Another great piece by Ben. The Brooks family is on fire lately:

How is that not retirement?

If Ive is a driven man — meaning he is not content to sit on a beach everyday — and I have every reason to believe that he is certainly not that person, then is that not retirement to be able to design anything you want at the world’s biggest company?

Is it not retirement for him to step away from his duties, travel when, and for as long as, he wants, and still come back to design whatever he wants? If he so feels the need, or urge, to make a phone he still can. If he wants to make that chair, or mug, he now can.

It hadn’t occurred to me to look at the announcement this way, but it makes perfect sense. Ive is dictating his own terms now, and it will be incredibly interesting to see where this newfound freedom takes him.