alocispepraluger102 Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILLYQ Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 He changed the way millions of people listen to music- for that alone he was a revolutionary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 "He took Apple to real heights" is true, but he really took a whole industry to real heights. His vision can be seen way beyond Apple. Very sad news, indeed. a whole industry? which one? I mean, take your pick- personal computers, music, mobile phones, you could even argue portable gaming devices with the iPod Touch, and now whatever industry the iPad has launched. And don't forget Pixar. His influence is vast and will be long lasting. One of the greatest American inventors/innovators, up there with Franklin and Edison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JETman Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 Innovator? -- yes. Franklin and Edison? -- that seems to be a reach, and an attempt at posthumous deification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 Amazing bloke. The iPod alone was a stunning achievement. But there was so much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 Yeah, I feel like a wet blanket. I mean, I'm sorry that a man died. Especially of pancreatic cancer. That sucks. It sucks for his friends and family. And I certainly acknowledge that by founding Apple he has had a massive impact. But let's be serious for a second. Did he invent the Apple Computer? No. That was Steve Wozniak. He designed and built the circuit boards that made the Apple possible. Did he invent the Mac and its OS? No. Like Bill Gates, he swiped most of the game changing innovations of the Mac (the GUI, the mouse) from the engineers at Xerox PARC. Jobs actually did such a poor job steering Apple through the initial PC revolution that Apple FIRED HIM. What Jobs did, brilliantly, was invest in people with good ideas. He invested in Pixar. And once Apple reinstated him, he had the good sense to hire and promote the people who actually designed the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. This doesn't mean he didn't make an impact. But he didn't invent anything. So, up there with Edison? Um...no. Not really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 Though I'd just like to add that Edison also hired innovative persons and if I'm not incorrect also assumed or was given credit for their innovation and invention. (Though he clearly had his own to claim). The interesting thing to me will be to see if Apple keeps the train a-rollin' post-Jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wheel Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Yeah, I feel like a wet blanket. I mean, I'm sorry that a man died. Especially of pancreatic cancer. That sucks. It sucks for his friends and family. And I certainly acknowledge that by founding Apple he has had a massive impact. But let's be serious for a second. Did he invent the Apple Computer? No. That was Steve Wozniak. He designed and built the circuit boards that made the Apple possible. Did he invent the Mac and its OS? No. Like Bill Gates, he swiped most of the game changing innovations of the Mac (the GUI, the mouse) from the engineers at Xerox PARC. Jobs actually did such a poor job steering Apple through the initial PC revolution that Apple FIRED HIM. What Jobs did, brilliantly, was invest in people with good ideas. He invested in Pixar. And once Apple reinstated him, he had the good sense to hire and promote the people who actually designed the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. This doesn't mean he didn't make an impact. But he didn't invent anything. So, up there with Edison? Um...no. Not really. I am far from an Apple fanboy, but it isn't really fair to say Jobs was fired for doing a bad job in the early '80s. Jobs may not have succeeded had he stayed, but he was reporting to a former Pepsi marketing executive who had little tech experience. Part of it was simply that what Jobs was doing was expensive and worried the bean counters-in other words, he was taking the kinds of risks that Google and many other tech companies now consider essential given the business they are in. And part of it was undoubtedly that you had two marketing geniuses running the place and they clashed on lots of marketing stuff. John Sculley certainly didn't get it either-if he had we'd expect that Apple would have turned around quickly after Jobs's departure. Instead the company spent a decade in the wilderness. I agree that Woz doesn't get nearly enough credit for what he did and that Jobs's talents were mostly on the design and marketing sides of the business. Unfortunately we live in a culture where the unassuming nerd usually loses out to the charismatic type A guy when it comes to these kinds of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 cool...discuss the Chinese slave labor now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 But he didn't invent anything. So, up there with Edison? Um...no. Not really. I take it you haven't really studied much about Edison... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tranemonk Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) My Apple story... When I was an undergrad in college (early-1980's) I remember going to the computer lab and working on this cool computer which had a interesting design. (This was way before Windows appeared.) I remember swapping 5 and 1/4" disks between drives to save the files. I liked Apple but didn't think much of it. Went to Windows 3.1 went it came out. I then learned how to tinker with both PC hardware and software. Flash forward 25 years later, I'm on a cross-country flight with a crappy Dell laptop (my university bought). The POS has like 15 bluescreens and doesn't last an hour on the plane. I come back and my (non-technical) wife says "Should I get an Ipod????" Hmmm... Okay, fine no big deal to me but I buy it for her on her birthday. One month later I get diagnosed as having thyroid cancer. (I'm now fine btw... no thyroid now, but no cancer.) Okay I say fuck it, I'm giving myself a big fat present and buy a MacBook Pro. I'm hooked now. I'm too old be a Apple fanboy and I have had issues with the friggin' Lion OS but I'm totally in the Apple world now. Got my Iphone 4 and am saving up for a loaded IMac. In essence what turned me back on to Apple is quite simple. Their products work 99% of the time. The 1% of the time they don't I can actually go my Apple store and talk to a PERSON (what a novel concept Microsoft and Dell!!!) and get it fixed. In addition to that, their products look cool! Being a cancer survivor who's not much younger than Jobs, I greatly appreciate what he (and others) have done and have tremendous sympathy for him and his family. I still think the "Think Different" marketing campaign was the greatest series of ads I've ever seen. RIP Steve. Edited October 8, 2011 by tranemonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 No, Steve Jobs was not an inventor, but he was certainly an innovator and it is easy to feel that the heavy tributes to him are a "stretch," but think in terms of influence, lifestyle, how we look at things, what we do. Steve Post had a lot to do with that and all one has to consider is the enormous following that took place in the industry....he shaped it, he took great concepts and made them into viable realities. He called the shots. And, Alexander, please read about the details regarding the firing of Steve Jobs before you make more rash comments on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) I respect Jobs for bringing Apple from also-ran to a pre-eminent position in the PC/PDA market. No doubt about his genius for giving us what we did not know we needed, from iPOD to iPAD. I am typing this on my Apple laptop. But......I have some qualms about the near-canonical status being accorded to Job. He changed our world, but has it been for the better? He certainly advanced the "amusing ourselves to death" process. I look about on the Metro, and most people are immersed in their smart phones, usually iPhones, or listening to their iPods (already mostly obsolete). They are usually playing games on the device. Totally atomized individuals. I often think that the extravagant attention paid to Apple products is like an attention deficit disorder for the true issues of our time. Obsessed with toys, games and gizmos, we have often lost contact with what really matters. Tim Leary said "tune in, turn on, drop out." Something like that can be said for the effect of these Apple toys. I don't know if we can blame Jobs for that, but he was astute enough to make the most of it. Edited to correct my atrocious typing. Edited October 8, 2011 by Leeway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Your TV probably only gives you excerpts, but here is Jobs' Stamford speech in fullL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Yeah, I feel like a wet blanket. I mean, I'm sorry that a man died. Especially of pancreatic cancer. That sucks. It sucks for his friends and family. And I certainly acknowledge that by founding Apple he has had a massive impact. But let's be serious for a second. Did he invent the Apple Computer? No. That was Steve Wozniak. He designed and built the circuit boards that made the Apple possible. Did he invent the Mac and its OS? No. Like Bill Gates, he swiped most of the game changing innovations of the Mac (the GUI, the mouse) from the engineers at Xerox PARC. Jobs actually did such a poor job steering Apple through the initial PC revolution that Apple FIRED HIM. What Jobs did, brilliantly, was invest in people with good ideas. He invested in Pixar. And once Apple reinstated him, he had the good sense to hire and promote the people who actually designed the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. This doesn't mean he didn't make an impact. But he didn't invent anything. So, up there with Edison? Um...no. Not really. ummm, no. Not quite. You might want to read up a bit on the history of inventors, innovators, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted October 8, 2011 Report Share Posted October 8, 2011 Unemployed substitute teachers can be harsh critics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 I'm not unemployed. Haven't been in over a year. I've been