-
Insanely Simple
- The Obsession that Drives Apple's Success
- Narrated by: Ken Segall
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Categories: Business & Careers, Management & Leadership
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $24.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Creative Selection
- Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs
- By: Ken Kocienda
- Narrated by: Ken Kocienda
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Creative Selection recounts the life of one of the few who worked behind the scenes, a highly respected software engineer who worked in the final years of the Steve Jobs era - the Golden Age of Apple. Ken Kocienda offers an inside look at Apple’s creative process. For 15 years, he was on the ground floor of the company as a specialist, directly responsible for experimenting with novel user interface concepts and writing powerful, easy-to-use software for products including the iPhone, the iPad, and the Safari web browser.
-
-
Just the 20%
- By matthewolf on 09-20-18
By: Ken Kocienda
-
Think Simple
- How Smart Leaders Defeat Complexity
- By: Ken Segall
- Narrated by: Ken Segall
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Segall's first book, Insanely Simple, was based on observations gained from 12 years working as Steve Jobs' advertising agency creative director, first with NeXT and then with Apple. He saw firsthand that Jobs looked at everything through the lens of simplicity. His obsession with simplicity was visible not just in Apple's products. You could see it in the way the company was organized and how it innovated, advertised, sold at retail, and provided customer service.
-
-
Absolutely incredible! Should be required reading…
- By Ray Junior on 08-17-17
By: Ken Segall
-
Jony Ive
- The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products
- By: Leander Kahney
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best-selling author of Inside Steve's Brain profiles Apple's legendary chief designer, Jonathan Ive. Jony Ive's designs have not only made Apple one of the most valuable companies in the world; they've overturned entire industries, from music and mobile phones to PCs and tablets.
-
-
A history of apple though the lens of design
- By Scott Stamile on 04-16-15
By: Leander Kahney
-
Tim Cook
- The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level
- By: Leander Kahney
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of Steve Jobs left a gaping void at one of the most innovative companies of all time. Jobs wasn't merely Apple's iconic founder and CEO; he was the living embodiment of a global megabrand. It was hard to imagine that anyone could fill his shoes - especially not Tim Cook, the intensely private executive who many thought of as Apple's "operations drone". But seven years later, as journalist Leander Kahney reveals in this definitive audiobook, things at Apple couldn't be better.
-
-
Could not get past the narration
- By Mark on 04-20-19
By: Leander Kahney
-
Inside Apple
- How America's Most Admired - and Secretive - Company Really Works
- By: Adam Lashinsky
- Narrated by: Adam Lashinsky
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If Apple is Silicon Valley's answer to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, then author Adam Lashinsky provides listeners with a golden ticket to step inside. This primer on leadership and innovation, offers exclusive new information about how Apple innovates. It should appeal to anyone hoping to bring some of that Apple magic to their own company, career, or creative endeavor.
-
-
Outside Apple?
- By PC on 01-06-13
By: Adam Lashinsky
-
Becoming Steve Jobs
- The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
- By: Brent Schlender, Rick Tetzeli
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There have been many books - on a large and small scale - about Steve Jobs, one of the most famous CEOs in history. But this book is different from all the others. Becoming Steve Jobs takes on and breaks down the existing myth and stereotypes about Steve Jobs. The conventional, one-dimensional view of Jobs is that he was half genius, half jerk from youth, an irascible and selfish leader who slighted friends and family alike.
-
-
Contextual, Insightful, Inspiring
- By Douglas Vincent on 03-30-15
By: Brent Schlender, and others
-
Creative Selection
- Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs
- By: Ken Kocienda
- Narrated by: Ken Kocienda
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Creative Selection recounts the life of one of the few who worked behind the scenes, a highly respected software engineer who worked in the final years of the Steve Jobs era - the Golden Age of Apple. Ken Kocienda offers an inside look at Apple’s creative process. For 15 years, he was on the ground floor of the company as a specialist, directly responsible for experimenting with novel user interface concepts and writing powerful, easy-to-use software for products including the iPhone, the iPad, and the Safari web browser.
-
-
Just the 20%
- By matthewolf on 09-20-18
By: Ken Kocienda
-
Think Simple
- How Smart Leaders Defeat Complexity
- By: Ken Segall
- Narrated by: Ken Segall
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Segall's first book, Insanely Simple, was based on observations gained from 12 years working as Steve Jobs' advertising agency creative director, first with NeXT and then with Apple. He saw firsthand that Jobs looked at everything through the lens of simplicity. His obsession with simplicity was visible not just in Apple's products. You could see it in the way the company was organized and how it innovated, advertised, sold at retail, and provided customer service.
