Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - August 25, 2011
The following is an excerpt from A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business, the book written by frog Founder Hartmut Esslinger in 2008. Hartmut and frog worked with Steve Jobs at Apple in the early 1980s to create the “Snow White” design language for the Apple IIc computer, and again in 1985 when Jobs briefly left Apple and started the computer company NeXT, where Hartmut and frog designed the NeXT Cube. In this passage from the book, Hartmut offers a glimpse into those tumultuous years for Apple and Jobs, and some insights into why the Apple CEO’s creative and strategic vision became so effective.
Seeing the Future and Supporting Bold Initiatives
By Hartmut Esslinger
To take another look at the power of bold and inspired leadership, let’s return to the story of Apple and its revolutionary leader, Steve Jobs. After I joined the company back in 1982, I quickly realized that Steve was almost fanatically focused on building Apple into the greatest consumer technology brand in the world—a focus that hasn’t wavered over the years. He has a sometimes-dictatorial manner that ticks off a lot of people, but he’s also a charismatic leader who inspires a deep-seated trust among his workers. Steve demands a lot from his team, and typical corporate mediocrity is not an option. He is and always has been the sole authority in determining what makes an “insanely great” Apple product and what doesn’t. Fortunately, his judgment is almost always right on—and when it isn’t, it’s close.
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - January 27, 2010
The announcement of the Apple iPad elicited passionate responses at frog design, the innovation firm that created a prototype tablet for Steve Jobs and Apple…in 1983. The retro designs didn’t quite make it to market (though they did come close), but the design language that frog Founder Hartmut Esslinger created for the company — known as the Snow White computer language — was used for Apple’s groundbreaking Apple II computer series from ‘83 and ’84. Now, it seems, Jobs is responsible for yet another game changer with the iPad, and Esslinger and frog were eager to weigh in on the design, technology, and strategy behind the device soon after the announcement.
“I love it,” said Esslinger from Vienna, where he teaches “convergent industrial design” at the University of Applied Arts. “The iPad is the beginning of a new category — one that is hyper-convergent and humanistic.”
Blog Pattern Language
By Sam Martin - February 5, 2009
I’m no patent expert, but it’s clear after a little research that patent laws were put into place for two reasons: 1) they want to encourage secretive inventors to stop stashing their cool ideas under a mattress somewhere and make them public and 2) they want to rock the boat.
Apple has never been accused of keeping new ideas under wraps, but by securing their new patent for “multifunction” touch technology like pinch, rotation, and swipe, they have certainly rocked the boat.
We won’t know how or if the boat will be righted until a few million dollars are spent on lawsuits, but those in the mobile and consumer electronics industry seem to be either ignoring the issue (using the lawsuit reasoning stated above) or they have the knee jerk reaction that Apple is ruining it for everyone – that the company is reverting to Pre-Open-Source, Big-Meany Corporate status.
And yet, isn’t Apple doing us a favor by rocking the boat? The reason behind the existence of patents is sound – to spur innovation and excite competition, the argument being that if there was no payoff for new products, services, or technologies there would be less incentive to push for change and improvement. Instead of ignoring the issue or getting angry about it, companies ought to be putting their energy and resources into coming up with something new. If Apple owns “touch,” what’s next?
