Steve Jobs 1955-2011

[judicata]

The world has lost a true visionary.

I have been (and still am) critical of many of apple's (and Jobs's) decisions (even though I'm typing this on an iPhone). But when I heard the news I, like many, was deeply saddened. If I had 256 years, I could never accomplish half of what he has. And as much as I tried, I couldn't hold back a tear. Although calling him a visionary is almost cliche at this point, it couldn't be more apt. Is it cliche to call Thomas Edison an inventor? Einstein a genius?

And the death of how many CEOs or entrepreneurs would inspire thousands to mourn by laying flowers at retail stores and other places?

Rest in peace, sir.

[goddess]

I am deeply saddened by the death of Steve Jobs. As I type this I am wearing a black sweater and a pair of blue jeans. I had to honor Steve today. I've been a bit weepy all day. I feel a real sense of loss.

Terri

[daniel_the_smith]

No one else managed to consistently deliver tomorrow's technology to people today.

RIP

[tj86430]

Just in case you hadn't seen this already: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

[SoDesuNe]

Even though I never bought anything from Apple because I found and still find it heavily overpriced and not even top-notch when competitors arise, it was and hopefully still will be Apple which dares to take the first step on a new and unknown route; because as it is of today, I don't know a second company or a second man or woman whose vision changed our perception of nowadays technology so enormously as Apple and Steve Jobs did.

So farewell my everyday stranger, you sure perpetuated yourself a long time ago since you knew that every day could be your last.


iRIP.

[RobertJasiek]

As a happy Windows user, I am not well informed about Apple, except that I see the designs and use a mouse. I am curious though: After his early PC period, did Jobs have all those "visions" or were they attributed to him but invented by others from the company? IMO, the visions are exaggerated. E.g., Apple did not invent tablets. Rather the iPad was the first tablet of the "like this it should be done" quality (if we ignore the Apple-specific design restrictions, eh, features like a missing direct access to the file system and I ignore for the moment the mirroring screen). Rather than being astonished about Apple, I am much more astonished that the many other companies didn't and still don't create that "like this it should be done" quality for tablets. It is so incredible that only one company should be able to invent a beautiful design. Are there no other good designers in other companies? Or was it just Job's manager quality to approve the right designs while the competitors have the worse managers?

[judicata]

Robert, my contrarian friend, perhaps there are exaggerations in the media, but I've never thought that Jobs invented everything, or didn't stand on others' shoulders. So did edison and einstein. For example, in the early days, Wozniak designed the technical stuff. But "the Woz" himself put the Einstein/edison comparisons on my mind this morning. In an interview someone asked him what he thought of a comment that Jobs was this generation's Einstein. Woz politely said it probably wasn't accurate, not that Jobs did have the intelligence, but because he was an entrepreneur-not a scientist; he offered Edison as a better, though imperfect comparison. Jobs didn't invent the digital audio player, the smart phone, or the tablet. But, wow, he impacted the nature of those devices so significantly, I might have to say he "reinvented" them, even though I hate that overused term. No, he didn't design the circuits (as far as I know), but there can be no dispute that his vision shaped those products and shape howany people view technology today. Although I've disagreed with parts of his vision, and for a time considered him part evil, I have since realized he had vision of a perfection, and many decisions I disliked were not an attempt at world domination, but of perfection. At the end of the interview, Wozniak said he wished he had died instead of Jobs.

In any event, I think it an appropriate time to reflect on the man's accomplishments.

[jts]

Are there no other good designers in other companies? Or was it just Job's manager quality to approve the right designs while the competitors have the worse managers?

Whether or not Robert is a contrarian, I take it this is the real question. What I've read in the past was that Jobs insisted that products be designed first for their aesthetic and ergonomic qualities, and that these designs were then passed on to engineers, etc., who were to make the look and feel of that design come to life, whatever the cost. (I don't know anything about the design and manufacture of electronic gadgets, but the article implied that the reverse is or was true at other firms - first the engineers design a product that does something, then the designers are presented with the almost-finished product and told to make it prettier and more usable.)

[hyperpape]

What many of Jobs' admirers say is that he has amazing "negative taste"--the ability to look at something and find all the flaws, combined with an unwillingness to release anything he considers flawed. There was one incident where he was displaying third party technology on stage and his disgust was palpable. You might read John Siracusa's article "Hypercritical". Other companies release crap because "they have to" and slowly get used to software and hardware being bad, so that they're blind to it.

The other point I'd make is that it's not just "design" in the sense of something that's layered over underlying functionality. Design is how it works, what it does. The iPad's lack of user-accessible filesystem is a perfect example. It is a brilliant choice for a tablet, and without it, the iPad would have been vastly less successful.

[cyclops]

.....that Jobs insisted that products be designed first for their aesthetic and ergonomic qualities, and that these designs were then passed on to engineers, etc., who were to make the look and feel of that design come to life, whatever the cost.

Great idea! First designers design a time machine ( preferably was an undo button ) and then they pass it to the engineers. Or a perpetuum mobile. Or a gold producing machine. Or an ultra c plane.

[daal]

I found this clip almost as inspiring as Araban's signature (which made me feel for a moment that I wouldn't even buy an i-timemachine - but then I realized how cool I'd look pulling it out of my breast pocket).