7.3 Skills in the 21st Century

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7.3.6 Innovative Minds in Technology

Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)

In a nutshell: he is referred as a great contemporary inventor, with 241 patents  under his name

His famous inventions:

  • Apple personal computer - first of a kind
  • Macintosh  - computer with an innovative graphics interface
  • Pixar - animated film studio
  • iPod - listen to music on the go
  • MacBook - powerful notebook
  • iPhone - the first smartphone with Apple's iOS
  • iPad - tablet computer

        

His approach:

The list of his inventions is impresive but deceptive. In fact he didn't invent himself anything. He was good at stealing ideas. He was good at spotting talents and get people to work for him. On the other hand he was a dreamer, he recognised the problems in the world and worked out solutions for them. The president of IBM claimed: there is a world market for maybe five computers. He didn't think about personal computers. It was Steve Jobs who recognised the need.

He said:

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."

 

"About half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance."

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

His method:

  1. Find a problem
  2. Do thorough research
  3. Combine the details into a new product
  4. Market it in an exceptional way

Let's see the iPhone example. It was revolutionary, because it had

  • touch screen
  • rechargeable lithium battery
  • internet

However touch screen was invented in the 1960's by Eric Johnson, the lithium battery in the 70's by Stanley Whittingham, and well, about the internet, this is what Steve Jobs said about it: "This is bullshit. I don’t want this. I know it works, I got it, great, thanks, but this is a shitty experience.”  In fact his colleagues secretly put the internet connection into the device.

Key takeaway:

  1. He didn't become famous overnight. It took years and decades of hard work and perseverance to build his products and company.
  2. Don't reinvent the wheel. Combine existing solutions into a unique one.
  3. If you have an idea (to solve a problem), go for it. It might change along the way, and the outcome can be totally different from what is was designed at the beginning. It doesn't matter. What matters: just do it, amend your plan when it is ailing, and you will be successful.
  4. You need a team. Find people with talent to collaborate.