Jobs and the Synthesis of Form in the Whole Earth Catalog, RLST 245

In the 1968 edition of the Whole Earth Catalog presents an article by Christopher Alexander. An excerpt from the article seen in the magazine makes a number of statements about the properties of form that seem remarkably similar to the sentiments of Steve Jobs in his development of computers.

The article says that “Not only is the man who lives in the form the one who made it, but there is a special closeness of contact between man and form which leads to constant rearrangement of unsatisfactory detail, constant improvement” (9). The article here is saying that there is an intimacy between a person and the thing that they create. This intimacy is partially a result of necessity because that person is reliant on the creation to a degree. But regardless of the reason, that closeness means that the creator is also hyper-aware of the flaws and inadequacies of his or her creation, and thus greater motivated to continually change and improve the creation to better fit the idea.

This is an astoundingly complimentary philosophy to the beliefs held by Jobs. Jobs is notorious for his perfectionism regarding computer products. He is obsessed with the shape and placing of text. He spends ridiculous amounts of money to contract an artist to create the NeXT logo. He had an entire factory repainted. He reversed the direction of an assembly line to make it more aesthetically pleasing. He even had an entire batch of plastic casings sanded down to a crease left by the mold.

Perhaps the most interesting of the article’s statements leads to a grander understanding of Jobs’ beliefs regarding compatibility. The article states that “If we try to adjust a set of variables which does not constitute a subsystem, the repercussions of the adjustment affect others outside the set because the set is not sufficiently independent” (9). Here the article makes the argument essentially that not only is a creation more than a sum of their parts, but that the parts are also highly interactive such that altering any part can have negative effects on other parts.

This certainly reflects Jobs’ reluctance to make Apple products more compatible with other software or hardware. From Jobs’ perspective, he is creating something that must be perfect to begin with, but also something that once created should never be altered in any way because it will compromise the artistry, aesthetic, and “purity” of the whole. It’s no wonder, then, that he is so frustrated by the insistence of people like Gates and Wozniak who insist on making products available to the public, since that would mean a desecration of the language which the product is made of.

Ultimately, this paints of picture of a philosophy which Jobs followed for better or for worse, and which perhaps made him unique in the business.

Whole Earth Catalog 1968