Insanely Simple

By: Ken Segall

Narrated by: Ken Segall

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

To Steve Jobs, Simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon.

Simplicity isn’t just a design principle at Apple - it’s a value that permeates every level of the organization. The obsession with Simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It’s what helped Apple recover from near death in 1997 to become the most valuable company on Earth in 2011.

Thanks to Steve Jobs’ uncompromising ways, you can see Simplicity in everything Apple does: the way it’s structured, the way it innovates, and the way it speaks to its customers. It’s by crushing the forces of Complexity that the company remains on its stellar trajectory.

As ad agency creative director, Ken Segall played a key role in Apple’s resurrection, helping to create such critical marketing campaigns as Think Different. By naming the iMac, he also laid the foundation for naming waves of i-products to come.

Segall has a unique perspective, given his years of experience creating campaigns for other iconic tech companies, including IBM, Intel, and Dell. It was the stark contrast of Apple’s ways that made Segall appreciate the power of Simplicity - and inspired him to help others benefit from it.

©2012 Ken Segall (P)2012 Random House Audio

The inner workings of Apple revealed

Would you listen to Insanely Simple again? Why?

This book reveals the inner workings of Apple like no other book I've come across and it can be really useful for your own business. Ken Segall gives lots of hands on tips and references that are well worth a relisten and summarize the most important aspects again in the end of the book. Learn how to avoid the traps of complexity and how to gain from the power of simplicity.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Interesting if You're a Fan of Apple

Would you try another book from Ken Segall and/or Ken Segall?

Its hard to say. While I liked the content of the book, Ken Segall spends way too much time explaining and reminding us of:
1. Proximity to Steve Jobs
2. How long he worked with Steve Jobs
3. Basking in the after-glow of Steve Jobs

The intro and Chapter 1 was enough, we get it. Now get on with the actual "meat" of the book.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Insight into the Steve Job's mentality and the war stories of those who worked/lived with his "genius." The least interesting was the amount of time the author spent repeating how long and intimately he worked with Steve Jobs.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Very Well Done

This was a great follow up to listening to Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It seemed to get into a specific component of the Steve Jobs story and add to it in a way that was compelling and different.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Importance of simplicity in life & business

What did you love best about Insanely Simple?

The examples & stories of Ken Segall's interaction & decision making in Apple.

What did you like best about this story?

How much impact "Simplicity" has in every day working and how 'Simple' is is also a difficult objective to achieve. Once achieved, 'simple' can do wonders to life, customers and business

What about Ken Segall’s performance did you like?

The narration of stories & live examples

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Passion for simplicity

Any additional comments?

This book is wonderful essay on the vision and product portfolio of Apple based on "simplicity". Probably, this is the greatest secret behind Apple's great success in business and peoples' great satisfaction on Apple products. I was surely able to relate the simplicity in my iPhone as i listened to the audio. Unfortunately, I find iTunes is not so simple to use. Three features in iPhone that I felt missed in iPhone was: (i) Reply to all attendees of a meeting from the calendar meeting request (ii) Saving specific SMSes and emails permanently in iPhone (iii) iPhone as a tourch light application

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Insanely Excellent

What made the experience of listening to Insanely Simple the most enjoyable?

Narration by the author.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Insanely Simple?

Too many to list - excellent book whether you're an Apple fan or not.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Highly Recommend

Full of great examples and reflections about marketing, product and how to to focus on what matters when you’re building something.

If you expect a lot of buzz words and a superficial playbook of successful people, this book it’s not for you.

A bit boring considering the topic

This book reflects upon one of the greatest brands in history, Apple, and the creator of that brand, Steve Jobs. But personally I found it boring and finally bailed about half way through. It just didnt tell enough about the personalities behind the story...it was more factual about the work itself. I work in advertising so one would think I would find it interesting but all he did was express the creative process.

Interesting book, Reinforces Simplicity

This book was an interesting listen and shows how simplicity is powerful, but it is also difficult to achieve. Whether you like Apple or not, it’s hard to knock their success and this book shows how they use simplicity to set themselves apart. AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

super

very nice, thank you for the pleasure. very appreciate for the great book and great work on it

simply good

simplicity can be applied anywhere i n l i f e a n d business

Very insightful

This audiobook gives you insight into apple and Steve Jobs, in the ways they work. I found the work really interesting and realised that simplicity is harder to achieve they complexity. Definitely worth a listen

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Simply brilliant

In the true spirit of the book I can only say this...."Simply brilliant!".

I've been implementing many of the ideas for a while in my businesses but now realize I need to take 'simplicity' even further.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

An obsession with Apple that blurs any story!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not the best use of time, sounds like someone is cashing in on Steve Jobs success while slating every other tech company.

Could you see Insanely Simple being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

NO

Any additional comments?

This guy is an apparent Apple fan boy which makes the book very one sided, it's hard to gain any insights while someone is so in love with the subject matter. Any real business insight is blurred.
I'm not much of an Apple fan but i can respect what it has done and how it did. I would go read/listen to Steve Jobs Autobiography which is a million times better than this book and you will learn something reading that.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful