I agree that its sad that Jobs died, but the hero worship just creeps me out. He was a god of cult like marketing and creating consistent products. Visionary he was not. As a technophile I enjoy all technology but his view of form over function really ate away any respect I had for his tech. If you want a real visionary look at Nikola Tesla, he was a true visionary. If he only had the marketing skills of Thomas Edison the world would be a different place. I mean we use so many of the things he designed but no one remembers him. Truly a hero of mine, though neglected in modern history he helped create it.
Merged Steve Jobs has died.
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tyr_13
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Jobs was a visionary, just not the same kind of visionary as Edison or Tesla. Jobs great ideas and vision was about how and who would use the stuff that other visionaries came up with. He was a visionary of marketing, and picking what tech and features people would actually use. He was the visionary of polish.
He wasn't a tech inventor. He was a tech reinventor.
But it's funny that you mention Edison, because he took credit for a lot of inventions that other people he employed actually invented. Exactly like Jobs. Well, not exactly. I don't think Jobs intentionally grabbed at the credit others gave him.
He wasn't a tech inventor. He was a tech reinventor.
But it's funny that you mention Edison, because he took credit for a lot of inventions that other people he employed actually invented. Exactly like Jobs. Well, not exactly. I don't think Jobs intentionally grabbed at the credit others gave him.
Mister Earl
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Ooof. I heard today that instead of going to an actual doctor for his cancer, he spent the last eight months of his life trying to treat it with fru-fru kook/snake oil. Acupuncture and the like.
A shame. I wonder if he'd be alive now if he'd gone to an actual doctor.
A shame. I wonder if he'd be alive now if he'd gone to an actual doctor.
TheL8Elvis
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Hmm. I feel the need to interject the whole fanboi/cult thing belies actual number of ipods/iphones/ipads sold in the last few years, and the impossibility that all those who buy them are all simply part of the 'cult of mac'.
I'm not an apple hater. I'm not even a Windows person. When I'm talking about cult I mean the cult of products. People obsess over their iPhone or iPad not over Apple. I have many relatives that are like, "you have to get the iPod!" when ever I say I have an MP3 player. If its not an iPod its not good enough. All I want is a product that I like, I don't need to be part of the "experience". I like simple and functional, not hype.
Not the last months, but the first months after being informed of cancer. That was a number of years (and operations) ago. No one wants to choose surgery-- most of us are not really given a choice, thankfully.
Kid Eager
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Oh, so you've got an Ipod Shuffle, then?
Nope ... just a simple obsolete generic MP3 player. Works great
.Joey McGee
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Wow I can't stop thinking about this revelation. Mostly because I just finally dived into iPhone and am obsessing about possibly switching to Android. Does anyone have any insight or opinions on what would have happened?
Was Jobs delusional about his contribution to these products? Isn't a handheld computer with 4x5 icons on the home screen that "just works" the most basic thing you'd expect to happen? Or could jobs have doubled or tripled Apple's cash in the bank by destroying Google over Android? Maybe the reason we'll never know is because Jobs was delusional in another way.
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Joey McGee
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The straw that broke the camels back was the fact that I couldn't remove Newsstand from my *********** home screen. This is my HOME dude! I live in my phone. I can't make it my own, I can't use it's potential freely, screw it. I'm not risking a jailbreak, I need my phone working 24 hours a day and I always have a charger+battery on me. This is just not fun enough! Oh yeah and I can't get the same youtube videos on iphone, heavily censored, yeah I'm done.
ETA: If I get an Android and it's got some really brutal stuff that annoys me, I'm just going to customize my own handheld computer no matter what the cost. You know it's coming. Hardcore custom handhelds. Yum. I mean everyone knows we are happiest when we make our dreams like reality and I did not dream of newsstand, let me tell you.
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Travis
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If you really care about Tesla then you need to stop the idiots on the internet that think he invented superweapons, levitating ships, androids and time machines. I can't even hear Tesla's name without these stupid claims coming right into my head.
Tesla: hero of the woo cult that think HAARP creates earthquakes and hurricanes.
Chris L
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Nope ... just a simple obsolete generic MP3 player. Works great
I have one of those too. Cost me about $25 a few years back and it's perfect for what I need it to do. I can load what I want on it without going through the piece of crap-ware (on a Windows machine anyway) that is iTunes, and I can even replace the battery if I want to. For me, it just works.
The thing is though, I'm not most people. I don't mind messing with meta data and I don't mind keeping a stash of AAA batteries around. I'll also be the first one to admit that my MP3 player isn't much to look at.
