"When you figure something out and make it work, there is pleasure and excitement. Not just because the technology is going to do something, but because you created something with its own inherent beauty, like art, like literature, like music."
What is enlightening in Grove's thoughts above, is it sounds similar to something another tech giant - Steve Jobs - would say.
It's interesting to see him talk about technology as beauty, art and literature, something far more than simply working correctly.
To me this implies that these leaders considered making something was like putting a work of art on the canvass, or writing a great novel. There is something more to them than the practical working of the object, as important as that is.
To me Grove is saying that it's somehow an expression of himself being put into the technology. Something that not only does what it promises, but make a difference to the end user as well.
Somehow the inner aesthetics of what is built, is appreciated by users in a way that is metaphysical. It can't be explained really, but it's known to be there.
Those great in technology seem to understand that even the insides of something which isn't seen, is as important to the outside of something that is seen.
That seems to be a great differentiator between those that are mediocre and those that thrive.
Technology may be looked upon as something that helps users to do something, but to their makers it's like creating a masterpiece. Evidently users know this, even if it's not something they can readily see. It's why these companies, over long periods of time, remain market leaders in their chosen fields.
Other Andy Grove Resources:
Andy Grove's Rational Exuberance
The Digital Age . . . driven by the passion of Intel's Andrew Grove
The History and Influence of Andy Grove
Andy Grove enters new post-Intel role as activist capitalist
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