Steve Jobs thought the idea for the Genius Bar was ‘idiotic’ and would never work

IT’S a central feature of Apple’s retail stores today, but originally Steve Jobs thought it was an “idiotic” idea that would never work.

Steve Jobs originally thought the idea for a Genius Bar in Apple stores was idiotic. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

KNOWN as “geniuses”, the blue T-shirt-wearing staff at Apple stores have become synonymous with the brand.

But the Genius Bar which has become a hallmark of the company’s brick and mortar stores was once hated by Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs who thought it was an “idiotic” idea.

Jobs was notorious for his short temper and didn’t hesitate to tell those around him if he hated their ideas — and that’s exactly what he did to Ron Johnson, the man he hired in 2000 to create and pioneer Apple’s first retail stores.

Jobs asked Johnson to go away one weekend and write down his vision.

Speaking to Kara Swisher on her Recode Decode podcast, the 58-year-old retail guru detailed how Jobs responded to his initial suggestions for the store, including a ‘Genius Bar’ where customers could take instructional courses on how to use their Apple devices.

“So I went back and I wrote this 10-page thesis of why Apple should do stores, what they should be like,” Johnson recalled.

The idea was to mimic friendly bartenders who, instead of dispensing cocktails, could dispense any product advice customers needed.

However in a seemingly rare case of misjudgment, Jobs envisioned one major problem with the concept.

“I remember the day I came in and told Steve about the Genius Bar idea and he says, ‘That’s so idiotic! It’ll never work!’,” Johnson said.

“He said, ‘Ron, you might have the right idea, but here’s the big gap: I’ve never met someone who knows technology who knows how to connect with people. They’re all geeks! You can call it the Geek Bar’.

“And I said, ‘Steve, kids who are in their 20s today grew up in a very different world. They all know technology, and that’s who’s going to work in the store’.”

Of course, the Genius Bar remains arguably the central feature of Apple’s shopfronts and has been hailed as a major success for the company.

“It turned out to be great,” Johnson admitted.

Since the passing of its notorious co-founder in 2011, Apple has had to deal with growing criticism that it has lost its innovative touch — something the tech giant will be hoping to dispel with the release of its next generation iPhone.

Apple fans are eagerly awaiting the impending iPhone 8 which marks the 10 year anniversary of the company’s flagship device. But they may have to wait just a little longer than expected as rumours are circulating this week that the launch could be pushed back slightly beyond September, the month Apple usually holds it big annual product launch.

According to unconfirmed reports, due to a redesign of a finger print scanner on the new iPhone — widely expected to have an OLED screen — the launch could be pushed back to sometime in October.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds up an Apple iPhone at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco in 2007.