For people with different needs and priorities than mine, the iPod (in it's various forms) is just the thing. It looks goods, works well within the Apple eco-system, and the UI is just outstanding. Making sure those three things were included in Apple's consumer electronics was part of Job's genius.
tyr_13
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Wow I can't stop thinking about this revelation. Mostly because I just finally dived into iPhone and am obsessing about possibly switching to Android. Does anyone have any insight or opinions on what would have happened?
Was Jobs delusional about his contribution to these products? Isn't a handheld computer with 4x5 icons on the home screen that "just works" the most basic thing you'd expect to happen? Or could jobs have doubled or tripled Apple's cash in the bank by destroying Google over Android? Maybe the reason we'll never know is because Jobs was delusional in another way.
A few months ago I started selling cell phones as my company added it to the electronic's section. So when the store is dead I play with the booth phones, and research stuff, mostly on Cnet. Thus I've learned a bit about the industry, although I'm no expert despite what they call me at work.
Unless Jobs thought he could have brought down Android with lawsuits, which is extremely unlikely, I don't see a way they could have done it. Android has a lot more hardware choices than iOS, which is something many people want. It's also something Apple would consider 'diluting the brand', so they simply won't do it quickly. With what Apple as a company has been doing, I'd wager (although not much) that a continued barrage of lawsuits against everyone tied to Android would have been the tactic of choice. Although many companies have been litigious of late, spurred on by a messed up patent system and some companies being nothing more than patent trolls (a tactic that Apple has both emulated and lost to recently).
There are a few other differences as well, and while I really like the iPhone 4s, I much prefer Android, especially the Bionic. It's web surfing is simply much, much better, and I like bigger screens. So do a lot of people. I simply don't see a way that Apple could have 'destroyed' Google over this. Hopefully others inside of Apple would have been able to temper Jobs' haterage towards them.
Oh, and the new smart Razr and Galaxy Nexus (if you want a full 720p screen) should be out soon if you're looking for awesome phones to switch too (depending on your carrier).
My last smart phone (before I went back to iPhone last week) was a Droid X. I couldn't get rid of the Blockbuster Video app and several others. Many Sprint phones have NASCAR apps that cannot be removed very annoying.
If those things bother you and you switch to Android you may want to go with one of the Google phones (like the Nexus line). They aren't "skinned".
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
Meh. I just stuck it on my third page, which I never visit anyway. I can't get rid of Stocks either, which I find equally useless. Either stick them on the last page, or whack them in a 'useless crap' folder - either way the things you can't get rid of are easy to ignore.
I also am a little bothered by the deification of Jobs. He had a lot of good ideas, and drove the company in directions other companies didn't think of. It's sad that he's gone, especially under the circumstances. But he wasn't Jesus. He was a guy who had some good ideas and knew how to implement them. He made a lot of money. Good on him. Let's remember him for that.
Well I can't stop the idiots or conspiracy theorists. But, maybe if schools taught the reality we would have less of it (I had never even heard of the man until college). I mean we have the modern age because of the man and he gets no credit. AC makes the world go round. Radio communication helped change the world. Florescent lights are only now getting their due. His range of ideas and ingenuity set the stage for many of our modern technologies. He was a true visionary.
.TheL8Elvis
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People obsess over their iProducts because they are simple and functional.
Yes, apple has great marketing. But few things can survive on great marketing alone. Perhaps iProducts are one of them, but I don't think so. There actually is a reason beyond marketing that apple products do well. If you want stereotype the starbucks drinking macbook hipster, I agree there is some cult there. But things like iphone, ipad, macbook air have mass appeal because they are great products, and designed to be functional for the great unwashed.
Steve Jobs may have had a lot of flaws , but it certainly seems like many of his 'visions' seem to be pretty spot on. Take the Macbook air, for example. Look where companies like intel are going with it:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/sponsors-of-tomorrow/ultrabook.html . Is Intel part of the cult, too ? Or is the cult driving Intel towards 'ultrabooks' ? Just marketing hype ?
Joey McGee
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I do have a useless crap folder. The thing that pissed me off is that it won't go into there either. It demands to be there. It is on the last page now, of course, but every once in awhile i accidentally slip too far and there it is, a sign of disrespect right in my face.
Yeah it behooves us all to learn from the real man, from the real contributions, but the wishful thinking part of the masses gets the best of them. "Hey if everyone is just like Jobs everything will be awesome like Apple lets worship him!" I checked out a bit of a recent event @Google with thich nhat hanh, and I was reminded of this soooo many times...
Joey McGee
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This is good information. I want hardware and data service, if this is how they need to make their money, I will pay extra to not have this scummy practice pushed on me. I want ultimate control, I want to feel like I don't have to see or feel anything I don't like, I want a weapon, a tool.
This is just getting ridiculous now. Today I tried to delete a song out of my iphone because it keeps coming up on shuffle. I need to connect it to my computer and use itunes to do that. I know, it's *********** pathetic.