During my time at college, I was fascinated by the challenges associated with designing physical objects that represented the meeting of people and technology. Good design, it seemed to me, not only made powerful technology accessible, relevant, and compelling but could yield objects that were both beautiful and useful.
Winning two student design awards enabled me to travel to the United States and ultimately to the heart of this digital revolution, this meeting of people with technology – Silicon Valley.
For a 21 year old who had not traveled beyond Europe, it was a profoundly formative experience and indeed marked the beginnings of my relationship with Apple.
I am humbly and gratefully indebted to the Royal Society of Arts.
To everyone there today in New York, please accept my congratulations and best wishes.
Jony