Time to baptize Steve Jobs

[_asbestosman]

I don't think I've ever owned anything from Apple, but I do respect how Steve Jobs has impacted the industry. I think some of it was his creative genius and some of it was luck. The iPhone took off in part due to his genius--making an intuitive and stylish user interface. It also took off in part due to dumb luck.

The notorious app-store as I recall was not available as such back when the iPhone was first released. The initial plan was for developers to create non-native web apps. It took some whining and moaning from people who looked at the specs and wanted to develop native apps to harness the full power. Steve relented and allowed for a tightly-controlled store. It turned out to be an incredible move in part due to the reputation Steve had built and in part due to luck.

I will miss having him around to bring incredible user experiences to the masses and thereby pushing the industry to move forward. I think that while many other creative, intelligent people work in the industry that there is nobody else with the reputation and power of Steve Jobs among the masses. I think eventually someone else will come, but building that reputation will take time--and luck.

By the way, any word on how the Woz is doing?

[_bcspace]

Couldn't afford an Apple, IBM, or (gulp) a Kaypro back in the day. My souped-up kit-built $99 Timex Sinclair with Z80 processor had to suffice and it was not a bad machine to learn on. That processor is still being made today (with some changes of course) and I reaquainted myself with it about a decade ago when I used to programmed consoles and electronics for exercise equipment.

[_jon]

Who had a bigger positive Impact on the people of this planet?

Steve Jobs or Joseph Smith

[_Some Schmo]

I programmed 6502 assembly on the Apple II's back in 1982-83, but found the Atari 800's had far better graphic chips and far better gaming selection. I spent more time on the Atari 800 instead. Apples were nothing but a novelty for boring classes with math teachers suddenly having to teach us basic, something I already had at least two years in. The Franklins were even worse.

Naw, never cared for the Apples. Went straight from the Ataris to the IBM XT's with DOS 1.x, hit GWBasic, Basica, then picked up Turbo Pascal in 1984 and I never looked back.

While I respect what Jobs did and who he was, I never cared for, never owned and never will own or use anything Apple.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Apple either. Too damn proprietary. Sure, we have iPods around the house, but I'm not even a big fan of those (I can't stand having to sync the iPod with a library on my computer - give me access to the hard drive and let me copy what I want, ffs!) and I don't think their sortware is all that great, but it seems to have appeal with casual computer users, so... ok.

No, the main reason I admire Jobs was the part he played in getting Pixar up and running. He lost a ton of cash in the first five years of that company, but he believed in what they were doing and kept it going, which I think shows how much of a visionary he was better than anything else he ever did (which is certainly saying something). I can't think of a company that more consistently puts out quality movies than Pixar.

[_DarkHelmet]

I programmed 6502 assembly on the Apple II's back in 1982-83, but found the Atari 800's had far better graphic chips and far better gaming selection. I spent more time on the Atari 800 instead. Apples were nothing but a novelty for boring classes with math teachers suddenly having to teach us basic, something I already had at least two years in. The Franklins were even worse.

Naw, never cared for the Apples. Went straight from the Ataris to the IBM XT's with DOS 1.x, hit GWBasic, Basica, then picked up Turbo Pascal in 1984 and I never looked back.

While I respect what Jobs did and who he was, I never cared for, never owned and never will own or use anything Apple.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Apple either. Too damn proprietary. Sure, we have iPods around the house, but I'm not even a big fan of those (I can't stand having to sync the iPod with a library on my computer - give me access to the hard drive and let me copy what I want, ffs!) and I don't think their sortware is all that great, but it seems to have appeal with casual computer users, so... ok.

No, the main reason I admire Jobs was the part he played in getting Pixar up and running. He lost a ton of cash in the first five years of that company, but he believed in what they were doing and kept it going, which I think shows how much of a visionary he was better than anything else he ever did (which is certainly saying something). I can't think of a company that more consistently puts out quality movies than Pixar.

I agree about Pixar. According to the Pixar guys, Steve Jobs was more hands off. He wasn't a filmmaker and he knew it. But he also knew quality when he saw it, which is probably why he kept funding it without any guarantee of getting a return. Everything I've read about Steve Jobs paints a picture of a very driven person, but he didn't seem to be driven by a profit motive. He had a very clear vision of his companies and his products and he wanted them to be the best in the world. He didn't seem to care if he was the richest and most successful (I could be wrong), as long as his products were the best. He was a psychotic boss, driving his employees to work long hours and dedicate their lives to his vision, not understanding that they just wanted to put in 8 hours and then go home and be with their family. I don't think he ever did market research. He gave the customers what he felt was the best product, and he locked it up so curious people couldn't tinker with it and screw it up. In this way he was considered both a genius and an evil bastard. I have never owned an Apple computer, and whenever I've been forced to work on one I hate it. However, I love iOS and the IPhone/iPod touch. It's the most beautiful handheld device I've ever owned. But, typical of Steve Jobs, you can't modify it. You can't even access the freakin battery. Steve Jobs was all about making the highest quality products (according to his standards), but he also protected his products from any modifications by the idiot customer. People say he understood what tech customers wanted better than anyone, but I'm not sure that's exactly true. I think he just had a vision of what he thought the most beautiful tech products should look like, and wanted to share his creations with the world. I think he was more of an artist than a businessman.

[_angsty]

I wish there wasn't so much hype about his death, it seems bizarre considering that few of us actually knew him personally. But, as I count the number of Apple devices in my home, I'm quite grateful myself. I love, love, love my MacBook Pro, and my iPod Classic, and my iPhone, and my husband can't live without his either. He changed my life for the better, for sure.

I liked this blog: http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2011/09/s ... t-phi.html