Apple co-founder and visionary CEO Steve Jobs passed away three years ago today, at the age of 56.
In addition to co-creating the company with Steve Wozniak in 1976, Jobs personally oversaw the creation of the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes and OS X — as well as funding Pixar during its rise to prominence.
While there are plenty of great videos featuring Jobs to mark the occcasion (anyone with the slightest bit of interest in working in tech should make a point of viewing all of his Apple keynotes) the below is one of my personal favorites. It features Jobs, less than three months into his 1997 return, talking at an internal meeting about his vision for taking the company forward.
It’s a version of Jobs in mid-transition between the upstart Steve of the NeXT Computer days and the black turtlenecked, Levis-wearing digital emperor Jobs of the Apple return.
In the video, he describes his desire to take Apple back to its roots, and explains the idea behind the “Think Different” campaign that would become iconic.
Understandably a lot has changed about Apple in the near-20 years since this video was shot. We’ve seen the arrival of the iOS platform and devices, the Mac as digital hub has come and gone, and Apple is (largely thanks to Steve Jobs) in a totally different position to the slept-on brand it was when he made his triumphant return as CEO.
But the things he talks about here: the simplicity of good product lines, the desire for Apple to be more than “just” a specs-oriented technology brand, are still very much at the core of the Apple experience today.
It’s also another great chance to be reminded of just what a fantastic and emotive speaker Apple’s co-founder was.
Check it out:
