The Legacy of Steve Jobs

On October 6, 2011 Heidi Collins of FOX 9 News KMSP in the Twin Cities Minneapolis, St. Paul MN interviewed Chief Technology Officer and Apple expert Tim Cimbura regarding the legacy left by Steve Jobs. (See video below.) Following is not a word-for-word transcription of the interview but the outline and responses prepared for the interview:

1. When we look back at what Steve Jobs innovated and invented… what’s going to stand-out ten years from now?
What we see today in the iPhone and iPad are the most advanced precursors to the mobile devices that nearly everyone will carry with them every day in the future. Ten years from now we’ll take it all for granted. Kids today grow up with this technology magic not even knowing there was a time when it didn’t exist. I’ve been there since the early days…Apple II, Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad…every one was a major step forward…Steve Jobs led the way that is now considered common place.

2. Steve Jobs is obviously known for his technological advances, but what about his sense of how to run a company?

• I believe Steve answered the question well “What is your unique contribution to the world?” A business should have a laser focus on what they do best. Then you need to drop the other stuff that isn’t critical to your mission. He wanted to make products that were “insanely great”.
• Then you need to be willing to take a chance, a risk, and be OK with being called the fool. He said that “you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
• Steve modeled hard work in a casual environment. He always wore jeans and a black turtleneck…but he was a serious businessman. You don’t need to wear a tie for that.

3. What is his legacy in the business world?
Every computer you see ANYwhere…Windows or Mac was greatly influenced by Steve. Innovations such as desktop publishing and the mouse as an input device were made popular by the Mac and then copied later by Microsoft Windows. Nearly every modern mobile device you see today was influenced by the iPhone or iPad. Apple’s big advantage has been about the user experience in marrying the hardware and the software together in harmony.

4. Those Apple presentations by Steve Jobs were something no other CEO could touch. What made him such a powerful speaker?
Many things. Among them:

• There was a simplicity in his message.
• He focused on the audience and answered the question “What would change their lives?”
• Steve told a great story.
• He made excellent use of visuals through memorable photos and video.
• Finally, he had fun. You knew he loved what he was doing with a passion. He was able to laugh and even make fun of past mistakes he or Apple made.

5. We have to talk about his cultural legacy. What is the biggest cultural transformation he gave us? Do you think it’s that first Apple computer, the iPod, iPhone or iPad?
Overall, bringing the computer into nearly every home was a huge transformation. As a teen…I remenber my first Apple II that my father brough home from school for the summer. I could program it to count from 1 to 1,000,000 in about 30 seconds. It was completely amazing…magic…and yet that is such a simple thing.
Today, the transformation is most certainly the mobile computer such as the iPhone or iPad. The fact that we carry with us more computing power in our pocket than 1000s of Apple IIs is amazing…and we often just take it for granted or complain about the little things that it CAN’T do yet.

Steve was a college drop out but he knew the influence of education and loved learning. Through the Apple education program he inspired youth with Apple products and focused on the next generation. He saw the power of creativity there. Look at the iPad and how it has improved education and business by making information accessible anywhere.

Steve used the perspective of death to get rid of fear and do what mattered. He said “Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important… There is no reason not to follow your heart.” So true.

At his death Steve Jobs was worth about $7 billion. If you asked him, I believe he would say that his wife and four kids were among the most valuable things he had in his life. He said “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” Then he’d end with “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

6. Without Steve Jobs at the helm of Apple, what do you think the company is going to look like? Are we going to continue to see such incredible technological innovations as we have in the past?

The future of Apple’s technology path is mapped out internally for at least the next 10 years…so I don’t think that will be a problem. Certainly, Steve will be missed for his significant contributions and vision on a day-to-day basis but there is a pretty amazing team of people that he has assembled at Apple that will keep that going. It would really take a train wreck to completely change the course of what Apple is doing today. They are so successful.