Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

tech.fortune.cnn.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 342 posts

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#121

Post by rbarooah »

jongraehl wrote: post #111
rbarooah wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you respond to something I actually wrote, I'll be happy to discuss it with you.

That was definitely a response to what you wrote. However, I don't think it's a fair to demand: "JUST condemn it, and offer no excuses." You're free to excuse if you like.

I didn't make excuses. I said it was negative and that I didn't like it. I attempted to explain why I thought he was doing it.

I find it interesting to try to understand people's motivations rather than condemn them even if I dislike what they are doing.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#122

Post by jasonwocky »

daten wrote: post #76
nkohari wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just build quality, it's also aesthetics. You say you can't speak for design, but that's what most people care about more than the ability to bounce their laptop off of concrete. That's why the average consumer isn't in the market for a Toughbook.

What data are basing the opinions of "most people" and "average consumers" on?

Does it matter? Are you disputing the claim? Do you think that people care more about the ability to bounce their laptop off of concrete than aesthetics?

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#123

Post by jrockway »

jrockway wrote: post #115
martythemaniak wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it so hard for you fanboys to say something like "Lying is wrong and he shouldn't have done it" and just leave it at that? No bullshit, no qualifications, no Gruber-style excuses, just a simple condemnation of someone doing something wrong.

Apple is a religion. It's like when, 2000 years ago, some flood destroyed some town. They knew God caused floods, and they thought God liked everyone, so they came up with some bullshit like, "those people had impure thoughts". You have to "qualify it" or else everything you believe in is gone. Now, the stakes are lower for tablet PCs versus The Meaning Of Life, and we all know... the lower the stakes, the more peopl…

Wow, the Spanish Inquisition works quickly! Already down to -4!

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#124

Post by Rariel »

j79 wrote: post #106
kgermino wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak for design, I know most people think that Thinkpads look ugly, however regarding build quality I own a Thinkpad T500 I bought 2 years ago and I have: +Dropped it way more times than I can count, usually while closed and turned off but also while it was running, and while it was open (both running and not). +Totally stood on it, putting my full weight on the closed lid many times. +Left it running in my…

Everything you mentioned, I've also done (with the exception of using it out in drizzle and snow - that just seems crazy!) Once, during my commute home, I decided to play music via iTunes (my iPod had died). I arrived home, walking to the door, when I decided to unzip the bag I was carrying (a sling type) to turn off iTunes, when my Mac Book Pro came sliding out. It landed smack on the front right corner, a good 5-5.…

I second this. My MBP has been dropped more times than I can ever admit to the Genius Bar and it has kept on ticking. Every computer I've ever owned has been a mac and they all still work. Compare that to my fiance's 4 PCs that have all broken beyond use. He's currently using my Power Book that's almost 8 years old. It's slow but it works! It also still looks nice.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#125

Post by rbarooah »

billmcneale wrote: post #118
niels_olson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually see his assertiveness as a sign of how much Jobs respects the potential of his competitors and the ruthlessness with which the market will walk away from his company's products if he doesn't sell, and just how much obligation he has to employees who sacrifice so much to make it look like magic.

You have a strange definition of "respect". Maybe behind closed doors and in board meetings, Jobs will admit that Android is a very fierce competitor that is taking market share away from Apple. But on the public front, he shows nothing but disdain for competitors and he spends much more time on stage disparaging them than he used to. Bashing competitors is not just poor form, it's usually the sign of a business losi…

By that measure, all of the major players are losing steam.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#126

Post by othermaciej »

Kylekramer wrote: post #94
tedunangst wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2 million Tabs is the number shipped to stores, not sold to consumers. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/01/31/samsung-galaxy-tab-sa... No real number given, but anything under 1.6 million makes 90% feasible.

Apple reports the same shipped to stores numbers. Why not compare them?

There's nothing wrong with comparing them, but it is extremely misleading to use it as a measure of market share, when it is likely that sell-through rates are significantly different. The only relevant measure of market share or market size is devices in the hands of users,

It is even worse to claim that shipment to retailers is the one true measure of market share, and someone else "lied" by estimating customer sales instead.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#127

Post by rbarooah »

jrockway wrote: post #123
jrockway wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is a religion. It's like when, 2000 years ago, some flood destroyed some town. They knew God caused floods, and they thought God liked everyone, so they came up with some bullshit like, "those people had impure thoughts". You have to "qualify it" or else everything you believe in is gone. Now, the stakes are lower for tablet PCs versus The Meaning Of Life, and we all know... the lower the stakes, the more peopl…

Wow, the Spanish Inquisition works quickly! Already down to -4!

I guess you weren't expecting that.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#128

Post by runjake »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #109
runjake wrote: post #104

Link bait. I'm tempted to label the author a "socialist", keeping with recent trends. Apple markets well. Other people market and make similar claims. Your soap, your window cleaner, your vitamins, your TV set. It's the nature of our culture, our marketing, and our capitalism. Why is this a me vs. you thing? Corporations selling Android devices do it, too. Check out any Android-based "4G" device on AT&T: 1) virtually…

>Why must Apple always be called out like this? Because they do it so much better than their competitors. Because this announcement gets more press than almost anything else you stated.

You just reiterated my point that you quoted.

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#129

Post by rbarooah »

jongraehl wrote: post #117
rbarooah wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean Weintraub? He knows for certain that Samsung didn't sell 2 million tabs, because Samsung made a statement saying that, yet he pretends that they did. This kind of journalism is part of the problem - not the solution.

So they both lied.

Aside from the Samsung misquote, what did Jobs say that could be called a lie?

Re: Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

#130

Post by [deleted] »

swombat wrote: post #42
martythemaniak wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it so hard for you fanboys to say something like "Lying is wrong and he shouldn't have done it" and just leave it at that? No bullshit, no qualifications, no Gruber-style excuses, just a simple condemnation of someone doing something wrong.

Stay civil.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN