A client friend of mine sent me a link to the streaming of Apple’s Remembering Steve event, so I took the time to watch it. It was quite touching at times. I was also inspired by the comments that were made about him by people who knew him best.

It was great to see such a huge turnout at the event. People really loved him, and for good reason. He made this world a better place by being here, and I, for one, am very grateful for him having passed this way. I learned a lot from him business wise, and I am also quite the Apple fanboy, although I don’t wear it on my sleeve.

I knew the very first time I laid my eyes on a Mac that it would be hugely successful. I even wrote down in my journal to make sure I bought Macs for my business. It was one of those “Blink” moments, you know? If you’re not sure what I am referring to, read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Great book, as well as his other books, Outliers and The Tipping Point. If you don’t want to wait until you get the book to find out what I’m talking about, then watch this video.

The commemorative speeches were great. In fact, I liked one speech so much that I transcribed it and posted it below. Not only is it clever and witty, but it also gives you a peak into a side of Steve that we never saw much, as he was a very private guy.

Here are some of the things they had to say about Steve:

Steve’s philosophy on life: “The joy of life is in the journey.”

“Steve never followed the hurd.”

“He always did what was right, not what was easy.”

“He valued beauty in everything.”

“He pushed himself and those around him incredibly hard to achieve more.”

“One more thing he leaves us. He leaves us with each other.”

“Without him, Apple would have died in the late nineties.”

“He thought about Apple until his last day.”

“He saw Disney paralyzed after Walt died, because they all asked what Walt would do. So he advised those at Apple to never ask what he would do. He told them to just do what’s right.”

The famous ad, “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” was meant more for the employees and for the company as a whole than for the customers. Steve crafted every word of this ad. He didn’t want the ad to be about him. He wanted it to be about Apple. So he didn’t run the ad with his voiceover.

Here is a rare video of Steve introducing the commercial to the Apple team for the first time. This video gives you great insight as to how Steve approached marketing with his beloved company:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCz_SiPD_X0[/youtube]

Here’s the ad with Steve doing the voiceover:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPhLqwKo6g[/youtube]

And here is how the ad ran, with the voice of actor Richard Dreyfuss:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE[/youtube]

Here is the script from the commercial:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

And I didn’t know this existed, but here is the full version of “Think Different”:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

More comments about Steve…

“He demanded excellence in everything he created.”

“In the last years, he made sure that those he loved knew it.”

“When producing Siri [the voice recognition software in the iPhone 4S], Steve Jobs asked, ‘Are you a man or a woman!’ Siri: ‘They have not assigned me a gender, sir!'”

“Steve Jobs is the only one in the world who can create products of technology that people love.” – Al Gore

Al Gore also noted this interesting study that I paraphrased from his speech at the event…

Steve Jobs had the uncanny ability to create products of technology that people actually love. A neuroscientist conducted a study to see whether or not the iPhone and the iPad were addictive. So he studied the parts of the brain that were fired off when people used them. After numerous tests and focus groups, he came to the conclusion that the parts of the brain that were fired off while using the iPhone and the iPad were not that of addiction, but that of love.

And the Steve Jobs quote that Al Gore ended his commemorating speech with was the following:

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” – Steve Jobs

Al Gore’s main theme in his speech was love. Interesting. I guess that tends to be one’s focus as one gets older. Either that or he really loves Steve Jobs. But then again, who doesn’t?

If you’d like to watch Al Gore’s speech, check it out below…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prUDQYc5pn4[/youtube]

Here are a few comments that Jonathan Mak made about Steve Jobs…

“For Steve Jobs, every day was like Christmas morning, and nothing could shake that feeling.”

“Here was a man who knew precisely what the future looked like, and had no patience for anyone or anything who got in the way. Not a second was to be wasted. The vision was too important. This is what he meant in that famous Stanford commencement speech: “your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.’ ”

As stated above, Steve’s philosophy on life drove him. It was what made Apple Apple, and it’s also how Steve was able to make one of the most incredible corporate turnarounds in corporate history.

One quote that Steve heard when he was young came to be the driving force of his ambition.

