Bill Nelson

Over the years I have been known to say ...... "History has to start somewhere".

And one of the main reasons I continue to repeat this statement is that in the majority of cases, the people involved, don't always recognise the significance of what they are doing at the time.

Case in Point:

If you listen to or watch an interview with the members of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Numerous times during the interview each one of them in their own way, reveals that they knew they had made a good record but had no idea that their album 'Rumours' would go onto to be in the top 10 selling albums of all time.

Therefore, is it a case of not knowing that you are creating history or more of a case where you know you have done something very well, but humility stops you from overplaying the significance?

Recently I came across a series of photographs of one of the first Macintosh computers. The interesting thing, other than the design, was the fact that the case had been signed by all of the team that had worked on its creation.

Motives?

Many and varied I would imagine.

But I would hope that somewhere in those motivations was the fact that they had recognised they had come up with something good.

They had enough pride in what they had created to put their signature to it.

Fantastic.

They believed they had reached a standard that was worthy of their name being permanently inscribed on it.

Brilliant.

Now some might argue that their decision was somewhat premature and that the particular computer in question was

OK, but nothing out of the ordinary? They might be right, but then again, they maybe wrong. It is like most things in life, a standard that is open to debate and opinion.

Was it the greatest computer ever made? Most certainly not. But then again, it was good enough to have the forty odd people who created it to sign it. It was good enough to help launch Apple into becoming one of the biggest and most profitable companies on the planet.

But above all else, it was a computer built to a standard that had forty people feeling very proud of what they had created.
Remember, these people were seasoned professionals and in their mind, they had developed a product that they believed was worthy of their signature?

Was this belief? Confidence? Wishful thinking? Arrogance?

Or was it simply the creation of a product that was going to be good enough to stand alone as a significant development? But at the same time, a product that would push that particular team and others to continue to improve and refine a standard?

Remember..... History has to start somewhere.

And when it does.

The Journey Continues!

P.S. Here is the complete story about the signed Macintosh computer.