
Steve Jobs came within a song of going to the Moon - evo_9
http://www.cringely.com/2012/10/03/steve-jobs-came-within-a-song-of-going-to-the-moon/
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columbo
The fun part about reading articles like this is it leaves the reader to play
armchair Steve Jobs based more on their own opinion of what they think Steve
Jobs was trying to say.

Did he say this because he wanted to see what sort of energy the team had?

An expensive yet utterly lackluster song from a famous director might signal a
company that has no real vision.

An inexpensive cheap sound-tech song might signal a team willing to just
follow directions and not think.

A comically bad song might indicate a team that isn't serious.

A song from one of Steve's favorite artists might signal a team too eager to
please.

Personally, if it was me and I was given another chance I would have gone all
out, win or die style and begged/pleaded/bribed someone of actual real world
talent to come in and play _during_ the next presentation. Someone with a
unique style and talent, real world fame would be absolutely immaterial since
Steve has already met everyone famous. Someone like Kaki King
(<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UqV_5rVTNc>).

~~~
ziadbc
Part of being a good communicator is being relatable. This worked so well with
Steve because his results spoke for themselves. The is the important detail
for anyone who wants to emulate his style. He was given the privilege of
communicating like a visionary because of the results he achieved, not the
other way around.

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noonespecial
Pretty sure Steve was just saying no. If it wasn't the music, it would have
been something else.

Steve had a way of saying that ideas weren't good enough until suddenly they
were... but then they were his.

~~~
6ren
But that way of saying wasn't usually diplomatic. The whole thing sounds
cheerfully implausible to me.

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jere
Perhaps he was a song away.

But not _that_ song.

~~~
alanfalcon
Watch Star Wars sometime without the John Williams. Perhaps it would still
have had impact at the time, I don't know, but it wouldn't have been the
lasting impact it has had. The right music legitimizes and greatly
strengthens.

~~~
jere
Agreed, but this isn't John Williams. Frankly, it sounds like muzak. I don't
know exactly what Jobs would have said, but I'm pretty sure his taste was more
discriminating than that.

At first I figured it was probably a masterful composer who just wasn't
putting a lot of effort into this one-off music video. But then I realize
David Feinman's most recognized work is probably "Ace Ventura - When Nature
Calls": <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1026545/>

Are you fucking kidding me? You're trying to score a moon landing and trying
to impress Steve Jobs and... you bring out the composer to an Ace Ventura
_sequel_?!?

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snorkel
I think Cringley missed the subtlety of "come back with music" is a nice way
of saying "your pitch sucks"

~~~
jere
Subtlety? Are we thinking of the same Steve Jobs?

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alanfalcon
Good luck, Cringely. Can't imagine any realistic and high probablility mission
that cheap wouldn't already be funded, but what do I know.

~~~
Apocryphon
I'd think that there are a couple other tech magnates besides Jobs and Gates
that Cringely could contact.

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nachteilig
Cringely is such a hack.

~~~
rdl
Same guy who said: 1) Tim Cook would be fired by the end of the year (where it
appears Tim Cook is still one of the best CEOs in the world right now; the
biggest problem with Apple is their legacy war with Google left over from
Steve Jobs) 2) IBM's problem was mistreating their US unionized employees

etc.

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JohnBooty
My first reaction was that this was incredibly lame of Steve: "I like music,
so I won't consider any pitches without music!"

After I thought about it, I think it's probably more likely that Steve thought
they needed a pitch with more popular appeal if they were going to attract
enough other investors and generate enough public interest for it to be worth
putting Apple's name on.

Or not. By all accounts Steve was pretty direct, and if all he said was "come
back with music" maybe he wasn't thinking of anything besides wanting to hear
a song. :)

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jcfrei
only in the valley will people take you seriously when you're telling them you
wanna go to the moon...

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lines
Note that by "going to the moon" he actually means "sponsoring a robot to go
to the moon"...

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justinph
This is satire, right? Please tell me this is a joke.

~~~
ktizo
This is a joke.

