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The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

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Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#81

Post by joshvm »

arzt wrote: post #54
samstave wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder, who in our day is Rockefeller - as it would seem that it might be musk but without being an asshole. Zuck is just a manipulator and as he is so young, I don't expect his actually legacy to take hold for at least 40 years. But musk is much more a Titan than zuck. Zuck isn't really doing anything outside his comfort zone - but that doesn't mean that oculus won't be a thing in 20 years - but I wouldn't credit…

Bezos - hands down, similar degree of ruthlessness in controlling all markets he touches. An anecdote from the "The Everything Store" which sheds more light below: “Bezos kept pushing for more. He asked Blake to exact better terms from the smallest publishers, who would go out of business if it weren't for the steady sales of their back catalogs on Amazon. Within the books group, the resulting program was dubbed the…

There's also the natural, if a bit disturbing, business tactic of examining which products sell best on Amazon and then leveraging economy of scale to produce their own copies (Amazon Basics).

Although Apple is also famous for ruthless negotiation with publishers, they're proud enough that an Apple copy (e.g. the U-turn on styluses) will rarely be cheaper than what they've taken inspiration from.

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#82

Post by Nicholas_C »

rpgmaker wrote: post #74
travmatt wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That book was invalualable for exactly those two reasons: the evenhanded portrait of a very complex individual, and a detailed portrait of the world in which he lived and knew. That book started me on a long tear of other biographies of large individuals in American history, specifically from Reconstruction through the Vietnam War. I'm currently working through Robert Caro's multipart series on Lyndon Johnson, anothe…

I wonder if I will ever get to read Caro's LBJ books. They've been on my to-reads for ages.

They were incredible, especially the first book, The Path to Power. It's a fascinating story of a man from humble beginnings who just wouldn't quit and had an unrelenting desire to be somebody powerful.

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#83

Post by jwdunne »

aerovistae wrote: post #28
dharmon wrote: post #2

If this short bio is interesting, you may enjoy the much more in-depth biography, _Titan_, by Ron Chernow. In addition to an incredibly thorough (and even-handed, IMO) treatment of Rockefeller, I found it an interesting perspective on the post-war period in the US.

Cool anecdote from Titan, one of countless: Rockefeller was relentless in ferreting out ways to cut costs. During an inspection tour of a Standard Oil plant in New York City, for instance, he observed a machine that soldered the lids on five-gallon cans of kerosene destined for export. Upon learning that each lid was sealed with 40 drops of solder, he asked, "Have you ever tried 38?" It turned out that when 38 drops…

Another similar thing that stuck out to me was how he held up his books. They were meticulous and he prided himself of them. I remember reading the joy he had of learning double entry book keeping.

The man loved money. He loved keeping track of it down to the last detail. He even used to chant "one day I will be rich, rich, rich"!

Very interesting man. Given his character and the conditions he was in, it wasn't at all surprising he amassed so much wealth.

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#84

Post by dredmorbius »

WalterBright wrote: post #35
narag wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netscape was best until about version 3. It had some niceties that IE lacked, actually IE was not even acceptable. Netscape 4.7 was "not so nice" and IE 4 was faster so, although terribly unsafe, it dominated market for years. Oh, and by the time Netscape 4.7 and IE 4.01 were released, Microsoft had already destroyed Netscape's business.

I don't remember which Netscape I used, but I started with it. It was awful in the constant crashing. I tried IE, and it crashed too, but only about half as often. If Netscape crashed half as often as Netscape, I would have stuck with it. If you produce an obviously inferior product, it's a bit unfair to blame the competition for your own failures.

A fine story.

Other than being entirely contradicted by the court's findings of fact in DoJ v. Microsoft.

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#85

Post by CPLX »

rangibaby wrote: post #78
guelo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if iPods hadn't been allowed to connect to iTunes on Windows, Apple probably would not have survived.

It's still amazing to me how huge iPods were about ~10 years ago, considering that they are basically museum pieces now. They gave Apple credibility with people outside of 90s Apple fan(atics). The ads with silhouettes of people dancing were Apple's best in my memory.

