It is June 1983. At that year’s International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA), Apple Computer Inc’s Steve Jobs was invited to give a keynote talk on the future of computing. Unseen until now, thanks to The Steve Jobs Archive, the remarkable film shows a 28-year-old Jobs on the cusp of launching the Macintosh, already talking of the ways in which Apple would be bringing graphical excellence and simplicity to the PC market.
One of the key themes of the talk, revealed in a new online exhibit, The Objects of Our Life, is just how much change was coming around the bend. ‘Computers and society [are] out on a first date in the 80s,’ Jobs says, and many of the attendees saw a preview of Apple’s Lisa computer the previous day, the forerunner of the original Macintosh.
The cult of Jobs exists for a reason, and the film gives a rare insight into the confidence, charisma and vision that he brought to bear on the many Apple products that followed. In 1983, however, the computer had barely infiltrated the American home, even though sales figures showed the industry ramping production up significantly. As Jobs puts it to the assembled audience of design grandees, he can guarantee that millions of computers will be sold in the years ahead, 'whether they look like a piece of shit or they look great.'
As we all know, Apple was to go the extra mile to ensure they did indeed look great, ultimately setting a template for the industrial design of all computing devices both big and small right up to the present day. None of this came out of a vacuum, however.
Right from the outset, Apple had vowed to create products with a ‘creative, professional manner,’ and Jobs’ own obsession with modern desigsn old and new took in everything from the clothes of Issey Miyake to the Tiffany lamp, the Sony Walkman and the cutting edge Italian industrial design of Bellini, Sottsass, Aulenti, and Sapper.
Designer Jony Ive, who worked alongside Jobs from 1992 until the latter’s death in 2011, contributes an introduction, noting that much of what Jobs was saying in terms of coming technologies were just ‘absurd claims’ that nevertheless came true.
This, in part, was down to his admiration and understanding of the role of design. ‘Part of Steve’s brilliance was how he learned to support the creative process, encouraging and developing ideas even in large groups of people. He treated the process of creating with a rare and wonderful reverence,’ Ive writes.
A mix of 1980s style, bold claims and prescient predictions, the keynote is a must-watch for any Apple fan, as well as those who believe that technology’s transformational promise can only come good when it's in the hands of those who are truly motivated by change.
The Objects of Our Life, Steve Jobs at the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen, SteveJobsArchive.com
