Steve Jobs was a lot of things, including a pitchman, a designer, and a perfectionist. These three characteristics helped Steve Jobs re-imagine entire industries, plan them out down to the last detail, and then convince those around him that was a great idea.
If Steve Jobs could revolutionize the retail industry, shape the future of the smartphone, and create a completely new tablet computer industry out of thin air, what might Steve Jobs have been able to offer the auto industry?
According to Apple board member and and J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler, speaking at a recent Fast Company conference on innovation (via The Loop), Steve Jobs did in fact dream of designing the ultimate vehicle – an iCar!
“Look at the car industry; it’s a tragedy in America. Who is designing the cars?” Drexler said. “Steve’s dream before he died was to design an iCar.”
“And,” Drexler added with a coy smile, “it would’ve been probably 50% of the market. He never did design it.”
Just as nobody could imagine the iPad or what it would achieve before it was actually unveiled, I can scarcely begin to imagine how different vehicles could have been if Steve Jobs had managed to disrupt the auto industry.
The possibilities are endless.