60 minutes: Steve Jobs (part 2)

One thing you probably didn't know was that Steve ate at the restaurant his biological father owned. He actually shook his hand once but never did he introduce himself as the son he had given up for adoption.

His biological father even bragged to his daughter (Mona Simpson) when they finally met, that Steve Jobs used to come to his restaurant to eat. She could barely hold her tongue, but Steve had told her not to say a word about who he was.


Just amazing stuff.

60 minutes: Steve Jobs (part 1)

Probably the best thing you could ever watch.

"I loved what I did"

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. [...] Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.

We've never worried about numbers. In the market place, Apple is trying to focus the spotlight on products, because products really make a difference. [...] Ad campaigns are necessary for competition; IBM's ads are everywhere. But good PR educates people; that's all it is. You can't con people in this business. The products speak for themselves. 

          --Playboy interview, 1985

A Whole New Mind

“The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind—computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers. These people—artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers—will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joys.”


--Daniel Pink

Steve Jobs: 7 Secrets to Success

1) Do what you love no matter what it happens to be.
2) Put a dent in the universe (Clear consistent vision)
3) Say no to 1000 things (Focus. Reduce the clutter)
4) Kick start your brain (By doing something new)
5) Sell dreams not products (Be innovative)
6) Create insanely great experiences
7) Master the message (you are being judged by how you present yourself/communicate to others)

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/steve-jobs-secrets-success-14694518

Kindle Fire vs iPad

Amazon built an alternative to the iPad, rather than a direct competitor. It’s a different market segment. As Steve Jobs explained back in 2010 at the introduction of the original iPad, there’s unexplored territory between smartphones and laptops.

John Gruber nails it with his analysis of the Amazon Kindle tablet and e-ink readers.