“Steve, they make us a stake. On the return from Apple's co-founder to the company. It was in 1997 and Steve Jobs was about to load a very expensive product.
It was about Apple NewtonConsidered in a way as the precursor of the iPhone, a device that would only happen after his death. Jobs' decision for discontinuar has been difficult and, where wars could be planned with fans, it ended up giving such an unprecedented solution.
Apple Newton should die
Steve Jobs was rejected Invited to leave Apple in 1985, he founded another company, Next and this was acquired by Apple in 1996, closing the triumphant return of the prodigal son who, at this second stage, would end up being CEO until 2011, the year he retired before his death.
Remembering the products that made Apple's Great by Steve Jobs is easy. First the iMac G3, years later the iPod then the iPhone. Even the iPad, to a lesser extent, is another success of the 21st century Apple. However, many ignore that Along the way, jobs had to do without many projects. Some who have never seen light and others which, like Newton, have underlined success.
The iphone iprabuelo was a PDA that the company began to market in 1987, two years after the job of jobs. It was a device that, although just He made 200,000 units soldhad harvested a whole legion of fans. Inside Apple, they continued to see the margin of improvement and, therefore, in the future. The jobs, however, had another very different idea.
A year after his return to Apple and his CEO name, Steve Jobs rejected any minimum possibility that Apple Newton continues alive. Several members of the apple of these years revealed that it was a difficult decision for jobs, although it is very clear.
The product had been stagnating for ten years And Jobs wanted to focus all efforts on other projects such as those already mentioned and in the end, he would forever change the Apple course. Newton had no sense in the minds of jobs, so not only ordered to paralyze its development, but also withdrew the units that were still in the circulation of the market. And that injured the fans.
The first day of Tim Cook was filled with demonstrations
Newton's news would only transcend public opinion until a year later. According to this, what should be a normal day in the 1998 apple, the company's doors are still the headquarters of the company in Infinite Loop They were filled with fans manifesting themselves as a demonstration for Newton's death. They did not understand as a product that brought such a good use to be canceled. It was his fight for a fair cause.
Tim CookThe current Apple CEO since 2011, made its debut in the company at the time. Steve Jobs had just signed from Compaq and, at little, he did not reach his position on the first day. He had how he had to cross a line of stakes to enter the building. “What did I do?” Cook wondered, who did not understand what was going on.
Given the surprise, Cook quickly said what had happened to Jobs and his answer was very … Well, it was very Steve Jobs. “Ah, don't worry about it”He then said the CEO who years later would be his successor. Jobs gave importance to these demonstrations as if it were the most common in the world that a legion of fans brought together at the entrance to its headquarters.
“We love you and feel it a lot”
Phil Schiller, who currently plays a more secondary role as head of the App Store and Apple events, has served as a marketing director in these years. However, the marketing lesson ended up giving him Steve Jobs when he told her how to make angry fans who asked for Newton.
Shciller knew that something had to be done to calm the masses and when he transmitted it to Jobs, he positioned himself in favor of them. He said they had “all the right in the world to be angry”, praising Newton as a product, but clearly indicating that it would not be back. “We have to kill him and it's not fun.”
SO, He asked Schiller to have coffee and donuts for demonstrators. It was a form, in the words of Jobs, to “tell them that we love them, that we support them and that we feel it”. No sooner said than done.
The birth of a tradition
The assortment of drinks and pastries reached the demonstrators and, little by little, the waters were spread out. The rest is a story that we already know. Apple and the fans have passed the Apple Newton page and it is a product that many keep a good memory and, probably for events, they understand a posteriori which should be interrupted.
What is funny is that, in a way, we could say that this situation of coffee and donuts was the precursor of The way Apple now serves fans at the doors of their stores. More specifically when a new iPhone is launched.
Although the company has offered the possibility of reserving the new online iPhone, in the Apple Store around the world, the long lines of fans continue to be formed early to bring its brand new iPhone home. A whole tradition between enthusiasts, just like that, Apple distributes cafes a few hours before opening the stores.
What was clear that day in 1998 is that, beyond the death of Newton, Apple and Steve Jobs, they redefined not only their products, but also His way of relating to those who give meaning to the company: customers. It was not a public relations exercise, but a silent declaration: Apple is not afraid to make difficult decisions, but it does not forget that your user community is an essential element of its identity. At this crossing started to draw a business that would revolutionize technology and also the way it connects to its customers emotionally.
Via | Cable
Cover image | Generated with grok
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