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Steve Jobs was less charismatic, we'd still use BlackBerry keyboards

Riding Unicorns · Marketing Icon: Rory Sutherland (audio only)

“I also think there's a parallel universe in which Steve Jobs everything else was the same in this universe, but Steve Jobs was 30% less charismatic.”

39:07 / 39:34

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I also think there's a parallel universe in which Steve Jobs everything else was the same in this universe, but Steve Jobs was 30% less charismatic. And in that world, we'd still be using phones with keyboards, which are objectively better, by the way. Okay? Right? The BlackBerry, RIB, were right. Okay? I'll be I'll be absolutely honest with that. Okay? Steve Jobs was also driven, by the way, by rabid kampoonophobia, which is he was frightened of buttons.

About this clip

Rory Sutherland argues that Steve Jobs' charisma was crucial to the iPhone's success over objectively superior BlackBerry keyboards. He suggests that in a parallel universe where Jobs was 30% less charismatic, we'd still be using phones with physical keyboards, which he claims are actually better than touchscreens.

Why this clip

A provocative counterargument that challenges the conventional wisdom about iPhone superiority by crediting charisma over product features.

39:07 - 39:3426scontrarian take
product-designsteve-jobsblackberry

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