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Sunday, 15 January 2012 | (18) Leave A Comment

The Other Face of Steve Jobs

While remembered as the edison of our time, the failures of Steve Jobs are just as inspiring.

By Charissa Selvasekaran

Subtle curves, yet sleek and elegant.

Even if you don’t own an iPhone or iPad, you certainly know someone who does.

iPod Touch is my favourite Steve Jobs invention. What is yours?

As I read through countless eulogies remembering the black turtleneck and blue jeans icon, there is one word that resonates repeatedly. Finally succumbing to pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011, “Visionary” is the legacy left behind by a man who revolutionized technology.

Many choose to remember Steve Jobs for his innovations that kept the world at its feet for products they did not know they would need until they saw it. However, as the Apple slogan goes – “Think Different”, I choose to remember Steve Jobs for his failures.

College Dropout Billionaire

It’s no wonder why to many of us, Jobs is the epitome of Creative, Innovator or Genius.

But Steve Jobs whose net worth is of $8.3 billion was a college dropout.

In 1972, Jobs enrolled in Reed College only to quit six months later. He would later go on to say it was one of the best decisions of his life.

“It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

Though he dropped out of college, Jobs continued to attend a Calligraphy class at Reed.
His curiousity for fancy handwriting fueled him to satisfy the interest despite having to sleep on the dorm room floor of friends, earn food allowance by returning Coke bottles and eat free weekly meals at a local Hare Krishna temple.

Lesson: Find what interests you.

Public Failure at 30

Jobs Co-founded Apple Inc at 21 and was shown the door at 30.

With the wild success that preceded him, Jobs defeat was publicly huge and it left him distraught. But he still loved what he did, so he picked up the pieces and started NeXt.

Once again Jobs would meet setbacks along the way when the company was not as thriving as he had aimed it would be.

It was only 13 years later that Jobs developed an operating system that eventually led Apple Inc to buy NeXT.

Steve Jobs returned to Apple Inc as CEO.

Lesson: Sometimes you have to create your own opportunities.

The Cube

Power Mac G4 Cube as its name suggests was an eight-inch computer which shape resembled a cube was one of Steve Jobs notable failures.

Despite winning awards for its unconventional design, The Cube had no added functional benefits. It failed to survive the sales market with its over-priced tag and was suspended just a year after its launch.

With the demise of Power Mac G4 Cube in 2001, the way people consumed music was to change forever. It started with the iPod and the rest is history.

Lesson: Failure is inevitable, it happens to the very best of us.

Of course the world will never remember Steve Jobs by his failures. Instead he will be remembered as the man who made a dent in technology history with his audacious knack to transform failures into success.

It is based on this that I leave you with one final lesson I have learnt –

It’s not about how many times you fail. It’s about the legacy you choose to leave behind.

Image Credit (without edits): Wired

Do you have a favourite Steve Jobs failure? Share with us.

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15193922
http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/286886/7-steve-jobs-products-that-failed
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/05/steve-jobs-success_n_1077759.html
http://www.experiencetheblog.com/2011/10/failure-of-steve-jobs-and-walt-disney.html
http://www.gadg.com/2011/08/31/six-failed-products-from-steve-jobs/

Labels: # Steve Jobs # Failures #iPhone #iPod