I absolutely devoured Walter Isaacson's biography on Steve Jobs, finishing it in six days. I am fascinated with the process of reading, watching, whatever of someone's rise to success. I finished the book with mixed feelings. Jobs basically abandoned his first daughter, only trying to reconnect with her later on in life. He was infamous for having an explosive temper in pursuit of relentless attention to detail. However, the result of this pursuit produced some of the most beautiful, innovative products to date.
What amazed me the most was Jobs' ingeniousness in design. There was no market research into what shape and color a product it should be. Simple and beautiful were Jobs' passion for his products.
I remember my first year in law school when I first saw it. My friend's aluminum Macbook. It looked more expensive than any other laptop I'd ever seen. It was also a sleek, simple design. I immediately wanted one, but I had never owned a Mac.
Fast forward a year later and I bought my first MacBook, a used white 2006 model. I spent an entire day learning the OS and fell in love with Apple's layout. Where on a PC, I had to go through 10 steps to make one change, on my Mac it took 2 steps. It was simple, not intimidating.
I continued to enjoy my used Mac, but quietly desired my friend's aluminum model. A year later, I upgraded to the black Macbook. Later that year, I got an iPhone. Dragging songs and playlists onto my iPhone was a breeze. I loved the iOS layout. My daughter, Violet, soon fell in love with my iPhone, enjoying the kids apps like piano and drawing.
The next summer, my wife needed a home computer. I lovingly pushed the idea of an iPad. We got her the iPad 2 last summer.
I finally got my coveted aluminum MacBook earlier this year. The sleek aluminum design and build is more visually appealing than any other manufacturer right now.
The beauty of Apple products lies in the fact that my two year old can successfully operate an iPhone and iPad, opening apps, playing them, scrolling through them, and returning to the main screen when needed. For a kid whose attention can't be held for more than thirty seconds, she'll spend 30 minutes playing with my wife's iPad uninterrupted.
Additionally, the build quality of Apple products is phenominal. I have no qualms purchasing used Macbooks, because they rarely have any issues. I previously had a Dell laptop, purchased new for me from my parents, that worked wonderfully for a year. Then I started getting the "blue screen of death" for no apparent reason.
In Isaacson's book, he thoroughly addressed Jobs' persistence in creating a closed loop design, that the software and hardware be tightly integrated with no allowances for intrusion. While Microsoft made billions in licesning its software, Apple OS was strictly for Apple. This tight integration created a secure user experience, granted a sheltered one.
Personally, I prefer a more "closed loop" system. I quicky grew sick of viruses that daily plagued my PC. Since owning Mac products in 2010, I've never had a single instance dealing with a virus, on any device. I know many people like the customization apsect of Windows and Android devices, but to each their own.
Jobs was far from perfect, not the best father and husband that walked the earth. But he was a visionary, he stressed beautiful design and ease of use. He saw the future and demanded people follow him there with his products. He created a computer and phone that a two year old could successfully operate, no small feat.
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