BUDAPEST, October 14, 2011 — Graphisoft SE and Graphisoft Park Ltd will erect a statute to commemorate Apple’s legendary founder, who passed away on October 5. The statue’s inauguration in Graphisoft Park is planned for December 21.
Graphisoft considers Steve Jobs the greatest hero of the information age. We believe such superlatives are warranted: indeed, we cannot be entirely objective with respect to Steve Jobs, because to a large extent, Graphisoft Archicad owes its global success to him. In 1984, Apple was willing to give Graphisoft a chance.
The first version of Archicad ran on a Lisa computer, the immediate predecessor to the Macintosh. We exhibited this program at the 1984 CEBIT in Hannover, where Steve Jobs saw it and decided to give Apple’s full support to its development and distribution. Apple gave us cash and computers at a time when Graphisoft was a young company with very limited resources; the technology represented by those computers was not even available in our part of the world. Even more valuable, Apple introduced us to its worldwide distribution network, which we rely upon to this day. Although Archicad has been available on other platforms for 20 years, it is still sold primarily by earlier Apple distributors, who keep selling Archicad, regardless of platform, for sheer love of the product.
It is this emotional tie to technology, previously considered dry and mechanical, which was Steve Jobs’ greatest contribution: he was the creator of technology with a human face. Graphisoft embraced this ethos and learned from it. So that today, more than 200,000 architects not only work with Archicad to design marvelous buildings, but they also love their software.
In 1985, after Steve Jobs left Apple, the company lost its soul. At the time, many of our partners said Graphisoft was the guardian of Apple’s spirit and soul. Some even said that we were the „real Apple” at that time. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple 12 years later, the company again began to create miracles.
Many say that Steve Jobs’ greatest merit was his vision: he understood where the world was headed. But we believe there is more to it. Steve not only understood where the world was going; he shaped its future. Without him, we would be on a different course. He was a true leader whose greatest achievement lay not in what he created himself, but in what he was able to inspire his people to achieve. He found the best people and inspired them to do wonders.
The working environment at Graphisoft Park embodies the spirit of Steve Jobs, which strives for excellence in every detail. Our built environment aims to inspire and promote this passion for quality in the talented people who work here. Graphisoft Park is indeed a fitting location for a statue commemorating Steve Jobs and his legacy.
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