJ, but I heard all of this from ground-level Cupertino-area pixel-pushing designers. Interestingly, Christies retirement was announced internally a few weeks ago yet it didnt leak outside the company until today. Also interesting (and backing up the company
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