Last week's keynotes dissected, Steve Jobs wins over the preschooler set

Because analysts really don't have anything better to do now that all their random predictions for product launches have already been shattered by the announcements made on stage by Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Michael Dell last week, some Seattle P-I stat junkies threw together a completely nerdy assessment of the keynote speeches by those three industry icons, and shared it with an awaiting public that doesn't really have anything to do now but whine about the lack of 3G on the iPhone. It would appear Dell and Gates are the nerds of the bunch, using 6.4% and 5.11% "hard words," respectively -- compared to Jobs' 2.9% -- and stringing together fancy sentences 16.5 words and 21.6 words long, while Jobs did it up children's book style at 10.5 words per sentence. Jobs also kept his lexical density (ratio of content to words) low, at 16.5% compared to 21.0% for Gates and 26.3% for Dell. Finally, the Gunning Fog Index (don't give us that look, we warned you going into this) which measures the average years of education needed to understand a text, rated Jobs' transcript at 5.5, Dell at 9.1 and Gates at a whoppin' 10.7. The scores don't reflect any non-keynote-speaker time, such as the comic relief of Dr. Evil at Dell's keynote, or John Mayer's serenades at Jobs'. As for specific words, "gaming" won hands down at Dell, Microsoft seems to be about equally interested in "devices," "great" and "Windows," while Apple held no surprises, emphasizing "phone," "iPhone," and "iPod." There, now don't you feel edified?

[jeffinToronto @ Jan 16th 2007 8:27AM]

After reading this, it sounds like either Jobs is an intellectual midget or he just thinks he is talking to children. Personally, I would prefer someone not to "dumb it down" if they are talking about innovative products.

[Nuno @ Jan 16th 2007 9:08AM]

no Jeff, it actually means that Jobs has better salesman skills than Gates or Dell.

The man has a simple message, he conveys it in a simple manner and his presentation is broadcast as a major technological event for consumers and for the industry.

[BigD @ Jan 16th 2007 8:28AM]

I love it. This was the most pointless exercise in statistics ever, and I still love it. "hard words"

[schmluss @ Jan 16th 2007 8:36AM]

Steve is obviously talking to analysts and the press.

[Directive0 @ Jan 16th 2007 8:35AM]

Wait, Apple using small easy to grasp words to explain complex concepts? No WAY!! Its almost as if they supported some mantra of accessible computing or something.

[Isaac @ Jan 16th 2007 8:40AM]

Well, if you think about it, there's reasons to Jobs' simplicity of speech. He's built a company on selling products to technophobes. People who can't handle more than one button on their mouse and systems which tout "the easist to use GUI". The hardware was kept mostly in-house for the longest time, not meant for upgrading. I'm not giving Apple fanboys crap, I'm just saying that Apple tends to target the casual computing demographic. So Jobs has probably gotten used to using the KISS principle when discussing/describing Apple's tech.

I'm sure you would prefer that someone not dumb it down, jeffinToronto, but I'm sure Jobs would rather keep it so everyone understands, not just the hardcore technophiles. More sales that way.

[Arcaynn @ Jan 16th 2007 12:06PM]

Stevie McJobs knows his target audience. Mac Users.

[Matt @ Jan 16th 2007 9:24AM]

Microsoft and Dell need to hire better writers. Speaking in short sentences and using small words does not indicate a lack of intelligence. Check out a transcript from a cable news show, or (if talking heads are too inane for you), transcribe your own conversations sometimes. You'll see that you speak in short sentences. Short term memory capacity doesn't vary much from person to person, and isn't correlated too strongly with intelligence. Short sentences tax the short term memory less, and are far more memorable. (When we write, we can get away with longer sentences because we get to see them, so it's less demanding on the memory).

Also, I know that 'great' is one of Gates' buzzwords, but he really ought to use it less. It's one of the most boring superlatives ever. When he's interviewed, he uses 'hardcore' a lot--so he should use it in his speeches too. People would find it strange, but they'd remember it.

