Before Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1996 to do even more insanely
great things, he was interviewed by the Santa Clara Valley Historical
Association (SCVHA) in 1995 as CEO of NeXT Computer in Redwood City,
California. In the video clip released by the SCVHA on October 6 2011,
Steve Jobs reflects on one of the most important lessons that you can
learn in life.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfNvmF0Bqw?wmode=transparent]
Here's a transcript (errors are mine) :
"So, the thing I would say is, when you grow up, you tend to get told
that the world is the way it is, and your life is just to live your
life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to
have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money."
"But life..that's a very limited life..life can be much broader once
you discover one simple fact and that is:
"Everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that
were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it,
you can
build your own things, that other people can use."
"And the minute that you understand that you can poke life and
actually something will…you know if you push in, something will pop
out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it…that's
maybe the most important thing…is to shake off this erroneous notion
that life is there and you just going to live in it versus embrace it,
change it, improve it, make your mark upon it."
"I think that's very important and however you learn that, once you
learn it, you'll want to change life and make it better, because it's
kind of messed up in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you'll never
be the same again."
And this life lesson, Steve took to Apple when he returned and
launched Apple's Think Different ad campaign. Here's Steve Jobs in a
internal 6 minute presentation to Apple in 1997 announcing the "Think
Different" campaign. In it, Steve Jobs says:
"Apple at the core, its'core value is that we believe that people with
passion CAN change the world for the better"
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmG9jzCHtSQ?wmode=transparent]
Here's the Think Different video, with Steve jobs as narrator (the
version that aired on TV was narrated by Richard Dreyfuss):
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rwsuXHA7RA?wmode=transparent]
"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things
differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for
the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or
vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because
they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some
may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who
are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who
do."
