Steve Jobs' Final Presentation
Oct 6th, 2011
Today, the world is focusing on the life of Steve
Jobs. We are examining his life and career, reading about his trials and victories, and reliving
the revolutionary presentations of his world-changing products. Today really is his final
presentation. What will we learn from this incredibly gifted and gutsy man?
Sorting through the life of Steve Jobs has come at the perfect
time in my life and career. His many trials and final, ultimate success, has taught
me a few things as I move forward into the future, sadly, without him.
1. Be realistic.
Steve was a perfectionist and it killed many of his endeavours in
his early career. Iconic of this was the NeXT Cube, released in 1988. In it's design, no detail was
considered too small, nothing was trivial or overlooked. It had to be perfect*. Unfortunately for
Steve, people couldn't afford his masterpiece back then. "Perfect" products cost a fortune to
design and build and most consumers aren't impressed enough to max out their credit cards to reward
you for your brilliance. But he learned his lesson.
When Steve returned to Apple in 1996 he brought his perfectionist
eye with him but this time he met his engineers in the middle. The result? Affordable products that
were damn good.
I have the Jobs syndrome. It's so hard to let go of the
perfect product I've already built in my head but it's time to be a little more realistic
and strive for greatness instead of perfection.
2. Simplify.
From the beginning, Steve was good at focusing. He poured all his
energy and resources into one product at a time and this ability, ultimately, is what saved Apple.
When he rejoined the company he found Apple engineers producing "a zillion and one products"**. So
Steve went to work taking out the trash and reduced some 20+ Apple product lines to just 4 basic
products. The desktop computer, the notebook, and the pro versions of both. And this was just what
the market needed.
Today, I looked at my current list of projects, both business and
personal, and I'm really swimming in the extras I've created. It's time to reduce; to clear the
table and clean the whiteboard. It's time to turn off the noise and pick a few projects
that I want to commit to and see through to the end. Moving forward, I aim to be more
simplified. More ... well, Apple.
RIP Steve Jobs
* Moisescot, pg 26
**Steve Jobs at WWDC 1998
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