Apple Core

In 2013, Apple launched a radical redesign of the iPhone’s user interface. iOS 7 represented more than just a fresh new look. It marked a major shift in Cupertino’s design philosophy, which arose from a bitter boardroom bust-up between two of Steve Jobs’ most trusted lieutenants.
Since the launch of the Macintosh in 1984, Jobs had pioneered the use of skeuomorphism, a design motif where apps adopt visual cues from real world objects. Jobs shared this philosophy with tech genius Scott Forstall, who worked on the Aqua interface for Mac OS X, and subsequently led the development of iOS.
In the power vacuum after Steve Jobs’ passing, Ive and Forstall became locked in a battle for the company’s future. When Ive won, he wasted no time in scrapping Forstall’s cherished skeuomorphism. In a matter of months his team had developed a radical new user interface design. iOS 7’s minimalistic style was quintessentially Jony Ive, and it established a visual language that continues to influence Apple to this day.
APPLE CORE MERCH
Check out our new merch store on Teepublic, featuring t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more in retro-geek designs:
 https://applecore.dashery.com
LINKS
Video of WWDC 2013, where iOS 7 was launched:
https://youtu.be/hIigp_bxUcQ?si=41rq99ofJLeaG9pl
Nicholas Carlson for Business Insider in 2014 on Steve Jobs and Quicktime’s brushed metal:
https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobss-signature-design-style-2014-10
Buster Hein for Cult of Mac on the Passbook shredder:
https://www.cultofmac.com/news/ios-7-passbook-ditches-forstalls-dumb-paper-shredder-animation
The Verge on apps that influenced the design of iOS 7:
https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/9/4817146/taskmasters-how-israeli-intelligence-officers-helped-inspire-the-look-of-ios-7
Joshua Topolsky’s hot take on iOS 7 for The Verge:
https://www.theverge.com/apple/2013/6/10/4416726/the-design-of-ios-7-simply-confusing
Jony Ive designs things:
https://www.tumblr.com/jonyiveredesignsthings
Griffin’s website:
https://www.dgriffinjones.com/

Sherlock was introduced in 1998, as a tool for finding files on Mac OS 8.5. It used advanced search technology harvested from the carcass of Apple’s failed next generation operation system, Copeland. Sherlock revolutionized search on the Mac, enabling users to search within files for the first time.
But its file searching prowess is not the reason Sherlock is remembered today. By competing with a similar third-party app called Watson, Apple was accused of putting an indie developer out of business, which coined the term “sherlocking.” 
Sherlock was a technical marvel, featuring a breakthrough user interface that continues to influence how we use the Internet to this day. But its reign was short-lived. Just seven years after its launch, Sherlock was replaced by Spotlight.
APPLE CORE MERCH
Check out our new merch store on Teepublic, featuring t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more in retro-geek designs:
LINKS
Original Sherlock page on Apple.com via WayBack Machine (you might need to scroll down to see it)
Phil Schiller demos Sherlock 2 at WWDC 1999 (at 59:28)
Sherlock 3 page on Appe.com, via WayBack Machine (you might need to scroll down to see it)
Steve Jobs demos Sherlock 3 at Macworld New York 2002 (25:08)
Karelia Software’s Watson website

