RIP Steve Jobs

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

I worked with the guy for a while in the 70s & stayed in contact for over 20 years. Smartest guy I ever met.

Died today at 56.

Danimal16 · 10-05-2011, 05:27 PM

Techweenie,

What was he like to work for? What was he like away from the office? from the public eye?

enzo1 · 10-05-2011, 05:30 PM

I was working, my phone chirped , put my hand on it just as my wife told me the news. Didn't know him but.... my knees buckled. I am currently raising my glass of wine to say a toast to Mr. Jobs. Thanks Stevo for everything you've done for me " LONG LIVE APPLE!!!

enzo1 · 10-05-2011, 05:34 PM

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danimal16

Techweenie,

What was he like to work for? What was he like away from the office? from the public eye?

We used to go to the Great Earth restaurant for lunch and honestly, he was just like any other guy. Had a crush on a singer at a local nightspot and wanted advice on how to approach her... wanted a solid, reliable car, though he wasn't really a 'car guy.' He wanted to serve his own intellectual curiosity with experimentation and wasn't terribly money-focused. He wanted enough to allow himself freedom to be a gadget guy. Later, like a lot of people who get money, he wanted to create something lasting and use the power of the company to build 'neat things.' Even at the beginning, he wanted people using Apple products to think of themselves as 'Apple-ing' rather than 'computing.'

He was great to work for, though I worked on marketing while he was in R & D at the time. Laser-focused at work and with zero tolerance for BS or less than 100% from his people. When Forbes interviewed me a few years back, I said his perfectionism made him what today we'd call a 'micromanager.' And of course, they simply wrote that I said he was a micromanager. A fair comment, but not the entire story. He was as hard on himself as he was on others.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

This was the brochure that introduced the Apple II and really set the tone for what the company became.

A few years later, somebody tried to attribute my headline to Leonardo Da Vinci. Flattering.

ckissick · 10-05-2011, 07:59 PM

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Ferdinand Porsche could have said that.

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Steve Jobs are in a league all by themselves. The world is a little less bright today.

herr_oberst · 10-06-2011, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckissick

The world is a little less bright today.

And yet it is brighter than it would have been without his vision and drive!

RIP Steve Jobs.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

I see the Westboro Baptist crazies are targeting his funeral for their lovely picketing. I doubt there will be a conventional or public service, though. Likely some sort of memorial activity for friends/associates.

sketchers356 · 10-06-2011, 08:49 AM

What can possibly be their problem with the guy? Not an apple guy but felt deep sadness when I heard the news.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Margie Phelps (Westboro is basically the Phelps family) announced that Steve had given 'insufficient glory to god as CEO of Apple.'

enzo1 · 10-06-2011, 09:57 AM

actually she 'Twittered" that on her iphone...

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by enzo1

actually she 'Twittered" that on her iphone...

Oh the irony.

craigster59 · craigster59's Garage

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." - Apple Inc.

Seahawk · 10-06-2011, 10:02 AM

Tech,

Thank you for sharing. I have absolutely zero regard for most famous people but much respect for people of accomplishment.

Jobs impacted the way we interact, how we communicate: not all, but most.

As always, ideas and man are perishable

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigster59

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." - Apple Inc.

Funny you should quote that. I hated that campaign and told Steve it reminded me of the FAA term 'controlled flight into terrain.' He basically blasted me as not having vision and it ended our friendship permanently. In the objective view, the campaign did absolutely nothing to stop Apple's market share slide. But in the long term, it contributed greatly to the image. It may be a good Harvard Business School case study at some point.

But as an epitaph for Steve, the quote works very well.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Tech,

Thank you for sharing. I have absolutely zero regard for most famous people but much respect for people of accomplishment.

Jobs impacted the way we interact, how we communicate: not all, but most.

As always, ideas and man are perishable

Yeah, I agree. I had the "pleasure" of working with Lee Iaccoca, Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, Jerry Sanders and a bunch of other real tech weenies over the years. Steve was simply in a different class.

I explained once to a friend (who wrote the famous "1984" commercial) who asked me why Steve was so hard to work with, and I told him that if you went through life with an IQ 100 points higher than anyone else in the room, you'd be irritable, too. But it was Steve's clarity of thought, not just his brilliance that set him apart.

Seahawk · 10-06-2011, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by techweenie

...why Steve was so hard to work with, and I told him that if you went through life with an IQ 100 points higher than anyone else in the room, you'd be irritable, too. But it was Steve's clarity of thought, not just his brilliance that set him apart.

I was at DARPA today working a project with some really smart people. The difference, I think, between Jobs and those like him or her, is their ability to turn the abstract into cloth that others can wear and appreciate, desire.

That was his gift, the transition of ideas into a workable medium that resonated.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

Quote:

Quote de techweenie

...why Steve was so hard to work with, and I told him that if you went through life with an IQ 100 points higher than anyone else in the room, you'd be irritable, too. But it was Steve's clarity of thought, not just his brilliance that set him apart.

I was at DARPA today working a project with some really smart people. The difference, I think, between Jobs and those like him or her, is their ability to turn the abstract into cloth that others can wear and appreciate, desire.

That was his gift, the transition of ideas into a workable medium that resonated.

Yes to that. But he saw from day 1 that people could have a positive emotional relationship with tech. It took about a decade for others to figure that out.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I was at DARPA today working a project with some really smart people. The difference, I think, between Jobs and those like him or her, is their ability to turn the abstract into cloth that others can wear and appreciate, desire.

That was his gift, the transition of ideas into a workable medium that resonated.

The difference is that Jobs had a strong sense of style and aesthetic, and valued simplicity and elegance. He understood that great things come from the collision of different talents - and different means technologists, artists, anthropologists, etc as opposed to 3 different kinds of engineers.

The story of him taking calligraphy at Reed should be required reading for anyone associated with technology and design.