Here's to the crazy ones...

I just finished reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson this afternoon. I was googling on the day that Steve Jobs died and found that this biography was going to be released in a few weeks. I checked my library and saw that it was on order and ended up having the first hold on the book. I looked at the list a few days ago and now there are over 100 holds. Wow!

Before I started reading this book I “knew” who Steve Jobs was, but as I turned the last page I realized that I really didn’t know that much about who he was or all that he had accomplished. He was an extraordinary man. He was brilliant and passionate. He was a rebel.  I love how much I learned about him in this book, the good and the bad; ultimately, he was just as human as you and me.

Steve said, “My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products. Everything else was secondary. Sure it was great to make a profit, because that was what allowed you to make great products. But the products, not the profits, were the motivation…Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do.”

He continued by saying, “The reason Apple resonates with people is that there’s a deep current of humanity in our innovation. I think great artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have a desire to express themselves.”

The days after he died, Steve Jobs quotes were floating around the internet and I saw many via facebook and twitter. After reading this book, many of those quotes were put into context for me.

By the end of 1982 Apple was looking for a new president. Jobs knew he wasn’t ready for that role. Sights were soon set on John Sculley, president of the Pepsi-Cola division of PepsiCo. After much courtship, Jobs finally said to Sculley, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?”

In 1997, while Jobs was holding the interim CEO position at Apple, he began working on turning Apple’s brand and image around. He told his employees: “We at Apple had forgotten who we were. One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heros are.” Born from that was the “Think Different” campaign.

“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. And 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.”

“Apple is about people who think outside the box, who want to use computers to help them change the world.”

In the wake of his death, the commencement speech that Steve Jobs gave at Stanford in June 2005 has probably been most quoted.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. 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. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

He explained about Apple’s integration and control of their devices, “We do them because we want to make great products, because we care about the user, and because we like to take responsibility for the entire experience rather than turn out the crap that other people make. They’re busy doing whatever they do best, and they want us to do what we do best.”

Finally, Jobs’ explained his drive by saying, “We try to use the talents we do have to express our deep feelings, to show our appreciation of all the contributions that came before us, and to add something to that flow. That’s what has driven me.”

Steve Jobs, February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011

I hope you get the chance to read this book; it was so interesting and inspiring!

See [here] for the eulogy his sister, Mona Simpson wrote.

What Apple Can Learn From the Pentagon

Apple is known for some of the world's most innovative gizmos, from the original Macintosh computer to the iPhone and the iPad. Now, the tech giant wants to build a hyperspace-age corporate headquarters that will be as groundbreaking as some of its products.
[See where to work if you want a raise.]
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has outlined a plan to build an eye-popping new circular office building in Cupertino, Calif., where Apple is currently based, that will bring together all of its dispersed employees under one shimmery roof. The architectural rendering Jobs released looks like an elevated particle accelerator, with design cues inspired by the spaceship from the 1977 sci-fi flick Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In a way, it's classic Jobs: revolutionary, elegant, and futuristic. He told the Cupertino City Council that the design could end up being "the best office building in the world."
Another Jobs hallmark, of course, is ease of use and simplicity of design, and here, the spaceship design raises bigger questions. If the building does get built and completed by 2015, as Jobs hopes, the people who work there might be disappointed to discover that form trumps function. For its novelty, the Apple design is conceptually similar to another famous building that turned out to be a lot less practical than its planners hoped: the Pentagon.
To the eye, the two designs are strikingly different. The Pentagon, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is rigid, imposing, and fortress-like, with its five exterior angles, drab stonework, and militaristic bearing. The Apple design appears mellifluous and fluid, with gently curved glass and polished steel that looks like it could blind onlookers on a sunny day. But there are many similarities. Both designs are sprawling, low-rise structures meant to spread people out instead of stacking them on top of each other, as in a conventional high-rise. The Pentagon rises five stories off the ground; the Apple spaceship, four. The Pentagon has a leafy interior courtyard, as the Apple building would. The Pentagon houses about 25,000 people in cramped quarters on a typical workday, while Apple's building would be built to accommodate about half that number. But the Apple campus would fill 150 acres, while the Pentagon reservation sits on about 200 acres, and a lot of that is taken up by vast parking lots. So Apple's building could end up with nearly as big a footprint as the Pentagon—presumably, with a far more comfortable interior.
[See 7 ways to sink in a stagnant economy.]
If the Apple project moves forward, as it seems it will, its architects may wish to spend a little time studying the Pentagon. Here are four lessons they might learn:
The workforce better be in great shape. The Pentagon, which opened in 1941, was designed in a hub-and-spoke fashion that would allow workers to walk from one office to another in no more than 10 minutes, with the longest possible walk being about 1,800 feet. At the time, that was considered a highly efficient design, because the longest possible distance between two points would have been even greater if the building had been square or rectangular. The U.S. military, of course, benefits from having the fittest workforce of any organization in America, so there's minimal complaining about all the legwork required to navigate the Pentagon. Still, Pentagon workers who routinely run to and from meetings can spend an hour a day simply commuting from office to office.
Unlike other buildings, where elevators slash the in-building travel time for most workers, the Apple headquarters would require the same kind of horizontal movement as the Pentagon does. Maybe there will be trams or moving walkways, as in airports. Or maybe they'll meet by videoconference instead of traveling long distances between offices. If not, Apple employees could get a daily workout that leaves them huffing and puffing.

life

I had to take my laptop to the Apple geniuses last week and I got it back on Saturday. So thankful for Apple Care! I've been getting all my paperwork and things in order for the new job. Training is this Thursday and Friday. I'll be doing newborn photos at the hospital with Bella Baby Photography. Although I'm nervous, I'm really excited to be doing something that's actually related to my interests!

Tomorrow morning I have a consult with a surgeon to get this taken care of finally. I'm so thankful to be back on my parents' insurance, even if it's only for 8 months. So hopefully sometime, in the middle of the new job and school starting at the end of the month, I'll have surgery.

I feel like I've been running all over the place and it doesn't look like life will be slowing down anytime soon. I'll do my best to keep up with regular blog posts! I hope everyone has a great week!

5 Things I Love

5 Things I Love

1. Bedhead After Party: When we were in Savannah Jenny let me borrow her Bedhead. It was such a life saver! My hair was bothering me and just a little bit of this stuff smoothed it out. I finally picked some up at Target last weekend. It's pretty spendy, but you don't need much and I think it'll last for a while.

2. Soy Chai Tea: I've been trying to cut coffee out of my diet and so I've switched to this. It's been the perfect fall/winter drink. Love it!

3. My old school ipod: A couple months ago my cousins were visiting and they saw my old ipod and were like "WHAT'S THAT?" haha! It's so big and chunky! I got it 5 years ago as a present to myself after working at the fire center all summer. It's freaked out a couple times in the last year, but thankfully, it still works!

4. Droid X: I got this new phone last month and I absolutely LOVE it!! I was hesitant to switch from my BlackBerry, but I'm so glad I did! It's a little burly, but it makes the guys jealous. haha!

5. Naked Juice Green Machine: I had my first Green Machine in Savannah! I love Blue Machine, but this is my new fav! It has apples, bananas, kiwi, mango, and pinapple.