"The 10 idiosyncrasies of Steve Jobs"

[fishmoose]

The 10 idiosyncrasies of Steve Jobs

Think you know Apple’s enigmatic leader? Think again. The great man is famously secretive, but we’ve unearthed some nuggets of info from work and home that provide a glimpse to what he’s really like, from his car’s numbers plates, how he decorates his house, to where he parks. And it may surprise you to learn he’s as fastidious about the products he buys as about the ones Apple makes.

1. Buying habits

Notoriously picky about the design of Apple’s products (the first gen iPod was in development for so long because he insisted you should be able to find any song three button presses after switching it on), he’s just as anal about the gadgets he buys for himself. “I end up not buying a lot of things, because I find them ridiculous,” he told The Independent at the original iPod Shuffle launch back in 2005.

2. He does his research before spending

He describes a lot of products as “technology in search of a problem,” when it should be the other way round. So when he needs a new gizmo, he researches it exhaustively. In a revealing interview in Wired in 1996, he told how he went about choosing a new washing machine and dryer. “We didn’t have a very good one so we spent a little time looking at them,” he told contributing editor Gary Isaac Wolf. “It turns out that the Americans make washers and dryers all wrong. The Europeans make them much better – but they take twice as long to do clothes! It turns out that they wash them with about a quarter as much water and your clothes end up with a lot less detergent on them. Most important, they don’t trash your clothes. They use a lot less soap, a lot less water, but they come out much cleaner, much softer, and they last a lot longer.

“We spent some time in our family talking about what’s the trade-off we want to make. We ended up talking a lot about design, but also about the values of our family. Did we care most about getting our wash done in an hour versus an hour and a half? Or did we care most about our clothes feeling really soft and lasting longer? Did we care about using a quarter of the water? We spent about two weeks talking about this every night at the dinner table. We’d get around to that old washer-dryer discussion. And the talk was about design.”

Two weeks of discussions to choose a washing machine? That’s life in the Jobs household. (He opted for Miele in the end, adding, “I got more thrill out of them than I have out of any piece of high tech in years.”)

So how does he justify deliberating for so long? Well interestingly he compared it to a phone – an essential item, but something people don’t have time to spend figuring out. “You just don’t have time to learn this stuff, and everything’s getting more complicated.” So he simplified it all with the original iPhone, and the mobile landscape changed forever. If Apple made washing machines, you can bet they’d be the easiest to use in the world.

3. Driving with no number plates

That’s right, his silver 2006 Mercedes SL 55 AMG (if it took two weeks to pick a washer, how long must it have taken to choose a car?) has no licence plates. Some say it’s because fanboys keep stealing them, others that the Cupertino police have just have better things to do than pick him up on it.

4. An irreverent approach to parking

According to Andy Hertzfeld, writing about the early days of Apple, Jobs “seemed to think that the blue wheelchair symbol meant that the spot was reserved for the chairman.” Employees reportedly showed their disdain by keying his car.

5. Home furnishings

Here’s a strange story – Jobs spent years renovating an apartment only to sell it without ever moving in, then spent the next ten years living in an almost unfurnished mansion. In 1982 he bought an apartment in The San Remo, an upscale New York block with neighbours including Demi Moore, Steven Spielberg and Steve Martin. He spent years renovating the two-storey apartment, then sold it nearly 20 years later to U2’s Bono, having never moved in. Instead he bought a 17,000 square foot 14 bedroom Spanish Colonial mansion in California in 1984, and spent close to the next decade living there with hardly any furniture, keeping an old BMW motorbike in the lounge, according to reports.

6. A deep design ethos

“The boards had to be beautiful in Steve’s eyes,” John Sculley, former Apple CEO, told Cult of Mac in an interview last year. Yes, that’s boards as in the things that hold the chipsets. “In his level of perfection, everything had to be beautifully designed even if it wasn’t going to be seen by most people.” Now that’s attention to detail.

7. The designers report directly to him

Sculley also told how when a friend of his met with Apple, the designers walked in and everyone stopped talking, because the “designers are the most respected people in the organisation.” Sculley added, “It is only at Apple where design reports directly to the CEO.” That’s how highly Jobs regards design.

