OSDev.org

Can we please quit this bickering before a mod appears.

Anyway, I personally saw Steve as a visionary, sure I didn't quite agree with the pricing of Macs, but they were (for quite a while) innovators in user interface design, and the hardware did Just Work [TM], which is what almost all users want.

Rest in peace, Steve. You will be missed, both as a person and as a target for ire.

piranha wrote:

hardware did Just Work [TM], which is what almost all users want.

I always hear about how Apple products "Just Work", but whenever I use them they fail in some way. And I'm not doing anything wrong...i don't know, maybe I'm cursed.

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."
- Douglas Adams (who was, in fact, a big Apple enthusiast)

Steve Jobs was a hell of a business man, regardless of people's views about him or Apple. He pretty much brought Apple back from the grave, not simply by ruthlessly cost cutting or selling the cheapest product but by providing a product good enough to demand a price premium. That's a rare talent in the business world. Yeah the odd cult of personality some apple fanatics tend to exhibit is pretty funny, but you see the same thing with anything that's popular (like Halo). Like him or not the man was an integral part of getting the PC market, music and cellphone market to where it is today and it's appropriate to at least recognize his contributions posthumously.

Some of these posts should be removed from here. This thread is about Steve Jobs and his passing; please respect that.

Steve Jobs co-founded one of the greatest innovators in the industry (Apple) and helped it grow to what it has become. It is very unfortunate that he has left so soon. Condolences to his family and friends. He will be missed.

So, what about that Steve Jobs guy? He dead good, eh?

EDIT: Ah, crap, I didn't read the last post; neon beat me to it.

berkus wrote:You should understand that in 1997 Apple was on a brink of destruction, and even massive layoffs by Gil Amelio before Jobs didn't improve things radically. They had to stop everything, focus, and concentrate on revitalizing themselves. This is what Steve did perfectly.

I believe Apple nowadays has more philantropic programs running than ever before.

I believe that in the last month or so Tim Cook has restarted a certain level of corporate philanthropy at Apple. This is essentially a post-Steve-Jobs-era move, however.

Stopping said activities in 1997 made a great deal of sense - but Steve Jobs came under a great deal of criticism for not restarting them despite the huge economic success of Apple, and for a very low level of personal philanthropy (especially compared with others such as Bill Gates).

SDS wrote:...a very low level of personal philanthropy (especially compared with others such as Bill Gates).

Bill Gates discovered his philantrophic side only after being one of the wealthiest people, and one of the most ruthless businessmen alive, for quite some time...

It's easy to be generous if you're the head of Standard Oil or the East India Company.

Solar wrote:

SDS wrote:...a very low level of personal philanthropy (especially compared with others such as Bill Gates).

Bill Gates discovered his philantrophic side only after being one of the wealthiest people, and one of the most ruthless businessmen alive, for quite some time...

It's easy to be generous if you're the head of Standard Oil or the East India Company.

Gates is certainly not the type of guy to 'give until it hurts' either.

Solar wrote:
Bill Gates discovered his philantrophic side only after being one of the wealthiest people, and one of the most ruthless businessmen alive, for quite some time...

Yeah. And on the other side of this autocratic hold, Steve Jobs stood as a different personality.

I was in Ireland when I heard on the TV that Steve Jobs is dead.
I really respect what he has done - he built up Apple twice, founded Pixar and therefore brought us fully computer-animated movies like Toy Story.
I'm really impressed what influence this man had on our modern world. R.I.P.

I remember it was morning, I just woke up, and I heard he died, I first thought it was a joke. Even though he only lived 56 years, he accomplished more then a man would in 100 years.

darkinsanity wrote:... founded Pixar and therefore brought us fully computer-animated movies like Toy Story...

While he did a lot, Pixar was founded as part of Lucasfilm and was later bought by Steve Jobs. At the time its primary business was selling the Pixar Image Computer - which appealed to Steve Jobs' hardware tendencies, and he was not primarily interested in the animation side until after Disney had confirmed that they would distribute Toy Story.

This article made me lol. Just 'cause RMS is so much of a lunatic I love him even though he lives with the fairies.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/briancaulfi ... -go-there/

I have a theory that there's a high correlation between being an A-grade d*ckhead and a genius. This goes for RMS as well as Jobs. A lot of the personality traits of the former contribute the latter - selfishness, arrogance, narcissism are the cons of focus, confidence and pride.

But as always, when someone dies it is a time for remembering their virtues rather than iterating their flaws. You'd think that would be obvious.

bonch wrote:I have a theory that there's a high correlation between being an A-grade d*ckhead and a genius. This goes for RMS as well as Jobs. A lot of the personality traits of the former contribute the latter - selfishness, arrogance, narcissism are the cons of focus, confidence and pride.

With unfortunate frequency.

The few laudable exceptions die with even less attention payed by the world at large. When Jay Miner, creator of several of the chips that fueled the 1980'ies home computer craze, passed away in 1994, I don't think anyone outside the Amiga community took notice. He was a kind and friendly man, brain and heart of what made Amiga Inc. (1982-1984) such a special place, and the Amiga such a special design.