Designer Segways over to Apple

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 08 July 2008 12:41

Opinion and Analysis

Segway's chief technology officer is reportedly leaving to join Apple. What would Apple want with a vehicle designer?

Doug Field has led the Segway engineering team since the company was formed, but will be joining Apple as a vice president of product design.

The news was revealed in a blog posting by John Grohol, "Wise Segway Elder" and former web architect at the company.

The appointment - assuming the report is accurate - is curious. According to the book Code Name Ginger by Steve Lemper (as excerpted by Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge), Apple CEO Steve Jobs was not impressed by the Segway's design.

Segway investor John Doerr asked Jobs what he thought of the design at a secret meeting in San Francisco. His reply? "I think it sucks!"

According to Lemper, Field - who was not present at the meeting - "would have felt the wound".

"Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," Jobs added, recommending that Segway turn over the task to a design firm.

Has Jobs mellowed over the intervening years? Does he think Field's design skills have improved? Who knows!

And perhaps more to the point, on what sort of product design will Apple set Field to work?