Building on the vision - Apple's mega show
You can call it a custom, ritual or a routine. But this is one event for which the whole world waits throughout the year. It is the time when Apple Inc. reveals its new products — unveiling of products like iPhone X, iPhone 8 models, a 4K Apple TV, and an LTE-powered Apple Watch.
But this time around, the unveiling of the products was at a different setting – and the setting was Steve Jobs Theater, on the tech giant’s new campus Apple Park — a flying saucer-shaped theater that personified and symbolized the ingenuity and legacy of the legendary Steve Jobs.
Apple’s 1,000 seat theatre, a glass auditorium unveiled for the world on the Apple's 10th anniversary event was originally envisioned by Steve Jobs himself — the vision that the current Apple CEO, Tim Cook has today, made possible. Apple Park also inhabits one of the world’s largest solar installations and an augmented reality experience to exhibit the Apple Park and its design.
Cook took to the stage in the brand new Steve Jobs Theater and paid his tribute to his former boss. This is what he says:
“It is an honor of a lifetime to be the first one to welcome you all to Steve Jobs Theater. Steve meant so much to me and so much to all of us. There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think about him. Memories have especially come rushing back as we prepare for today in this event. It’s taken some time, and we can now reflect on him with joy, instead of sadness. Steve’s spirit and timeless philosophy on life will always be the DNA of Apple.
His greatest gift, his greatest expression and gift for humanity will not be a singular product, but rather it would be Apple itself. We dedicate this theater to Steve because we love him and because he loved days like this. For we could share our latest new product, new ideas to the world, and we do so not only to contribute to Steve but to inspire the next generation of creators and innovators.
Steve was a genius, and one of the many ways he showed that was through his uncanny ability to unlock the talent of everybody that he worked with. He thought deeply about our workplace and its surrounding and he believed that they should inspire talented people to do their best work. So over a decade ago, he began to work on a new campus for Apple. His vision for Apple Park was to create an incredible workplace for the future, where engineers and designers could all be together, collaborating on the next generation of Apple’s products, to change the world. Steve’s vision and passion live on her at Apple Park and everywhere in Apple.
Today and Always, we honor him.”
After Cook, it was Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s Retail Chief who took to the stage where she announced the "Today at Apple" in-store experience that comprises new tutorials and hands on demos for photographers, tutorials for young coders and presentations by local artists. She also stated that company wants its stores to be forums for collaboration. Among the changes are in-store experiences to help people "go even further" with their Apple products, such as sessions for photography, music gaming and app development and there will also be "genius groves" in larger stores, which was portrayed by an image of an Apple store with trees in the main customer service area.
Apple has always striven to have an edge where it matters – in technology or innovation, and for the good of humanity. As Steve Jobs stated once, “One of the ways people can express their appreciation to the rest of the humanity is to make something wonderful and put it out. You never meet the people, you never shake their hands, you never hear their story or tell yours, but somehow, in the act of making something with great deal of care and love, something’s transmitted there. And it’s a way of expressing to the rest of our species, our deep appreciation. So, we need to be true to who we are and remember what’s really important to us, and that’s what going to keep Apple, Apple. That is if we keep us, us.”
And indeed Apple has kept Steve Jobs legacy on in what they do for the humanity and the world.