Steve explains it this way…

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: ‘If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

And lastly, Jony (pronounced “Johnny”) Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple Inc., gave a brilliant speech commemorating Steve Jobs at the “Celebrating Steve” event. It was so good, that I decided to transcribe it for you and post it below. I hope you enjoy it.

And Steve, wherever you are, THANK YOU for all that you did while you were here. Because of you, my mother can read with ease…because of you, my father no longer has to have me fix the computer every time I visit…and because of you, my life has changed forever from the lessons you taught me both about business, and about life. You rock!

========================================================

Transcription of Jony Ive’s Speech Commemorating Steve Jobs

You know Steve used to say to me a lot, “Hey Johnny, here’s a dopey idea.” And sometimes they were…really dopey. Sometimes they were truly dreadful. But sometimes…they took the air from the room…and they left us both completely silent. Bold, crazy, magnificent ideas. Or quiet simple ones, which in their subtlety, their detail, they were utterly profound.

And just as Steve loved ideas and loved making stuff, he treated the process of creativity with a rare and a wonderful reverence. You see, I think he, better than anyone, understood that while ideas ultimately can be so powerful, they begin as fragile barely formed thoughts, so easily missed, so easily compromised, so easily just squished.

You know I love the way that he listened so intently. I loved his perception, his remarkable sensitivity, and his surgically precise opinion. I really believe there was beauty in how singular, how keen his insight was, even though sometimes it could sting.

As I’m sure many of you know, Steve didn’t confine his sense of excellence to making products. You know when we traveled together, we would check in, and I’d go up to my room, and I’d leave my bags very neatly by the door, and I wouldn’t unpack. And I would go and sit on the bed…I would go and sit on the bed next to the phone, and I would wait for the inevitable phone call, “Hey Johnny. This hotel sucks. Let’s go!”

He used to joke that the lunatics had taken over the asylum as we shared a giddy excitement spending months and months working on a part of a product that nobody would ever see, or not with their eyes. But we did it because we really believed that it was right, because we cared. He believed that there was a gravity, almost a sense of civic responsibility, to care way beyond any sort of functional imperative.

Now while the work hopefully appeared inevitable, appeared simple and easy, it really cost. It cost us all, didn’t it? But you know what? It cost him most. He cared the most. He worried the most deeply. He constantly questioned, “Is this good enough? Is this right?” And despite all his successes, all his achievements, he never presumed, he never assumed that we would get there in the end.

When the ideas didn’t come, and when the prototypes failed, it was with great intent, with faith, he decided to believe we eventually would make something great.

But the joy of getting there…I loved his enthusiasm. His simple delight, often I think mixed with some relief, but that yeah we got there…we got there in the end, and it was good.

You can see his smile, can’t you. The celebration of making something great for everybody. Enjoying the defeat of cynicism. The rejection of reason. The rejection of being told 100 times, “You can’t do that.” So his, I think, was a victory for beauty, for purity, and as he would say, “for giving a damn.”

He was my closest and my most loyal friend. We worked together for nearly 15 years, and he still laughed at how I said “aluminium”.

For the past two weeks, I think we’ve all been struggling to find ways to say, “Good-bye.” This morning, I simply want to end by saying, “Thank you, Steve. Thank you for your remarkable vision which has united and inspired this extraordinary group of people. For all that we have learned from you, and all that we will continue to learn from each other, thank you, Steve.”

Here is the video of Jony’s speech:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hOCyOlTmyM[/youtube]

And here is one of Steve’s favorite bands performing at this event…Coldplay!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stDYKAcr9WA[/youtube]

Here is Norah Jone’s beautiful performance of “Forever Young” at the event…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdFt2KFcZdQ[/youtube]

If you would like to see the entire event, go here:

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/10oiuhfvojb23/event/index.html

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The passing of Steve Jobs really affected me, more than I thought it would. I spent the rest of the day on the 5th, and all day yesterday reading up on him, getting to know him better. It also made me really think about what I’m doing with my life and where I’m going.

I’ll post a much longer blog post about Steve, his life, and how my life was affected by his passing later. But first, check out this documentary on his life. He was a very private guy, so there is not much info on him. But Bloomberg did a good job coming up with what they did.

