Notes Class 10 Chapter 2.3 Kumarbharati English Maharashtra Board

Connecting the Dots

Overview

This chapter is based on a speech by Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc., given to graduate students. He shares three stories from his life to inspire and teach important life lessons. The stories focus on following your passion, overcoming challenges, and living life meaningfully. The chapter also includes activities to help students understand the text and learn new skills.

Key Points of the Chapter

Who Was Steve Jobs?

Born: 1955

Died: 2011

Profession: Entrepreneur, inventor, and co-founder of Apple Inc.

Achievements:

• Played a big role in the microcomputer revolution (1970s-1980s).
• Created famous products like the Macintosh, iPhone, and iPad.
• Co-founded Pixar, a successful animation studio.

Personality: Curious, creative, and determined.

Steve Jobs’ Three Stories

First Story: Connecting the Dots

What Happened:

• Steve Jobs joined Reed College but dropped out after 6 months because he didn’t like the required classes.
• He stayed at the college for 18 more months, attending classes that interested him, like calligraphy (the art of beautiful handwriting).
• He faced hardships:
• Slept on the floor in friends’ rooms.
• Returned Coke bottles for 5-cent deposits to buy food.
• Walked 7 miles every Sunday for a good meal at the Hare Krishna temple.

Lesson Learned:

• The calligraphy class helped him 10 years later when designing the Macintosh computer. It gave the Mac unique fonts (like serif and sans serif).
• You can’t predict how things will connect in the future, but you must trust that they will.
• Follow your curiosity and intuition-they lead to something valuable later.

Key Quote: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”

Second Story: Love and Loss

• What Happened:
• At age 20, Steve and his friend Steve Wozniak started Apple in a garage.
• In 10 years, Apple grew into a $2 billion company.
• At age 30, Steve was fired from Apple, which was very painful.
• Instead of giving up, he started two new companies: NeXT and Pixar.
• Pixar became the world’s top animation studio (made movies like Toy Story).
• Apple later bought NeXT, and Steve returned to Apple, helping it grow again.

During this time, he also fell in love and married Laurene.

Lesson Learned:

• Even after failure, love what you do and keep going.
• Being fired was a fresh start that led to his most creative years.
• Don’t settle-keep searching for what you love.

Key Quote: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Third Story: Death

What Happened:

• Steve was diagnosed with a rare type of pancreatic cancer.
• Doctors thought he would die soon, but a biopsy showed the cancer was curable with surgery.
• After the surgery, Steve recovered and was fine.
• This experience made him realize how short life is.

Lesson Learned:

• Don’t waste time living someone else’s life or following others’ opinions (dogma).
• Listen to your inner voice and have the courage to follow your heart.
• Stay curious and open-minded (Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish).

Key Quote: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

Key Themes of the Chapter

1. Follow Your Passion: Do what you love, even if it’s hard or risky.
2. Trust in Life: Believe that things will work out, even if you can’t see it now.
3. Learn from Failure: Setbacks like being fired can lead to new opportunities.
4. Value Time: Life is short, so focus on what matters to you.
5. Stay Curious: Keep learning and exploring new things.

Important Vocabulary and Meanings