Steve Jobs on Product Line: Simpler, Better, Focused
What Jobs talks about
Jobs explains that Apple looked at its product roadmap over the next few years and found too much complexity and not enough focus. He says much of it “doesn't make sense,” and that even he couldn’t keep the lineup straight at first.
He says Apple removed 70% of the items on the product roadmap. The goal is to make the product line easier to understand for both the company and customers.
The point is classic Jobs: simplify the portfolio, sharpen focus, and make the products better by eliminating confusion.
Jobs speaks throughout.
In his words
“A lot of this doesn't make sense, and it's way too much stuff, and there's not enough focus.”
“We actually got rid of 70% of the stuff on the product roadmap.”
“I couldn't even figure out the damn product line after a few weeks.”
“You're going to see the product line get much simpler, and you're going to see the product line get much better.”
Key points
- The product roadmap had too much stuff and too little focus.
- Apple removed 70% of the items on the roadmap.
- Even Jobs couldn’t make sense of the product line at first.
- Customers also found the lineup confusing.
- The result would be a much simpler and better product line.
Full transcript
So, we started with the product line. We looked at the product roadmap going out for a few years, and we said, a lot of this doesn't make sense, and it's way too much stuff, and there's not enough focus. And so we actually got rid of 70% of the stuff on the product roadmap. I mean, I couldn't even figure out the damn product line after a few weeks. I kept saying, well, what is this model? How does this fit? And I started talking to customers, and they couldn't figure it out either. And so you're going to see the product line get much simpler, and you're going to see the product line get much better.
Transcribed from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.