Paula Routly of the Vermont-based Journal Seven Days has posted a fascinating interview with, Jerry Manock, who back in the day filled the Jonathan Ive role for then-fledgling Apple, designing the classic original compact Macintosh, and well as the Apple II, the Apple III and the Apple disk II,
Manock, who these days lives in Burlington, Vermont, was 33 back in 1977 when he was one of Apple’s five employees, hired by Steve Jobs as a consultant to design the Apple II. Ms. Routly reports that Manock gets credit for almost everything but the circuit board and the logic (which was engineered by Jobs partner and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak), including the structure, the outside aesthetics, and the color beige (Pantone 453, the color of the deep-space universe, Manock says), and was part of the original team of a half-dozen workers who designed the original Mac.
Manock worked under Jobs for three and a half years, a witness to Apple’s early innovation, exponential growth and subsequent conflicts, including the legendary one between Jobs and CEO John Sculley.
Manock, now 66, is currently sole proprietor of Manock Comprehensive Design, and for 21 years has taught a University of Vermont class on integrated product development.
Ms. Routly’s article provides more insight into the enigmatic Mr. Jobs, Mr. Manock relating that he would say things like: “I was just thinking, in my career I could be the CEO of two or three billion-dollar companies.”
“When somebody asked him what kind of market share he wanted, Steve was famous for saying, I want it all. I want 100 percent,” Manock recalls.
For all his involvement with computers, Manock is not an uncritical cheerleader for what they have wropught. He notes that “Nowadays you can design something in 3D, have photorealistic rendering, cast shadows and specify, This is metal. This is wood. You can come up with a picture of it without ever touching a physical thing, without ever building a model to hold in your hand. To me, thats really dangerous.”
He also says he gets really upset when he’s walking downtown and there are three young people walking toward him, all with their heads down. “I try to make eye contact to say hello, good morning, and nothing. The disconnect there bothers me, and that’s going to get nothing but worse. I’ve got my iPhone and GPS and news anytime I want it. But my mindset is: I’m not married to this thing. I don’t have to look at it every five minutes. I can kind of use the technology for what I need. I feel pretty balanced that way. And I’ve made a conscious decision not to go with all the social-media stuff, because it takes up too much of my time. I can’t read a book. I can’t sketch. I can’t go to movies if I’m constantly tweeting somebody.”
Words to live by.
You can check it out at:
http://www.7dvt.com/2012jerry-manock-mac-designer
