Biographies

Last week, prominent Apple writer Tripp Mickle profiled former Apple design chief Jony Ive in the New York Times.

Here's what I learned in the piece and why I love high-quality biography/profile-type journalism.

The crux of the piece is this: Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have partnered to create a groundbreaking AI hardware device that offers a less intrusive alternative to smartphones.

They're rumored to be raising $1 billion, according to Fortune.

The piece denotes Ive already has a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The project, backed by the Emerson Collective and developed by Ive's design firm, LoveFrom, seeks up to $1 billion in funding.

Still in its conceptual phase, the device aims to integrate generative AI. Sounds exciting!

Here's what I love about this piece and other 'biography' news journalism tho: you get to really deep dive into an individual's life, career, and achievements.

None more so than Sir Jony Ive, one of the most influential designer's alive!

Ive also collaborated closely with the most famous entrepreneur ever: Steve Jobs.

Biography pieces often have fantastic photography and artifacts that bring the text to life.

Jony Ive crafted many of Apple's most famous products, from the Mac to the iPod and iPhone.

Bio articles cover everything in the subject's life, from significant events to milestones, even controversies involving the person in question, offering context and insight into their impact on society.

Think about this: there are around 1.3 billion iPhone users in the world today.

Each one of them was designed by Ive and his team.

Some of the most popular media outlets known for publishing biographies or biographical profiles of prominent figures include:

- The New York Times
- The Guardian
- The Washington Post
- BBC
- Forbes

Less well-known outlets have equally good profiles.

One of the beautiful things about long-form journalism is the details. In this piece, the author talks about Ive's obsession with buttons:

“This is my button book,” Mr. Ive said, as he flipped open one of the oversized books titled “Garment Fasteners Design Research.” Its pages were filled with images of fasteners and pins from prehistory through the Bronze Age."

I final takeaway I'll leave you with that I love from bio pieces is this: they are always thought-provoking and leave you wanting more.

Take this quote from the article: “You somehow have to make friends with uncertainty,”

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