Jake Johnson, 26, of New York City, has been working at Apple for about a year.
“When Greg first came to me with the idea, I laughed in his face. I thought, who would use that product? Then I got to thinking. Yeah, he’s right. It does smell really bad on the subway,” Johnson said.
Longhorn and Johnson decided to team up. They brought sketches and prototypes to a meeting with their bosses. The first prototype was a 3D printed model. The model was based on a mini oil diffuser sold on Amazon.
“So, really, all it needs is a way to connect to the phone. That’s the tricky part. The first prototype was made of a headphone jack and a mini oil diffuser. Our iPhones have enough power for it,” Johnson said.
“Since I am the creative one, I named it. The iDiffuser. It sounds cool. Futuristic,” Longhorn said.
The same few products get re-released each year. Apple fans expect the same each time. So, there have been a lot of mixed feelings from the Apple lover community. Longhorn wrote a piece for the Apple news website on the iDiffuser. Some of the comments are hateful, while others are praising his creativity.
“I am totally outside of the box now. Apple fans always expect a better version of the well-known products. Each release has been the same. These next few years, I am going to show the world what Apple can produce,” Longhorn said.
Johnson said, “Many people dislike change.” This is why there are plenty of hate comments on Longhorn’s designs. Longhorn remembers when he first started working at Apple. When the iPad mini came out, fans were upset by its dimensions. Fans said it was “awkward” and that it “didn’t fit in the hand nicely.” Now, the iPad mini has outsold the regular iPads. Longhorn believes “The iDiffuser will be the next iPad mini.”
