Steve Jobs died 14 years ago today, October 5, 2011. Steve was not only a great visionary, but he was a great showman as well. Those two came together most historically when he introduced the iPhone at MacWorld San Francisco on January 9, 2007.
That iPhone keynote was so brilliant, so prescient and so important to all our Futures that it’s worth viewing many times over. It’s also worth reading word for word, especially the beginning and ending. Here it is:
This is the day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years.
Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything and Apple has been – well, first of all, one’s very fortunate if you get to work on just one of these in your career. Apple has been very fortunate. It’s been able to introduce a few of these into the world.
1984 – we introduced the Macintosh. It didn’t just change Apple. It changed the whole computer industry.
In 2001, we introduced the first iPod. And it didn’t just change the way we all listen to music, it changed the entire music industry.
Well, today we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device.
So, three things: a widescreen iPod with touch controls; a revolutionary mobile phone; and a breakthrough Internet communications device. An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator. An iPod, a phone… are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it iPhone. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone, and here it is.…
I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I was so excited about today, because we’ve been so lucky at Apple. We’ve had some real revolutionary products. The Mac in 1984 is an experience that those of us that were there will never forget. And I don’t think the world will forget it either.
The iPod in 2001 changed everything about music, and we’re going to do it again with the iPhone in 2007. We’re very excited about this.
There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been”. And we’ve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will. So thank you very very much for being a part of this.
Steve’s last words on earth were “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”
Thank you Steve.
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