Apple’s Eye

It’s been a week now since Steve Jobs died and the world has already declared him a saint. In Sydney at the Apple Store last Friday there were flowers, photographs and candles burning in his memory.

Steve Jobs did indeed change the world – but in doing that he had only one thing that separated him from the rest: He made computers that were not only easy for people to use but made complex things really simple. He encouraged people to think differently.

Let’s be clear here – he invented very little of what makes Apple great. The graphical interface and mouse came from Xerox; the portable music hard drive was built by Sony long before Apple bought into it; the flat screen computer monitor was a first by Gateway; touch screen technology by Samsung. In fact, when you look at the list of patents supplied to Apple by the USA Government Website it’s led by IBM with Samsung as a close follower.

Even the legendary operating system that Apple re-built itself on, OS X (operating system 10), wasn’t developed at Apple – but at Next, the company where Jobs was hiding out after being sacked in a board room struggle with John Sculley.*

What Apple did which made the world different, is that they made the complex simple. Before Apple computers, the whole idea of using a computer meant hours or weeks of study – of dedication – to small tasks like writing script, or learning how to write command strings.

Apple made computers with the consumer in mind. They wanted to make it a pleasure; they wanted in the end to make it a sensuous experience.

In the end, they forced the computer world to react; the now ubiquitous Windows software you are using to read this is a direct reaction by Microsoft to the Apple Macintosh.

The whole point of Apple wasn’t that they made computers – lots of people make computers. Making computers is simply the “what” Apple does; what Jobs wanted to do was challenge the status quo – by making his products simple to use, beautifully designed and powerful and ultimately all about the experience of the customer.

*Just in case you were interested. Apple failed without Jobs, he started Next computing, they brought him back and he launched the bubble shaped and colourful iMac running OSX 10 which changed the world once again. John Sculley launched a product which makes wine taste better via the use of magnets.