Sir Jonathan Ive: Continuing the Vision

       Jonathan Ive, Apple's chief designer for almost 20 years, was knighted last week in recognition for his amazing contributions to Apple's vision in designing its major products over the past two decades. He was the leading design and conceptual mind behind the iMac, PowerBook G4, G4 Cube, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. His estimated net worth (including Apple stock options) is close to $130 million. His current salary is $2 million/year. 
      It must be nice to have a title in front of your name. We don't have that option here in the states although an American citizen can be given the honorary title of "Sir" if he has contributed enough to the Commonwealth. Stephen Spielberg, Rudy Giuliani, Alan Greenspan, Ted Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Wesley Clark, Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall, Chester Nimitz, Omar Bradley, George Patton, Colin Powell, Bill Gates, Paul Getty, Billy Graham, Edward R. Murrow, and J. Edgar Hoover are notable Americans who have been designated as knights of the United Kingdom.
     Having your chief designer knighted for his contributions to the consumer electronic industry really shows how important Apple has been, and will continue to be, to not only this industry, but to the whole world. Consumer electronics spill over into almost every industry these days. 
    Apple has been the one company who stays ahead of the competition by designing products that people do not know that they need yet. Apple is unique in this strategy because they are almost always correct. This causes companies to try to copy the products that Apple produces because they know that if Apple says a product is the next big thing, it usually is and most of the time it is because Apple says it is the next big thing that the product, and market for that product, is ultimately successful.