His definition of design also shows where other companies may be going wrong. “Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,” he told The New York Times in 2003. “People think it’s this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”

8. A hands off approach

Previously chief executive of Pixar Animation Studio, and credited as executive producer on the original Toy Story, he’s been described by animator Floyd Normal as a “mature, mellow individual,” who never interfered with the creative process of the filmmakers. Is this the same man who is notorious for sending back product designs until they meet his exact requirements? He’s obviously a fan of Pixar, saying Toy Story was as groundbreaking as Snow White, and comparing the video of the Smart Cover at the iPad 2 launch to a Pixar short.

9. Expanding his horizons

Steve Jobs called his experience with LSD “one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life,” and he also reportedly said “Bill Gates would be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger.” In fact Albert Hoffman, the inventor of LSD, wrote to Jobs asking for financial support for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, according to the Huffington Post.

10. A dislike for focus groups

Following Wayne Gretzky’s maxim of “skating to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been,” Jobs doesn’t like the idea of asking people what they want and then trying to deliver on that. “It’s really hard to design products by focus groups,” he told Business Week in 1998. “A lot of times people don’t know what they really want until you show it to them.”

As Sculley puts it: “unlike a lot of people in product marketing in those days, who would go out and do consumer testing, asking people what did they want, Steve didn’t believe in that.

“He said, ‘How can I possibly ask somebody what a graphics-based computer ought to be when they have no idea what a graphic based computer is? No one has ever seen one before.’” A fair point, and one that shows why Apple consistently makes the trends that others follow.

Electeicpig

Got to admire the man.

 

[G4er?]

1. Buying habits
Notoriously picky ...he’s just as anal about the gadgets he buys for himself.

That's my problem. I'm just not finding the right Mac for me so I keep waiting hoping that mid range Mac will finally show up. Why buy other stuff that is not what I need or want?

2. He does his research before spending
He describes a lot of products as “technology in search of a problem,” when it should be the other way round.

Funny. That's how I kind of describe the iPad. Technology in search of a problem. I have no use for any of the iDevices. I do need a great mid range desktop computer that lets me choose my monitor though.

 

[*LTD*]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

1. Buying habits
Notoriously picky ...he’s just as anal about the gadgets he buys for himself.

That's my problem. I'm just not finding the right Mac for me so I keep waiting hoping that mid range Mac will finally show up. Why buy other stuff that is not what I need or want?

2. He does his research before spending
He describes a lot of products as “technology in search of a problem,” when it should be the other way round.

Funny. That's how I kind of describe the iPad. Technology in search of a problem. I have no use for any of the iDevices. I do need a great mid range desktop computer that lets me choose my monitor though.

Except Steve's right about the iPad. I doubt your lack of use for it really factors into anything. Apple has created a new market with it - singlehandedly I might add - and the device is experiencing ridiculous demand. You have no use for iDevices? How is that even relevant. Who friggin cares? A lot of people do have use for them - an this is just the tip of the iceberg, from consumers to corporate, to the tune of billions. The iPad is the device that will help take Apple beyond Exxon Mobil in market cap. How do your personal needs equate into any of this? You don't even represent any sort of majority opinion.

But if you know the "real story" and see a big problem, then please, call Apple and tell them how they've got it all wrong. I'm sure they're dying for your input.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

All seems more rational given what he does for a living... except for the handicapped parking spot bit. If that's true - then to Steve.

Okay, maybe NOW he's allowed to - but if he did in perfect health - bollacks to him.

 

[vincenz]

I dont know if I believe the whole driving without license plates thing. Is that legal in California or something? I don't see why jobs would be exempt from a law like that.

 

[KnightWRX]

Got to admire the man.

Yes, it is always admirable to park in handicap spots when you're not actually handicapped. Gotta admire that.

 

[*LTD*]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

Got to admire the man.

Yes, it is always admirable to park in handicap spots when you're not actually handicapped. Gotta admire that.

Who cares where he parks. It really isn't relevant to what he's accomplished. And yes, he *should* be admired.

 

[NT1440]

3. Driving with no number plates

That’s right, his silver 2006 Mercedes SL 55 AMG (if it took two weeks to pick a washer, how long must it have taken to choose a car?) has no licence plates. Some say it’s because fanboys keep stealing them, others that the Cupertino police have just have better things to do than pick him up on it.

This is actually because California allows famous people or those regularly harassed by the press to use a system other than the license plate. If you ever see any shots of his car, theres a little barcode that can be scanned in place of a license plate.

