Friday, July 23, 2010

Books: Inside Steve's Brain


Inside Steve's Brain by Leander Kahney @2008


Introduction
1. Focus: How Saying "No" Saved Apple
"I'm looking for a fixer-upper with a solid foundation. Am willing to tear down walls, build bridges, and light fires. I have great experience, lots of energy, a bit of that 'vision thing' and I'm not afraid to star from the beginning." - Steve Job's resume at Apple's .Mac website

1.1 The Fall of Apple
1.2 Enter the iCEO
1.3 Steve's Survey
1.4 Apple's Assets
1.5 Getting "Steved"
1.6 Dr. No
1.7 Personal Focus

2. Despotism: Apple's One-Man Focus Group
"We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them." - Steve Jobs, on Mac OS X's user interface, Fortune, January 24, 2000

2.1 What's NeXT?
2.2 "You're a Bunch of Idiots"
2.3 No Detail Too Small
2.4 Simplifying the UI
2.5 Introducing OS X
2.6 Job's Design Process
2.7 Deceptive Simplicity

3. Perfectionism: Product Design and the Pursuit of Excellence
"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." - Steve Jobs

3.1 Job's Pursuit of Perfection
3.2 In the Beginning
3.3 Jobs Gets Design Religion
3.4 The Macintosh, Job's "Volkscomputer"
3.5 Unpacking Apple
3.6 The Great Washing Machine Debate
3.7 Jonathan Ive, the Designer
3.8 A Penchant for Prototyping
3.9 Ive's Design Process
3.10 Attention to Detail: Invisible Design
3.11 Materials and Manufacturing Processes

4. Elitism: Hire Only A Players, Fire the Bozos
"In our business, one person can't do anything anymore. You create a team of people around you." - Steve Jobs, Smithsonian Institution Oral and Video Histories

4.1 Pixar: Art is a Team Spot
4.2 The Original Mac Team
4.3 Small Is Beautiful
4.4 Job's Job
4.5 Pugilistic Partners
4.6 "Think Different"
4.7 Out-advertise the Competition
4.8 One More Thing: Coordinated Marketing Campaigns
4.9 The Secret of Secrecy
4.10 Personality Plus

5. Passion: Putting a Ding in the Universe
"I want to put a ding in the universe." - Steve Jobs

5.1 Ninety Hours a Week and Loving It
5.2 The Hero/Asshole Rollercoaster
5.3 A Wealth of Stock Options
5.4 Dangling the Carrot and the Stick
5.5 One of the Great Intimidators
5.6 Working with Jobs: There's Only One Steve

6. Inventive Spirit: Where Does the Innovation Come From?
"Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it." - Steve Jobs, in Fortune, November 9, 1998

6.1 An Appetite for Innovation
6.2 Product vs. Business Innovation: Apple Does Both
6.3 Where Does the Innovation Come From?
6.4 Job's Innovation Strategy: The Digital Hub
6.5 Products as Gravitational Force
6.6 Pure Science vs. Applied Science
6.7 The Seer - and Stealer
6.8 The Creative Connection
6.9 Flexible Thinking
6.10 An Apple Innovation Case Study: The Retail Stores
6.11 Enriching Lives Along the Way
6.12 Cozying on Up to the Genius Bar

7. Case Study: How It All Came Together with the iPod
"Software is the user experience. As the iPod and iTunes prove, it has become the driving technology not just of computers but of consumer electronics." - Steve Jobs

7.1 Revisiting the Digital Hub
7.2 Jobs's Misstep: Customers Wanted Music, Not Video
7.3 How the iPod Got Its Name: "Open the Pod Bay Door, Hal!"

8. Total Control: The Whole Widget
"I've always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do." - Steve Jobs

8.1 Jobs as a Control Freak
8.2 Controlling the Whole Widget
8.3 The Virtues of Control Freakery: Stability, Security, and Ease-of-Use
8.4 The Systems Approach
8.5 The Return of Vertical Integration
8.6 The Zune and Xbox
8.7 What Consumers Want

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