If you look at the people who have really succeeded on very a high level, they’re the people who created a culture at their companies, and had that sense of purpose. I think it was striking to me, doing the research for the book, how many people played back a similar story.

The one I’m writing an article about right now is Ben & Jerry’s. It’s a good example for me because I always liked their ice cream. Their thing is all about values — about having a social conscience. Other companies make the same product, and don’t have those values. I guess that’s my point. That’s what makes the company unique. They have the product, but they also have an outlook — making the world a better place, taking stands on social issues. So when you think of Ben & Jerry’s, you think of all those things.

All of Apple products are known for their simplicity and seamless interfaces. You turn them on and you can figure out how to use them without instructions. Does the company’s current line-up of products fit this bill? You be the judge.  All of its competitors have copied this characteristic — and at lower price points.

“The problem with technology today,” Isaacson notes, “is that techies don’t understand the human relationship.” It’s this link between people and machines that needs to be improved.

While this is often where the humanities enter our lives — the appreciation of the arts — one of the Apple Rules is that you merge aesthetics with innovation.

Devices like Mac computers and iPods are gems of design. Jobs wanted them to be easy on the eyes. We’re often surrounded by ugliness. We want to hold beautiful things in our hands.

“Beauty mattered to Jobs. He stopped production of the Mac to create a circuit board where the chips would be lined up, He also listed the names of his engineers inside of the computer housing. He said that `artists sign their work.’”