[Matt @ Jan 16th 2007 9:27AM]

That said--remember that it's important to vary sentence length so as not to bore the audience or condescend. George Bush's speeches are good examples of poor speechwriting due to too many short sentences.

[IOTA @ Jan 16th 2007 9:49AM]

Oh, I get it, so the stat Jobs' cited about adding so many new Mac users didn't tell us that they were new computer users too. Very tricky.

In general, when things are set-up to cater to the lowest_common_denominator, many advanced capabilities are left out.

The trick here is that Apple only needs to convince the "masses" that it is the revolutionary company. Most of us have been able to do everything that Apple's most recent products provides for months, if not years.

Apple does NOT provide innovative technologies. Apple makes innovative technologies SIMPLE.

[Ken @ Jan 16th 2007 1:30PM]

Whoa, "...lowest-common-denominator..."??? "...many advanced features are left out..."??? Obviously you don't spend much time under the hood of Apple's OSX.

Yes, Apple gears it's machines to be *accessible* to as many people as possible, but don't let the pretty front-end and remote toy devices (iPod, etc) distract you from the powerful engine inside.

The system on which Apple's machines are based is a reasonable "flavor" of the time-tested and venerable Unix model (along with Solaris, HPUX, AIX, Linux, etc) which, regardless of public opinion, is the base platform which has from the early days made the Internet even possible. Now, under today's huge network load, Unix based systems are *indispensable* for networking duties and security issues in a multi-user/multi-host environment.

I think it's nice that you've "been able to do everything that Apple's most recent products provides for months, if not years." I think, however, that if you *really* looked at history, you'd find that Apple's *older* products have provided those capabilities, or some form of them, for years if not decades.

Windows had always shown me that I could neither rely on it nor expect it to be secure -- and available software for it failed to provide the functionality and flexibility I require for my professional audio work.

Apple's OSX natively provides (or natively supports software that provides) everything I require; and my years of I.T. experience have shown me repeatedly that I can *always* rely on the availability and security of Unix-based platforms.

So, going with Apple's systems over Windows was *not* a hard decision to make, and the "pretty" and "simple" front-end had nothing to do with it. In fact, I loathe and hate GUIs and word processors, I much prefer command lines and text editors. But do you know what? Apple doesn't choose for me - Apple allows me, the user, to choose which way I interact with the machine.

Apple machines may be "pretty", and they may make it "easy" to do the fad things that 100 million kids and computer newbies want to do in a casual computing environment; but they can just as easily do the highly specific and extremely advanced things that maybe only a dozen or so high-end professionals even care about, as well as everything in between.

In the end, that's the real key - providing RELIABILITY while maintaining FLEXIBILITY from the USER's point of view, whomever the "user" may be. Apple and Steve Jobs "get" that concept and have for a very long time. MS and Bill Gates, apparently not so much.

Let's put it another way, more directly focussed on the original topic (how they present themselves in public):

Apple is selling to real people who are actually going to use their machines to accomplish real goals.

Microsoft is selling to corporate managers who want to feel confident about the integrated solution they expect to deploy across their corporate I.T. topology, while leveraging their assets to achieve a positive goal in a forward-looking environment.

Hmm. Apple *STILL* makes more sense. Go figure....

[yaksplat @ Jan 16th 2007 10:13AM]

Gotta make is simple for apple users.

[Steve @ Jan 16th 2007 11:07AM]

Wow... read your sentence again, slowly.

Now wallow in your own stupidity.

[Adrian @ Jan 16th 2007 10:17AM]

I think it is because Jobs comes across as more human somehow and he likes creative culture. The other two come across as business men, or (for the cynical) corporate-cloned CEO-cyborgs.

Personally I think the difference is that Jobs is a better stage performer, he enjoys it, and loves communicating his passsion for his products. Plus he has excellent aesthetic taste - a real minimalist.

