Focus and Simplicity

There has been whole lot written about Steve Jobs yesterday and today, and there will no doubt be much more as it will take years – maybe decades – to fully decipher the impact of his accomplishments. What they mean to the fields of technology, communication, and art. 

In wading through it all, my favorite piece thus far was from Wired:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/10/jobs

It nicely overviews the multiple facets of the man - his successes and his failures, his inspirational qualities and his negative traits, his exceptional life and his untimely death. 

Personally, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Steve Jobs (and Apple) is the perfect fusion of art and science. Never abandoning the details of design and aesthetics for the realities of form and function. And vice versa.  The way Apple has been able to walk that razor’s edge is what makes them unique. 

Also when I think of Steve Jobs, my mind randomly goes back to that 2007 keynote when he unveiled the first iPhone. Not so much because of any of the technology he was presenting… but oddly enough I’m still drawn to the quote he used to end his speech that day:

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
– Wayne Gretzky

Elegant in its simplicity and inspirational in its enlightenment, it’s a classic example of a “why didn’t I think of that?” idea. Which is of course why it was so appropriate. Steve Jobs proactively considered how we’d use technology in the future; and the solutions he imagined are so seemingly simple and beautiful it makes you wonder what we did before they were around.

And if that's not something to aspire to creatively, I don't know what is.  

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BONUS Steve Jobs fun facts!  

1. He was not responsible for the invention of the mouse, as some would have you believe.  Though Jobs was essential in popularizing it, those accolades fall to Dr. Douglas Engelbart.
2. But he did invent Halo - check out this keynote from May of 2000. No, actually not really. Halo was initially developed for the Mac by Bungie Studios, and Jobs was he was going to use it to jump-start gaming on the Mac platform before Microsoft bought it out from under him.  He was not pleased.
3. If you're interested in more reading, here's a pretty great list: 7 Best Reads on Steve Jobs.  Be especially sure to read Brian Lam's article, Steve Jobs Was a Kind Man: My Regrets About Burning Him, and the infamous iPhone 4 prototype debacle.