Steve Jobs passes away

[vince14]

Before I start, this is in no way intended to offend anyone.

However.

Jobs didn't invent the personal computer - that was Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems with the Altair in 1974 (two years before Apple existed).

Jobs didn't invent the MP3 player - Kane Kramer patented the idea of a digital music player back in 1979.

Jobs didn't invent the Smartphone - that was IBM's Simon in 1992.

Jobs didn't invent the Tablet - Even the Microsoft Tablet PC beat the iPod Touch to market by five years.

So yes, it's sad that Jobs has passed on before his time. But let's acknowledge that, above all else, he was a great salesperson. He was very, very good at taking existing ideas, getting his people to wrap them in a stylish coat and then market them as desirable objects. He made people want to buy Apple products, without them ever really knowing why they wanted them - and that was his genius.

(And, before eveyone jumps on me, I'm not some Microsoft fanboy or Apple hater. I have an i-Pad and have only just replaced my i-Phone).

Vince

[toadwbg]

Jobs didn't invent the Tablet - Even the Microsoft Tablet PC beat the iPod Touch to market by five years.

What about the Apple Newton?

[vince14]

What about the Apple Newton?

The Newton really was a PDA rather than a Tablet.

Vince

[Les / Creative Edge Photo]

Before I start, this is in no way intended to offend anyone.

However.

Jobs didn't invent the personal computer - that was Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems with the Altair in 1974 (two years before Apple existed).

Jobs didn't invent the MP3 player - Kane Kramer patented the idea of a digital music player back in 1979.

Jobs didn't invent the Smartphone - that was IBM's Simon in 1992.

Jobs didn't invent the Tablet - Even the Microsoft Tablet PC beat the iPod Touch to market by five years.

So yes, it's sad that Jobs has passed on before his time. But let's acknowledge that, above all else, he was a great salesperson. He was very, very good at taking existing ideas, getting his people to wrap them in a stylish coat and then market them as desirable objects. He made people want to buy Apple products, without them ever really knowing why they wanted them - and that was his genius.

(And, before eveyone jumps on me, I'm not some Microsoft fanboy or Apple hater. I have an i-Pad and have only just replaced my i-Phone).

Vince

Jobs didn't invent the personal computer - that was Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems with the Altair in 1974 (two years before Apple existed).

But he was one of those who made it practical and relatively affordable for the typical consumer.

Jobs didn't invent the MP3 player - Kane Kramer patented the idea of a digital music player back in 1979.

But he was the spearhead that made it user friendly, and easier for users to get content on and for the devices used to play said format. (That said I don't much care for MP3 it sounds pretty bad for music but is great for podcasts.)

Jobs didn't invent the Smartphone - that was IBM's Simon in 1992.

But his vision revolutionized what a smart phone is and how it can work as a convenient and powerful tool for the consumers that use them. I-Phone was not an extension of a smart phone concept but a major change as to how these devices work and are used today.

Jobs didn't invent the Tablet - Even the Microsoft Tablet PC beat the iPod Touch to market by five year

But he made it work. Tablets are synonymous with the I-Pad just as say tissues are with Kleenex. Newton was an early tablet tool too. But has and continues to shape personal computing/multimedia devices. All other tablets today are compared to the I-Pad That says something.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Les / Creative Edge Photo

[GreyGhost]

The Newton really was a PDA rather than a Tablet.

Vince

And Steve Jobs wasn't with Apple during it's development either ...

Gregg

[TaiidanTomcat]

So yes, it's sad that Jobs has passed on before his time. But let's acknowledge that, above all else, he was a great salesperson. He was very, very good at taking existing ideas, getting his people to wrap them in a stylish coat and then market them as desirable objects. He made people want to buy Apple products, without them ever really knowing why they wanted them - and that was his genius.

(And, before eveyone jumps on me, I'm not some Microsoft fanboy or Apple hater. I have an i-Pad and have only just replaced my i-Phone).

Vince

No Joke, I never thought a rich CEO who we knew had cancer and wasn't long for this world would bring such heartache. He sold stuff, and he sold it well. Most importantly he sold himself. Its not easy to be loved and filthy rich heading up a corporate empire, but Steve found a way. for some reason he was forgiven whenever anyone railed about "greedy fat cats" or "evil corporations" or how "the rich are evil manipulators" I really hope we save some of these heartfelt tears for when the head CEO of British Petroleum dies: He gave me so much, he had such great vision-- when people said "thats too deep to safely drill for oil," he threw all of that aside and did it anyway. My car was lifeless without him. I used their oil to go places and meet people and learn new things, nothing was out of reach...

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-fred-shuttlesworth-20111006,0,752108.story

This other guy died yesterday too. He never did anything real important though. kind of a nobody, no vision poor salesman.

Edited October 6, 2011 by TaiidanTomcat

[11bee]

No Joke, I never thought a rich CEO who we knew had cancer and wasn't long for this world would bring such heartache. He sold stuff, and he sold it well. Most importantly he sold himself. Its not easy to be loved and filthy rich heading up a corporate empire, but Steve found a way. for some reason he was forgiven whenever anyone railed about "greedy fat cats" or "evil corporations" or how "the rich are evil manipulators" I really hope we save some of these heartfelt tears for when the head CEO of British Petroleum dies: He gave me so much, he had such great vision-- when people said "thats too deep to safely drill for oil," he threw all of that aside and did it anyway. My car was lifeless without him. I used their oil to go places and meet people and learn new things, nothing was out of reach...

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-fred-shuttlesworth-20111006,0,752108.story

This other guy died yesterday too. He never did anything real important though. kind of a nobody, no vision poor salesman.

One CEO I will miss when he passes is Bill Gates. Say what you want about Microsoft but what this guy has done for charitable causes goes above and beyond (btw, how does Jobs compare in this field?). At some point, you would think most fat cats would emulate Gates and say "I've got more money than me, my family or their next few generations of descendants will ever need, so gosh darn it, I'm going to take the rest and try to make the world a slightly better place". How many people have matched Gates and his wife for percentage of wealth donated to charitable causes?

Me thinks it's a very short list.

Edited October 6, 2011 by 11bee

[aerofan]

Steve Jobs passing reminded me of a dvd I saw called "Pirates of Silicon Valley". How much of the movie true is up to debate. However, it would be hard to imagine the world today if Mr. Jobs never crossed paths with Steve Wozniak - we could possible be decades behind where we are today technologically and Bill Gates may just be a minor footnote and not the giant CEO he is today. Thanks Steve for pushing a computer marketing vision from a Californian suburban garage and thus transforming our world. It's hard to imagine the world without the personal computer or the delay of it's mass acceptance.

[Les / Creative Edge Photo]

No Joke, I never thought a rich CEO who we knew had cancer and wasn't long for this world would bring such heartache. He sold stuff, and he sold it well. Most importantly he sold himself. Its not easy to be loved and filthy rich heading up a corporate empire, but Steve found a way. for some reason he was forgiven whenever anyone railed about "greedy fat cats" or "evil corporations" or how "the rich are evil manipulators" I really hope we save some of these heartfelt tears for when the head CEO of British Petroleum dies: He gave me so much, he had such great vision-- when people said "thats too deep to safely drill for oil," he threw all of that aside and did it anyway. My car was lifeless without him. I used their oil to go places and meet people and learn new things, nothing was out of reach...

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-fred-shuttlesworth-20111006,0,752108.story

This other guy died yesterday too. He never did anything real important though. kind of a nobody, no vision poor salesman.

Death and thoughts of those who die is not a competition. Mr. Shuttlesworth obviously was a marker in American civil rights but the media does not always pick up the ball and run with it. Obviously in more recent times Steve Jobs had more of a presence in daily life for many people. I doubt citizens would not honour nor care to reflect on Mr. Shuttlesworth. I'm also certain globally others of significance died yesterday too. Lets not forget it's not uncommon for Americans especially its media to often fail to recognize those who accomplish much if they happen to not be Americans... JUST SAYING!

[TaiidanTomcat]

I doubt citizens would not honour nor care to reflect on Mr. Shuttlesworth. I'm also certain globally others of significance died yesterday too. Lets not forget it's not uncommon for Americans especially its media to often fail to recognize those who accomplish much if they happen to not be Americans... JUST SAYING!

But its not the just the media. its us I just watched more poetic notes for the passing of Jobs than anything in the P-51 Reno Air crash thread. No long paragraphs there? There just seems to be no perspective.

One CEO I will miss when he passes is Bill Gates. Say what you want about Microsoft but what this guy has done for charitable causes goes above and beyond (btw, how does Jobs compare in this field?). At some point, you would think most fat cats would emulate Gates and say "I've got more money than me, my family or their next few generations of descendants will ever need, so gosh darn it, I'm going to take the rest and try to make the world a slightly better place". How many people have matched Gates and his wife for percentage of wealth donated to charitable causes?

Me thinks it's a very short list.

indeed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

also more donators:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/02/10/charitable-giving-by-the-super-rich-dipped-in-2010/

[Les / Creative Edge Photo]

But its not the just the media. its us I just watched more poetic notes for the passing of Jobs than anything in the P-51 Reno Air crash thread. No long paragraphs there? There just seems to be no perspective.

indeed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

also more donators:

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/02/10/charitable-giving-by-the-super-rich-dipped-in-2010/

Jim Leeward's crash was a tragic one but in the scope of notoriety Steve Jobs was up there with the most significant persons globally in modern era. Mr. Leeward was to most rather unknown unless you were into that type of aviation. His tragic crash became his notoriety. Jobs created his through Apple. Again it's not a competition but just a general recognition of people and things they did/do. Steve Jobs death is significant in that context. When Mr. Gates passes one day it will be the same. When Warren Buffet passes the same sort of reflection of his life will be noted. My list can go on.

[LanceB]

I think I feel more or less the way Taiidan Tomcat seems to. Absolutely no disrespect intended to Steve Jobs - he was a brilliant salesman. Vince got it exactly right: he wasn't a "creator" so much as a genius with the ability to look at what was available and figure out how to package it and market it in a way so that it would sell like crazy. He was very, very, VERY good at that and in that sense saying he was "visionary" is not IMHO hyperbole.

But at the same time, I have seen so many statements in the last 24 hours along the lines of "we should take this moment to reflect on how his vision has made our lives better and more fulfilling". Sorry, but what?

Do I have a job, and thus a paycheck, as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

No.

Do I have more free time to enjoy my life as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

No.

Do I enjoy my life/what free time I have more as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Is my life more "fulfilling" as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

No.

If there had never been a Steve Jobs and Apple, would I very likely be exactly where I am now, doing exactly the same things, living exactly the same way?

Very likely a resounding "yes" on all counts.

Steve Jobs: may he rest in peace. He hard a hard life at the end, and my sympathies and condolences go out to his family. But I think, somehow, the world will continue to turn from west to east just as well without him as it did with him.

[ChernayaAkula]

^ Couldn't have put it any better!

Sorry to hear of his passing, but some of the reactions I've seen on the telly were kinda disturbing. They way some people talked, you'd have thought the founder of a religion died. That perception was helped by the way the made shrines out of Apple Stores.

One young man told the reporter how profoundly the I Phone changed his life. I don't know, but your life must be kinda jacked up when a glorified telephone makes all the difference. Then again, it might be telling for our times.

Edited October 7, 2011 by ChernayaAkula

[TaiidanTomcat]

Jim Leeward's crash was a tragic one but in the scope of notoriety Steve Jobs was up there with the most significant persons globally in modern era.

right but it wasn't just ONE GUY who died in that crash right-- It was ELEVEN. any one of which could have been used to demonstrate a human being who probably helped people out, or raised a good son or daughter or taught little league or did something that was bigger than a series of hyped electronic gizmos. No long paragraphs about one person making a difference there? Its a PHONE. He isn't Gandhi.

^ Couldn't have put it any better!

Sorry to hear of his passing, but some of the reactions I've seen on the telly were kinda disturbing. They way some people talked, you'd have thought the founder of a religion died. That perception was helped by the way the made shrines out of Apple Stores.

One young man told the reporter how profoundly the I am a spammer, please report this post. changed his life. I don't know, but your life must be kinda jacked up when a glorified telephone makes all the difference. Then again, it might be telling for our times.

I am just glad to see that "anti-establishment/anti-corporate/anti-materialism" phase is a thing of the past. This new cool is refreshing. The same attention span disorder that his products create will ensure this is old news by tomorrow and "so last year" by this weekend.

RIP Steve Jobs.

[LanceB]

One young man told the reporter how profoundly the [i Phone] changed his life.

Tell me about it. I know somehow for whom the I Phone has become a physical part of his hand. Concentration skills: zip. He can't stop playing with the damn thing or looking at it, even when you are talking with him! Can no longer navigate streets on his own, as he doesn't even bother trying to remember - the Device will help him! Try arranging a meeting time and place in advance (as in: meet me at the station, south exit, 3 o'clock). Can't do it! He is so locked into "can talk to anyone at anytime therefore no need to plan in advance/stick to a schedule" that he cannot grasp how to deal with folks like myself who refuse to be tethered to a cell phone.

Well, I have one. Only the wife unit knows the number, and I only carry it when she makes me. And then...

I turn the damn thing off when she isn't looking. Otherwise she'll be calling me on it from the next aisle over in the store saying "come look at this!" instead of walking 3 meters to get me! If I go out on my bike, she makes me carry it. Then says "I tried to call!"

"I turned it off."

"Why?"

"I'm on a bike, I do not need the damn thing ringing and distracting me while I am navigating traffic!"

Somehow humanity got through several millennia without talking to every person one knows every 5 minutes. Way back when, you could go months or years without seeing someone. And yet, humanity survived. Now cells, facebook, twitter... sheesh.

[ya-gabor]

I am sorry to see that the death of a person provokes such a diverse response, fight and even anger. Steve Jobs RIP!

I can only say that what he created was great, perfectly working and what is most important user friendly!

In 1991 we had the first Mac Classics arrive in Hungary to our company, just as the ban to (ex) communist countries was lifted. We were setting up a new company. I was in charge in teaching the staff in the office to use the computer. The boxes were open, the Macs put on the table and switched on and working in no time. There was no setting up, loading systems, programs . . . The most time we had to work on them was the building out (connecting wires) the network within the company. There were no system people, programmers needed to get it all started.

The new staff arrived. Based on their experience at previous work places with PCs they were expecting a two-three week course in computing. After lunch we had about two hours in front of the Mac and by the end of the day everyone was working on their own! This is where the Mac was (and is today) light years ahead of its rivals. One Mac LC was working for 11 years, never did we need any specialist help to repair it and in all that time there were around 7 restarts only! It performed perfectly all its office duties!

Maybe all the things Steve Jobs sold to us were not his personal innovation but he had an excellent eye and visions and took what there was out there (like the mouse from Xerox) and put it together in a way that made a difference!

I am sure he took with him many great new ideas which would not make the world more peaceful or a much better place to live in but surely a far more interesting and colourful.

Best regards

Gabor

[PetarB]

Do I have a job, and thus a paycheck, as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Yes, actually.

Do I have more free time to enjoy my life as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Most certainly.

Do I enjoy my life/what free time I have more as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Is my life more "fulfilling" as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Absolutely.

If there had never been a Steve Jobs and Apple, would I very likely be exactly where I am now, doing exactly the same things, living exactly the same way?

Probably not.

My job: I'm a creative director of design agency. Without Apple showing the way a decade or so ago, our agency would certainly be different. Now I can present ideas on my Ipad to clients, take a walk on our local beach while listening to a playlist I could only put together quickly on iTunes, and engage my kids with math using a Iphone app, while we wait for their sister to finish swimming lessons. All in a day's work...

...I hate Apple for the OSX/software treadmill. I truly despise iCloud, and the implications for our data privacy future. But for every negative there are a couple of positives and Steve Jobs had a vision of the future, and unlike many, he went ahead and made it happen, by gathering the right people around him, and pushing them hard. My hat's off to him.

Edited October 7, 2011 by PetarB

[Jennings]

Do I have a job, and thus a paycheck, as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Yes, actually.

Do I have more free time to enjoy my life as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Most certainly.

Do I enjoy my life/what free time I have more as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Is my life more "fulfilling" as a direct result of Steve Jobs or something he did?

Absolutely.

If there had never been a Steve Jobs and Apple, would I very likely be exactly where I am now, doing exactly the same things, living exactly the same way?

Probably not.

My job: I'm a creative director of design agency. Without Apple showing the way a decade or so ago, our agency would certainly be different. Now I can present ideas on my Ipad to clients, take a walk on our local beach while listening to a playlist I could only put together quickly on iTunes, and engage my kids with math using a Iphone app, while we wait for their sister to finish swimming lessons. All in a day's work...

...I hate Apple for the OSX/software treadmill. I truly despise iCloud, and the implications for our data privacy future. But for every negative there are a couple of positives and Steve Jobs had a vision of the future, and unlike many, he went ahead and made it happen, by gathering the right people around him, and pushing them hard. My hat's off to him.

+1

[loftycomfort]

+1

+2

By virtue of being an IT professional, Apple's influence will have at least an indirect impact on my field of work even if my projects are not Apple-related.

When I airbrush a model plane with a complex camouflage, I save my reference pics on my iP@d so I can look at them when I trace the outlines of the curves. Yes it makes things easier because I don't have to print out the pictures. Yes it makes life more fulfilling because now I have a more accurate model because I have the ref pics right at my finger tips.

