The release of the iPhone 4S and Steve Job’s death the day immediately after makes you wonder if Apple’s best days are behind it. Sure, Apple will continue to sell millions of iPhones, iPads, and other consumer electronics in the near future. But who at Apple will create the next “big thing”? Apple’s innovation was fueled by Steve Jobs and one other man: Apple Chief Designer Jonathan Ive.

iPad

iPhone

iPod

MacBook Air

Macbook Pro

MacBook

PowerBook G4

G4 Cube

Above is the long list of products, which bears Ive’s influence. Although he was the key figure behind Apple’s iconic design, Steve Jobs was the man who presented the products to the public and who stopped Ive from designing products that he could tell had no future in the marketplace. Although the exact relationship between Ive and Jobs is not entirely known, some people said that it was as if they both shared the same brain. Macworld suggests that his hiring by Apple in 1992 was one of the most significant events in Apple history.

Although the innovation of Steve Jobs may, in a way, live on in Ive’s work, whether or not Apple takes advantage of Ive’s input depends on Tim Cook’s relationship with the designer. Is the new CEO going to play it safe and milk as much money from Apple’s current lineup for many years to come? Or is he going to take some risks and invest millions of dollars in innovations that have a chance of failing, much like Steve Jobs did when he invested $150 million into developing the iPhone?  Only time will tell.

For now, we are remembering the end of the Steve Jobs era. His creativity and way of thinking will not only inspire the company he left, but the millions of people who have used his products.