The Creative Process

I love finding these quotes from great creative companies. This one is from Apple. This is from a Newsweek article about the new, 4th generation iPod:

“The click wheel. The iPod keeps getting slimmer and more streamlined. While the initial version had a relatively boxy feel, subsequent versions have been curvier and smaller. This one is about a millimeter thinner and, more significantly, eliminates the control buttons that sat under the display screen. Instead, it uses a “click wheel,” where the controls are placed on the compass points of the circular touchpad that lets you scroll through menus. This is an innovation carried over from the diminutive iPod Mini. “It was developed out of necessity for the Mini, because there wasn’t enough room [for the buttons],” says Steve Jobs. “But the minute we experienced it we just thought, ‘My God, why didn’t we think of this sooner?’ ”

The article also points out that Phil Schiller, V.P. of Marketing, came up with the scroll wheel idea. If the product designer never had a chance to speak to him, the iPod would be an entirely different animal.