I read an article today from 9to5Mac.com about a speech Steve Wozniak gave at Concordia University in Montreal (link here). Dr. Wozniak spoke of the early days of their careers, when Steve Jobs had an interaction with a classical musician. The excerpt:
The distinction between technology and humanoids. Who’s more important: Human or the technology? We had a gentleman, classical musician, that came to Apple to talk to Steve Jobs and myself in the garage. He told us that when you build a piece of technology you get to put a lot of work into it – software and hardware – to make it natural and obvious and easy to use for a human being. Then you have priced the human being at the top of the chain. If you simply put in every feature in the world and every ability and let the human being modify their normalness to learn how to use it, you place the technology higher, as the master, and the human being more as a slave. Obviously, we think of the way we don’t want the human being to be the slave, we want the human being to be the master. We want to build things around the human being as though it was the center of the universe.
Now, at first it almost sounds like a warning against an apocalyptic future like that found in the “Terminator” movies or even the sci-fi show “Battlestar Galactica”. But, as the article points out, Jobs has, from the beginning, had a desire to link liberal arts with technology in order to make it more “user-friendly”. And look at what that vision has created. Sure, there are some hiccups (anyone who knows what a pain .0 releases are for Apple, or knows about the MobileMe release or, most recently, the Final Cut X release can discuss some of Apple’s problems). But look at how Apple has single-handly shaped the technological future of personal computing. And this is largely because of the vision of Steve Jobs.
There’s a reason why everyone is so afraid of what will happen to Apple’s stock and market share once Jobs leaves permanently. Yes, there is an entire company behind Jobs, helping to make it the success it is today, but a good example of his influence and continued involvement can be found in his reaction to the fiasco of the MobileMe roll out (which can be found at this Appleinsider article from Sunday, May 8, 2011). Granted, this is how it should be for CEOs, and as a MobileMe user, I can say that he was right to be so furious about MobileMe. But when looking at the technology and the usability of the Apple products, these missteps can be forgiven.
I clearly admire Steve Jobs for what he has done for personal computing (all of my computing products are now Apple products, and I have not regretted that switch once). But more importantly, I admire his dedication to the Liberal Arts and Humanities as well as technology. As a graduate student of history (historian-in-training if you will) who has just received her MA on the way to the PhD, I was appalled at this June 15, 2011 Wall Street Journal report showing that 12% of high school seniors were proficient in American history. I have met many people who have no problem admitting that they believe that history has no application to their daily lives. I don’t think it should be a shock to anyone that less attention is paid to the humanities in a world where science and technology are seen as king, and education as a whole is being attacked on a daily basis by those who are in power. But to see the statistics laid bare… no wonder we have arguments over the actual events of Paul Revere’s ride.
George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it;” it has been paraphrased often, but I think the message is clear. The Liberal Arts are vital to a well-rounded education. Without English or grammar classes, how can we be expected to write our thoughts clearly? Without history, how can we expect to know what mistakes have already been made? Without language classes, how can we interact with other societies around the world?
It is difficult to convince some people just how vital linking technology and science with the humanities actually is. However, hopefully there will continue to be people like Jobs, making technology like he has, and showing the world how necessary that marriage of disciplines is for the future of humanity.
