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Creative Selection

Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs

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Creative Selection

By: Ken Kocienda
Narrated by: Ken Kocienda
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About this listen

An insider's account of Apple's creative process during the golden years of Steve Jobs.

'If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work in a hotbed of innovation, you’ll enjoy this inside view of life at Apple. Ken Kocienda pioneered the iPhone keyboard, and this book gives a play-by-play of their creative process –from generating ideas to doing a demo for Steve Jobs.'
Adam Grant

Hundreds of millions of people use Apple products every day; several thousand work on Apple's campus in Cupertino, California; but only a handful sit at the drawing board. Creative Selection recounts the life of one of the few who worked behind the scenes, a highly-respected software engineer who worked in the final years of the Steve Jobs era, the Golden Age of Apple.

Ken Kocienda offers an inside look at Apple’s creative process. For fifteen years, he was on the ground floor of the company as a specialist, directly responsible for experimenting with novel user interface concepts and writing powerful, easy-to-use software for products including the iPhone, the iPad and the Safari web browser. His stories explain the symbiotic relationship between software and product development for those who have never dreamed of programming a computer, and reveal what it was like to work on the cutting edge of technology at one of the world's most admired companies.

Kocienda shares moments of struggle and success, crisis and collaboration, illuminating each with lessons learned over his Apple career. He introduces the essential elements of innovation, inspiration, collaboration, craft, diligence, decisiveness, taste, and empathy, and uses these as a lens through which to understand productive work culture.

An insider's tale of creativity and innovation at Apple, Creative Selection shows readers how a small group of people developed an evolutionary design model, and how they used this methodology to make groundbreaking and intuitive software which countless millions use every day.

©Ken Kocienda 2018 (P)2018 Macmillan Digital Audio
Business Forecasting & Strategic Planning Software Development Programming Software Innovation
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Critic reviews

Kocienda reveals the real secret of Steve Jobs's leadership and Apple's magic: the ability to push people to think for themselves, and to empower them to turn their best thinking into reality. It is a story about the intersection of technology and humanity. (Kim Scott, New York Times bestselling author of Radical Candor)
I’ve literally been waiting a decade for this book. Ken Kocienda takes you inside Apple in way only a true insider, a veteran software developer, could. Creative Selection is the answer to the prayer uttered by anyone who wants to truly understand how Apple works. I couldn’t put it down. (Adam Lashinsky, author of the 2012 bestseller, Inside Apple)
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work in a hotbed of innovation, you’ll enjoy this inside view of life at Apple. Ken Kocienda pioneered the iPhone keyboard, and this book gives a play-by-play of their creative process –from generating ideas to doing a demo for Steve Jobs. (Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals, Give and Take, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg)
Ken Kocienda played pivotal roles in the creation of both Safari and the original iPhone. One of the hardest problems – and biggest risks – of the first iPhone was the development of a multitouch keyboard. I placed this formidable responsibility squarely in Ken’s hands, and the success of the keyboard emerged from his insights, collaboration and dogged pursuit of excellence. He now offers readers, in his own words, a window into his experiences and insights from the trenches. (Scott Forstall, Original iPhone Software Team Leader and SVP iOS, Apple)

What listeners say about Creative Selection

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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but mostly for geeks and Apple-heads...

So I admit to being a bit of a geek, and an Apple enthusiast. But even for me this was a bit breathless. The passages related to meeting Steve Jobs are akin to reports of meeting a deity. Sure, he was impressive, but he was only a gifted engineer and CEO! Not sure my other half will want to listen to this one, despite some interesting insights along the way.

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A good read for designers, devs & Apple fans alike

Ken's time at Apple is incredibly interesting, I grew up using the products his software was a part of so its touching to bring a name to those solutions which shaped how the world used Apple products. Its humbling to hear the good and bad of Steve Jobs from an honest employees perspective and Ken's personal insights into how Steve ran his company.

Ken himself should be very proud of his career so far and I hope to hear future audio books about how he has now gone on to shape the tech world through other companies.

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Fascinating

Does exactly what you hope and expect. Well thought out and keeps moving at a good pace.

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Very specific to product engineering. Not widely about the creative process.

Very specific to product engineering. Not widely about the creative process.

Good if you are an engineer. Otherwise hours of detail on the story of the development of the iPhone keyboard is not aligned with the books description.

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An insight look at Apple's creative process.

An interesting keep into the creation of what today seems like an obvious software feature: the digital keyboard. I never expected it to have to many twists and turns before reaching the concept that we know today.

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Interesting anecdotes

Interesting anecdotes from Apple and corporate careers but beyond that I found it too technical for me, to be of interest.

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