The Apple Story

If Steve Jobs had been around today, he would be a septuagenarian. The man who made people think of computers and electronic appliances when one utters the word Apple is perhaps watching the progress of the Apple of his eye from “i cloud”.

Steve Jobs was a prototype of a typical human being. He had his feathers and flaws. He had his set of convictions and contradictions. Yet he had a dream and he chased it with a sense of purpose. Jobs, one of the richest men who walked our planet began his rendezvous with computers in the garage of his humble home in California. His unmitigated passion for electronics and his understanding of arts found their culmination in the unique creations of his company.

 It is said that if one takes care of the details, the big picture will take care of itself. Little Jobs learnt this mantra from his dad who was a car mechanic. His dad insisted that one should work carefully on every aspect of a project and use parts of good quality even if they were not visible to the naked eye. Later on in life, he ensured that even the screws of his Apple products were well turned out and plated though no one was likely to see it with the exception of the repairman. One can well imagine the pride he took in his work when he made the entire team sign on a sheet of paper and enclosed it in the Macintosh.

“Never judge a book by its cover” says a popular adage. While Steve Jobs ensured that every "page "of his project was pruned to perfection lest his "job" would be castaway, Mike Markkula, a father figure to Jobs made him believe in the importance of the saying "First impression is the best impression." Jobs understood the importance of presentation in a competitive market. He not only started paying attention to the packaging and even the labeling of his products but also shed his hippie looks and gave up on barefooted jaunts in his office and spruced himself up to make his presentations. It would surprise you to know that Jobs never really cared for power point presentations because he thought if a person is thorough with the subject, then there would be really no need for and electronic prompting.

The Apple Company had its share of failures and setbacks. None of it would faze Jobs and he would not hesitate to begin from scratch. He possessed the art of turning every setback into an opportunity. There was a time when he was alienated from his company because of his temperamental nature. It was during this time; he translated his dream of uniting the sciences and the arts by venturing into film making and made Toy Story a fabulous graphic film. Later on he also paid a rich tribute to the world of music by launching the i pod which could hold thousands of songs and an i tunes store to sell music legally at a nominal price.

Jobs believed in the art of simplicity and simplifying. He raked in the best compliment ever for his implicit faith in Zen like simplicity when Noer, of Forbes wrote about a six year old illiterate stable boy in Colombia who used the Apple i pad without any kind of initiation. His belief that “simplicity is the greatest form of sophistication” guided him in his journey which has made the world tarry a split second to ensure the context and meaning of the word “Apple” whenever it is mentioned.

If the world takes to technology in right earnest, we could save the great Himalayan and Alpine forests from being turned into stationery which in turn will help the earth to be green at least in parts. If connoisseurs of art and music learn to source their entertainment legally from designated e-stores, piracy on those counts could be effectively countered. If the smart phone is put to healthy use, one can look forward to live in a harmonious and knowledgeable world which will have access to anything under the sun at the click of a button. 

The man who understood the power of technology strove in right earnest to empower the world with its continuously changing nuances. The ball (apple?) is in our court, how we deal with it will decide our game of life!