Then again, the experience of using hardware doesn't always translate directly to software interfaces, as we've seen from Apple's often questionable fixation on --think the stitched leather on the OS X version of Calendar and, more egregiously, the iOS version of .

There are that Ive is less infatuated with skeuomorphism than outgoing iOS head Scott Forstall, but it also doesn't mean that every single Apple design choice the masses have questioned will be wiped away overnight. This is still a company that is not afraid of doing things its own way, whether users agree or not.

And keep in mind that, as with Jobs, Ive has his own missteps--while he famously designed the first iMac, he's also credited (albeit after Jobs) with .

Still, if Ive has shown anything over the past ten years, it's that he values a marriage of form and function rather than simply emphasizing one or the other. He's also incredibly detail-oriented--the on the redesigned MacBook Pros comes to mind.

Apple's strength has always been about the intersection of hardware and software into one perfect widget, something that the company has ably accomplished with its iOS devices and most recent Macs, and it seems likely the company and its users will benefit from a unified approach to human interface.