They aren't really museum pieces at all. They added a web browser and a phone to them and now we all have them in our pockets 24/7.

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#86

Post by nmrm2 »

refurb wrote: post #23
nmrm2 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The popular narrative that, unchecked by government, a business will eventually rise to absorb everything is not borne out by practice. I get your point, but there are exceptions. In particular, utilities come to mind. All locations I've lived except 1 provided exactly one option for high-speed internet. I don't see that changing in most parts of the US any time soon. Ditto for water and electricity, depending on l…

Aren't most utilities gov't supported monopolies? I think the logic is that for some utilities it doesn't make economic sense to have 5 companies all providing water to a house (5 water lines underground?). The gov't gives the utility a monopoly in exchange for full coverage to all customers and pricing oversight.

There are plenty of examples where private companies control water distribution without government assistance or oversight if you look past the USA. We don't need fanciful theoretical speculation to know what happens in practice.

(note: not continuing with this thread because holy fuck hivemind downvotes.)

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#87

Post by Others »

dredmorbius wrote: post #71
aerovistae wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What, don't you like monospace fonts??

On mobile, your version simply scrolls off the page with no option for reading it. Worse than useless, actually.

It's actually like that on my laptop to, although slightly better, since I can actually scroll it.

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#88

Post by wutangson1 »

gtrubetskoy wrote: post #3

"To this day, there is little evidence on the University of Chicago campus that it has anything to do with Rockefeller." ...except may be for the campus centerpiece known as the Rockefeller Chapel where all the school ceremonies take place? (depicted in the photo right above the quoted sentence) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Chapel

Rockefeller Chapel what with the tower that taller than any other structure on campus? Supposedly there is even a university mandate which forbids anything taller to ever be built on campus. Also, how about the commons area in the student center- i.e Hutchinson Commons in the Reynolds Club. As you walk in, along the sides on the walls are portraits of the university's presidents. But dead center on the wall for all who enter to see is a much larger portrait of JDR- with his name and title "Founder". The man whom the commons and outside court is named after and who can accurately be described as the soul of the University of Chicago- Robert Maynard Hutchins- has his portrait regaled off to the side of the JDR centerpiece. lol @ "little evidence of philanthropy."

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#89

Post by WalterBright »

dredmorbius wrote: post #84
WalterBright wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't remember which Netscape I used, but I started with it. It was awful in the constant crashing. I tried IE, and it crashed too, but only about half as often. If Netscape crashed half as often as Netscape, I would have stuck with it. If you produce an obviously inferior product, it's a bit unfair to blame the competition for your own failures.

A fine story. Other than being entirely contradicted by the court's findings of fact in DoJ v. Microsoft.

The FoF makes no mention of software quality issues that I could find. Nor did they prevent anyone from installing Netscape. Nor did they prevent Netscape from making a better browser than IE.

Re: The Epic Rise of John D. Rockefeller

#90

Post by narag »

cylinder wrote: post #80
WalterBright wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't remember which Netscape I used, but I started with it. It was awful in the constant crashing. I tried IE, and it crashed too, but only about half as often. If Netscape crashed half as often as Netscape, I would have stuck with it. If you produce an obviously inferior product, it's a bit unfair to blame the competition for your own failures.

Thanks for reminding me of how common crashes and other general frustrations were in personal computing only as recently as the 90s. Someone who is currently 18 years old never experienced computing when it wasn't near seamless as it is today.

Actually, no. That's not true at all. Crashes were as rare as today if you chose the right programs and were properly conservative with what you installed. I suffered very few crashes even with Windows 3. I won't say Windows 95 was rock solid, but I didn't see the infamous BSoD more than a couple of times a year... and I was a heavy user!!

Do you know what was different? A lot of people had very poor judgement about what to install and what to trust. Also faulty drivers, but this still happens today! No further than last night this very computer reset when starting Firefox :-/

I'm very surprised to see this revisionist version of computer history. I can't help thinking that there's some vested interest in this criticism. At the time it was some sort of fad among Linux fans against Windows dominance. I also liked Linux, but it was very annoying to see this kind of (reverse!) FUD.

Now it seems like it's some other "interest group" that's spreading it. Depressing.

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