There's a great book called Insanely Simple by Ken Segall (who worked for the ad agency Chiat/Day which famously made the 1984 ad) where the author shows how Jobs managed to simply incidental complexity.
One example was with Final Cut Studio 2, a predecessor of Final Cut Pro. Apple had recently acquired a company called Silicon Color and wanted to incorporate it into Studio 2. The project leader wanted to be like Adobe and stratify the product into different editions, one with Color (what Silicon Color's product was renamed as) and one without. There would be the standard Final Cut Studio 2 without Color and Final Cut Studio 2 Platinum Edition, with Color. When the project leader presented the finished marketing designs to Steve, he simply said,
"Put the software in the box."
When the team didn't understand exactly what he meant, he reiterated, "Put Color in the Final Cut Studio box. We sell one product. Period. What next?"
And only one product was sold, rather than multiple. It allowed Apple to have consistent messaging without needing to explain the differences between each product, nor did Apple have to create new packaging for each version. It's similar to 2007; when the iPhone released, there was only one iPhone, not the variety we have today. You either wanted it, or you didn't. Period.
> And only one product was sold, rather than multiple. It allowed Apple to have consistent messaging without needing to explain the differences between each product, nor did Apple have to create new packaging for each version. It's similar to 2007; when the iPhone released, there was only one iPhone, not the variety we have today. You either wanted it, or you didn't. Period.
I think you are trying to simplify it more than required. At iPhone's first ever launch, there were no other versions; hell, iPhone was not even ready in Jan 2007. That's why Apple pushed the release date by 6 months.
Now, going by your message of consistency, why there were so many versions of iPod? Even Jobs was alive at that time.
> I think you are trying to simplify it more than required. At iPhone's first ever launch, there were no other versions; hell, iPhone was not even ready in Jan 2007. That's why Apple pushed the release date by 6 months.
I don't understand what you're saying here. January 2007 + 6 months is still in 2007, what does that have to do with how many versions there were?
> why there were so many versions of iPod?
When the iPod was first released, there was also only one version. Only later through refinements did we get the Classic, Mini, Nano, Shuffle, and Touch.
>Steve Jobs apparently turned into a loving father... He often had arguments with his first daughter Lisa, his child with Chrisann Brennan (which Lisa profusely and brilliantly documented in her 2019 memoir, Small Fry)
This is the sum total of this site's coverage of Steve Job's sickening long-term psychological and emotional abuse of Lisa. We're talking Harry Potter cupboard-under-the-stairs shit, and even beyond into borderline sexual abuse. The man was a monster.
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[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 48.8 ms ] threadOne example was with Final Cut Studio 2, a predecessor of Final Cut Pro. Apple had recently acquired a company called Silicon Color and wanted to incorporate it into Studio 2. The project leader wanted to be like Adobe and stratify the product into different editions, one with Color (what Silicon Color's product was renamed as) and one without. There would be the standard Final Cut Studio 2 without Color and Final Cut Studio 2 Platinum Edition, with Color. When the project leader presented the finished marketing designs to Steve, he simply said,
"Put the software in the box."
When the team didn't understand exactly what he meant, he reiterated, "Put Color in the Final Cut Studio box. We sell one product. Period. What next?"
And only one product was sold, rather than multiple. It allowed Apple to have consistent messaging without needing to explain the differences between each product, nor did Apple have to create new packaging for each version. It's similar to 2007; when the iPhone released, there was only one iPhone, not the variety we have today. You either wanted it, or you didn't. Period.
I think you are trying to simplify it more than required. At iPhone's first ever launch, there were no other versions; hell, iPhone was not even ready in Jan 2007. That's why Apple pushed the release date by 6 months.
Now, going by your message of consistency, why there were so many versions of iPod? Even Jobs was alive at that time.
I don't understand what you're saying here. January 2007 + 6 months is still in 2007, what does that have to do with how many versions there were?
> why there were so many versions of iPod?
When the iPod was first released, there was also only one version. Only later through refinements did we get the Classic, Mini, Nano, Shuffle, and Touch.
Adobe completely dominates that marked. I see how it was a simpler release, but it maybe was the wrong strategy.
This is the sum total of this site's coverage of Steve Job's sickening long-term psychological and emotional abuse of Lisa. We're talking Harry Potter cupboard-under-the-stairs shit, and even beyond into borderline sexual abuse. The man was a monster.