

Stephen Fry meets Steve Jobs - danh
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1976935,00.html

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tomerico
Notable quote:

 _"Will you perhaps leave Apple on this high, a fitting end to your career
here?" "I don't think of my life as a career," he says. "I do stuff. I respond
to stuff. That's not a career — it's a life!"_

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Luc
Worth reading for the anecdotes and Stephen's wonderful writing style alone,
but here's a key point I sometimes need reminding of (apologies for the long
quote):

 _What Ive and his team understand is that if you have an object in your
pocket or hand for hours every day, then your relationship with it is
profound, human and emotional. Apple's success has been founded on consumer
products that address this side of us: their products make users smile as they
reach forward to manipulate, touch, fondle, slide, tweak, pinch, prod and
stroke._

 _If you are immune to that kind of thing, or you think it somehow weak,
pretentious, artsy-fartsy or unbusinesslike, then there are enough functional
objects in the market for you. But you might consider this: from the starting
point of delight, detail, finish, polish and design come not, it seems,
shallow high-end toys for the affluent but increasingly products that are ...
well, awesomely functional._

~~~
gizmo
Interesting, I thought that was perhaps the weakest paragraph in the otherwise
excellent article (I was amazed at how good a writer Fry has become.)

I don't think it's about a profound, human and emotional bond with an iPad or
any electronic device. It should be like the bond you have with a good book:
it should allow for perfect _immersion_.

When immersed in a book time flies by, you don't even remember flipping pages
or finishing chapters... there's a direct stream of consciousness from the
book to your brain. I think _that_ is what a good computing device should also
offer, and every time your computer gets in the way that bubble bursts and
you're violently thrown back into reality.

It takes a lot of computer experience before you can deftly sidestep every
error message the computer throws at you, so you can continue on your work
without missing a beat. We (programmers/enthusiasts) have been able to do that
for ages, but most people don't even know it's even _possible_ to work with a
computer without getting frustrated.

Immersion is the name of the game, and the iPad might just get that right.

~~~
mortenjorck
I'm not kidding here when I say I do believe you've hit upon the profound,
central truth of the iPad.

It's not about the fact that it's a tablet. It could have been any form
factor, even been a desktop computer with a mouse; the tablet form factor just
helps it in this central regard: It's about abstracting every last thing, to
the best of its designers' and engineers' abilities, away from your task at
hand. The goal is nothing short doing things with all the help of a computer
and none of the hindrance.

~~~
joe_the_user
Well, I'm skeptical whether one can abstract form away so much...

If, _just supposing_ , an item which seems amazingly functional and compliant
after five minutes gives you a headache, a sore write _and_ pain in the lower
back after twenty minutes ... then would there still be _none of the
hindrance_?

~~~
cubicle67
There's a few reviews out now, and in most of them the iPad never seemed to
leave the reviewers side. I think in the BoingBoing review (but I'm not going
back to re-read it) the review (can't remember her name) claimed to have been
using the iPad for 12 hours straight.

I don't recall reading a review where the reviewer complained about the
problems you've stated here

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daleharvey
"One melancholy thought occurs as my fingers glide and flow over the surface
of this astonishing object: Douglas Adams is not alive to see the closest
thing to his Hitchhiker's Guide that humankind has yet devised."

I find this pretty touching, when I first read the hitchhikers guide I
remember the excitement of owning a guide, while I doubt I will get an ipad,
if I do, it will certainly have a "dont panic" cover

~~~
BigZaphod
And... here you go: <http://mantia.me/wallpaper/dont-panic/> :)

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gxs
I think the one of the most telling nuggets in that piece is from designer
Jonathan Ive:

"For us, it is all about refining and refining until it seems like there's
nothing between the user and the content they are interacting with"

Also, as someone with experience in quantitative marketing, the following
quote made a lot of sense as well. In my opinion, quantitative marketing and
analytics are great tools, and as we've seen in both sports and business,
people use them do have an advantage. Again, however, in my opinion these
tools are too reactionary and don't leave as much room for creative thought.

"It's not for us to predict what others will do," Ive says. "We have to
concentrate on what we think is right and offer it up."

You gotta give it to jobs, that Ive guy is obviously incredibly bright and
Jobs takes credit for finding him too.

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OliverM
As something of a Fry fanboy I get the sense that the Time sub-editors did
some serious work on that article. Much of the tone remains but the progress
and overall rhythm of the piece seem off-kilter from what I'd expect.

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blazamos
_"I have met five British Prime Ministers, two American Presidents, Nelson
Mandela, Michael Jackson and the Queen. My hour with Steve Jobs certainly made
me more nervous than any of those encounters."_

~~~
philwelch
I can't remember where, but I remember reading one piece where the person said
making eye contact with Steve Jobs was like looking directly into the sun.

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philwelch
Kind of a frightening photo of Jobs with that story, too.

