Forgotten Steve Jobs interview: Secret Apple formula revealed

Ahead of the launch of the 17th iPhone iteration on Tuesday (that's today, September 9), a forgotten video of Apple visionary and co-founder Steve Jobs has emerged.

In it, he shared his profound insights on thinking, doing, and creating “insanely great” things.

Jobs' philosophy blended creativity, intuition, and relentless execution, emphasising simplicity and passion.

Jobs believed that "thinking differently" was the cornerstone of innovation.

In his 1997 “Think Different” campaign, he celebrated those who challenged conventions — people like Einstein, Gandhi, and Picasso.

He saw creativity as connecting seemingly unrelated ideas, saying in a 1996 Wired interview: “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.”

For Jobs, thinking wasn’t about rigid analysis but about intuition and pattern recognition.

He emphasised trusting one’s gut, as he did when envisioning products like the iPhone, which redefined entire industries.

However, Jobs was clear that thinking alone was insufficient — doing was critical.

He was a doer who obsessed over execution.

In a 2008 Fortune interview, he stated: “The difference between a good product and a great product is the level of care you put into it.”

His relentless focus on detail, from the curves of a Mac to the packaging of an iPod, showed his belief that great ideas must be brought to life with precision.

He didn’t just dream of “insanely great” products; he built them through iterative, hands-on work.

At Apple, he fostered a culture where ideas were tested, refined, and perfected, often through gruelling collaboration.

Jobs’ mantra of creating “insanely great” things reflected his uncompromising pursuit of excellence.

In a 1985 interview, he said: “We’re not going to be the first to this party, but we’re going to be the best.”

This wasn’t about being first, but about being remarkable.

He believed great products required a marriage of technology and liberal arts, as he noted in his 2011 iPad 2 keynote: “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough — it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”

This holistic approach drove Apple to create products that were not just functional but emotionally resonant.

He also stressed simplicity as a guiding principle.

In a 1998 BusinessWeek interview, Jobs said: “Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”

This clarity of thought translated into products that were intuitive, stripping away unnecessary complexity to focus on what mattered to users.

Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address encapsulated his philosophy: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

He urged people to follow their passions, take risks, and not settle for mediocrity.

For Jobs, thinking and doing were inseparable — vision without execution was hollow, and action without vision was aimless.

His legacy of creating “insanely great” things lives in Apple’s products, which continue to blend art, technology, and human experience, inspiring generations to 'think different'.