-
-
Absolutely incredible! Should be required reading…
- By Ray Junior on 08-17-17
By: Ken Segall
-
Jony Ive
- The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products
- By: Leander Kahney
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best-selling author of Inside Steve's Brain profiles Apple's legendary chief designer, Jonathan Ive. Jony Ive's designs have not only made Apple one of the most valuable companies in the world; they've overturned entire industries, from music and mobile phones to PCs and tablets.
-
-
A history of apple though the lens of design
- By Scott Stamile on 04-16-15
By: Leander Kahney
-
Tim Cook
- The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level
- By: Leander Kahney
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The death of Steve Jobs left a gaping void at one of the most innovative companies of all time. Jobs wasn't merely Apple's iconic founder and CEO; he was the living embodiment of a global megabrand. It was hard to imagine that anyone could fill his shoes - especially not Tim Cook, the intensely private executive who many thought of as Apple's "operations drone". But seven years later, as journalist Leander Kahney reveals in this definitive audiobook, things at Apple couldn't be better.
-
-
Could not get past the narration
- By Mark on 04-20-19
By: Leander Kahney
-
Inside Apple
- How America's Most Admired - and Secretive - Company Really Works
- By: Adam Lashinsky
- Narrated by: Adam Lashinsky
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If Apple is Silicon Valley's answer to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, then author Adam Lashinsky provides listeners with a golden ticket to step inside. This primer on leadership and innovation, offers exclusive new information about how Apple innovates. It should appeal to anyone hoping to bring some of that Apple magic to their own company, career, or creative endeavor.
-
-
Outside Apple?
- By PC on 01-06-13
By: Adam Lashinsky
-
Becoming Steve Jobs
- The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
- By: Brent Schlender, Rick Tetzeli
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There have been many books - on a large and small scale - about Steve Jobs, one of the most famous CEOs in history. But this book is different from all the others. Becoming Steve Jobs takes on and breaks down the existing myth and stereotypes about Steve Jobs. The conventional, one-dimensional view of Jobs is that he was half genius, half jerk from youth, an irascible and selfish leader who slighted friends and family alike.
-
-
Contextual, Insightful, Inspiring
- By Douglas Vincent on 03-30-15
By: Brent Schlender, and others
-
Invent and Wander
- The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, with an Introduction by Walter Isaacson
- By: Jeff Bezos, Walter Isaacson - introduction
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this collection of Jeff Bezos' writings - his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas - you'll gain an insider's view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, this book provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about the world and where the future might take us.
-
-
Do the right thing.
- By FULL Creative on 12-06-20
By: Jeff Bezos, and others
-
No Rules Rules
- Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
- By: Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer
- Narrated by: Jason Culp, Allyson Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, best-selling author of The Culture Map and one of the world's most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial philosophies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from his own career, No Rules Rules is the full, fascinating, and untold story of a unique company making its mark on the world.
-
-
Infomercial for Netflix
- By Srikanth Raju on 11-01-20
By: Reed Hastings, and others
-
Steve Jobs
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
-
-
Interesting man
- By Jeanne on 11-13-11
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Insanely Great
- The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changed Everything
- By: Steven Levy
- Narrated by: Steven Levy
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The creation of the Mac, in 1984, catapulted America into the digital millennium, captured a fanatic cult audience, and transformed the computer industry into an unprecedented mix of technology, economics, and show business. Veteran technology writer and Newsweek senior editor Steven Levy zooms in on the great machine and the fortunes of the unique company responsible for its evolution. Loaded with anecdote and insight, and peppered with sharp commentary, Insanely Great is the definitive book on the most important computer ever made. It is a must-have for anyone curious about how we got to the interactive age.
-
-
Not your typical Jobsian apotheosis
- By Michael on 01-12-15
By: Steven Levy
-
That Will Never Work
- The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
- By: Marc Randolph
- Narrated by: Marc Randolph
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Phil Knight's Shoe Dog comes the incredible untold story of how Netflix went from concept to company - all revealed by cofounder and first CEO Marc Randolph. From idea generation to team building to knowing when it's time to let go, That Will Never Work is not only the ultimate follow-your-dreams parable, but also one of the most dramatic and insightful entrepreneurial stories of our time.
-
-
Cut off at the end of chapter 18
- By ¡Yo! on 09-25-19
By: Marc Randolph
-
The Catalyst
- How to Change Anyone's Mind
- By: Jonah Berger
- Narrated by: Keith Nobbs, Fred Irby
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone has something they want to change. Marketers want to change their customers' minds and leaders want to change organizations. Start-ups want to change industries and nonprofits want to change the world. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. Could there be a better way? This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it's not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it's about being a catalyst.