Not really incognito at all, but I guess it helps. Odd that this has been known for quite some time yet the piece isn't aware of it.

 

[Apple OC]

2. He does his research before spending

I heard we was a ... "should I buy now or wait kind of guy"

 

[neko girl]

Yes, it is always admirable to park in handicap spots when you're not actually handicapped. Gotta admire that.

Beginning to see a trend in your posts here. There is something interesting about folks whose opinions are based specifically against a certain brand, instead of opinions that exist on their own regardless of brand.

I'm not sure what it takes to impress you, but: iPod, iPhone, iPad. If you're not impressed, I'm not sure you'd be impressed by anything.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Beginning to see a trend in your posts here. There is something interesting about folks whose opinions are based specifically against a certain brand, instead of opinions that exist on their own regardless of brand.

I'm not sure what it takes to impress you, but: iPod, iPhone, iPad. If you're not impressed, I'm not sure you'd be impressed by anything.

No Knight just has an issue with blind fanboys who worship at the church of Apple and think of SJ like a god. That group makes all apple fans look like drooling idiots.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

I've always wondered if any of these "celebrity flaws / eccentricities" lists are real - or if they're fabricated to make the damaged populace feel less so?

Because I see a lot of my broken in these lists.

Every successful individual I know of personally (obviously none on par with the referenced individual above) but they seem to be a success because they don't have these type of hangups / issues.

 

[steve2112]

Yes, it is always admirable to park in handicap spots when you're not actually handicapped. Gotta admire that.

Given the health problems he has had lately, he may actually qualify for handicap parking. Otherwise, yeah, this is pretty annoying. One of my pet peeves is non-handicapped people who take handicap spaces.

 

[*LTD*]

No Knight just has an issue with blind fanboys who worship at the church of Apple and think of SJ like a god. That group makes all apple fans look like drooling idiots.

If you can't handle the enthusiasm about Apple products - and there *is* and *will be* a lot of enthusiasm for them - then you're welcome to go post somewhere else. This is an Apple fansite.

I'm sure these people here will gladly read your constant anti-Apple bellyaching:

http://www.neowin.net

Careful though, because they too, have a pretty vocal and loyal Apple community.

Cheers.

 

[sysiphus]

This is actually because California allows famous people or those regularly harassed by the press to use a system other than the license plate. If you ever see any shots of his car, theres a little barcode that can be scanned in place of a license plate.

Not really incognito at all, but I guess it helps. Odd that this has been known for quite some time yet the piece isn't aware of it.

Er, what? Every single Mercedes that comes out of the factory has a barcode like that under the rear license plate mount. It has nothing to do with California...

 

[roadbloc]

ITT:

Lot's of cool facts about Steve Jobs and how they relate to the products they design.

Cool. He has good vision. He seems like a disagreeable person from the OP's post, I don't think I'd like this man in person. But hey, he makes cool products.

HOW DARE YOU BLASPHEME GUYS!?!? This is Steve Jobs were on about. The lordgodsaviourofallthingsever you must respect him. You must LOVE HIM! LOVE HIM! LOVE HIM! Get into neowin if you don't love him.

Just sayin'. You're sounding very defensive *LTD*. Calm down, doesn't mean everyone is going to go off Apple because Jobs likes to not follow the rules.

 

[fishmoose]

Yes, it is always admirable to park in handicap spots when you're not actually handicapped. Gotta admire that.

Your perfect I assume? Follow all the rules, jump when your momma tell you anything?

 

[secondhandloser]

Your perfect I assume? Follow all the rules, jump when your momma tell you anything?

So... you are not perfect, ergo, all rules are null and void?


I went to school with a relative of his that said he was a pretty bitter guy. I like his tech, but I've heard he can be kind of a jerk.
Not that I care. I don't have to interface with him, just his company's products.

 

[KnightWRX]

Beginning to see a trend in your posts here.

No, you're not. You want to see a trend in them that's not exactly there. I don't have anything against Apple per say. I don't like how Steve sometimes lies or bends the truth and I certainly don't find parking in handicap spots admirable, regardless of what he may have accomplished in the rest of his left.

Your perfect I assume? Follow all the rules, jump when your momma tell you anything?

I don't park in handicap spots. Does that make me perfect ? No. Does being imperfect excuse me when I'm taking the spot of someone who might need it ? Heck no.

It's not an admirable trait.