Enjoy!

Part 1
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgiEG-NsAB0[/youtube]

Part 2
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zvBLxvg7ds[/youtube]

Part 3
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tnz3NpR1xg[/youtube]

Part 4
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7tdqL_M87Y[/youtube]

Part 5
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUXUbVG-Lx8[/youtube]

Feel free to comment below with your thoughts!

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I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but I never got around to it. Been very busy. However, seeing that Steve Jobs just resigned as CEO of Apple today (so sad), I feel today is a very fitting day to post this.

Steve, I know that you will be the Chairman of the Board and director, but you will be sorely missed in the day to day operations of Apple. You’re a brilliant man, and taught us how to “Think Different.” You made a GREAT and POSITIVE impact on not only the computer world, but also the entertainment world. You pushed the human race forward, and I want to thank you for that. You have definitely put a “ding in the Universe,” as you so eloquently expressed to be your foremost desire.

I dedicate one of your own commercials…to you.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE[/youtube]
Here’s my review of a great interview with Steve Jobs conducted by All Things Digital that I should have posted a while ago, but I’m glad I didn’t…

I recently watched a really great interview with Steve Jobs that was conducted at the D8 – All Things Digital conference. You really get to peek inside his head and discover his core values for his business in this interview.

The main core value of Apple is to “build the best products for people.” He kept on saying that over and over throughout the interview, and he said it with such passion. It was awesome to watch. It’s the foundation for the company. I love it when entrepreneurs display their passion for their values and their company. It shows that it’s not about the money for them. It’s about their vision for their business and what they stand for.

Another thing that I was really intrigued about was that Steve said that Apple is the “largest startup company in the world.” What he meant by that is that Apple is still structured as a startup. What does that mean? Well it means that it is an “incredibly collaborative company.” There are no committees. They have one person in charge of each department, and they trust that “their team will come through with their parts.”

I agree with setting up a company this way, and it’s not just because Apple is highly successful and that’s what they do. I just feel that the whole corporate structure is outdated and does not work in today’s society. People are tired of working for corporations that treat their employees like a number, and that don’t listen to them or their ideas. People want to feel that they are a part of something bigger than themselves, and that they are contributing and making a difference in the company.

Eben Pagan, a very successful Internet marketer, says that great people work for “Impact,” not for money. They want to be involved with a company that is going to make a substantial difference in the world. They are not in it for the cash, because they have such talent, they can make great money no matter where they work. I agree 100%.

In the interview, Steve also explains what he does all day…what his day as CEO of Apple is like. I’m sure you want to know that, right? What does one of the most highly successful CEO’s in the world of one of the most successful and highly valued companies in the world do all day? What does he do with his time? You’ll have to watch the interview to find out.

Here are 10 more things you will find out by watching this interview:

1. Why Steve would have rather QUIT than let the whole Gizmodo / stolen iPhone 4 prototype issue slide
2. What are the 3 main reasons why Apple disapproves apps for The App Store
3. Why HTML5 is better than Flash
4. Why Steve believes personal computers will eventually “be like trucks” (meaning not many people will have one)
5. Why Apple is going into the Advertising business (it’s probably not the reason you think)
6. Where people are spending most of their time when using the iPad
7. Why mobile ads are great for the advertiser, publisher, and end user
8. How Apple protects the privacy of their users (much respect, Steve!)
9. What Steve would like to do with his commencement speech that he made to Stanford in 2005 (see below)
10. What was wrong with the music industry before the digital download era

And here are the Top 12 Business Lessons that I learned, or that I already knew but were reinforced for me, from watching Steve in this interview:

 
Business Lesson #1

Steve: We focus on developing GREAT products for people (it’s Apple’s core value) and they let us know how we are doing by voting with their wallet

Business Lesson: Always focus on delivering the best product or service possible, and the market will let you know how you are doing by buying (or not buying) your product or service

 
Business Lessons #2 & #3

Steve: You can save a lot of time and energy if you “choose the correct horses to ride” (referring to why he chose to go with HTML5 instead of supporting Flash with the iPhone and iPad; read Steve’s full article, Thoughts on Flash, that he wrote back in April 2010)

1st Business Lesson: Focus on a few great products and be the best at using them, instead of trying to please everyone, spreading yourself too thin, and not really being a master at anything

2nd Business Lesson: Team up with products whose business graphs are going up, not down

 
Business Lesson #4

Steve: Price things aggressively and go for volume (referring to software and content)

Business Lesson: If you want to dine with the classes, you have to sell to the masses (and price things accordingly!)

