6 times Apple…
Steve Jobs was known for his U-turns – here are some of the biggest
… totally changed its mind.
One of the most famous traits of Steve Jobs as Apple’s leader was his propensity to totally change his mind. Tim Cook has highlighted this in the past, calling it a “gift:” “He would flip on something so fast that you would forget that he was the one taking the 180 degree polar [opposite] position the day before.”
In a world where stubbornness or a fear of looking stupid often makes people and companies avoid changing decisions, being able to see mistakes and alter course is a key part of Apple’s success. Here are some of the company’s biggest U-turns.
1
A smaller iPad Jobs once famously railed that high-res 7-inch tablet screens were meaningless “unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of the present size.” The 8-inch iPad mini was introduced in October 2012 – sans sandpaper, though.
2
A bigger iPhone Back in 2010, Jobs talked about 4- or 5-inch phones as being so big “you can’t get your hand around it,” adding “no one’s going to buy that.” But they did, and now the iPhone 6s Plus is a cool 5.5 inches.
3
The App Store Jobs was against a native App Store for the iPhone originally, in favor of web apps. That changed in just a matter of months, and created a whole new industry.
4
Video on iPod In 2003, when asked about videoplaying iPods, Jobs said: “I’m not convinced people want to watch movies on a tiny little screen.” In 2005, the fifth-gen iPod played video, and now the capability is everywhere.
5
Google services When Google and Apple were fighting over Android’s launch, Jobs was asked if Google services such as Maps would be removed from the iPhone. “No,” he said. That changed.
6
An iPad stylus “If you see a stylus, they blew it,” said Jobs. Now Apple makes the best art stylus in the world: the Pencil.