Best selling author and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki has posted an enlightening Google+ post on what he learned from Steve Jobs. Guy was once Apple’s Chief Evangelist and one of only a few individuals who have been awarded the Apple Fellowship.

Guy’s most recent literary contribution is “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions.” If you haven’t had a chance to read it, I would definitely recommend picking up a copy.

Update: Guy Kawasaki gave the following speech below at Silicon Valley Bank’s CEO Summit on October 6, 2011.

It appears consumers did not get the memo that Apple’s new iPhone 4S was underwhelming. Both AT&T and Sprint have reported on their initial iPhone 4S orders and the results are very good. A couple notable quotes from AllThingsD:

AT&T: “AT&T has seen extraordinary demand for iPhone 4S, with more than 200,000 preorders in the first 12 hours alone, the most successful iPhone launch we’ve ever had,” an AT&T representative told AllThingsD

Sprint: “We are very, very pleased with the initial first day of iPhone 4S preorders,” Sprint Vice President of Product Development Fared Adib said in a statement. “Today’s sales and the overall customer experience greatly exceeded our expectations.”

Apple sold out of iPhone 4S pre-orders, pushing back the ship date by up-to two-weeks.

Verizon has yet to release a statement on their iPhone 4S sales results.

According to an article on 9to5Mac, Apple’s new iPhone 4S antenna design may infringe Samsung patents. From the article:

Pedersen and others at the Aalborg University think Apple will run into legal issues related to patents the professors sold to Samsung in 2007. The report also notes Samsung has not yet used these patents in litigation with Apple.

Regarding implementing a multi-antenna design that intelligently switches to improve reception, Danish professor Gert Frølund Pedersen stated:

“I can not say that they are directly breaking the patent, but there are not many ways they can choose the right antenna, without coming to break many patents.”

Dustin Curtis provides his reasoning as to why Apple sticks with a 3.5” screen:

Touching the upper right corner of the screen on the Galaxy S II using one hand, with its 4.27-inch screen, while you’re walking down the street looking at Google Maps, is extremely difficult and frustrating. I pulled out my iPhone 4 to do a quick test, and it turns out that when you hold the iPhone in your left hand and articulate your thumb, you can reach almost exactly to the other side of the screen. This means it’s easy to touch any area of the screen while holding the phone in one hand, with your thumb. It is almost impossible to do this on the Galaxy S II.

Makes sense to me. Apple doesn’t compete on a feature list, they compete on experience.

David Pogue of The New York Times provided his perspective on Steve Jobs, and how his death triggered the end of an era. He focused on how we may never see another person like Steve Jobs, and how even with enough studying and practice you cannot truly copy him.

He goes on to describe how even a young kid in their garage possessing all the skills of Steve still has no chance. From the article:

[…] Suppose, by some miracle, that some kid in a garage somewhere at this moment possesses the marketing, invention, business and design skills of a Steve Jobs. What are the odds that that same person will be comfortable enough — or maybe uncomfortable enough — to swim upstream, against the currents of social, economic and technological norms, all in pursuit of an unshakable vision?

Zero. The odds are zero.

I have to disagree with this comment. The odds may be extremely low, but they are never zero. Possessing Steve’s marketing, invention, business and design skills alone will not guarantee his level of success. It was his drive and fearlessness combined with these skills that enabled him to move mountains.

It’s the pessimist in me that acknowledges that I may never experiencing another visionary like Steve in my lifetime. It’s the optimist in me that hopes I am wrong, and can be surprised yet again.