There are many ways to look at his success. Patent total is one of them.
The New York Times has an interesting way of summing up Steve Jobs' success as the chief executive of Apple Inc.: 313 patents. [1]
All sorts of tributes to Mr. Jobs emerged on Thursday, the day after he resigned as Apple's chief executive, likely over health concerns. My own: No matter how battered the U.S. economy has looked in recent years, I've always felt that Steve Jobs was reason enough alone to stay bullishly optimistic about the country's role as a great innovator.
I also like Felix Salmon's take: "You've relieved me of more money than I care to mention in public, and I don't begrudge you a cent of it." [2]
But the Times takes these warm and fuzzy thoughts and actually provides a good indication of Mr. Jobs's integral role at Apple - giving a reason to celebrate his legacy and, perhaps, a reason to fear his departure. Unlike most chief executives, who have little direct input into their companies' products, Mr. Jobs had his name mentioned in more than 300 patents, from the design of the early all-in-one Macintosh computers, to the translucent cases of early iMacs and even features on more recent iPods, iPads and iPhones.
From the Times: "And he also had a hand in the final look of a startling number of products, including the seemingly insignificant and those that have proved central to Apple's success: the lanyard for some iPod headsets, the plastic clasps that hold cords in place, the cardboard packaging for scores of iPods, and model after model of desktop and laptop computers, monitors, mice, keyboards, mobile devices and media players.
"Mr. Jobs's say over the minute details of Apple's products is legendary in Silicon Valley. A look at the patents that carry his name, for these products and others, offers a glimpse into the range of his influence at Apple. And it paints a picture of a roll-up-your-sleeves chief executive whose design choices reached into every corner of the company."
Compare Jobs's patent total to just nine in the case of Bill Gates (for Microsoft Corp. MSFT-Q patents) or about two-dozen patents that carry the names of Google Inc.'s co-founders, and you can see why - numerically speaking - Mr. Jobs is a tough act to follow.
By DAVID BERMAN
Globe and Mail Update