In Praise of Bad Steve

#1

Post by dctoedt » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 9:15 PM UTC

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#2

Post by danso » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:20 PM UTC

The talk about "Bad Steve" reminds me about Gundotra telling the "Icon Ambulance" story the day that Steve stepped down, in which Steve calls him up on a Sunday because "we have an urgent issue" involving the color gradient on the Google iphone icon.

https://plus.google.com/107117483540235115863/posts/gcSStkKx...

For many people, that kind of anal attention to detail (and describing it as an "urgent" matter) would be the key sign of a "bad" boss. I think it's acceptable in Steve because if anyone has shown a good grasp of the cost-benefit analysis of such perfection, it's him.

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#3

Post by angelbob » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:25 PM UTC

I find myself hoping the iPod/aquarium story is true.

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#4

Post by jmjerlecki » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:28 PM UTC

angelbob wrote: post #3

I find myself hoping the iPod/aquarium story is true.

Couldn't this mean a number of things? 1. The device isn't fully sealed. 2. Isn't there always going to be air unless you cover each area of the device and seal it off?

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#5

Post by nikuda » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:33 PM UTC

angelbob wrote: post #3

I find myself hoping the iPod/aquarium story is true.

It could be, but I've heard this same story told about a Sony exec. instead of Steve, and that was before iPod's time. It was a camera that he dropped into a body of water though. The rest is same.

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#6

Post by ScottBurson » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:41 PM UTC

I've never worked for Apple and never really aspired to, mostly because my interests didn't overlap with what I thought I would probably be doing there, but partly, I have to admit, because I had heard the stories of Steve the tyrant and was put off by them.

Maybe my ego is sturdier now, because I wonder if I wouldn't have enjoyed the challenges he set people. One thing is for sure, you could know that if you did what he wanted, it wasn't going to be a me-too product.

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#7

Post by Alex3917 » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:42 PM UTC

This idea of people as heroes or villains strikes me as being myopic. The very idea that people can be either good or bad shows that we're all just mushrooms growing out of a much larger mycelium.

Ever notice that so many of the most popular American tourist destinations are places like machu picchu, the great wall of china, the pyramids, etc? The fact that these places exist says far less about their creators than it does about the societies that produced them. (Although perhaps the fact that Americans are obsessed with the monuments of slavery and fascism says something about us.)

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#8

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:43 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#9

Post by paul9290 » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:50 PM UTC

History shows many luminaries to be like Jobs was or even worse; ruthless and totally unethical.

Thomas Edison (http://www.reformation.org/thomas-edison.html) comes to mind.

Re: In Praise of Bad Steve

#10

Post by nknight » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 10:51 PM UTC

jmjerlecki wrote: post #4

angelbob wrote: post #3

I find myself hoping the iPod/aquarium story is true.

Couldn't this mean a number of things? 1. The device isn't fully sealed. 2. Isn't there always going to be air unless you cover each area of the device and seal it off?

I think you missed the point by a couple light years. Air escaping means there's room in the case for air to be in the first place. Air molecules aren't magic, and can't occupy the same space as other objects.