Welcome to the Point of Intersection Blog!
On October 5, 2011 I sat in my living room watching the television coverage of the untimely death of Steve Jobs. In the days that followed, I was glued to Google and YouTube reading and watching anything and everything Steve Jobs. It was like a scavenger hunt, one clue leading to some more facts and more stories about Steve. On October 24, 2011, Steve’s biography by Walter Isaacson released. Reading that provided me with many answers but left me with more questions.
It became clear to me that as our global economy becomes commoditized and no product is sacred in the hands of copy-cats, the only way to succeed is by true innovation and by creating real differentiation. Also that entrepreneurship is not limited to only startups. On the contrary, large companies succeed because they have entrepreneurship in their blood. Innovations that come to market first, uniquely solve real customer problems, and that are inspired by real human elements. In fact, the underlying tone of Steve Jobs’ entire professional life, as professed by Walter Isaacson himself during the release of his latest book, The Innovators, points to one thing; that he wanted to live his life at the intersection of humanities and technology, “the intersection.”
On Dec. 28, 2011 I registered this domain with the plan that I will one day dedicate this blog to all things “the intersection.” However, it was to take me nearly three more years of research into the topic before I could write my first blog.
Here, I will explore what “the intersection of technology and humanities” means, why it mattered so much to Steve, and how it impacted what he did at Pixar, Next (now Apple), and lastly at Apple. I will also examine how other organizations like Nintendo are driving true innovation through their own unique view from this intersection. I believe there are lessons to be learned as we have barely scratched the surface of innovation.
Essentially, this blog is a journey of continuous discovery, contemplation, and analysis of what has been, what is, and what will be the impact of leveraging deep insights into humanities to drive technological innovations.
About the author:
Akbar Jaffer is a 25+ year veteran of the high tech
industry. Professionally, Akbar is an enterprise (Business to Business) technology marketer. He is also a technology enthusiast, loves gadgets, and is a student of humanities. He is also passionate about creativity and innovations that change people’s lives for the better. Akbar strongly believes in connecting the dots and leaving this world a better place. When not techy-ing around, Akbar volunteers for third world development in the areas of health and education and he also works on film and stage projects as a hobby.
Akbar currently serves as Digital Marketing Demand and Strategist for TTEC. He previously served as the Chief Marketing Officer of ZorroSign, Inc. and founding chairperson of The Internet Marketing Association, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.
Contact Akbar if you have questions or wish to contribute to this blog.
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Views Expressed Disclaimer:
This blog is a personal passion project of Mr. Akbar Jaffer who is the sole author of articles published on this blog. Mr. Jaffer occasionally may invite guest writers. The views, ideas, thoughts, and opinions expressed in these articles belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.