Art?

I’ve always been interested in the question of what art, or Art, is or isn’t. Certainly there are loads of things presented as art that many of us would consider more in the category of crap. Now I don’t have a good definition for Art, but in my view, it has to say something.

It’s conceivable that you could find some junk in a dumpster, put it on a pedestal, and it would be art. But it would have to be junk that, at least in the context of sitting on that pedestal, gets a response from people experiencing it. Oh, and that response has to be something more than “Hey, cool piece of junk on a pedestal!”

More specifically, it has to say something about our human-ness. An organization chart says something. It says “Look who’s boss!” But that’s not art. At least, it’s not capital A Art.

I’m reading Walter What’s-his-face’s biography of Steve Jobs, and I’m struck by how frequently he refers to Jobs as both an artist and a technologist.

Steve Jobs was certainly a rare and gifted individual, but ...

Some years ago, I had the good fortune to see the late George C. Scott starring in Death of a Salesman. I’ve seen a lot of plays and musicals, of course, but this is the only time I remember the audience being too stunned to applaud during the curtain call. Seriously. The curtain call was half over before people started clapping, and I’m sure it was because they, like me, were completely in shock. (Post-dramatic stress disorder?) We felt we had just come face to face with TRUTH ... with incredible insight about the characters in the play, but also about everyone, everywhere. How we spend our lives pursuing dreams, often failing because of our own shortcomings, but always holding on to the phantasm of utter fulfillment. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

Now THAT was Art.

But a cool looking iPod?

Apple Recipe

Bill Gates is no longer at Microsoft.  Google is run by a small team of unknown nerds.  Even after being the subject of a hit movie, Mark Zuckerberg is not the "face" of Facebook.

But Steve Jobs IS Apple.  It's hard to think of any individual executive so closely associated with his company's brand.  (Jim Perdue definitely lacks his father's strangely charismatic blandness.)  Even his alter-ego as Disney/Pixar Steve Jobs doesn't dilute his Apple appeal.

So when he's out on medical leave, people worry about the fate of Apple.  To help ease the anxiety, I think it makes sense to publish a guide to being Steve Jobs, so someone else can step up and fill the role.  To begin with, let's talk about the aspect of Steve Jobs that's probably most instrumental in Apple's success ... being a design-y guy.  Apple's success hinges more on its product design than anything else, so let's start by explaining how to design an Apple product.

1) It can't look like a computer.  Ideally, it should look like a piece of glass or a block of aluminum, but really, anything but a computer.  A block of aluminum with a piece of glass in it is ok.

2) No controls!  No buttons.  No keyboards.  No mouse.  No stylus.  Ok, if we absolutely have to have a keyboard or mouse, make it look like a piece of glass or aluminum.

3) No wires.  Bluetooth.  WiFi.  3G.  But no stinkin' wires.

4) No Flash.

5) Cute.  Must be cute.  Things on screen should swell with pride when you go near them, and literally jump up and down when you touch them.  UI is all done with colored jelly beans.

6) Did we mention no Flash?

7) No user serviceable parts.  Not even a battery change.

8) No sharp edges or corners.

9) Make it any color, as long as it's black, white or silver.

10) These are today's rules.  At some point, some other rules will be in.  Then discard everything here, and follow those rules without mercy.

With these rules, soon you too will be able to run ads like this ...