atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories Steve Jobs resigns

https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/us-apple-idUSTRE77N82K20110824


I've got many thoughts about him, his business and how this information has been disseminated, but I'll leave that for a later post.

No one can fault his success, thats for sure. Now at least maybe there is a slim chance I can eventually play flash on my ipad!!

I wouldn't count on any Adobe product coming to the Apple table for a while. But maybe I'm full of it....

My problem with Jobs has largely to do with his ego. I want to admire him (I kinda grew up with him AND I've certainly met him face to face), but he's not a very nice guy (I have friends who work at Apple that can easily confirm this). I don't wish anything ill on him as it's obvious that he's fighting demons. But c'mon--what's going to be his legacy? iTunes?

Even George Lucas, who has suffered horribly because of Hollywood's games, has the GLEF or George Lucas Educational Foundation. Bill Gates and his wife have the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. What does Jobs have?

Nothing. Cause he's a greedy dickhead.

I don't want him to die nor do I wish him any ill will. But were I to have such an impression on the generation that I grew up with, I would consider putting together something more than a thin, sexy, glassy tablet (or dictate to artists how much their songs are worth).

He IS a shaker/mover, but I don't think he will leave behind as much a favorable impression as he would like, IMHO. Actually, my opinion isn't humble--IMO.

you do make a good point here. If more men in high places would worry about making the world a bit better than how much money or power they have..... (politicians..are you listening??)

The sad thing about Steve Jobs is he is dying of cancer. Something you never want to wish on anyone. He does have all the money in the world and has a huge ego. But the man is a genius and will go down as one of the biggest innovators of our time. I will pray for him and his family. Cancer sucks!

We don't wish any ill health on Steve Jobs. Like you said, its not something to wish on anybody. I don't even think Jobs is driven by greed, but rather by ego. I think he embraced the unconventional thinking and being the dark horse. Now that Apple is worth more than any other company, seems he was doing a few things right... now, if they will just let me do flash on my ipad.....

There was a power outage Thursday night and the owner at work's iMac took a crap. Coincidence? LOL

Really? Unless you know him personally seems a bit harsh. Do a little research and you will find Apple was one of the first companies to donate PC's to primary education, year after year. Doing this back in the day when they were a pretty unstable and a fledgling company. Keep in mind that Apples real wealth is directly correlated to the release of the iphone and that was just a few years back.

My wife has been a teacher for 23 years. I lived through the Apple "donations", which admittedly were perhaps spoiled or otherwise screwed up by a top-heavy educational system. But for those in the know (and I'm sure I'll sound like a know-it-all pig here), Apple's interest in "education" had far more to do with future prospects than it did with making kids smarter.

My measure of philanthropy has a lot to do with how vocal someone is about it. I'm willing to bet that most know very little about either the GLEF or how much Gates gave to Carnegie-Mellon last year alone.

I am harsh--and maybe I'm wrong for doing so. I guess if I were the puppeteer, I would make Mr. Jobs calm down and realize what a great career and fortune he's made (at the expense of MANY others, BTW...trust). And at the end of that calmness, he would worry less about his image and more about his legacy (which really IS kind of an image thing--it's just that others benefit from it as well).

Company profits HAVE been relatively recent. But you seem to forget the story of how Jobs was originally thrown out, replaced by John Sculley (who STILL cannot get an "I'm sorry" in with Jobs) as he takes EVERYTHING personally, and that it was those of the "MacIntosh faith" that kept the company rolling and ultimately brought Jobs back.

I won't dare compare Jobs to Hilter, but if ever there was a modern-day propaganda/man of near-religious fervor, it would be Jobs. And that shit scares me.

Back in the 1990's I was teaching a computer class in a school for challenged students. The room was outfitted with decrepit, old donated Macs, and I remember thinking even then that it was simply an attempt to win over the young so that they would carry the Mac torch in to the future. Who knows, if they hadn't priced themselves out of the game they might have given Microsoft a run for its money.

I remember thinking even then that it was simply an attempt to win over the young so that they would carry the Mac torch in to the future.

EXACTLY! That was always my thinking too. Those weren't philanthropic donations. Get em young- fill the schools with Macs and the students weened on them will be so used to using them they will never want a PC.

Then of course the stupid parents also figured that if all the schools have Macs they had to get them for their kids to use at home.

Crazy like a fox.

-Hal

Without beating up Jobs any further, I think my point has been made.

My only consolation is that I'm in the wrong for demanding that a well-to-do guy MUST give back. Dictating morals isn't normally my style, and I should prolly take a back seat to what Jobs wants to do with his money.

But if I get to vote....

Number of schools (including some high-end universities) that have an unwritten Mac-only policy is absolutely stunning to me...

Whatever Jobs had in mind has most certainly worked on the younger generations...being an old ThinkPad buff, I never bought into any of Apple's concepts.

