Apple founder Steve Jobs’ message about ideas

The late Apple founder Steve Jobs said it is a disease to think that a great idea is most of the work and leads to a successful product.

The value of an idea made headlines this year following the prolonged battle between Vodacom and Nkosana Makate for his Please Call Me idea.

Makate has told the Constitutional Court that he would accept R9.4 billion in compensation from Vodacom for his “buzzing option” idea.

Vodacom previously offered Makate R47 million for his idea. However, he rejected it out of hand, calling it “shocking” and “an insult”.

Vodacom has argued that Makate’s original concept does not resemble what Please Call Me eventually became.

It highlighted that his idea was to send a missed call to “buzz” someone’s cellphone even if you didn’t have airtime.

It also argued that his idea effectively became worthless when MTN beat Vodacom to the punch with its “Call Me” product in January 2001.

Makate said this argument doesn’t hold water, as Vodacom continues to offer Please Call Me to this day, suggesting the idea has value.

It raises the question of what an idea is worth and whether it can be seen as the most valuable part of a product.

Jobs said one of the things that hurt Apple after he was ousted and John Sculley took over was a ‘serious disease’ of thinking that a great idea is 90% of the work.

Jobs and Sculley clashed over management styles and priorities. Where Jobs focused on future innovation, Sculley prioritised current product lines and profitability.

In an interview, Jobs said there is a false belief, which Sculley suffered from, that if you tell other people about a great idea, they can make it happen.

“The problem with that is that there’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product,” he said.

“As you evolve that great idea, it changes and grows. It never comes out like it starts because you learn a lot more as you get into the subtleties of it.”

He explained that developing a product from an idea requires tremendous trade-offs, which are unavoidable.

“You know, there are just certain things you can’t make electrons, plastic, or glass do. The same goes for factories and robots,” he said.

“Designing a product is keeping 5,000 things in your brain and fit them all together in new and different ways to get what you want.”

He said you discover something new, a new problem or opportunity every day. “To fit these things together a little differently is the magic,” he said.