What inspired leaders at both Apple AND Google?

What inspired leaders at both Apple and Google to make their companies what they are today?
The existence of these two companies might not have happened if not for one thing that influenced their early leadership.  And what was that common thread of inspiration?  Music.

Without the impact music made on the thinking of the early leaders of these two companies, we might all have to imagine some alternate reality where Google and Apple don't exist [insert shudder]. And these leaders are not alone.

Many leaders connect their musical training to professional success.  The article "Is Music the Key to Success?" lists Condoleezza Rice, Alan Greenspan, Paul Allen, Steven Spielberg, and several more leaders who didn't just rehearse music - they rehearsed leadership.  Add to that list Albert Einstein and Nobel laureate Thomas Sudhof, who says his most influential teacher was his bassoon teacher.

But what about Google and Apple, specifically?

Larry Page, the CEO of Google, said "I feel like music training lead to the high-speed legacy of Google for me."  Page wanted computers and programs to operate in real time, responding the way music works when you play it live.  This need for speed was a major design factor when Page co-founded Google and a search engine that changed the world (click here for article).

Jef Raskin, one of the early employees at Apple, was a musician and wanted to be able to write music on a computer screen.  His work developed software that could type and print music fonts.  When he invented the Macintosh computer for Apple, Raskin made sure it could play sounds and produce various fonts.  Nobody before Raskin saw a need for users to be able to change fonts.  The graphic user interfaces we have today are thanks to Raskin's music training.

STEM in schools?
Thank a musician.