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

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#51

Post by valuearb » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:03 AM UTC

ggm wrote: post #43

My first computer science lecture in 1979 was on digital convergence and my lecturer said there, it was actually to all intents and purposes already over, we were just living through a long tail transition. He put it back to 1962 and telstar, although doubtless you could push back further. So if you want to say Jobs was 'visionary' in '85, remember he had 6 years of lead time, if all he did was pay attention to what…

Except that no one was building the future the way Jobs did. Having the idea for something is only part of the battle, actually implementing it in a usable fashion is the most important part of it.

If you look at the Xerox Alto, and the Macintosh, it's amazing how much more advanced the Macintosh was at UI and how much easier to use it was, and how much less expensive it was (Jobs actually supposedly helped design the Mac mouse, which was really good and super cheap).

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#52

Post by coldcode » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:10 AM UTC

mturmon wrote: post #26

eradicatethots wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Every so often I review the iPhone introduction keynote, and marvel at how Jobs crafted such an engaging and compelling hour. It's a very special talent.

Especially with the team getting toasted in the audience assuming it was all going to blow up. Even hardware succumbs to a distortion field. I too love watching it.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#53

Post by corford » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:18 AM UTC

Beautiful interview. Love him or hate him, you have to respect him.

I loved this passage:

Playboy: Do you know what you want to do with the rest of this lifetime?

Jobs: There’s an old Hindu saying that comes into my mind occasionally: “For the first 30 years of your life, you make your habits. For the last 30 years of your life, your habits make you.” As I’m going to be 30 in February, the thought has crossed my mind.

Playboy: And?

Jobs:

And I’m not sure. I’ll always stay connected with Apple. I hope that throughout my life I’ll sort of have the thread of my life and the thread of Apple weave in and out of each other, like a tapestry. There may be a few years when I’m not there, but I’ll always come back. And that’s what I may try to do. The key thing to remember about me is that I’m still a student. I’m still in boot camp. If anyone is reading any of my thoughts, I’d keep that in mind. Don’t take it all too seriously. If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you’ve done and whoever you were and throw them away. What are we, anyway? Most of what we think we are is just a collection of likes and dislikes, habits, patterns. At the core of what we are is our values, and what decisions and actions we make reflect those values. That is why it’s hard doing interviews and being visible: As you are growing and changing, the more the outside world tries to reinforce an image of you that it thinks you are, the harder it is to continue to be an artist, which is why a lot of times, artists have to go, “Bye. I have to go. I’m going crazy and I’m getting out of here.” And they go and hibernate somewhere. Maybe later they re-emerge a little differently.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#54

Post by Brendinooo » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:39 AM UTC

As someone who grew up in the era of PC clones, it's interesting to me to see so much of the interview focus on the IBM vs. Apple angle. Apple was a non-factor in the 90s and IBM didn't have a very strong presence in the consumer market, at least not more than Dell, Compaq, Gateway, etc.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#55

Post by 52-6F-62 » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:40 AM UTC

pazimzadeh wrote: post #11

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 wonder if Steve saw this lecture by Richard Feynman, where Feynman uses a similar metaphor to explain how computers work.

I absolutely love how Feynman speaks and writes about computers. Most of the time he's criticizing them for their ability to entice you to waste time by seeing what you can do with them.

So, I second. Great anecdote!

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#56

Post by 52-6F-62 » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:41 AM UTC

justonepost wrote: post #19

pazimzadeh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if Steve saw this lecture by Richard Feynman, where Feynman uses a similar metaphor to explain how computers work.

Probably, great artists steal.

... -> I think Steve Jobs said that -> I think Bob Dylan said that -> I think Abraham Lincoln said that

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#57

Post by julian_1 » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:42 AM UTC

adventured wrote: post #49

julian_1 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it into a nationwide communications network. It's difficult to avoid the comparison with Bill Gate's book "the road ahead" published a decade later, that first neglected and then had to be revised in hardback edition to include the internet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Ahead_(Bill_Gates_boo...

Microsoft was utilizing the Internet for business by the mid 1980s, they weren't oblivious to it. Gates viewed there as being two approaches that might win, one he preferred to call the Information Superhighway (basically closed platforms over high-speed cable), and the other being the Internet. He thought the Internet would lose because of how slow it was in the early days, and it was very mediocre at video and inte…

I remember when the tcp stack for Windows 3x was a third party application. https://thanksfortrumpetwinsock.com/

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#58

Post by QAPereo » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:48 AM UTC

scryder wrote: post #50

brianwawok wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

XYZ coords done.

This idea you had, interestingly, has nasty traps. 1. You need to specify an “origin” which is (0,0). This is hard because there is more than one good choice (base or top of a brick?), the structure base may be more than a single brick wide, and you still need an orientation for the base bricks relative to the table, since if they’re at an angle, it isn’t the same. 2. This fails, or at least complicates, on structure…

To truly explain concepts to another, you have to be able to think like them or at least imagine what it would be like to think like them; you have to listen to them, observe them and react accordingly. In addition you need to be a subject matter expert to such a degree that you can invent or recall appropriate analogies and metaphors which suit your audience. All told this is a rare find, requiring either instinct, or long experience.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#59

Post by antoniuschan99 » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 1:59 AM UTC

valuearb wrote: post #51

ggm wrote: post #43

My first computer science lecture in 1979 was on digital convergence and my lecturer said there, it was actually to all intents and purposes already over, we were just living through a long tail transition. He put it back to 1962 and telstar, although doubtless you could push back further. So if you want to say Jobs was 'visionary' in '85, remember he had 6 years of lead time, if all he did was pay attention to what…

Except that no one was building the future the way Jobs did. Having the idea for something is only part of the battle, actually implementing it in a usable fashion is the most important part of it. If you look at the Xerox Alto, and the Macintosh, it's amazing how much more advanced the Macintosh was at UI and how much easier to use it was, and how much less expensive it was (Jobs actually supposedly helped design th…

Jobs, along with Gates are the Entrepreneurs. Engelbart and Kay are the Academics.

Re: Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs (1985)

#60

Post by Tomminn » Sat, Oct 07, 2017, 2:07 AM UTC

I've seen this a bunch of times on hn.

Each time I read a little more and notice/learn something new.

I'll be the first to point out his flaws, but goddam Steve Jobs was a smart guy. It amazes how much he knew exactly what he was doing.