In 2011, Steve Jobs made his final public appearance, presenting his plans for a second Apple campus to Cupertino City Council. He proposed a circular building, one mile in diameter, surrounded by beautifully landscaped grounds that concealed a subterranean parking garage. 
With a whopping $5 billion budget and a prestigious international architect attached to the project, Jobs’ ambition was to build “the best office building in the world.” Drawing on his learnings from Pixar’s headquarters, Jobs believed the “donut-shaped” design would result in to unexpected encounters that prompted innovation.
Completed in 2017, Apple Park quickly an iconic part of the brand, featured in every product launch video. But the building’s Pentagon-style “groundscraper” design epitomizes car-dependent suburban bureaucracy rather than innovation, and with the rise of post-COVID home working, large campus sites have become less relevant. So, in this episode, we explore the history of Silicon Valley office parks and consider if Jobs achieved his goal of building the world’s best office.
MERCH STORE
Check out our merch store on Teepublic for retro-geek t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more:
 https://www.teepublic.com/stores/apple-core-podcast
LINKS:
Video of Steve Jobs’ presentation to Cupertino City Council
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtuz5OmOh_M
The Glendenning Barn
 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/story-behind-random-century-old-162804565.html
History of the Apple Park site
 https://s3.amazonaws.com/Apple-Campus2-DEIR/Apple_Campus_2_Project_EIR_Public_Review_5e-Cultural.pdf
Hewlett Packard’s Garage on Apple Maps
 https://maps.apple.com/?address=367%20Addison%20Ave,%20Palo%20Alto,%20CA%20%2094301,%20United%20States&ll=37.443018,-122.154640&q=367%20Addison%20Ave
Steve Jobs’s parents’ garage on Apple Maps
 https://maps.apple.com/?address=2066%20Crist%20Dr,%20Los%20Altos,%20CA%20%2094024,%20United%20States&ll=37.340323,-122.068897&q=2066%20Crist%20Dr&t=h
The A1844 Door Assembly With Reader
 https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-mystery-device-a1844-photos-user-manual-2017-3
Satellite image of Apple Park by Apple Maps.

In this special episode we interview Leander Kahney, editor of Cult of Mac, and author of New York Times best-selling biographies of Tim Cook and Jony Ive.
During his three-decade career, working first at MacWEEK, then Wired News, and now as the editor of his own tech news website, Cult of Mac, Leander attended all the legendary Steve Jobs keynotes and interviewed some of Apple’s most senior executives. 
Leander regales us with a wealth of fascinating Apple insights and anecdotes. He also shares his origin story as a war correspondent. Plus we learn how Cult of Mac became a thing… And why he wishes he’d never called it that.
MERCH STORE
Check out our merch store on Teepublic for retro-geek t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more:
 https://www.teepublic.com/stores/apple-core-podcast
LINKS:
Subscribe to Leander’s Cult of Mac Newsletter:
 https://newsletters.cultofmac.com
And check out Leander’s books:
The Cult of Mac
 https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Mac-Leander-Kahney/dp/1593271220/
The Cult of iPod
 https://www.amazon.com/Cult-iPod-Leander-Kahney/dp/1593270666/
Inside Steve’s Brain
 https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Steves-Brain-Leander-Kahney/dp/1591845513/
Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products
 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591847060/
Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level
 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525537600/
The Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition
 https://www.amazon.com/Cult-Mac-2nd-Leander-Kahney/dp/1593279140/

Apple Maps launched alongside the original iPhone in 2007. Initially, it relied on map data from Google. But in 2012, when the two companies became smartphone rivals, Apple was forced to find an alternative data source.
Opting to build its own map platform in-house, Apple attempted to replicate a product Google had developed over many years in a matter of months. Unsurprisingly, the results were not perfect. Users around the world reported bad directions, missing landmarks, and bizarre visual glitches.
The fallout from the Apple Maps launch led to a rare apology from Tim Cook, and the departure of one of Apple’s most indispensable software engineers. But with the benefit of hindsight, the wisdom of Apple’s move into mapping has become clear. It enabled Apple to compete head-on with Android, and kickstarted Cupertino’s move into services.
MERCH STORE
Check out our merch store on Teepublic for retro-geek design t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more:
 https://www.teepublic.com/stores/apple-core-podcast
LINKS
The Verge report stating Apple’s deal with Google still had a year to run when Apple scrapped it:
 https://www.theverge.com/2012/9/25/3407614/apple-over-a-year-left-on-google-maps-contract-google-maps-ios-app
Tim Cook’s apology letter (via the Internet Archive):
 https://web.archive.org/web/20121001005112/http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/
New York Times article on the brawl between Apple and Google in 2010:
 https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/technology/14brawl.html
Wall Street Journal report on Apple’s acquisition of C3 Technologies from Saab:
 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304543904577398502695522974
Cult of Mac on firing of Richard Williamson:
 https://www.cultofmac.com/apple-history/apple-maps-launch-disaster
Scott Forstall tells the story of his interview with Steve Jobs at NeXT:
 https://macdailynews.com/2020/05/22/scott-forstall-reveals-how-his-interview-with-steve-jobs-went/
Adam Lashinsky’s Inside Apple:
 https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Apple-Americas-Admired-Secretive-Company/dp/1455512168/