Steve Jobs and Apple: A Modest Appraisal

So, we watched video clips of Steve Jobs speak a couple of times in class. There were two clips, the first was him unveiling the iPhone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZoPdBh8KUs),
Then we watched him at an earlier shareholders' meeting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckLdxZ-QcO0).

I did not like the first video. I found Steve Jobs' constant teasing really annoying, to say nothing of the repetition. We get it, Steve. It's an iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator. We got that the first time around. You don't have to say it over and over as if it was some kind of incantation for a summoning ritual. It just wasn't a good presentation overall, and I felt he got away with it only because he's Steve Jobs and is therefore allowed to flout conventions, just like no one criticizes Picasso if he makes a bad drawing.

Jobs was far more persuasive 20 years ago, in the second video. He came off as quite energetic and pumped about the product. The only that really hurt the presentation is that he was reading off his paper, but it was a really long speech, so we'll overlook that. Something else I would like to point out - he is introducing a new printer that was cutting edge technology for the time. Now, when explaining technology, it's incredibly easy to start off comprehensible enough, only to jump off the slippery slope of comprehension and end up spewing a verbose, jargon-laden mess. Yet, Jobs speaks in a manner that a layman could understand everything he was saying.

So, closing remarks? When speaking, be the 1980s Steve Jobs. Not the 2000s Steve Jobs.