Monday, October 23, 2006
iPod: It Seems So Simple
byThere is an interesting story in Wired about how the iPod came to be. However, it is more than story; it is a short primer on creativity and innovation.
It started with a simple question from Steve Jobs: What can we do to make more people buy Macs?”
Based on Mac’s demographics the simple answer was music (it was the Napster era).
In 2000, Mac had no jukebox software, so the simple solution was to license someone else’s (SoundJam). As a bonus, Apple also got their whiz programmer, Jeff Robbin. Apple’s iTunes software was introduced shortly thereafter in 2001.
Apple also wanted a music gadget, but there were no simple solutions. Fujitsu had just developed an ultra-small hard drive but had no market for it. Bingo.
In hindsight, the final solution looked easy. The basic hardware design was bought from a small startup called PortalPlayer. Off-the shelf parts contributed to a major portion of the unit: a battery from Sony and chips from Texas Instruments. In fact, Jon Rubenstein a veteran Apple engineer said, “This was a highly leveraged product from the technologies we already had in place...it was obvious how it was going to look when it was put together.” It all seems so simple.
Apple did add plenty of original innovation, inspiration and leadership: an elegantly simple interface; a reliable power supply; and resourceful power management to get 10 hours of battery life. Steve Jobs rode herd with demands to keep the device uncomplicated. In the Wired story, Jonathon Ive, Apple’s vice president of industrial design is quoted, “The key was getting rid of stuff.”
Late in 2001, the product launched. It featured complete integration with iTunes. When you look back on the story of iPod’s birth, individual steps seem simple...almost self-evident. However, it belies the genius of putting it all together so uniquely and deciding what to remove rather than throw in. That is often how innovation works. It is not necessarily an additive process. It can simply be removing the complexities to let the design emerge.
A famous quote by Michelangelo illustrates, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” He also said, “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” The iPod is obviously no David, but the design stories are interestingly juxstaposed.
The iPod story begs the question: “What can you subtract from your product or service to make it more popular, useful, interesting and successful?”
