The whole interview was fascinating, but what I found most interesting was when he was talking about a "post PC world" (as in post desktop/laptop). He envisioned a world in which 95% of casual computing was done on a tablet or phone.<p>He said PCs would still be there for work, but most consumers won't own one, just like all vehicles used to be trucks, until people moved to cities and switched to cars, and now some people use trucks but most people use cars.<p>The other really interesting part was when he talked about the need for paid journalism, and how he "doesn't want to live in a society that's just bloggers". Even a decade ago he could see the danger in most people getting their news from un-curated, un-vetted content.
My favorite Jobs masterclass is his talk at Apple's developer conference in 1997 [1]. He had just returned to the company, and a lot of people were unhappy with him and/or Apple at the time. He decided to do an hour long off-the-cuff Q&A session with the developers. Famously, one of the questioners was harsh and insulting, and he handled it with grace.<p>I honestly can't think of another tech CEO that could have pulled off this performance. Maybe Bill Gates? I get the sense that the reality distortion field was very real because he was so clear and eloquent about his mission, it never needed to be scripted or rehearsed, it just came out of him at all times.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnO7D5UaDig" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnO7D5UaDig</a>
I have probably watched all of his talk more than a dozen times. The way he articulate his ideas, something that current Apple is missing. Tim Cook tries very hard to put those message forward, but for some reason he is just not very good at it. ( To me at least ) It doesn't feel sincere. You could feel Steve <i>actually</i> cares.<p><i>Mac OSX has been living a secret double life for the past 5 years.</i> - Cant believe it has been 15 years since those words. Apple is about to make another transition. And Mac will reach new height, taking even more market shares.<p>It is sad Steve never gets to see this. Apple now has 1B iPhone user, 100M Mac Users, 200M+ iPad users, and a fast growing Apple Watch user base.<p>I know this may sound wired, but I miss him.
I have to say he was spot on about user privacy 10 years ago and it shows in the platforms today. Starts at around 1:10.<p>> We do a lot of things like that to ensure that people understand what these apps are doing<p>> Privacy means people know what they are signing up for in plain English and repeatedly.<p>Edit: <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps" rel="nofollow">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps</a>
His talk[0] at sloan school when he was young is also good.<p>His answer to buiness school students (some of whom were in consulting business) is quite revealing of his personality. Doesn't hesitate to talk straight in a very calm way. And very clear in his mind about the views he expresses. Also, very eloquent in putting his views forward.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXUhLbV8Nrg" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXUhLbV8Nrg</a>
Full interview: <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps" rel="nofollow">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps</a>
> It would have been trivial for Apple at that point to hire a team or two to shoehorn a so-so version of Flash onto their devices. (This seemed like an even bigger mistake on the iPad which had just launched). But he is clear and adamant. They are going to make calls they believe are best to shape great products.<p>I don't really think the Flash decision had anything to do with "better products," and simply ecosystem control. Apple had <i>always</i> wanted to keep a very tight control of any ecosystem they inhabited. From their decision to stick with PowerPC as long as they did, to their zoo of Apple-specific dongles, to the Apple Store and beyond. Steve Jobs was a genius in understanding that an ecosystem is orders of magnitudes more valuable if you, as an entity, control it. Valve is another company that did the same thing.<p>> It takes courage to look at a feature that lots of people “want” and make the call to exclude it.<p>This is a lot easier to do when you control the ecosystem. It's not like someone could migrate to using a Samsung-made iPad or something.<p>> In a moment of self-deprecation/levity he quips “We never saw ourselves as in a platform war with Microsoft and maybe that’s why we lost”. It’s a quick flash of him taking himself less-seriously and it’s disarming.<p>This is absolutely untrue, and Jobs is playing the crowd. Not only did Apple <i>definitely</i> see themselves in a platform war, they doubled-down on this with the iPhone. It was <i>always</i> about platforms. Jobs just happened to lose the first time, but he decidedly won the second.<p>> Jobs: We are about making better products, and what I love about the consumer market that I always hated about the enterprise market, is that: we come up with a product, we try to tell everybody about it and every person votes for themselves. They go yes or no, and if enough of them say yes, we get to come to work tomorrow. You know that’s how it works. It’s really simple.
Whereas with the enterprise market, it’s not so simple, the people that use the products don’t decide for themselves, the people that make those decisions sometimes are confused. We love just trying to make the best products in the world for ppl and having them tell us by how they vote with their wallets whether we’re on track or not.<p>Not sure exactly how forthright Jobs is here, but -- honest or not -- man, I just want to say this is an incredible answer and motivates me to get off my ass and go build something :)
Pretty refreshing to hear a company leader just say "we want to make the best product". No fluff, no ecosystem, just seemingly straightforward best products and best features. It seems almost bizarre today.
I don't know what it is, but Kara Swisher annoys me. I feel her questions are usually of poor quality and I'm just not a fan of her interviewing style. Can someone fill me in on what has made her so successful? I think I may be missing something.
To @mh_, the poster of this article on HN and the author of the thinkst blog:<p>Your site doesn’t have a responsive mobile layout on iOS. All I see is a weird version with large fonts that I either have to pan around to read or a “web version” that provides the desktop layout with tiny fonts. You may want to test your site with don’t blockers and ad blockers (I use both).
> It’s super telling that this 55 year old billionaire would be “working on a presentation he was giving” at 02h00 in the morning. It is probably possible to do great things without burning the midnight oil, I’ve just never seen it personally, or been able to do it that way myself.<p>It is probably possible to survive in good health and shape and reach your 80s while continuously burning the midnight oil, I’ve just never seen it personally.<p>Sure, "burning the midnight oil" is something that can (and IMHO should) be done sometimes. But is that the only (and main) key to success? I doubt it. The lesson about focus is far more valuable.
I love reading about Steve Jobs, but I get nervous when Apple's moves get put on a pedestal and blindly emulated. I think a lot of industries are tempted by the myth of Steve Jobs to go for vertical integration. Sometimes a better move is for a company to ride on the waves of innovation in layers below them in the technology stack/supply chains. If there's enough innovation below, picking horses like apple loves to do (firewire, etc.) is a bad move. Setting up your company to benefit from innovations below you is what won Microsoft the PC-wars.
The full interview: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5f8bqYYwps</a>
> There’s been a huge push in recent times for balance, wellness and rest. People are quick to point out how burning the midnight oil translates to diminished capacity and actually increases your rate of errors, but I’ve never seen consistently great work from people unless they too, were working deep into the night on projects they believe in.
Remember this interview being particularly frustrating with them constantly pressing him to reveal what their future plans are despite absolutely everyone knowing he'd never actually tell you anything so it's just wasting time.
Sorry that this is off topic, but what’s the situation with the term “masterclass” now that we’ve determined that we shouldn’t use the word “master”. Same with “masterpiece,” “master craftsman,” “headmaster,” “master Jedi,” etc.<p>edit: I’m genuinely curious about this, and don’t have a position on the “master” thing. Not trying to start a flame war.