The shocking news of Steve Jobs death was announced by Apple
yesterday – World has lost a true genius, an artist, a CEO, an inspiring
leader and a visionary. Very few people come close to Steve Jobs and
his greatness. It would not be wrong to take his name in line-up of
select few people who changed millions of lives across the globe.
The world will dearly miss him– Rest in Peace Steve Jobs!
Note: We are republishing a post on Steve Jobs that we have featured earlier on trak.in, that shows a small glimpse of the kind of man he was and how seriously he took his work!
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Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple . Although, he will be Chairman of Apple, his day to day involvement in Operations will not be there!
Whether you are an apple fanatic or not, you will agree to one thing –
If it was not for Steve Jobs, Apple would not have been half of what it
is today. He probably is aware of every minute detail of design of
Apple Products.
A example of it was given to us today by none other than Google
Social Media head – Vic Gundotra. In his recent update on Google Plus,
he narrated an experience he has with Steve Jobs, and it clearly goes to
show why Steve Jobs is really “The Steve Jobs”
Here is the incident narrated by Vic Gundotra:
ICON AMBULANCE
One Sunday morning, January 6th, 2008 I was attending religious
services when my cell phone vibrated. As discreetly as possible, I
checked the phone and noticed that my phone said "Caller ID unknown". I
choose to ignore.
After services, as I was walking to my car with my family, I checked
my cell phone messages. The message left was from Steve Jobs. "Vic, can
you call me at home? I have something urgent to discuss" it said.
Before I even reached my car, I called Steve Jobs back. I was
responsible for all mobile applications at Google, and in that role, had
regular dealings with Steve. It was one of the perks of the job.
"Hey Steve – this is Vic", I said. "I’m sorry I didn’t answer your
call earlier. I was in religious services, and the caller ID said
unknown, so I didn’t pick up".
Steve laughed. He said, "Vic, unless the Caller ID said ‘GOD’, you should never pick up during services".
I laughed nervously. After all, while it was customary for Steve to
call during the week upset about something, it was unusual for him to
call me on Sunday and ask me to call his home. I wondered what was so
important?
"So Vic, we have an urgent issue, one that I need addressed right
away. I’ve already assigned someone from my team to help you, and I hope
you can fix this tomorrow" said Steve.
"I’ve been looking at
the Google logo on the iPhone and I’m not happy with the icon. The
second O in Google doesn’t have the right yellow gradient. It’s just
wrong and I’m going to have Greg fix it tomorrow. Is that okay with
you?"
Of course this was okay with me. A few minutes later on that Sunday I
received an email from Steve with the subject "Icon Ambulance". The
email directed me to work with Greg Christie to fix the icon.
Since I was 11 years old and fell in love with an Apple II, I have
dozens of stories to tell about Apple products. They have been a part of
my life for decades. Even when I worked for 15 years for Bill Gates at
Microsoft, I had a huge admiration for Steve and what Apple had
produced.
But in the end, when I think about leadership, passion and attention
to detail, I think back to the call I received from Steve Jobs on a
Sunday morning in January. It was a lesson I’ll never forget. CEOs
should care about details. Even shades of yellow. On a Sunday.
To one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever met, my prayers and hopes are with you Steve.
-Vic
This story just goes to tell how particular Steve Jobs was about
anything that was connected to Apple. You can’t have better designed
products than Apple, can you ?
There is a reason why Apple has become (albeit temporarily) world’s most valuable company!
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