A PASSION FOR FONTS—200,000 TYPEFACES.
A PASSION FOR FONTS—2000,000 TYPEFACES. Steve Jobs was another person who had a passion for fonts. The Economist article cites estimates that there were about 7000 usable typefaces in the 1970’s. Now there are thought to be about 200,000. The increase is attributable to Jobs. The story, as told by Walter Isaacson in STEVE JOBS, is that Jobs dropped out of Reed College so that he could avoid taking required classes. After he dropped out, he audited a class in calligraphy, which was a course he wanted to take. Jobs attributed his love of typefaces to this calligraphy class. This article by John Manicke (with assistance by Matt Heiner) suggests that Jobs introduced the idea of people having favorite fonts. The first Mac in 1984 came with 12 fonts, all original designs. The Economist article says that the best sellers on the MyFonts website now bring in about $20,000 a month.