Assertion Partly supported
Safari Was Three Times Faster Than Internet Explorer at Launch
“And eventually Safari, as when it was released, it was three times faster than MSIE at loading web pages.”
Insight
Touchscreen UI Software Must Interpret Intent Rather Than Literal Inputs
“Because you didn't get this tactile feedback, because you couldn't feel the edges of either keyboard keys, or any button, or anything in the user interface, is that the software had to be there working behind the scenes to give you what you meant, maybe differ…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Apple Omitted Copy and Paste From First iPhone Due to Time Constraints
“And so we knew that we wanted cut, copy, paste, but we knew that there was simply not going to be time for it. So we didn't spend any real development effort on it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Steve Jobs Asked Individual Contributors Directly for Key Product Choices
“He doesn't ask, you know, Scott Forstall, who is, you know, he knows much better. He doesn't ask, you know, any of the other people in the room. He asks me, the individual contributor, you know, just coming in, but I'm the DRI. You see, that's the thing. He wa…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Steve Jobs Sided With Ken Kocienda Over Scott Forstall on iOS Gestures
“And so and it also just goes to show that there could be disputes, even up at the highest level. Scott knew that I was very excited about this feature and wanted to show Steve, so he let me. And Steve was the one who had the final vote, and he sided with me, a…”
Insight
Apple Insists on Controlling All Core User Experience Technology
“And so the, you know, the vision for Apple back then, and even still today, Is that Apple wants to be in control of what it considers to be critical technology. It's critical to its user experience.”
Insight
Preventing Code Speed Regressions Guarantees Software Performance Improves Over Time
“Ok team, if we check in code, and it doesn't make any speed regression, only two things can happen. Either the code will remain the same speed, or it'll get faster.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Apple Maintained a Remarkably Small Product Lineup Through 2019
“Certainly during the Steve Jobs era, and I still think to today here in 2019 Apple didn't ship a whole lot of products.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Apple's Small Product Lineup Enabled Steve Jobs' Hands-On Software Management
“Since there were so few products, Steve could keep tabs on what the software, ah, teams were doing. That there was this big initiative, ah, to make a web browser so he could keep his, ah, his, He could keep tabs on it. He could find the time on his schedule to…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
The Original iPhone Software Team Never Exceeded 20 Engineers
“Now, eventually we wound up adding over time more people. We probably never had more than 20 software engineers and maybe 10 designers. Those two managers, and the executive, and Steve, and that was it, so.”
Assertion Supported
Apple Halted All iPhone App Work in 2005 for Software Keyboard
“Henri, who was the software engineering manager, called all of the engineers out in, out of our offices, into the hallway. We had a group meeting. Again, about two dozen people, probably even less than that, and said, okay, you all stop. Stop what you're doing…”
Assertion Supported
Steve Jobs Mandated Software Keyboard to Free Screen Space for Apps
“His idea was that We want, we need a keyboard some of the time, but we certainly don't need it all of the time, and so the idea of the keyboard being in software is that it could get out of the way, it could go off the screen, and which would then turn, make t…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Steve Jobs Personally Approved Every Engineer Added to the iPhone Team
“Steve was still personally approving every person that was submitted to get disclosed on the project.”
Insight
Small Engineering Teams Provide Underestimated Power and Unit Cohesion
“I think there is a really underestimated power In keeping your team small. The cohesion, the small unit cohesion that you have”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
iPhone Autocorrect Dictionary Lacked the Word 'iPhone' Until After Launch
“And when he said that, that's, When I knew that I was going to have to go back the next day and add iPhone to the autocorrection dictionary.”
Insight
Steve Jobs Rejected Sales Pitches in Demos, Wanting Only Product Substance
“And so it's very, very interesting then how the demos go from that point in that he didn't want a lot of words. He didn't want a lot of, you know, used car salesman pitches, right? All he really wanted to know was what was next.”
Assertion Supported
Apple Shipped Original iPhone App Icons at 57 Pixels Square
“The we determined that if you made a rectangle that was 57 pixels square, that pretty much everybody could tap it a hundred percent of the time. No matter where it was, again, since you were going quickly, you could tap it comfortably. And that, Number, he jus…”
Insight
A Key DRI Role Is Recognizing and Incorporating Others' Ideas
“Part of being a DRI is recognizing strong ideas that are coming from other people and including them in the work”
Disclosure
Ken Kocienda Did Not Seek Apple's Approval to Write Creative Selection
“Well, no, I didn't. I don't know if I was supposed to, but I didn't.”
Assertion Supported
Apple Chose Konqueror Over Mozilla for Safari Because of Codebase Size
“And looking at that, it really just came down to Conqueror was one-tenth the size of Mozilla.”
Disclosure
Ken Kocienda Invented the iPhone Magnifying Loupe for Cursor Placement
“The one thing that I did implement for the first iPhone was the loop. So you press and hold, and it would give that little magnifying glass above your finger that would show. And the whole idea of that is that we wanted your finger to be right where The insert…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Steve Jobs' Software Demo Room Was Shabby With Standard Office Furniture
“No, it was this shabby little room with this mangy old couch, and just standard issue office furniture,”
Insight
Steve Jobs Evaluated Products by Pretending to Be Customer Number One
“He was, in my view, I don't know what's going on inside his head, but just having seen him do that, having at least, you know, enough experience with him and his approach to evaluating work is that he was putting himself in the position of a customer. He had, …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Every Steve Jobs Demo Had One of Three Strict Outcomes
“That was the outcome of every demo with Steve. Approved, not approved, give, bring me something different next time, or not approved, give me these specific changes. It was one of those three things.”