Run OSX and there's no need to be scared of virii...

Virus scare? What virus scare - I'm a Linux guy.

Fabulous design? Maybe, until you try to upgrade the darn thing...and void your warranty in the process... :shrug:

Beachwood was, when I went there, 75 percent Apple and 25 percent Windows. Staff all had Windows desktops and most of the servers were Dell. There were several Mac servers as well, and all the computer labs had Macs. They have TONS of Apple laptops throughout the district. In the middle school every student gets one to take home with them for the year. It's called the Apple One-to-One program. As you can imagine this is a maintenance nightmare, but they do have insurance on all the laptops. Beachwood has always been big with Apple, like most small-medium sized districts.
Despite learning with and working for the IT department when I was in school, I am a Windows guy through and through (except for my iPhone)

With that type of logic, perhaps GM should donate a bunch of crappy old Citations to some post-pubescent teens. Then just maybe we’ll get our money back when they are old enough to buy those battery operated cars they’re producing now.

Apple most definitely would have been a leader in this game had they released their OS to the many PC manufactures back in the day, but they didn’t so that’s where MS filled the void. I have always been a vocally opposed to Mac, not because I felt the product was inferior, but mainly due to the blind allegiance the anointed and newly converted followers they produced. Mac always seemed like toys where as Windows seemed geared more towards business needs, but looking at both products today I can hardly tell the two apart.

Whatever your reasoning’s for believing Jobs to be a dickhead, one thing seems for sure; … the next time we hear about him will probably be the last.

Wow. I'm so sorry "rustynails". I didn't mean to offend you to the point that it seems you're at. My opinion is just that...add in something in the neighborhood of $3 and you've got yourself an Americano at Starbucks. Take my words with a packet of sugar and forget 'em...'cause words is all they are.

I grew up with Jobs and actually spent time at Wozniak's house (believe it or not). My first machine was an Apple IIc, which I used to dial into an HP3000 mainframe at 300bps. These were the days of peek and poke and light assembly language. I loved my IIc as it was able to do spreadsheets, word processing WITH a spell checker (written by former NASA engineer Paul Litus) and play a handful of games as well...all accomplished on a two-sided 7½ flop.

I too was of "the MacIntosh faith" when Jobs was at the helm. It was and continues to be crazy. Why would someome buy a computer because they like the image of the CEO? Well I did. And I thought the world should too. My Dad brought home a copy of "The Whole Earth Catalog". We loved it so much that we subscribed it throughout in the '70s.

When I heard Steve's reinteration of "Stay hungry, stay foolish" (the line from the back cover of the last edition in 1974), I couldn't help but feel both cool and connected to the guy.

Quite possibly our generations' Henry Ford... RIP!

I also put a post in Phone Booth.
A sad day indeed!

Perhaps we don;t know what he has done as far as phalanthropy. But assuming your words are correct; I wonder how many of those in the "occupy wallstreet" grieved his passing, not as a person, but because he was a really cool guy that was one of the people.

I have an i-phone (work provided) and love it for surfing the web, but hate it when I can't open flash.
Also, if it was up to me, I would still be using an old brick for a phone.

Apple is an image thing and their stuff as of late has been pretty cool (if not well thought out), but from my viewpoint, I hate the stringent, non customizable hardware.
However, motherboards are now all in one (no cards), PC's are built into monitors (I hate that idea), oter smartphones have duplicated the appearance and style of the iphone, and itunes did help (a little - very little) cut down on pirating of music. So maybe they are a bit more thought out than I gave them credit for.

One thing that you can not deny, he was one helluva marketing pioneer. Look at the 1984 commercial. However, that got it wrong...it is the Appleheads that are in the audience now.

Respectfuly RIP Mr. Jobs. I hope you have no regrets, and know that you made a difference in the world.

Say what you want about Steve Jobs...He DID make a ding in the universe. Lucas, nothing since Star-wars and he is still beating that dead horse. Gates, a marginal operating system at best. After 30 years of trying. RIP Jobs!!

Perhaps we don't know what he has done as far as phalanthropy. But assuming your words are correct; I wonder how many of those in the "occupy wallstreet" grieved his passing, not as a person, but because he was a really cool guy that was one of the people.

I've spent a decade working in the industry that Jobs had impacted, and had *never* heard about him being "one of the people"...quite the opposite, from a variety of people who knew him personally.

The "people" don't get on waiting lists for liver transplants in two different states...


One thing that you can not deny, he was one helluva marketing pioneer.

Agreed 10001%.

Respectfuly RIP Mr. Jobs. I hope you have no regrets, and know that you made a difference in the world. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Amen.

Last post from me on this topic:

First, I apologize to those who were offended by my strong language. I'll leave it that I have met him, have friends who work for him, spent time at DeAnza College when Jobs and Woz were there, was once a personal friend of Woz AND lived through the whole damn thing. My opinion counts big time, but I'm aware that I may have come off half-cocked...especially after saying what I said and then having experienced his passing so shortly thereafter.

