On January 3, 2006, Queen Elizabeth awarded London-born Jonathan Ive the title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). The title recognizes Ive's achievements in industrial design as leader of the team that produced the iPod, the iMac, the iBook and the Powerbook product lines during his 13-year career at Apple.
However, it is important to note that CBE is the third most senior rank among the five British classes of chivalry. (It was created in 1917 by King George V to honor noncombatants during World War I. Only the first two orders qualify for knighthood.)
Nonetheless, I still want to swat ol'Lizzy upside her jewelled head with a soggy cucumber for this latest. Are you kidding me??? Granted, I have iPods (yes, a mini and a shuffle... but I won the shuffle!) and I've become quite fond of them. A little perturbed at the lack of support for the mini (which is now extinct) and hassle for use on multiple computers. But that's an entirely new can of worms... still - a royal title???
You can read all about it at http://www.crn.com/nl/crndailynews/showArticle.jhtml?sssdmh=dm4.162299
