Archived Post

AWT News Update: November 9, 2017

The road to a $1 trillion company, an interview with Jony Ive, and the opening of the Apple Park Visitor Center all make today’s news on the Apple World Today News Update Podcast:

  • Apple closed for the second day at a share price that gives the company a market cap of over $900 billion
  • Jony Ive talks with Wallpaper* about the iPhone X and Apple Park from a designer’s viewpoint
  • Cupertino residents get a special preview of Apple Park’s Visitor Center next Thursday

The text version of the podcast can be read below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below. Apple News readers need to visit Apple World Today in order to listen to the podcast.

Text Version

This is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and you’re listening to the AWT News Update podcast for Thursday, November 9th, 2017. 

Apple closed up at $175.88 per share today, closing for the second day in a row at a number that gives the company a market capitalization of over $900 billion. We’re hoping here at Apple World Today that the trillion-dollar company isn’t far behind.

Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive did an interview with design magazine Wallpaper* and has some fascinating insight into the iPhone X. He remarked in the interview that his favorite feature of the iPhone X is its ability to adapt over time since the entire functionality of the device is now determined by software rather than by the placement of buttons. To quote Ive, “I’ve always been fascinated by these products that are more general purpose. What I think is remarkable about the iPhone X is that its functionality is so determined by software. And because of the fluid nature of software, this product is going to change and evolve. In 12 months’ time, this object will be able to do things that it can’t now. I think that is extraordinary. I think we will look back on it and see it as a very significant point in terms of the products we have been developing.” Although there have been grumblings from engineers who don’t like the new open layout of the Apple Park campus, Ive thinks it’s a great idea. “That’s one of the things that I am absurdly excited about. At the moment, there are a number of physically really disconnected design studios, and now we can share the same studio. We can have industrial designers sat next to a font designer, sat next to a sound designer, who is sat next to a motion graphics expert, who is sat next to colour designer, who is sat next to somebody who is developing objects in soft materials. And adjacent to every set of closed offices there is a very large open area of collaboration. It’s not just a corridor; these are large spaces that are repeated all the way around the building.” We have a link to the full interview in the show notes, and it’s worth a look even if just to look at the exclusive photos of the interior of the new Apple headquarters at Apple Park. 

Speaking of Apple Park, on November 17th Apple will open the new Visitor Center at the facility to the public. Residents of Cupertino, California won’t have to wait that long, though — as a way of thanking the citizens for putting up with construction over the past few years, the company is offering a preview on November 16 between 3 and 8 PM to folks who can prove they’re residents of Cupertino. Like the store at the existing Infinite Loop headquarters, the new Visitor Center is where you will be able to pick up exclusive Apple swag like t-shirts, hats, and so on. The new Visitor Center also has a public cafe, an exhibit space, an outdoor seating area and indoor wooden tables. 

That’s all for today; I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon with another edition of the AWT News Update.

Steve Sande
the authorSteve Sande
Steve is the founder and former publisher of Apple World Today and has authored a number of books about Apple products. He's an avid photographer, an FAA-licensed drone pilot, and a really bad guitarist. Steve and his wife Barb love to travel everywhere!