Under the category of “Steves”, Jeopardy recently asked for contestants to name one of the Steves who co-founded Apple Computer. Most “pop culture” fans recognize Steve Jobs as the young visionary who started a successful computer company in his California garage. Jobs had the wisdom, and the persistence, to hire and cultivate talented people, even as Apple employee Number 1. (The other Steve, Steve Wozniak, is most credited with being the engineer behind Apple’s first computers, the Apple I and the Apple II. As Apple employee Number 2, “The Woz” admits that he is the guy that likes to build “cool things”, and credits Jobs with having the true business mind.)
As the head of Apple Computer, Jobs challenged the dominant players in the computer business. At a time when most computer companies were focusing on building computers for business and government contracts, Jobs saw a niche in the personal and educational markets. With innovations such as a sleek looking case, expansion slots and a price of just $1298, the Apple II became the first commercially successful personal computer. In a quest to build “insanely great” products, Apple developed a much different computer, the Macintosh, the first computer with radical design considerations such as a mouse and a graphical user interface (as opposed to text). “The Mac” was introduced to the public during the now famous “1984” Super Bowl ad; Jobs brought technology to the masses.
In the book Outliers, Gladwell suggests that individual success is often much more than we believe; Americans, in general, tend to like Horatio Alger “rags-to-riches” stories. Gladwell however, finds it more than an interesting coincidence that numerous Silicon Valley billionaires were born in the early 1950’s. For example, MicroSoft founders: Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, along with the Apple co-founders: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were all born between 1950 and 1955. Was it simply Jobs’s good fortune to be born at a historically beneficial place and time, or was it his vision, persistence, enthusiasm and other traits that were the main contributors of his enormous success?
As the head of Apple Computer, Jobs challenged the dominant players in the computer business. At a time when most computer companies were focusing on building computers for business and government contracts, Jobs saw a niche in the personal and educational markets. With innovations such as a sleek looking case, expansion slots and a price of just $1298, the Apple II became the first commercially successful personal computer. In a quest to build “insanely great” products, Apple developed a much different computer, the Macintosh, the first computer with radical design considerations such as a mouse and a graphical user interface (as opposed to text). “The Mac” was introduced to the public during the now famous “1984” Super Bowl ad; Jobs brought technology to the masses.
In the book Outliers, Gladwell suggests that individual success is often much more than we believe; Americans, in general, tend to like Horatio Alger “rags-to-riches” stories. Gladwell however, finds it more than an interesting coincidence that numerous Silicon Valley billionaires were born in the early 1950’s. For example, MicroSoft founders: Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, along with the Apple co-founders: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were all born between 1950 and 1955. Was it simply Jobs’s good fortune to be born at a historically beneficial place and time, or was it his vision, persistence, enthusiasm and other traits that were the main contributors of his enormous success?
References:
Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Young, J. & Simon, W. (2005). iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
4 comments:
Steve Jobs has truly made Apple the company that it is today. I agree with you that his vision is what led to his success. He is truly a visionary with innovations that have led Apple to be one of the most successful companies in the United States. His 1984 Superbowl Ad is one of the best commercials of all time. It truly epitomized the vision of Steve and Apple.
I found it interesting that many of the technology gurus were born between 1950 and 1955. Perhaps they had the ingenuity and the perfect timing. One thing for certain is that Steve Jobs charisma has propelled him to be a leader that single handedly can affect the value of Apple’s stock. Steve’s health scare with cancer has had an impact on the value of Apple’s stock. Where would we be today without the likes of Steve Jobs?
Gosh darnit, If I'd only been born 3 years earlier, you might have been writing about me as a technology guru! I actually remember reading the book 1984 in High School and discussing the world of the future! Interestingly enough, I was sitting in a programming class in 1973 in high school. I wonder if Steve was too?
He certainly had the leadership qualities and business sense to take a unique idea (GUI) to new heights. I know that my husband and I were excited to get away from the prompts and line codes to move around a program.
I think that Steve and Billy Graham share the charismatic gene as leaders. Both appealed to the masses rather quickly (unless you were a die hard DOS/PC user) and both have worked to change the lives of people around the world.
What a great utilization of a YouTube video!! Seeing that as the introduction of what we all use daily today is amazing. As an educational leader embedding videos such as this can say so much more than just words.
Reading your blog you certainly hit on some very important traits that have made Steve Jobs and Apple so successful. Persistence, strategic vision, and an ability to understand the wants and needs of the customers is critical. As educators we often forget about the customers as we believe we know how to teach best. I believe we have a great deal to learn from this individual and individuals like him. I look forward to reading more!
I liked the video and would love to put something like this on my blog.
I think a quality Steve Jobs has is to go against the grain and take chances. As you stated in your blog, "At a time when most computer companies were focusing on building computers for business and government contracts, Jobs saw a niche in the personal and educational markets" Jobs had the nerve and daring to take a chance and go against what all of the computers companies were doing.
Also, he is truly a smart leader because he surrounds himself with talented people. A leader is only as good as the people around them. Jobs had the knowledge to hire talented people and his business took off.
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