In Isaacson’s “How Steve Jobs’ Love of Simplicity Fueled A Design Revolution by Walter,” he argues that Steve Jobs created the greatest force for innovative design, Apple, through his instinct for simplicity and natural beauty that connects us to the technology.

Isaacson shows how unique Jobs was in the engineering and technology world through walking us through his early years both as a person, and as a technology engineer. It is stated that Jobs’ love for design began with his love for a childhood home—a passion that would remain with him for the rest of his life. Jobs claimed that the original vision for Apple came from his home, which was designed for the “everyman” in the way that it was well-designed, had simple capability, and “doesn’t cost much.” Jobs explain that they modeled their computers on “metaphors” so that they can “leverage this experience people already have.” He wanted them to be playful, fun, and friendly. As a result of this, it evolved to “resemble a human face.” This concept was consistently repeated through the article as being a keystone for Apple Products—being designed from nature and for nature, humans. For example, when the day came for computers to become flat-screens, Jobs found this discomforting and “impure,” and he found his solution by walking through a sunflower field. He thought, what if the screen was separated from the base like a sunflower, suggesting a narrative that the “sunflower shape would convey that the flat screen was so fluid and responsive that it could reach for the sun.” If it is not clear yet, Jobs believed it was absolutely critical to make technology seem as natural as possible—it was new and unfamiliar to people, and to bridge the gap, this commonality was the key. Not only did he want his technology to be simple, he did so with the goal of making great products, not making money. This philosophy was also another fundamental difference between Jobs and other technology creators because with this different goal comes significantly different decisions. Therefore, Jobs displayed a clear goal: create great technology that was simple and for humans, not for money, and this is what led to the decisions that would put his company at the frontline of innovative design for years to come.

I think Isaacson makes really strong and clear points and I really enjoyed reading this article. However, I do find that today’s Apple is far from the Apple Steve Jobs created. Today, Apple products are extremely expensive, and not attainable for everyone. Of course, this is natural as technology grows and prices increase, but even when the first Mac was created, the cost of the computer case for it was three times that of a regular case. Additionally, his partner, Ive, explained how adding a handle to to top of the mac made a “relationship possible” as it made it seem touchable. However, manufacturing this handle costs a lot of money. Hence, I think it would have been important for Isaacson to note that with being appealing to humans and bridging the gap between technology and us comes higher costs for these high-tech features. However, maybe we are willing to pay the cost if we feel that these computers are connected to us in the way Jobs intended them to be.