Where will Steve Jobs fall in the pages of the history books in coming decades? Where will he rank among other American innovators, like Thomas Edison?
The sad death of Steve jobs Is drawing the world’s attention today, as well it should. He was the foremost innovator of our day. An innovator, primarily, in the art of creating buzz and promoting new-product rollouts.
Some perspective is in order, however, as to where he’ll fall in the pantheon of those who built America.
Some perspective is in order, however, as to where he’ll fall in the pantheon of those who built America.
Thomas Edison gave us electric light bulbs. More importantly, he gave us the infrastructure of the electric grid that powers everything electronic. He also gave us recorded music and motion pictures, to name just a few of his inventions. More important, he created a process of mass-producing intellectual research and innovation at his famous laboratory.
Henry Fort gave us affordable transportation and, just as significantly, the $5 workday, which effectively created the American middle class. Cars led to roads which led to highways which led to suburbs and the American Dream of owning a nice home and a nice car. Also, his innovations in manufacturing provided the muscle for what FDR called the “arsenal of democracy,” converting auto plants into aircraft plants in a matter of months, creating the planes, missiles and other weapons that helping the Allies defeat the Axis powers in WWII.
Let’s not forget the ancient Romans, who have us toilets, plumbing and sewer systems. Which would you give up first, your shower and toilet, or your i-Phone?
Speaking of the i-Phone, for all its hype, more people use phones powered by some other innovators of our era, the folks at Google. Google’s Android platform is used by more people than i-Phone or any other platform. The problem with many of Jobs' innovations is that they were so easily copied.
As for personal computing, the Mac is a superior product to the PC, but still is a minor player in terms of market share. It’s nice to have, but a PC will get you by and it is chosen by most people over the Mac.
I love my i-Pod!!!! But I also loved my MP3 player, a cheap-and-cheerful $19 gadget from Walmart that played the same songs my i-Pod plays! Yes the i-Pod is an improvement.
Perhaps the real breakthrough for Jobs is the way he revolutionized the way music is sold, through i-Tunes. But if he hadn’t done it, Amazon would have. In fact, they already have, just as they’d done many years before with books, which gave Jobs the model for i-Tunes.
The point: If there hadn’t been a Steve Jobs, there’d have been someone like him; there are others like him, in fact; and most of his innovations were too easily imitated by others.
But when I listen to Bob Dylan on my i-Pod, I can’t say the same thing. If there hadn’t been a Bob Dylan, there would not have been anyone else like him.
Steve Jobs helped change the way we get information. Artists like Bob Dylan change the way we think.
Big difference.
