Steve Jobs and the relentless drive to cut away what's not absolutely necessary and simplify what is
Steve Jobs had Apple halt iPhone production to make the display more prominent, halted iPad production to make the edges more scoop-able, and continuously, relentlessly, stopped Apple in mid-stride to cut what wasn't necessary and simplify what absolutely was. This singular insight is brought into sharp focus once again by biographer Walter Isaacson, writing for the Harvard Business Review on the subject of Steve Job's leadership.
Here are some examples:
And it extended into Steve Jobs' plans for the future of Apple as well:
This exemplifies why Jobs was rightly considered the best product guy of his generation, arguably in the history of computing and consumer electronics. No other company could produce what Apple produced over the last decade, and none really seem intent on trying. It's not just the software -- it's everything from the materials used to produce casings to the buttons left off of them.
Apple made the iPod and not Sony, Apple made the iPhone and not Palm, Apple made the MacBook Air and not HP, Apple made the iPad and not Microsoft.
Steve Jobs gave Apple a remarkable insight, and there's every indication they're running with it. Hopefully they have several canny team members asking the impertinent questions and wielding the knives of simplicity.
Hopefully as well the rest of the industry is catching on -- they need to compete based on innovation and accessibility, not just price and ancillary complexity. Apple needs it, and consumers deserve it.
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They can start by reading the article below, it's chock full of the insanely great.
Source: Harvard Business Revue via 9to5Mac
Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.