[IOTA @ Jan 16th 2007 10:43AM]

Minimalist eh?
Well, Jobs was just prevented from trying to demolish his 17,000 sq. ft. home (built by a copper baron a long time ago), which he does not want to simply remodel.

Minimalist, indeed!

[Joe V @ Jan 16th 2007 1:52PM]

Are Jobs' anaphoric one-word sentences ("Awesome." "Boom." "iPhone. iPhone. iPhone.") included in the averages, or are they discarded as outliers?

[teodoro @ Jan 16th 2007 10:51AM]

I love it. "lexical density", regardless of your 'spin' on it, does translate into how smart he thinks his projected audience is. Do an analysis on Letterman vs. Leno vs. Conan and see where that gets you. 10 to 1 odds that Conan has a preschool lexicon and Letterman is at the upper end of 'hard words'. They're only hard for the uneducated, BTW.

[Steve @ Jan 16th 2007 11:07AM]

teodoro,

I'm not sure what your point is. Conan's a Harvard man with an audience made up primarily of snarky college students (or, at least, they make up his strongest fanbase). In fact, one could argue that Conan's playing to the same type of audience that Letterman cultivated when he started out.

If you're trying to say that "smarter" means stodgier and more complacent...

[John P. @ Jan 16th 2007 11:08AM]

Since when is "simple" a bad thing? Seriously, when has Bill Gates with his 11th grade words convinced you that his products/ideas are anything you should be interested in? I do happen to think sometimes The Steve does come across as condescending, but the underlying technology of keeping it simple you have to admit is quite impressive. There's alot of thought involved in how real people want to use the technology. After all, it's not really about the technology in itself, it's about how it makes your life easier/better. 5th grade was alot less stressful than 11th grade I'd say. If you can take an 11th grade job and make it 5th grade easy, with the same results, you've accomplished something pretty major.

On the other hand, if you are an IT guy wanting to protect your job, Bill's your man.

That's the key difference between Apple and Microsoft I would say. Apple is focused on the User, and Microsoft on the Technology.

[Carlos @ Jan 16th 2007 12:08PM]

According to Wikipedia, the Gunning Fox index number is usually under 12, 12 being 12th grade level, so Steve Jobs talks at a 5th grade level and not a 5 year old's, also Bill gates talks at an almost 11th grade level, not an almost 11 year old's.
Btw, your article is only rated 9.195. lol

[John @ Jan 16th 2007 12:31PM]

Apple

Think smaller.

[Eric @ Jan 16th 2007 12:17PM]

I just find it said that 11th grade words are considered "hard" for the average computer user. I would imagine that the "average" computer user is somewhere in their early 20's or late teens.

Words like what? Documentary, Literary, Dissertation, Prognosis?

I bet you they were not even that difficult.

[Spartacus @ Jan 16th 2007 12:02PM]

Jobs is literature, Gates and Dell are textbooks. Jobs would seem to be writing to grab attention, weave a story and have his audience walk away with at least a good understanding of the product. I'll reference engadget's own liveblogging of the event, 'everyone here is on the edge of their seats, I've never seen a room like this.' Gates and Dell will put all the stuff in front of you, but really to get anything out of it you have to go back and reread the powerpoint presentation.

Oh, and for anyone thinking hard words somehow add to things go read 'Old Man and the Sea'. Hemmingway is a frickin genious.

[Bazza @ Jan 16th 2007 1:14PM]

Its spelt "genius".... or is that too big a word?

[Kory @ Jan 16th 2007 12:34PM]

Using big words and complex sentences does not mean you are smart or that you are talking about complicated things. On the contrary, it might just mean you are not smart enough to be able to communicate complex ideas effectively. Or it just might mean you are lazy.

[Sean @ Jan 16th 2007 12:45PM]

"Brevity is the soul of wit"

-Shakespeare

[Eric @ Jan 16th 2007 12:49PM]

Kory,

I doubt that lazy, dumb people would be intelligent or active enough to be significantly more verbose and eloquent to save their brain power or time. Typically they tend to obfuscate their original meaning because they either do not know what they mean, or spend more time looking them up.

