Johannes Gutenberg was the first Steve Jobs

In learning more about Johannes Gutenberg and his creation of the printing press, the similarities with Steve Jobs and the first Macintosh are remarkable.

Typeface

Both men took a serious stance on high-quality typeface (fonts, essentially), at a place in history when it seemingly didn’t matter. Both men created something spectacular and history-changing, yet were focused on details like precise serifs and line heights when more basic lettering seemingly would have been just fine.

Perfection Everywhere

It went beyond just typefaces, though. Both men were obsessed with the smallest details of their work. Gutenberg invented new types of ink and pressing equipment, while Jobs created a user interface incredibly simpler than anything that had come before. Jobs continued this throughout his career, doing things like famously throwing an iPod prototype into a fish tank to show it could be made a fraction smaller.

Power to the people

The inventions of both men were in large part to help give a voice to people that otherwise wouldn’t. In the 1400’s, the church had the loudest voice of all, and Gutenberg helped to level that field. In the late 1900’s, Jobs helped usher in the computer revolution, eventually leading to…