

Why We Need Steve Jobs - edw519
http://www.newsweek.com/id/203361/output/print

======
augustus
I have to agree with the Article.

Jobs is truly a visionary when it comes to technology. The article is not
really clear on why he is unique. Here's my perspective.

Steve Jobs has the unique ability to see where the next big technology
opportunity is.

Look at his track record - Apple II, Macintosh GUI, Pixar, iPod and now the
iPhone.

Walt Disney is the only other visionary I can think of that could repeat his
success - animated cartoons (took advantage of TV's) and theme parks.

I don't consider myself a fan boy just a student of business and technology.

~~~
jimbokun
"Apple II, Macintosh GUI, Pixar, iPod and now the iPhone"

Have to admit, that's one hell of a score card.

Gates can take credit (as much credit as Jobs gets for above) for Windows,
Office, and XBox. Then I'm sure Thomas Watson gets credited for some insane
amount of stuff during his time running IBM.

Any other technology leader deserve to be in the above conversation, in terms
of overseeing products with an outsize influence on the industry?

~~~
weegee
Macintosh GUI was pioneered at Xerox PARC, not at Apple. But Steve was smart
enough to see the value in it and bring it into the marketplace with the Lisa.
The Lisa flopped, and over in another building there was a team developing
Macintosh. Steve got involved and the rest is history.

~~~
redrobot5050
And the original design for the macintosh was utter trash and it wouldn't have
even made the history books. The idea behind it was supposed to be a "toaster
with an friendly interface". It would be like doing a $300 netbook, but with
1980s technology. It was going to compete with the Atari, not IBM.

Cut and Paste made the Macintosh. Double-clicking made the Macintosh.
Beautiful (for the time) typography defined the Macintosh. The "Start-up"
chime. The Fast boot sequence. The abandoning of legacy 5.25" floppies. All of
these design decisions were Steve's. And love it or leave it, he made
something remarkable and lasting. Something that inspires people to sign on
for the "cult of mac".

~~~
weegee
well I was 15 years old when my dad bought our Mac, the Mac 512k. I thought it
was a brilliant design, it easily fit on a desktop, was portable from room to
room, it had a gorgeous display (compared to other computers at the time), and
it came with a good word processing (MacWrite) app and a fun graphics app
(MacPaint). I think making the computer small made it easier to approach for a
lot of other people. You know, less intimidating. I've read quite a few books
about the Mac, and they had their eyes on IBM, not Atari, as their primary
competitor. And I think we have to credit Jef Raskin for a lot of the design
decisions, after all, he was the one who started the Macintosh project in the
first place, although his original vision for it was more like a netbook than
what it eventually became. I still have my Mac Plus at home, sitting in a box,
and it still works perfectly as it has since 1989 when I got it before
entering university. It's the same form factor as the original Macintosh, and
it's a design icon in the computer world.

------
dinkumthinkum
This article is just utter trash. I usually stay away from "technology
reporting" in the "traditional media," and this is a great reason why.

The author is simply a cheerleader for Apple. I was expecting an actual
argument as to why Apple "needs Jobs back now." The author even uses the
language used to deride Jobs (Dear Leader, etc) but nonetheless succumbs to
the propaganda.

As far as this line from the article:

"I would go farther and argue that not only does Apple need Steve Jobs—the
world needs him. In an age when the pace of technology innovation keeps
accelerating so much that we often feel overwhelmed, we need someone who can
package new technology, make it accessible to us, and deliver it to us in a
way that makes it simple, useful, and reliable."

I find less cult-like propaganda in Scientology commericals than this drivel.

Also, not to defend Microsoft but to engage in a FUD campaign by stating that
their latest _beta_ OS because it supposedly crashed is totally ridiculous and
bias does not begin to describe it.

I think to those not already converted (not "switchers," but those converted
to the Apple/Steve Jobs cult) this article is just totally laughable.

~~~
pohl
One would be wise to not take the article at face-value. It is written by
Daniel Lyons, famous for his parody of Apple fanaticism in the now-defunct
blog Fake Steve Jobs. When Steve took ill, Daniel quit that blog and attempted
to start one under his real name, and it was one of the most spectacular
flameouts I've ever seen on the web.

The guy can be a great writer at times, but I wouldn't trust him to be
genuine.

~~~
dinkumthinkum
I was vaguely familiar with that. To me that kind of stuff is basically 4chan
jibberish.

The problem with this position, for me, is that all of those kinds of
justifications are irrelevant as this is a Newsweek article. As well if this
was such a sarcasm or parody, I would expect a little more of it and more wit.
Here, it is just "Bad argument... prattle prattle ... Windows 7 crashed ..."

~~~
pohl
I'm not sure I understand your use of the word 'justification'. (I'm don't
know anything about 4chan or what someone there might try to justify.) I was
certainly not trying to make apologies for the author by warning you away from
the apparent meaning of the text. Quite the opposite: I thought the article
had no value whatsoever - but because of the subtext and the context.

------
arrrg
I'm not all that sure whether many people really always buy the newest and
greatest Apple stuff. Those who really buy the 3GS even if they already own
the 3G seem to me to be a rather crazy fringe group. I want to use my MBP for
5+ years. I feel no desire whatsoever to get the latest and greatest. Sure,
that's only me, but in the article it's also only Lyons and consequently his
claims are not much more than a cute little anectode.