-
-
Was this book written to change my mind from a republican to a democrat?
- By Jack Shocklee on 10-02-20
By: Jonah Berger
-
The Ride of a Lifetime
- Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
- By: Robert Iger
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione, Robert Iger
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company in 2005, during a difficult time. Competition was more intense than ever, and technology was changing faster than at any time in the company’s history. His vision came down to three clear ideas: Recommit to the concept that quality matters, embrace technology instead of fighting it, and think bigger - think global - and turn Disney into a stronger brand in international markets.
-
-
Joins “Shoe Dog” as required biographies.
- By Matt S. on 01-02-20
By: Robert Iger
-
To Pixar and Beyond
- My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History
- By: Lawrence Levy
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After Steve Jobs was unceremoniously dismissed from Apple, he turned his attention to a little-known graphics art company that he owned called Pixar. One day, out of the blue, Jobs called Lawrence Levy, a Harvard-trained lawyer and Silicon Valley executive to whom he had never spoken before, in the hope of persuading Levy to help him get Pixar on the right track. What Levy found in Pixar was a company on the verge of failure. To Pixar and Beyond is the extraordinary story of what happened next.
-
-
Sweet and Lovely
- By Emielke on 04-22-17
By: Lawrence Levy
-
Zero to One
- Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
- By: Peter Thiel, Blake Masters
- Narrated by: Blake Masters
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won't create a social network. If you are copying these guys, you aren't learning from them. It's easier to copy a model than to make something new: doing what we already know how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But every time we create something new, we go from 0 to 1.
-
-
Seems Insightful Until You Think A Little Deeper
- By Mark Brandon on 10-31-14
By: Peter Thiel, and others
-
Escaping the Build Trap
- How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value
- By: Melissa Perri
- Narrated by: Erin deWard
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, Melissa Perri explains how laying the foundation for great product management can help companies solve real customer problems while achieving business goals. By understanding how to communicate and collaborate within a company structure, you can create a product culture that benefits both the business and the customer. You'll learn product management principles that can be applied to any organization, big or small.
-
-
Hope for those of us still stuck in the trap
- By mitchlenzen on 08-29-20
By: Melissa Perri
-
Trillion Dollar Coach
- The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell
- By: Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The team behind How Google Works returns with management lessons from legendary coach and business executive Bill Campbell, whose mentoring of some of our most successful modern entrepreneurs has helped create well over a trillion dollars in market value. Bill Campbell played an instrumental role in the growth of several prominent companies, such as Google, Apple, and Intuit, fostering deep relationships with Silicon Valley visionaries, including Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt.
-
-
Bill was an amazing coach. Book was very redundant
- By Amazon Customer on 04-19-19
By: Eric Schmidt, and others
-
Measure What Matters
- How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
- By: John Doerr, Larry Page - foreword
- Narrated by: John Doerr, full cast
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Measure What Matters, Doerr shares a broad range of first-person, behind-the-scenes case studies, with narrators including Bono and Bill Gates, to demonstrate the focus, agility, and explosive growth that the Objectives and Key Results system has spurred at so many great organizations. This book will help a new generation of leaders capture the same magic.
-
-
Valuable content. Tough listen.
- By T. Wendland on 11-01-18
By: John Doerr, and others
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.
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about Insanely Simple
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stefan
- 05-28-12
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.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Monirom
- 06-16-12
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.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matt
- 02-24-13
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 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nilakantheswar Patnaik
- 12-18-12
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 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Martin
- 06-08-12
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 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jason
- 09-03-20
Not just for fans of Jobs
This book needs to added to every marketers “must have” list. For copy. For campaigns. For everything. Stay simple.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathryn
- 05-21-20
Simply remarkable listening...
No one who listens to this will not have their lives altered in a good way.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- vishal
- 06-14-19
inspiring!!!
wonderful simple ideas been shared in the book. looking forward to applying them to my life.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Russell
- 10-18-18
It’s simple. One of the best reads ever!
A must for marketers, in 2019 make this required reading for teammates. Simple in a world of complex is like fresh air in a stale room.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cristi Vaughan
- 05-17-18
Incredible
This book is honestly one of the best books I’ve ever read. It has clarified and changed the way I look at marketing and business, I’ve started applying the concepts to my own business while reading and things have drastically changed! Thank you!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- J. Newton
- 10-10-15
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 person found this helpful
-
Overall

- Matthew
- 08-10-12
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 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- DoctorJeal
- 09-13-13
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.
-
Overall
-
Story

- Andrew
- 11-21-15
weird
A weird justification of Steve Jobs' lack of consideration for others and labelling this simplicity