What everyone is too polite to say about Steve Jobs

I'll be the first:
I'm not sorry about ur pancreas.

http://gawker.com/5847344/what-everyone-is-too-polite-to-say-about-steve-jobs

...One thing he wasn't, though, was perfect. Indeed there were things Jobs did while at Apple that were deeply disturbing. Rude, dismissive, hostile, spiteful: Apple employees—the ones not bound by confidentiality agreements—have had a different story to tell over the years about Jobs and the bullying, manipulation and fear that followed him around Apple. Jobs contributed to global problems, too. Apple's success has been built literally on the backs of Chinese workers, many of them children and all of them enduring long shifts and the specter of brutal penalties for mistakes. And, for all his talk of enabling individual expression, Jobs imposed paranoid rules that centralized control of who could say what on his devices and in his company...

I'll pile on.

Witness the difference in the culture of the iPhone application store and the Android marketplace. Jobs had a lot going for him. But I think his desire for centralized control has stifled some creativity. I do not like the idea that all of it had to be vetted by one entity, Apple as opposed to the hectic fecundity of the Android marketplace.

I had one of the original iMacs. The thing crashed all the time. I had an unbent paper clip always sitting next to it to push into the tiny "restart" hole on the side. Plus it had a round mouse, so you had to visually confirm the orientation before you could use it.

I have a 5th generation iPod. The face is so soft, it was all scratched up after about a month of riding by itself in my pocket with the ear buds.

But I had an earlier Mac (Performa 578) that was pretty good at the time, and a nice laser printer.

I doubt I'll ever buy another Apple product.

footfootfoot;762392 wrote:

I'll be the first:
I'm not sorry about ur pancreas.

Oooh. That seems a bit strong.

It's true that current stories are mostly just talking about the positive side of Steve. Those of us in the industry are well aware of the stories of Jobs' temper and the Steve Jobs distortion field. No one person is all good or all bad. When his life it tallied up, I'd say he was a good thing for the industry and for our generation.

But no, not perfect.

I think the man was a genius and will be much missed.

I also think he had a fucking big pole up his arse when it came to central control (as has been mentioned).

I think one of the biggest laughs I had last year (think was last year) was when Steve Jobs wrote an open letter (I think in response to an open letter from Adobe) citing as one of his reasons for not allowing Adobe Flash on the i-phone/pad/pod that adobe is too proprietary.

Itunes and apple products are awesome, if you don't mind your usage being predetermined. I love my iphone. My mum loves her i-pad. It's perfect for her. What she needs, and what Apple have provided, is 'appliance computing'. No bugs, no glitches, no conflicts no grinding. Perfect.

Not much use if you want to watch certain formats, perform certain tasks, share the media you've fucking well bought (seriously, DRM? Get fucked.) then you need a proper computer or non-apple tablet.

I'm a very recent convert to the joys of ipod and iphones. I held off for a long time in protest against the proprietary and nailed down nature of apple products. I detested the way new OS would come out for the mac, but without backwards compatibility. I detested the way some formats just wouldn't work. And, frankly, to be able to run the kinds of games I used to run, and play the way I played, I needed a pc. I have been a PC gal since the 90s and have no intention of changing: my main comp and my laptop are both windows machines.

Jobs was a visionary. And we should rihtly celebrate his contribution. But he certainly wasn't a saint.

Bill Gates is and always has been one of my heroes. He did for personal computers, what Steve Jobs did for consumable media platforms. Taken together they've fundamentally altered the world we live in.

Pete Zicato;762462 wrote:

Oooh. That seems a bit strong.

It's true that current stories are mostly just talking about the positive side of Steve. Those of us in the industry are well aware of the stories of Jobs' temper and the Steve Jobs distortion field. No one person is all good or all bad. When his life it tallied up, I'd say he was a good thing for the industry and for our generation.

But no, not perfect.

Cheap shot, too soon.

I, too, had read (in many places) that the man could be an asshat at times. But, I didn't wanna go there by myself.

Also, I reckon the guy parked anywhere he damn-well pleased.

Isn't it ironic that his cause of death is abbreviated as "PC"?

footfootfoot;762551 wrote:

Cheap shot, too soon.

Replied for you.

Ooooo

I am the king of "polite".....

Despite what people have been saying for years about Microsloth, Apple really is the Borg.

I've been saying that (or something at least similar) ever since they hunted down and killed Franklin, back when Bill Gates was saying "hardware, shmardware. Can I show you something in a nice operating system?"

Apple's DRM shit is enough for me to boycott them.

The GPS tracking is damn sinister.

.

DanaC;762531 wrote:

I think the man was a genius and will be much missed.

He was not a genius. In fact, I suspect he was rather nasty. As was Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings. What Jobs did was empower the geniuses. He was all about the product; screw the finance. He made the company so profitable by ignoring profits. The product was more important. He knew what a genius could do - and encouraged such people.

Management never makes these decisions. Management only defines a strategic objective. Decisions are made and succeed when management permits them to happen. Jobs did that.

tw;762974 wrote:

He was not a genius.

I like how you just state that as a bald fact :p

Neither you nor I are qualified to make such a statement.

However, I am. I've known geniuses and you sir, are no Ted Kennedy.

Ted Kennedy. :lol2:


bzzzzzzzzzzzzt

tw;762974 wrote:

...I suspect he was rather nasty. As was Walter Cronkite...

Hey!! Don't talk about Uncle Walter like that! The man jumped into Lake Como dressed in a tuxedo fercryinoutloud. He was the King of Fun.

infinite monkey;763113 wrote:

Ted Kennedy. :lol2:


bzzzzzzzzzzzzt

I thought it was funnier that way.

Oh, I knew that you knew that Ted wasn't the guy...and it did make it funnier.

Everything is funnier with Ted Kennedy in it... Well, maybe not Chappaquiddick.

Gravdigr;763143 wrote:

Hey!! Don't talk about Uncle Walter like that!

When it came to the news, neither Walter nor Peter were kindly gentleman. However the same Walter did something that this couple will long remember him for. When Clinton was caught cheating, Walter invited them to his home. Provided time and opportunity on his boat that the Clintons so desperately needed for healing.

He may be ruthless. But he was also smart. He could see the bigger picture. Even defined Vietnam for what it really was - before a scumbag president took office to massacre another 35,000+ American soldiers and maybe another 1 million Vietnamese.

Being ruthless is why Cronkite could see through lies. And is why CBS President William Paley had Cronkite all but censored for political reasons. Being ruthless and honest has consequences.

I would not call Cronkite or Jobs geniuses. They simply did what good management is supposed to do so that real geniuses can do their jobs. Best management gets credit only when they let real heroes do their jobs. Watch Apollo 13 if you have any doubts.

Being kindly is not a relevant characteristic. Ask anyone who worked for Patton.

MicroSoft wins... eventually.

Roger Igar (CEO of Disney) has been elected to the Apple Board of Directors.
Arthur Levinson (Chairman of Genentech) will become Apple's non-executive Chairman
Timothy Cook (Chief Executive of Apple) was passed over.

All business and no creativity will eventually make Apple a dull, near-sighted corporation.
.

At least they'll have lots of company :yelsick: