Read Online Inside Steve's Brain by Leander Kahney - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Leander Kahney
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was sitting in the empty auditorium, watching as Jobs rehearsed the big moment when the new iMacs would first glide into public view. Five of the machines in a range of bright colors were mounted on a sliding pedestal hidden behind a curtain, ready to take center stage on Jobs’s cue.
Jobs wanted the moment when they slid out from behind the curtain to be projected onto a large video screen looming over the stage. The technicians set it up, but Jobs didn’t think the lighting was doing the translucent machines justice. The iMacs looked good onstage, but they didn’t really shine on the projection screen. Jobs wanted the lights to be turned up brighter and to turn on earlier. He tells the producer to try it again. Speaking into his headset, the producer instructs the backstage crew to set it up. The iMacs slide back behind the curtain, and on cue, they slide back out again.
But the lighting is still not right. Jobs comes jogging halfway down the hall and plonks into a seat, legs dangling over the chair in front. “Let’s keep doing it till we get it right, OK?” he orders.
The iMacs slide back behind the curtain and out again, but it’s still not right. “No, no,” he says, shaking his head. “This isn’t working at all.” They do it again. This time the lights are bright enough, but they’re not coming on soon enough. Jobs is starting to lose patience. “I’m getting tired of asking about this,” he snarls.
The crew does it a fourth time, and finally the lighting looks great. The machines sparkle on the huge projection screen. Jobs is elated. “Oh! Right there! That’s great!” he shouts. “That’s perfect! Wooh!”
Throughout all this, the Time reporter is utterly mystified why so much effort is put into a single lighting cue. It seems to be so much work for such a small part of the show. Why invest so much elbow grease in getting every single little detail just right? Earlier, Jobs had been rhapsodizing about new twist-off caps on Odwalla juice bottles, which was another puzzle to the reporter. Who cares about twist-off caps or making sure stage lights come on one second before the curtain opens? What difference do these things make?
But when the iMacs slide out, the lights beaming brightly down on them, the reporter is extremely impressed. He writes: “And you know what? He’s right. The iMacs do look better when the lights come on earlier. Odwalla bottles are better with twist-off caps. The common man did want colorful computers that delivered plug-and-play access to the Internet.” 1
Jobs’s Pursuit of Perfection
Jobs is a stickler for detail. He’s a fussy, pain-in-the-ass perfectionist who drives subordinates crazy with his persnickety demands. But where some see picky perfectionism, others see the pursuit of excellence.
Jobs’s no-compromise ethos has inspired a unique approach to developing products at Apple. Under Jobs’s guidance, products are developed through nearly endless rounds of mockups and prototypes that are constantly edited and revised. This is true for both hardware and software. Products are passed back and forth among designers, programmers, engineers, and managers, and then back again. It’s not serial. There are lots and lots of meetings and brainstorming sessions. The work is revised over and over, with an emphasis on simplification as it evolves. It’s a fluid, iterative process that sometimes means going back to the drawing board, or scrapping the product altogether.
Like the introduction of the iMacs, things are done over and over again until they are done right. After its initial release, the iMac was continually updated. In addition to upgrading the chips and hard drives, the iMac’s Bondi-blue case was replaced with a range of bright colors—at first, blueberry, grape, lime, strawberry, and tangerine; and later more sedate hues: graphite, indigo, ruby, sage, and snow.
Throughout, Jobs insists on an unprecedented attention to detail that ensures that
Jobs wanted the moment when they slid out from behind the curtain to be projected onto a large video screen looming over the stage. The technicians set it up, but Jobs didn’t think the lighting was doing the translucent machines justice. The iMacs looked good onstage, but they didn’t really shine on the projection screen. Jobs wanted the lights to be turned up brighter and to turn on earlier. He tells the producer to try it again. Speaking into his headset, the producer instructs the backstage crew to set it up. The iMacs slide back behind the curtain, and on cue, they slide back out again.
But the lighting is still not right. Jobs comes jogging halfway down the hall and plonks into a seat, legs dangling over the chair in front. “Let’s keep doing it till we get it right, OK?” he orders.
The iMacs slide back behind the curtain and out again, but it’s still not right. “No, no,” he says, shaking his head. “This isn’t working at all.” They do it again. This time the lights are bright enough, but they’re not coming on soon enough. Jobs is starting to lose patience. “I’m getting tired of asking about this,” he snarls.
The crew does it a fourth time, and finally the lighting looks great. The machines sparkle on the huge projection screen. Jobs is elated. “Oh! Right there! That’s great!” he shouts. “That’s perfect! Wooh!”
Throughout all this, the Time reporter is utterly mystified why so much effort is put into a single lighting cue. It seems to be so much work for such a small part of the show. Why invest so much elbow grease in getting every single little detail just right? Earlier, Jobs had been rhapsodizing about new twist-off caps on Odwalla juice bottles, which was another puzzle to the reporter. Who cares about twist-off caps or making sure stage lights come on one second before the curtain opens? What difference do these things make?
But when the iMacs slide out, the lights beaming brightly down on them, the reporter is extremely impressed. He writes: “And you know what? He’s right. The iMacs do look better when the lights come on earlier. Odwalla bottles are better with twist-off caps. The common man did want colorful computers that delivered plug-and-play access to the Internet.” 1
Jobs’s Pursuit of Perfection
Jobs is a stickler for detail. He’s a fussy, pain-in-the-ass perfectionist who drives subordinates crazy with his persnickety demands. But where some see picky perfectionism, others see the pursuit of excellence.
Jobs’s no-compromise ethos has inspired a unique approach to developing products at Apple. Under Jobs’s guidance, products are developed through nearly endless rounds of mockups and prototypes that are constantly edited and revised. This is true for both hardware and software. Products are passed back and forth among designers, programmers, engineers, and managers, and then back again. It’s not serial. There are lots and lots of meetings and brainstorming sessions. The work is revised over and over, with an emphasis on simplification as it evolves. It’s a fluid, iterative process that sometimes means going back to the drawing board, or scrapping the product altogether.
Like the introduction of the iMacs, things are done over and over again until they are done right. After its initial release, the iMac was continually updated. In addition to upgrading the chips and hard drives, the iMac’s Bondi-blue case was replaced with a range of bright colors—at first, blueberry, grape, lime, strawberry, and tangerine; and later more sedate hues: graphite, indigo, ruby, sage, and snow.
Throughout, Jobs insists on an unprecedented attention to detail that ensures that
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