~~~
jimbokun
The number is certainly not zero.

I worked alongside a consultant once who was in love with all things Windows.
He really knew it well, was on top of all things Windows development, and did
a good job developing Windows apps, as far as I could tell (I was the one
developing in Java on my Mac).

Every time a new iPod would come out, he would immediately sell the model he
had, and buy the new one, without exception (this was pre-iPhone).

If you always want the latest and greatest in terms of consumer electronics,
you almost have no choice but to buy each new Apple product. Jobs is a big
part of making Apple the must-have brand for the early adopter consumer with
an ample wallet.

------
Tichy
"PC on which I'm running the beta version of Windows 7"

I'm sorry, but it is people like him who give Apple fans a bad name.

~~~
physcab
It's true though. I've had my Macbook for a few years and my roommate has had
his for 5. I can't remember a time when it broke down. On the other hand, my
sister has a Dell, my co-worker has a Dell, both of which have lost keys on
the keyboard, have weird noises you can't turn off, runs slow as shit, and
can't be repaired without an accompanying traumatic experience in customer
service.

~~~
Tichy
This wasn't what my comment was about, but I can't resist: sorry, but
EVERYBODY I know who has a Mac had problems with it at some point or other. I
recently bought a MacBook because of iPhone dev, and sure enough, I'll have to
let it serviced because the line out connector is broken. Even though it is
within warranty, it will cost me several days without the MacBook just because
of a crappy headphone jack. They won't even order the replacement part in
advance, so it costs me another day to bring in the MacBook, wait for them to
check if it is really broken, then come back a couple of days later when the
part has arrived. If that isn't bad service, what is?

I never had problems with any other non-Apple notebook or PC - seriously, not
even a crashed hard disk. (Edit: to clarify, I agree that this is all
anecdotal evidence, I just wanted to counterpoint the "all non-Macs fail"
story)

Also I don't know what Dell customer trauma you are talking about - maybe they
should have paid for the next day on location service then? Would still have
been cheaper than a Mac Notebook, and more efficient. To be cheap and then
complain is idiotic.

Of course they probably bought shitty consumer notebooks from Dell. Rule:
always buy from the business line (this goes for all companies). (Note: I
despise this practice of offering trashy consumer devices, Apple really scores
against the competition in that respect).

~~~
bretthoerner
It's always anecdotes and random chance when it comes to "X's hardware sucks!"

I've had lots of hardware that failed: HPs, Dells, Seagates, Western Digitals,
Apples, and just about everything else. For day-to-day use I still (
_currently_ ) prefer Apple and OS X... to each their own.

~~~
davidw
> It's always anecdotes and random chance when it comes to "X's hardware
> sucks!"

You're right that all companies probably produce bad and good stuff over time.
From a business point of view, I think the ability to get a given level of
service is much more important. I.e., failure, sooner or later, is a given.
How are they going to help you deal with it?

------
bonsaitree
More like Mr. Lyons needs filler material. Now.

Dan (Can I call you Dan? Maybe you prefer faux-Steve?) Please don't come back
until you can bring some actual insight to the table.

Next.

------
nopal
How is a beta of Windows 7 expected to be as reliable as a released version of
OS X?

I'm a Mac user, and I much prefer OS X to Windows (XP/Vista), but, come on,
what a weak anecdote!

~~~
cnlwsu
anecdotes like these are always kinda painful to read... even a lot of
comments it seems on here tend towards them however.

    
    
      "I hate microsoft.  The other day I tried windows 7, it 
      sucked and I know a lot of people who had problems too."
    

these irrational fanboys (of all types) need to die in a fire. (bye karma
points, it was worth it)

------
moe
Apple kool-aid at its best.

~~~
froo
No doubt.

I saw "Daniel Lyons" under the title and the first thing that came to mind
after seeing that and the title was "Why's that? So you can start writing FSJ
blog posts again?"

... I then read the article and I suspect I wasn't far off the mark.

~~~
jcdreads
FSJ did, in fact, start posting again last week.

~~~
froo
_"FSJ did, in fact, start posting again last week."_

I rest my case then...

------
donaldc
I do think the article was a bit much.

At the same time, I notice that during Steve Jobs's absence, the iphone mostly
just treaded water, making only fairly incremental improvements to the same
basic functionality. A few more years of this and Apple will lose its edge. So
Apple certainly needs Steve Jobs, or someone else to fill his role, even if
the rest of us don't.

------
mcantelon
This naive view that only the leaders, not the people that design and create
the products, is the kind of stunted thinking that led us into this recession.