working with Autistic kids for over a year. I was going to say that Chris was right; that my assessment of Jobs' life and career was overly simplistic and largely informed by the fact that I'm a contrary bastard. But you know what? This is just another rich fuck who died. And America loves rich fucks like Steve Jobs. They love him because it confirms their belief in the Horatio Alger myth. That any kid with gumption, moxie and a good idea can strike it rich. Well, they can't. And they won't. You'll never be rich or famous. Steve Jobs didn't get where he was because he was smart or talented. He was lucky. He was in the right place at the right time and got noticed by the right people. He made some good desicions once he was already well in the game, but it's not too hard to take a risk when you've got plenty of capital to fall back on in case you're wrong. Like almost everyone who changed the world, Steve Jobs was a lucky bastard. A one in ten million shot. And I'd personally really appreciate it if people stopped admiring and emulating these lucky bastards. Look to the real heroes; the single mother who works two jobs to feed her kids; the public servant who endures miles of red tape and a hostile public, but still does his best to serve those less fortunate; and, yes, the underpaid teacher who struggles to educate your childen, while meeting resistance from all sides. There's more nobility in the work of a waitress than in a hundred Steve Jobs'. Written, incidentally, on my Android. Never had any use for any Apple product or their smug users... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 You know what? The more I think about it, fuck Steve Jobs. What did he do? Made more expensive crap that people can want but don't really need. More things to make white people jizz their pants and show the other white people how superior they are. "I've got the new iTem! It's sleek and shiney! For the next six months (until the new model comes out), I'm better than you! Gaze upon my ability to afford stuff! Better stuff than you!" What else can we thank ol' Steve-o for? How about the fact that we're all at the office 24/7? Yes, thanks to the iPhone and the iPad, you can be connected and productive, even at home! So get back to work! I want everything now! My expectations are now increased a hundredfold! No, a THOUSANDFOLD! I want your report on my desktop yesterday! Why can't I have everything yesterday? Hasn't Apple put out an iTimemachine yet? But who cares if we work more hours for less pay, benefits, and vacation time than every other industrialized nation? We have a sleek, shiney gadget, courtesy of Steve Jobs. Speaking of Jobs, have you noticed that this is the most the word "Jobs" has been used by the media in over three years? Funny...I thought that it was a different kind of "Jobs" that Americans needed. Maybe if all those long-term unemployed put on black turtlenecks and started standing in front of PowerPoint presentations, we'd have paid them more attenton... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 .... He made some good desicions once he was already well in the game, but it's not too hard to take a risk when you've got plenty of capital to fall back on in case you're wrong. Like almost everyone who changed the world, Steve Jobs was a lucky bastard. ... Steve Jobs obviously also made some good decisions to arrive at the point where he was "well in the game." BTW, if you really do your homework, I think you will find that Jobs' decision also had a lot to do with the existence of the Android system, which seems to have your approval. Your venom is not becoming, nor justified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 The other nations also have Apple products Alexander. And yes, Apple has invented a Time Machine. Lucky? I think you've over-simplified "over-simplified" at this point. Apple was a very small business at one point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Alexander - I think you are confusing cause and effect in terms of increased work hours - those gadgets were really the result of corporate insanity, not the cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 No, Steve Jobs was not an inventor, but he was certainly an innovator and it is easy to feel that the heavy tributes to him are a "stretch," but think in terms of influence, lifestyle, how we look at things, what we do. Steve Post had a lot to do with that and all one has to consider is the enormous following that took place in the industry....he shaped it, he took great concepts and made them into viable realities. He called the shots. And, Alexander, please read about the details regarding the firing of Steve Jobs before you make more rash comments on it. Steve Post, eh? Are you pining for those glory years at WBAI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tranemonk Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Jeez... the guy dies of pancreatic cancer and we devolve into trashing him.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Yeah, it's not like he's Oscar Peterson or anything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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