 
Business Lesson #5

Steve: People are willing to pay for content on the Internet (iTunes)

Business Lesson: There will be times where you will have an idea and people will say, “How could that possibly work? People aren’t going to buy that! They can get that for free!” But the only way you’ll find out if something will work is to TEST it, like a good marketer and entrepreneur always should be doing. Don’t try to THINK what the masses will do, FIND OUT by TESTING on a small scale. If it works, SCALE IT UP and make BANK!

 
Business Lesson #6

Steve: We started with the iPad FIRST. But then I realized we could make a phone out of the touchscreen technology we had developed, and we decided to go with that first and shelve the iPad until we “got our breath back” from the launch of the iPhone.

[Brilliant business choice since the iPhone accounts for almost 50% of their revenue! (46.6% to be exact)]

Business Lesson: ALWAYS be flexible enough to change your plans along the way, no matter how much time, effort, and focus you have put into the development of a certain product/service. If it makes better business sense to change plans, DO IT!

 
Business Lesson #7

Steve: Personal computers are going to be like trucks. They are still going to be around, but not many people are going to have them (watch the interview to see why Steve believes that)

Business Lesson: Always be focused on where things are going in your industry and plan accordingly

 
Business Lesson #8

Steve: We get 10,000 – 20,000 apps submitted to us each week, and we approve 95% of them within 7 days (Impressive!)

Business Lesson: Have things set up in your business to be ready to handle your success

 
Business Lesson #9

Steve: We originally disapproved of a political cartoon app because we had one rule: “You can’t defame people” [which I really admire]. However, that was one consequence of that rule that we did not see coming. So we made political cartoons the one exception.

Business Lesson: Always be willing to change the rules.

 
Business Lesson #10

Steve: We make mistakes along the way, and we fix them as fast as we can.

Business Lesson: You see, even the most successful companies in the world make a fair amount of mistakes. So don’t let making mistakes stop you from achieving your dreams. It is part of the process, and always will be no matter how successful you get.

 
Business Lesson #11

Steve: If you want to hire great people, you have to let them make a lot of the decisions.

Business Lesson: You must be willing to let your employees/team members make a lot of the decisions. People work best in an autonomous environment (check out the book “Drive” by Dan Pink for more on that). That’s how you hire and KEEP great people. Otherwise, they will not feel as if they are part of the team, nor will they feel like they are making a difference in the company, let alone the world. They’ll feel more like a puppet in a controlled environment in which they have no say. Consequently, they will jump ship and go to a company that does have an autonomous environment where they and the company will thrive.

 
Business Lesson #12

Steve: You have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best idea must win, not the “best person” with the most power or seniority.

Business Lesson: In business, you have to be humble and be quick to recognize a great idea, no matter who it comes from. Reiterating what was said in Business Lesson #11 above, if you want to keep great people, you must appreciate their brilliance, use their ideas, and reward them for it.

 
So those are the top 12 business lessons that I learned by watching Steve Jobs in this interview. I hope you can use some of them to help your business. Comment below and let me know how these ideas have helped you, and feel free to mention any business lessons that you learned from watching this interview.

Watch the full interview below and enjoy!

Steve Jobs at D8 (an All Things Digital Conference) – Full Video

 

 
And here is Steve’s brilliant commencement speech that he gave at Stanford in 2005:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc[/youtube]

Remember to comment on what you learned from either my article or the interview…or both!

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Do you love Apple products? Would you like to be the first to see and experience what Apple products will be coming out in 2011? Want a chance to see Steve Jobs speak in person and maybe even meet him?