Creatively Alike

The late Steve Jobs & Jim Henson Thought Different from most people but also Thought Alike each other. They created what people loved instead of what they yelled at out of frustration. Jim Henson was one of the innovators shown in Apple's tribute ad to innovative thinkers, similar to the homage to famous people on the Sergeant Pepper's album cover by The Beatles. The name of the Beatles record label helped to inspire the tech gadget company's name.

Visionaries often share similar ideas & ideals.
Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011 after resigning exactly 6 weeks earlier from Apple Computers on August 24, 2011.
Jim Henson would have been 75 years old exactly one month after Jobs' resignation on September 24, 2011.
Both sold their entertainment to the Walt Disney Company.

Do what you love with a vision of what would be popular in the future instead of what everyone one else is doing now. This approach towards success produced innovative gadgets such as music players, phones & computing devices, television programming including Sesame Street or memorable commercials and family friendly movies.

People loved The Muppet Movies plus the numerous Pixar films instead of yelling at a product or creation out of frustration or that it either was difficult to understand or insulted their intelligence.

The downside is they both focused on their work to the point that they didn't want to bother others when dealing with health issues.

Think Different

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Apple's "Think Different" ad - 1998

It's better to be crazy by trying new things until figuring out what works, than insanely do the same thing repeatedly.

other comparisons

Both Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein had multiple sets of the same clothes to wear so they didn't have to waste time thinking of what to wear each day.

Working with dummies or puppets like Jim Henson does not indicate that one is not very smart. The inventor of an early prototype of an artificial heart was ventriloquist and voice of Tigger in the 1960s Winnie the Pooh movies, Paul Winchell. Ironically, the man who that further developed the idea, Robert Jarvic, is married to Marilyn vos Savant who is listed as having the world's highest IQ.

Similar approaches to life

"I think Bill Gates is a good guy. We're not best friends, but we talk maybe once a month."

Steve Jobs - Rolling Stone 1994

When you were talking about Bill Gates, you said that the goal is not to be the richest guy in the cemetery. What is the goal? "I don't know how to answer you. In the broadest context, the goal is to seek enlightenment — however you define it."

Steve Jobs - Rolling Stone 1994

"I think the world’s a better place because Bill realized that his goal isn’t to be the richest guy in the cemetery, right? That’s a good thing and so he’s doing a lot of good with the money that he made.

You know, I’m sure Bill was like me in this way. I mean, I grew up fairly middle-class, lower middle-class, and I never really cared much about money. And Apple was so successful early on in life that I was very lucky that I didn’t have to care about money then. And so I’ve been able to focus on work and then later on, my family.

And I sort of look at us as two of the luckiest guys on the planet because we found what we loved to do and we were at the right place at the right time and we’ve gotten to go to work every day with super bright people for 30 years and do what we love doing.

And so it’s hard to be happier than that. You know, your family and that. What more can you ask for? And so I don’t think about legacy much. I just think about being able to get up every day and go in and hang around these great people and hopefully create something that other people will love as much as we do. And if we can do that, that’s great."

Steve Jobs - All Things Digital 2007
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