A fulfilling life is all about having accurate models with awesome paint jobs, my friend. :)

RIP, Steve Jobs.

Terry

Edited October 7, 2011 by loftycomfort

[JMan]

I remember seeing a picture of him in the paper, and asking myself what did he invent this time. I read further on and saw that he had passed away at only 56. That just goes to show you that it doesn't matter who you are, or how old you are, that you could be taken away at any time. The technology family lost a great innovator and will be surely missed. R.I.P. Steve Jobs, thanks for everything from the mouse to I-Pad!

[Art Garcia]

I was thinking what I will be designing as a tribute that will be different (Think Different).

I read in a news article that they are in a quandary if they will give Steve Jobs an eternal flame or not.

That triggered my decision to make an Eternal Flame animated gif.

I made the illustration photographic to ensure that it will be unique and like in the sport of diving and

gymnastics, to have more degree of difficulty. The thought that someone might beat me to the idea

made me post the artwork on the internet before I even started working on the animated gif.

You can download more sizes here....

http://romytaylor.webs.com/artworks.htm

[PNW_Modeler]

Most PC users will never or do not know how much they/we owe to him.

And most Mac users never know how much they owe Bill Gates and Microsoft (in case you were keeping score....about 150 million dollars after Bill bailed out Apple in 97). If it weren't for Bill stepping in and infusing Apple with a large amount of cash, we might not be blessed with a new I Phone every 8 months.

I find this whole thing very ironic....people in this country celebrating the life of Steve Jobs while others in this country are protesting against the greed on Wall Street.

[GreyGhost]

And most Mac users never know how much they owe Bill Gates and Microsoft (in case you were keeping score....about 150 million dollars after Bill bailed out Apple in 97). If it weren't for Bill stepping in and infusing Apple with a large amount of cash, we might not be blessed with a new I Phone every 8 months.

I find this whole thing very ironic....people in this country celebrating the life of Steve Jobs while others in this country are protesting against the greed on Wall Street.

And organizing the protests on products made by corporations that sell stock on Wall Street ...

Gregg

[11bee]

I find this whole thing very ironic....people in this country celebrating the life of Steve Jobs while others in this country are protesting against the greed on Wall Street.

Good point. The guy was an uber capitalist who (as far as I can tell) didn't exactly set any records for charitable giving. You can argue that he was a visionary and I will argue that if Jobs wasn't around, someone else would have filled his shoes (as someone is going to do now that he has passed). While it's regretful when anyone dies, I'll be no more upset when I hear of the passing of Jack Welch (to name but one example).

Just out of curiosity, how many of Apples' products are even made in this country anymore?

The amount of angst that people are showing over this issue is almost cult-like.

[Les / Creative Edge Photo]

And most Mac users never know how much they owe Bill Gates and Microsoft (in case you were keeping score....about 150 million dollars after Bill bailed out Apple in 97). If it weren't for Bill stepping in and infusing Apple with a large amount of cash, we might not be blessed with a new I Phone every 8 months.

I find this whole thing very ironic....people in this country celebrating the life of Steve Jobs while others in this country are protesting against the greed on Wall Street.

What Jobs and Apple have done is not what has people upset on Wall Street. The Wall Street protests have mostly to do with bankers and other financial institutes and the ever blooming creation of more fiat money disguised in virtually unregulated investment vehicles where corruption and cronyism ran and runs rampant. All the while those who do this get taxpayers not just of today but tomorrow on the hook to bail them out. But it's not just that. What people fail to understand especially those who are so tax averse is that all this printed money devalues all citizens wealth and is a defacto tax increase on all people rich, middle and poor. That said the stock markets as we all believe how they work growing up ended long ago. The stock markets have virtually no correlation to any real economy now. It's all a grand casino now, that's all.

As for Apple, yes it's a far from perfect company and Jobs was not perfect either. But its success was driven by its corporate model, innovation and supreme marketing. Yes, Microsoft put millions of dollars into Apple in the late 90's before Jobs returned as CEO but it was not philanthropic. Microsoft was worried ever more about being hit by govts. globally as becoming a monopoly and it had to make sure this was to not to happen. Therefore it helped keep a then flailing Apple going. So the result was ultimately going to be cheaper for Microsoft to do this than risk possibly being hit hard by global govts. in being a monopoly and thus a benefit to both corporations in the end.