Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985) • Hacker News Board

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#31

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:27 PM UTC

eradicatethots wrote: post #13

thecompilr wrote: post #7

> Jobs: Computers are actually pretty simple. We’re sitting here on a bench in this café [for this part of the Interview]. Let’s assume that you understood only the most rudimentary of directions and you asked how to find the rest room. I would have to describe it to you in very specific and precise instructions. I might say, “Scoot sideways two meters off the bench. Stand erect. Lift left foot. Bend left knee until…

I don’t know, should it be special to be able to explain things? I think it should actually be normal

[deleted]

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#32

Post by wavefunction » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:30 PM UTC

5_minutes wrote: post #15

valuearb wrote: post #2

I'm amazed at how mature he sounds in this interview at age 29, like far more direct, honest, confident and smart than say, Zuckerberg. He was very prescient and when wrong (he didn't anticipate the clone makers, saying there wouldn't be another $200M+ PC company) it was an area he really didn't care to be involved in.

Compared to Zuckerberg anyone not-evil looks great.

Jobs had many flaws which are often elided in his hagiographies.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#33

Post by steve_adams_86 » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:34 PM UTC

>Playboy: One of the experts in the field says that for this industry to really flourish, and for it to benefit the consumer, one standard has to prevail.

>Jobs: That’s simply untrue.

This is a little funny given the walled garden he oversaw the creation of (It seemed like it was intended to improve chances of success by implementing a single standard for an ecosystem), but I'm excluding some context and just poking some fun. Overall it was a good read - he had some excellent foresight about computing and the culture around it. Very cool.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#34

Post by jansho » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:34 PM UTC

Beautiful interview. I forgot how young, bombastic and intellectual Jobs was when he started Apple.

> The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it into a nationwide communications network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people—as remarkable as the telephone.

The last bit made me laugh out loud. It's technically true (!) and probably the iPhone was far more disruptive than personal computers.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#35

Post by agumonkey » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:36 PM UTC

IBM wrote: post #29

agumonkey wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs wasn't Woz level, but he was no fool either.

Jobs was on another plane entirely. One where having more than technical acumen was necessary to actually have impact in the world.

I understand but it's easy to imagine jobs only as a salesman that just grabs others ideas blindly.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#36

Post by agumonkey » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:37 PM UTC

eradicatethots wrote: post #13

thecompilr wrote: post #7

> Jobs: Computers are actually pretty simple. We’re sitting here on a bench in this café [for this part of the Interview]. Let’s assume that you understood only the most rudimentary of directions and you asked how to find the rest room. I would have to describe it to you in very specific and precise instructions. I might say, “Scoot sideways two meters off the bench. Stand erect. Lift left foot. Bend left knee until…

I don’t know, should it be special to be able to explain things? I think it should actually be normal

there's 491384 ways to "explain" computers, his one is interesting because it's both metaphorical and yet very precise.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#37

Post by jansho » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:38 PM UTC

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #33

>Playboy: One of the experts in the field says that for this industry to really flourish, and for it to benefit the consumer, one standard has to prevail. >Jobs: That’s simply untrue. This is a little funny given the walled garden he oversaw the creation of (It seemed like it was intended to improve chances of success by implementing a single standard for an ecosystem), but I'm excluding some context and just poking…

It's interesting that the Japanese never really did their own personal computers, as Jobs supposed. He was probably right though, computers are a different beast to things like the stereo, because it's always changing a la Moore's Law.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#38

Post by antod » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:51 PM UTC

barrkel wrote: post #30

leejoramo wrote: post #10

> [the information] revolution will dwarf the petrochemical revolution. I remember people thinking this was a crazy idea, but his forecast was largely correct: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?source=frontpage-immediat...

The petrochemical revolution is more than the market cap of an oil company. The petrochemical revolution guides the way we've built our cities for the past 100+ years, how we ship our goods and how we travel the world. The entire transport system - cars, trucks, ships, planes - almost all petrochemical. And the negative side too. Vast fields of tarmac (petrochemical) parking lots (petrochemical) for strip malls. Urba…

Not only those aspects of the petrochemical revolution, it's also the total pervasiveness of plastic products in our lives.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#39

Post by brianwawok » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:52 PM UTC

PoachedSausage wrote: post #27

Sangermaine wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people are actually pretty bad at explaining things in a clear, concise, helpful way, very often especially people well-versed in the field they are trying to explain. Communicating complex concepts to non-experts is indeed a fairly rare skill.

I once had a job interview that had a task where only one person was allowed to view an object made of random Lego bricks, they would communicate the structure to another person, that person would communicate it to a builder. The idea being to replicate the object. It's not easy.

XYZ coords done.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#40

Post by panic » Fri, Oct 06, 2017, 11:55 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #35

IBM wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs was on another plane entirely. One where having more than technical acumen was necessary to actually have impact in the world.

I understand but it's easy to imagine jobs only as a salesman that just grabs others ideas blindly.

Most salespeople take a product that exists and convince you to buy it. Steve took a product that didn't exist and convinced you to build it. His talent was organizing people around a common vision, not just selling the result.