A lot has been written this week about Steve Jobs including his design vision, attention to detail, and ability to define markets that had not previously existed. Less has been written about number of innovations that Jobs helped create that resulted in patents, over 300 in all for items including the obvious devices such as the iPhone, but also for minor innovations with chargers/cords that illustrates Jobs attention to detail.
One of Jobs patents is for the monumental glass stair case in the Apple Store. A gravity defying transparent structure that allows light to flow through the stair and into the Fifth Avenue retail store. The stair with its two inch thick tempered and laminated treads held with stainless steel pin mounts to the curved glass spandrel panels is poetry in motion. The store’s glass cube and stair has become as much of an icon as the Apple logo or any of its iProducts. In fact the store is the most photographed tourist attraction in Manhattan, it is also the highest grossing of the three Apple stores in New York, proving once again that design does matter. For additional information on Steve Jobs patents see the article in the New York Times.
Bottom Line Steve Jobs has been lost to soon but his design legacy will live on.