I'm sorry.

Having said that, let's get a couple things clear about history.

• Steve Jobs nor Apple invented the mouse, the laser printer or the "windows" operating system...XEROX did. End of story. Apple licensed it from XEROX, which is the reason they had no grounds against HP or Microsoft at the time when the "look and feel" arguments came to light in court.

• Steve Jobs nor Apple had much to do with Pixar (other than a cash infusion). The company was started by George Lucas back in 1984. It was called "The Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Project" and was headed by Bill Reeves (programmer), John Lasseter (ex-Disney animator), Eben Ostby (a personal friend who WROTE the damn software...now called 'Renderman' and is an industry standard), Rob Cook and Alvy Ray Smith. If those names don't ring a bell, then you have absolutely no room to comment about Pixar. End of story.

They originally sold computer "medical imaging" equipment that was put out in cubed-shaped boxes they called Pixars. Two sides of the unit had "dimples" in the sheet metal, which I personally saw manufactured, and that square with dimple in the middle became Pixar's first logo. Only later after 'research and development' in the animation industry did the logo change to the Luxor lamp. I was also privvy to Pixar's involvement with rendering 3D models of landscape (created from early satellite images) for the U.S. Government. They were fed into flight sims for practice runs over no-fly zones. Shut up, now.


• Steve Jobs could NOT have done it without Wozniak, the ugly stepchild of the computer industry. Yes he's fat and he's a big ol' nerd, but I've spent time with him AT HIS HOUSE and find that he's a pretty down-to-Earth guy. I've played video games with him. I've also stood there in his living room and watched the fish go by in his underground pond while he played acoustic guitar. Please don't tell me about Apple.

• Steve Jobs had plenty of failures...the "Lisa" being just one of them. What a piece of shit.

• The iWhatever interface WAS NOT invented by Jobs or Apple, it was invented by a Japanese man named Hahn. Those things you call "gestures", the concept of an accelerometer, the intuitive GUI interface...none of this is new.


Did Gates make anything new? Absolutely not. He stole more from Peter Norton, XEROX/Apple, Kildall, IBM, etc than you could shake a stick at. He is the modern day Thomas Edison--not an original thought, but collects all the bread anyway.

Jobs is no different. Yet somehow he is seen as the poor underdog that had all the innovative ideas. Ain't so. And I guess I'm just bitter because I saw it all and I'm tired of the Apple religious "right" telling me that what I grew up with is wrong. That's why I make my point about philanthropy...it's the one thing that distinguishes these men for me. Some are greedy and some choose to share after they've stolen everything. Jobs chose to be greedy, which is why I'm pissed at him.

Go ahead and be excited about innovation. Just PLEASE remember where it came from and give it the appropriate kudos. Jobs did not change this century. Many people did but Jobs got the credit for it. I'll stand as the ass to correct that thinking if I have to.

Didn't Vertex make semi conductors (programmable eternet chips) for Apple? That is before or after Mitel bought them out? Or am I thinking about some other silicon valley company? I met someone just the other day who retired from there and now travels around in his motor home. He met Jobs on the job or so he says.

You're talking about what is now Xilinx, I think. I could tell you a story about how a chip got cloned by being taped on the bottom of a Frisbee and sent to the adjacent building with the flick of a wrist. The "other building" was a competitor back in the Xilinx daze.

My college roommate Jason, a super smart Jewish kid, had an attorney father who was instrumental in all this crap. The stealing, cloning and reaching for the top was absolutely crazy at that time.

And it WAS a time. One of my college mates went to work for IBM...another at HP (for nearly 80K a year, mind you). I was so lost as to where I was supposed to be that it was all I could do to keep my feet on the ground.

Simulation and modeling dictated whether "three in a line" at Alberson's made economic sense. I wrote code to help San Jose airport bring their planes in on time, but my other buddy upstanded me with some cool ray-tracing shit for the movie biz.

How the hell did I get into the phone world? My UNIX experience landed me a job at a high-end garment company in L.A. where I actually had no interest in working for. But the owner was impressed and offered me some AT&T training in Denver. It's all downhill from there....

Speaking of Unix....I once had a friend named Durwood who many years ago used to work for Bell Labs and while there he created this vary stable yet impossible to understand operating system.

Durwood Kressler?

Durwood H. Neuse. He worked for the Mitre Corp and was behind the COLINGO (Complile ONline and GO)Design Philosophy back in 1964. He worked for NASA for awhile and in was in England years ago where he helped build some kind of national defense network located in underground bunkers. He retired to Williamsburg Va, where he designed his own Unix based reservation system for the Williamsburg Hotel Motel Association. That is where I worked with him.