Interesting dichotomy
Steve Jobs has enjoyed a lustrous career of achievement and fame as he built Apple into one of the globe’s most recognizable and most profitable brands after dropping out of college. He is famous for rehearsing his public presentations for hours upon hours, meticulously grooming every sentence into a perfect soundbite for fans and media alike. Jobs’ obsession over his retail stores is well documented, as he spent countless hours in the first Apple store, tweaking every detail, even after the flagship store opened up to the public.
Mark Zuckerberg is still very early into his career, but his bank account has recently put him in the driver’s seat as the 14th wealthiest American, according to Forbes. Zuckerberg, like Jobs, never crossed the graduation stage after starting his college journey, but both maintain that college is not the top indicator of success. Zuckerberg is known to obsess over the lines of code that make up the Facebook site and reportedly still is meticulous about this task.
Zuckerberg has never been quite the grandiose speaker that Jobs has, some have even criticized his speeches as being about as tailored as the hoodies he is known for wearing. Has that changed recently? Steve Jobs recently stepped down as Apple’s CEO, and was teased yet hailed for his presentations such as his 2010 speech introducing the iPad which he called “magical,” “awesome,” “extraordinary,” “super,” “gorgeous,” “wonderful” and “terrific.”
Zuckerberg’s new speaking style…
This floral speech was not new to Jobs- he always had a flair for exciting audiences, even over minute changes to existing products, but Zuckerberg has apparently stepped into the role of enthusiastic technology speaker. At the recent F8 developer conference in San Francisco, Zuckerberg said the new Facebook apps would deliver a “frictionless experience” and “realtime serendipity.” These synonyms aren’t quite as thesaurus heavy as Jobs’ famous iPad speech, but it hints at an enthusiasm and more tailored presentation than Zuckerberg has delivered in the past and one that harkens back to the Jobs era.
It could be a coincidence that ever since Jobs stepped down as Apple CEO, Zuckerberg’s speaking enthusiasm has increased as well as his flair for the dramatic (making big moves at Facebook in recent weeks), but it doesn’t feel like a coincidence. With the position of head technologist in charge open to the first taker, will Zuckerberg step up? Signs so far are pointing to yes as Zuckerberg is at least trying on Jobs’ shoes.
