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Apple’s insatiable desire to make everyday products better has seen the American tech giant conquer everything from personal music players to mobile phones, but what about cars?
Apparently, Steve Jobs had plans for something very un-Apple; according to an Apple board member, Jobs wanted to design an Apple car. The iCar, as we shall call it, was born-out of Jobs’s desire to see the Amercian car industry lead the world once again. Speaking at a Fast Company conference, Mickey Drexler said: “Look at the car industry; it’s a tragedy in America. Who’s designing the cars?”
Drexler went on to divulge that Steve Jobs had dreams of making a revolutionary car: “Steve’s dream before he died was to design an iCar.”
It’s a fascinating insight into Steve Jobs’ desire to improve everyday products, but don’t start saving your money just yet.
Drexler, who is also CEO of fashion brand J.Crew, said that Jobs unfortunately never got round to turning his dream into reality, but he reckons the fantasy iCar “would’ve probably been 50 per cent of the market”.
A bold claim, but with Apple’s research in the fuel cell technology, that will be used to power their giant data farms, it could have been something Apple conceivably could have achieved.
While Drexler might have poured cold water on a future iCar, he did give a hint about what Apple has planned next: “The living room they’re dealing with in the near future.”
The video published by Fast Company saw Drexler handing out advice to new CEO Tim Cook from his own experience of taking over J. Crew, when it was lottery bankrupt, he said: “Never take over a company that’s doing great.
“I love Tim Cook, but I wouldn’t want his job.”
Drexler’s advice was aimed squarely at Tim Cook’s unenviable task of following on from someone as successful as Steve Jobs. Apple might well be in rude health, but the pressure on Cook to keep Apple trendy and profitable is huge.
While no design was ever made for the iCar, it’s hard not to speculate what it might have looked like. We’d bet it would have been based around new clean technologies like the fuel cell, and would have likely cornered the lucrative emerging green car market.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
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