Forbes publishes a lengthy guest post from advertising executive Rob Siltanen, one of the primary contributors to the development of Apple's famous "Think Different" advertising campaign that helped turn the company around following Steve Jobs' return. In the piece, Siltanen details the process of pitching the campaign to Jobs and his work on the "Here's to the Crazy Ones" script.
Siltanen was inspired to write the post following the publication of Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs, which repeats the oft-cited claim that Jobs himself was responsible for much of the "Here's to the Crazy Ones" text and ideas.
Steve was highly involved with the advertising and every facet of Apple’s business. But he was far from the mastermind behind the renowned launch spot. In fact, he was blatantly harsh on the commercial that would eventually play a pivotal role in helping Apple achieve one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in business history.
Siltanen goes on to describe how he and other representatives of the high-profile TBWA/Chiat/Day advertising firm were surprised that Jobs required them to pitch to win the contract with the then-struggling Apple. In dreaming up concepts to pitch to Jobs, the one that stood out was the "Think Different" tagline paired with photos and videos of famous creative thinkers. Jobs liked the campaign but initially worried that it would appear too egotistical. Within seconds, however, Jobs changed course and brought the firm on board to carry out the idea.
Siltanen used Robin Williams' speeches from the movie Dead Poets Society as inspiration for what became "Here's to the Crazy Ones". But when it was presented to Jobs in what turned out to eventually be nearly its final form, Jobs initially hated it.
We played the spot once, and when it finished, Jobs said, “It sucks! I hate it! It’s advertising agency ****! I thought you were going to write something like ‘Dead Poets Society!’ This is crap!”
Clow said something like, “Well, I take it you don’t want to see it again.” And Steve continued to go on a rant about how we should get the writers from “Dead Poets Society” or some “real writers” to write something.
Jobs eventually changed his mind again, and the "Think Different" campaign quickly marked a turning point for the company even as it was still trying to develop new products to execute the dramatic turnaround.
Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve).
The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26.
The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now.
It...
Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers.
Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update.
When the...
With iOS 26, Apple has made some additions to the iPhone Lock Screen that aim to make it more customizable than ever.
Of course, things can always change before the software makes its way to the general iPhone-owning public, but here are five new things iOS 26 can do on the Lock Screen as of the current developer beta.
Widgets Top or Bottom
In iOS 18, the row of widgets on your Lock...
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier.
Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player.
With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer.
That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years.
iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models:
iPhone 16e
iPhone...
Wednesday June 18, 2025 8:10 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Every year between 2015 and 2024, at least one Apple executive agreed to be interviewed by Daring Fireball's John Gruber for a special WWDC episode of his podcast, The Talk Show. Last year, for example, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, and top AI researcher John Giannandrea joined Gruber on stage at the California Theatre in San Jose to discuss...
Steve Jobs' genius was to recognize, not invent, things that would take off. Jobs often hated things the first time before changing his mind. But let's give credit where credit is due. He recognized the right things, sometimes right away, like with the idea of a GUI after seeing it at PARC, and sometimes only after being fought back on, like the ad campaign, and countless other things that he eventually liked. But once he did, he would champion the cause, even at the expense of others, taking credit for himself. Gotta love/hate Steve Jobs. He thought he knew what everyone wanted... and most of the time, he was right.
...Jobs said, "It sucks! I hate it! It's advertising agency ****! I thought you were going to write something like 'Dead Poets Society!' This is crap!"
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.