One lesson I continually take away from early Apple is how well rounded the core folks were in things other than technology. Design, religion. Typography, fashion, literature...really the genius of Apple was human-ness brought to bear on technology.
These days the technology shapes us, and companies push us to adapt to their tech offering. Thou shalt have the shitty Aptos font. Thine eyes will be assaulted by advertisements even in your most reflective moments using our devices. Etc.
SJ was a grade A ass** in a hundred ways. And Apple isnt the Apple of 1983. But trying to imbue computing with the human spirit was a massive contribution to society, and I hope we can continue to drive that forwards.
That's something I think about as well. He said "we’re solving the problems of injecting some liberal arts into these computers" and I think he was sincere and successful. There are so many Jobs-wannabe's out there that have picked up on the being-an-asshole part of his management style and ignored his appreciation of the humanities.
To be fair, Microsoft has a long history of research in computer typography, especially in regards to readability on screen, see for example ClearType.
Apple was more about true WYSIWG, less about screen work.
You might not like Microsofts fonts subjectively of course, but it’s not like they were design by some interns. Aptos for example is by Steve Matteson.
> Thine eyes will be assaulted ... using our devices
This is what I hate the most.
Devices nag. They interrupt. I'm not even talking about advertising, which is evil and self-serving.
I mean the rest of it. Tips for your new device. You haven't set up 3 things! Do you want to switch your browser? Apple used to be so clean, but now this has permeated our society starting with apple.
These days the technology shapes us, and companies push us to adapt to their tech offering. Thou shalt have the shitty Aptos font. Thine eyes will be assaulted by advertisements even in your most reflective moments using our devices. Etc.
SJ was a grade A ass** in a hundred ways. And Apple isnt the Apple of 1983. But trying to imbue computing with the human spirit was a massive contribution to society, and I hope we can continue to drive that forwards.