AIM INTERVIEWS

Who are you?

I'm Andy Hertzfeld, an early Apple employee who was one of the main designers of the original Macintosh system software who later went on to co-found three innovative companies: Radius in 1986, General Magic in 1990 and Eazel in 1999.

Why did you join Apple in 1979 and later decide to work on the Macintosh? Was there any inspiration?

I was an Apple customer before I was an employee. I joined Apple because I fell in love with the Apple II and was thrilled to be a part of the company that created it. I was excited to join the Macintosh team in February 1981 because the Mac had the potential to make computing accessible to ordinary people and thereby change the world for the better.

At Apple, your work on the first Macintosh system software helped define how people interface with computers. At General Magic, you anticipated personal intelligent devices like smartphones and AI assistant interfaces in the 90s. Where does your intuition for building products come from? How do you choose what to build?

My intuition for building great products came from using them myself. I always tried to work on things that I wanted for myself. That way, you don't need focus groups or market research to know what to build, you just need to listen to your feelings about what you want for yourself. As Steve Jobs used to say, "the only way to do great work is to love what you do".

Was there any other piece of advice from Steve Jobs that influenced you?

One thing that Steve Jobs drilled into us is that we were artists as well as techies. He had us sign the insides of the case to reinforce the idea that we were artists, because artists sign their work.

After your years as a founder in the 90s, you joined Google in 2005 and also started Folklore.org to archive the stories from the early days of the Macintosh. If you had unlimited resources (time, money, etc.), how would you spend your time?

You usually don't need unlimited resources to be happy or to do something great. In fact, sometimes unlimited resources hurts your work since it can blur your focus and leads you to attempt to do too much. You never really have unlimited time anyway so you have to choose what to work on carefully - great engineering is about dealing with limitations and tradeoffs.

Are there any people or projects you particularly admire today?

I am a huge fan of Steve Wozniak, engineering genius and creator of the Apple II, who is also incredibly kind and generous, with an amazing sense of humor - I am lucky to call him a friend. I am also a huge Bob Dylan fan, his work continues to be a huge inspiration for me.

A project that I admire is Waymo, Google's self-driving car. It took over a dozen years to develop, which required great fortitude to stick with it for so long, and it turned out great.

What's a message you have for the world?

I will quote Kurt Vonnegut, another one of my heroes: "God damn it, you've got to be kind!"