DRAW A ROAD MAP 53
bigger. And that’s the transition from OS 9 to OS X that we
just finished a few years ago. This was a brain transplant. And
although these operating systems vary in name by just one
[digit], they are worlds apart in technology. OS X is the most
advanced operating system on the planet, and it has set Apple
up for the next twenty years. Today it’s time to begin a third
transition. We want to constantly be making the best com-
puters for you and the rest of our users. It’s time for a third
transition. And yes, it’s true. We are going to begin the transi-
tion from PowerPC to Intel processors [emphasis added].^3Revealing the narrative in groups of three provides direction
for your audience. It shows people where you’ve been and where
you’re going. In the preceding excerpt, Jobs sets the theme of
“transitions,” and we assume there will be at least a third tran-
sition because, as Jobs explains, the Mac has already had two
of them. He also builds the drama with each point. The first
transition was a “good move.” The second was “even bigger.” By
extension, the third must be bigger still.
Apple’s Three-Legged Stool
At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in September
2008, Jobs displayed a slide of a stool with three legs. “As you
know, there’s three parts to Apple now,” he said. “The first part,
of course, is the Mac. The second part is our music businesses,
the iPod and iTunes. And the third part is now the iPhone.” Jobs
introduced the executives who would speak about the Mac and
the iPod business. Jobs would take the iPhone portion himself.
As he launched into the iPhone discussion, Jobs once again
provided a road map for his listeners—this time, a road map
in four parts: “In a few weeks, it’s going to be the iPhone’s first
birthday. We shipped our first iPhone on June 29. It was an
amazing introduction, the most amazing one we’ve ever had.
iPhone has had tremendous critical acclaim. It’s the phone that
has changed phones forever. But we have mountains to climb
to reach the next level. What are these challenges? The first,