Which would be why your statement would not be true, as the reasoning of your argument is obtuse. To say the least the validity of your statements is inherently false, and the tone is rather pedantic.

(Fog'd at 14.22)

As opposed to the opposite:

Kory,

that is the truth, man. I ams a smart person and I's not use em big words.

(Fog'd at 3.6, should be lower)

[IOTA @ Jan 16th 2007 1:56PM]

Let's see here, did Apple develop BSD unix platform that Mac OS 10 is based on? Uhh, no.

"you'd find that Apple's *older* products have provided those capabilities, or some form of them, for years if not decades."

I was speaking in reference to the product that MacWorld highlighted (i.e."iphone"); and, since Apple just announced their first phone will be released in 5 months, that is completely incorrect.

Now, tell me about all the FLEXIBILITY of the "iphone" that you will be utilizing in your daily life???

I really don't have a problem with Apple, but work requires MS (w/ Exchange), and I'm too cheap to buy Apple at home (Fedora Core 6).

I even bought in at $85/share on the 5th, so now I'm just about to dump it. Thanks for your support.

-Apple Stockholder

[Ian @ Jan 16th 2007 2:00PM]

"I just find it said that 11th grade words are considered "hard" for the average computer user."

LOL. Some time ago I hosted an Xbox get-together/lan party at my home. One of the guys who showed up saw the stacks (of books, I have a dedicated library) in the basement and said "wow, I didn't know people had so many books. I haven't read a book since high school."

This individual was what I'd consider an "average" computer user. Many folks stop reading voluntarily when they leave school and thus the skill to comprehend and compose suffers.

The funny thing about the Gunning Fog index is that you can being it lower by adding simple text to a previously "complex" passage. Without simple decoy text this post get's a rating of: 10.41.

When I add: "I like cheese. Cheese is good. See Spot run. Run Spot! run!" The score drops to: 7.75

[John @ Jan 16th 2007 5:44PM]

I guess Shakespeare was aiming at the kindergarten set when he wrote "To be or not to be?" as that has nothing over three letters. There is a real art to giving a presentation as opposed to a college lecture. You want to find a way to cast your thoughts in the simplest fashion so that the audience is focused on the message and not on trying to decode your words.

I think Steve does an amazing job in the keynotes. Having said that, I know that he is just hitting the highlights. I have to dig elsewhere to find all the specifications or training manuals and such. He really is a master of the art form. You can just feel it, whenever he introduces another CEO to speak the energy just fizzles as these guys ramble on about revenue momentum and they blandly recite product specifications. Then when Steve comes back on stage the energy level zooms back up again.

[Crystal @ Jan 16th 2007 3:45PM]

Did any one mention that unlike Gates and Michael Dell, Steve Jobs doesn't have the same technical background? He doesn't engineer or have as a strong programming backgraound like the other two do/have. He didn't invent the Apple, he marketed it. I think I read in an interview that he said that during meetings, even he doesn't understand. He's got more of a business mind. Woz did more than 85% of the tech work back in the day.

[PreGHz @ Jan 16th 2007 4:13PM]

And look where Woz is now.

[Marian @ Jan 16th 2007 6:01PM]

Maybe the difference comes from the fact that Steve Jobs actually had something to show!

[Arbee26 @ Jan 17th 2007 6:25AM]

Wow. Some analysts really are paid too much.

[Maverick @ Jan 23rd 2007 3:19PM]

windows is on 95% on personal computers and dell is the best selling pc maker and jobs is a better salesman? pull the other one..its got bells on

[drat16 @ May 30th 2007 8:41PM]

LOL!

Apple's market cap, now around $100 billion, is close to TWICE the amount of Dell's (which is around $58 billion).
Considering the company was nearly bankrupt when Jobs came back in 1997, I think he is a GREAT salesman!

(FYI- Dell isn't the #1 computer maker, HP is and Dell is relegated to selling cheap junk at wal-mart.)