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Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

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Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#31

Post by tptacek »

anigbrowl wrote: post #20
unignorant wrote: post #8

This seems to me rather insensitive -- more importantly, it's probably not worthy of Hacker News. Edit: Given the downvotes, I'd be quite happy to hear any legitimate grounds for disagreement. I consider the widely disseminated mocking of someone who hasn't knowingly signed on as a public figure to be insensitive (independent of how funny or clever that mocking might be, and independent of whether being insensitive w…

If it were anyone else, I would agree. But Steve Wozniak being who he is, I think it's a signal of 'all's well that ends well.'

I'm really picking up an undercurrent of "Steve Wozniak being who he is in relation to Apple, this joke probably means that Apple has gotten over it". I don't see the evidence to back that argument up.

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#32

Post by tptacek »

jarek wrote: post #30
tptacek wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing wrong with making fun of people. I do it incessantly. But I avoid doing it to people when they're down. And, if I ever achieve the sort of success Wozniak has, I hope I'll avoid doing it to people just starting to make their way in my field.

An iPhone baseband engineer is not "just starting to make [his] way."

He graduated in 2006. He's a kid. I'm sure he's better at his job now than I ever could be, but that's beside the point.

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#33

Post by rikthevik »

elblanco wrote: post #10
jws wrote: post #4

That is a nixie tube watch on his left arm. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nixie_Wozniak.jpg

What beautiful devices.

Yeah, nixie tubes are the perfect blend of Soviet-era impracticality and elegance. Now that I think of it, it's pretty impressive that there's circuitry to get up to 120V or whatever it is to drive those tubes right on his watch.

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#34

Post by Luc »

rikthevik wrote: post #33
elblanco wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What beautiful devices.

Yeah, nixie tubes are the perfect blend of Soviet-era impracticality and elegance. Now that I think of it, it's pretty impressive that there's circuitry to get up to 120V or whatever it is to drive those tubes right on his watch.

It's all explained here: http://www.cathodecorner.com/nixiewatch/theory/theory.html

Battery life: approximately 4-6 months at 50 viewings per day.

They've also GPL'ed the PIC firmware.

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#35

Post by rjurney »

donw wrote: post #2

I think that it would be stupid not to have him on stage as part of the introduction of the new iPhone. It's not like everybody doesn't know about it, and it would generate a lot of goodwill among developers and Apple employees. It's like the story of the Air Force commander and the mechanic: One day, a military big-wig took off in an Air Force transport, which almost crashed, and was forced to land due to mechanical…

That would be pretty cool having him introduce it, then Jobs comes out and takes over, shaking his head and doing the chastising father thing. PR gold, right?

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#36

Post by gruseom »

tptacek wrote: post #17
philk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's clearly no malice intended, and I'd say "mocked" is far too strong a term. He's making fun of the situation, not Gray himself. If you find this joke to be insensitive I'm having a hard time imagining what sort of humor you approve of, given practically every joke out there makes fun of someone/something.

There's nothing wrong with making fun of people. I do it incessantly. But I avoid doing it to people when they're down. And, if I ever achieve the sort of success Wozniak has, I hope I'll avoid doing it to people just starting to make their way in my field.

Totally agree that publishing the guy's name in the first place was the dickest move in a long time and that it's douchey to keep publishing it. But Wozniak by all accounts doesn't have a malicious bone in his body, so people (including me) take for granted that his intent is not to kick a guy when he's down.

I'd be willing to bet this wasn't his idea, that someone handed him the shirt and he went along with the gag as much to be agreeable as because he thought it was funny. So as far as gradations of jerkdom are concerned second prize ought to go not to Woz but to whomever produced the shirt, whose purpose requires no speculation:

http://www.zazzle.com/the_unofficial_gray_powell_iphone_t_sh...

(Edit: Deleted the sentence "It does seem like poor judgment, though, also not out of character for Woz." That was sloppily and hastily written, didn't convey what I meant, and isn't even something I believe.)

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#37

Post by tptacek »

rjurney wrote: post #35
donw wrote: post #2

I think that it would be stupid not to have him on stage as part of the introduction of the new iPhone. It's not like everybody doesn't know about it, and it would generate a lot of goodwill among developers and Apple employees. It's like the story of the Air Force commander and the mechanic: One day, a military big-wig took off in an Air Force transport, which almost crashed, and was forced to land due to mechanical…

That would be pretty cool having him introduce it, then Jobs comes out and takes over, shaking his head and doing the chastising father thing. PR gold, right?

The iPhone accounts for five point four billion-with-a-B dollars of Apple's revenue.

They don't have 30 different iPhone models. The iPhone they "launch" this year is probably going to be The iPhone.

Why do you think this Gizmodo debacle is a joke? Am I crazy? Because from where I stand, there is exactly one situation where this is funny: if Apple planted a fake iPhone prototype to screw with Gizmodo. That seems vanishingly unlikely.

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#38

Post by rjurney »

tptacek wrote: post #37
rjurney wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be pretty cool having him introduce it, then Jobs comes out and takes over, shaking his head and doing the chastising father thing. PR gold, right?

The iPhone accounts for five point four billion-with-a-B dollars of Apple's revenue. They don't have 30 different iPhone models. The iPhone they "launch" this year is probably going to be The iPhone. Why do you think this Gizmodo debacle is a joke? Am I crazy? Because from where I stand, there is exactly one situation where this is funny: if Apple planted a fake iPhone prototype to screw with Gizmodo. That seems vani…

Its funny because shit happens, and I'd rather a promising young man not be destroyed over it. Better to address the problem and roll with it rather than crucify the guy. The gravity of the situation, and how simple a mistake it was to make is the reason to forgive.

Woz got it. Why don't you?

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#39

Post by tptacek »

rjurney wrote: post #38
tptacek wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone accounts for five point four billion-with-a-B dollars of Apple's revenue. They don't have 30 different iPhone models. The iPhone they "launch" this year is probably going to be The iPhone. Why do you think this Gizmodo debacle is a joke? Am I crazy? Because from where I stand, there is exactly one situation where this is funny: if Apple planted a fake iPhone prototype to screw with Gizmodo. That seems vani…

Its funny because shit happens, and I'd rather a promising young man not be destroyed over it. Better to address the problem and roll with it rather than crucify the guy. The gravity of the situation, and how simple a mistake it was to make is the reason to forgive. Woz got it. Why don't you?

On the spectrum of "shit happens" running from getting too drunk and throwing up on your best friend's shoes all the way to having your house bombed by an F18 because you have the wrong President, this event, while nowhere near the "epic tragedy" end of the scale, doesn't land anywhere near "funny" for me.

We agree on how we'd like things to work out for the engineer. Maybe, let's stop turning him into a punch line.

Re: Steve Wozniak has a little bit of fun at Gray Powell’s expense

#40

Post by CamperBob »

tptacek wrote: post #17
philk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's clearly no malice intended, and I'd say "mocked" is far too strong a term. He's making fun of the situation, not Gray himself. If you find this joke to be insensitive I'm having a hard time imagining what sort of humor you approve of, given practically every joke out there makes fun of someone/something.

There's nothing wrong with making fun of people. I do it incessantly. But I avoid doing it to people when they're down. And, if I ever achieve the sort of success Wozniak has, I hope I'll avoid doing it to people just starting to make their way in my field.

You really have no idea who, never mind what, you're talking about, do you?
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