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Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

blog.adamnash.com

41–50 of 71 posts

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#41
post #16

Here it is 14 years later. The thing about that meeting, that strikes me, is that this is what Apple always was. Steve wasn't bringing a purpose to Apple, he was reminding Apple employees of Apple's purpose. Apple still has that purpose. Every product cycle you see the blogs and the pundits speculating on what Apple will do, and exclaiming what Apple should do. Just today I saw an article along the lines of "now that…

> I can assure you, controlling everything is the last thing Apple wants. Apple is not proprietary. Hell, Mac OS X is the most popular open sourced operating system on the planet. The Safari web browser is just a thin shell around webkit. Apple could have kept both closed and innovated on them, instead they innovate on them and give them away (and yet so called "open source" fans actually complain about this.)

Wow! This is great news. I've been waiting for this to happen so that I can go ahead an run OS X on any computer I choose. Kindly point me to the link? I would have guessed it was at http://opensource.apple.com but alas, that's just a random assortment of parts which I'm limited to using for "internal research and development".

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#42
post #21
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple seems to have proved your point, but they seem exceptional in that respect. Typical reasons are that the broader you make the audience, the more you have to dial down exceptional features for cost, scale and broad appeal.

One of the key things I feel like I learn from Steve Jobs is that while he may have been niche-focused at one time, he seems to me to have either intuited, or rapidly learned, that actually there's a very broad audience that values high-quality products. It's easy to forget that the "cheaper is better" pessimistic view of consumers is very strong, and that can become very cynical in a product company. Deciding to tru…

It helps when you have a product like iPod with enough universal appeal and innovation that you can quickly come to dominate the market and then use that purchasing power to drive down costs from suppliers.

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#43
post #16

Here it is 14 years later. The thing about that meeting, that strikes me, is that this is what Apple always was. Steve wasn't bringing a purpose to Apple, he was reminding Apple employees of Apple's purpose. Apple still has that purpose. Every product cycle you see the blogs and the pundits speculating on what Apple will do, and exclaiming what Apple should do. Just today I saw an article along the lines of "now that…

> I can assure you, controlling everything is the last thing Apple wants. Apple is not proprietary. Hell, Mac OS X is the most popular open sourced operating system on the planet. The Safari web browser is just a thin shell around webkit. Apple could have kept both closed and innovated on them, instead they innovate on them and give them away (and yet so called "open source" fans actually complain about this.) Wow! T…

Gotta be careful with sarcasm. Done right, everyone grins with wry amusement. Sadly, it's much easier to do wrong, and you end up dancing around your point instead of making it persuasively and directly. Brevity helps.

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can assure you, controlling everything is the last thing Apple wants. Apple is not proprietary. Hell, Mac OS X is the most popular open sourced operating system on the planet. The Safari web browser is just a thin shell around webkit. Apple could have kept both closed and innovated on them, instead they innovate on them and give them away (and yet so called "open source" fans actually complain about this.) Wow! T…

Gotta be careful with sarcasm. Done right, everyone grins with wry amusement. Sadly, it's much easier to do wrong, and you end up dancing around your point instead of making it persuasively and directly. Brevity helps.

Not trying to be persuasive, I was just entertained by seeing Apple fanboyism raised to the point where people think OS X is now open source, and figured I'd have some fun and spend a few points on the inevitable downvotes.

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gotta be careful with sarcasm. Done right, everyone grins with wry amusement. Sadly, it's much easier to do wrong, and you end up dancing around your point instead of making it persuasively and directly. Brevity helps.

Not trying to be persuasive, I was just entertained by seeing Apple fanboyism raised to the point where people think OS X is now open source, and figured I'd have some fun and spend a few points on the inevitable downvotes.

> Not trying to be persuasive

Ah, in that case, bravo!

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#46
post #16

Here it is 14 years later. The thing about that meeting, that strikes me, is that this is what Apple always was. Steve wasn't bringing a purpose to Apple, he was reminding Apple employees of Apple's purpose. Apple still has that purpose. Every product cycle you see the blogs and the pundits speculating on what Apple will do, and exclaiming what Apple should do. Just today I saw an article along the lines of "now that…

> I can assure you, controlling everything is the last thing Apple wants. Apple is not proprietary. Hell, Mac OS X is the most popular open sourced operating system on the planet. The Safari web browser is just a thin shell around webkit. Apple could have kept both closed and innovated on them, instead they innovate on them and give them away (and yet so called "open source" fans actually complain about this.) Wow! T…

> Wow! This is great news. I've been waiting for this to happen so that I can go ahead an run OS X on any computer I choose. Kindly point me to the link? I would have guessed it was at http://opensource.apple.com ...

You have the URL wrong. I will kindly point you to a link:

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

It's not "any computer you choose", but any desktop or laptop with hardware components that are supported. Did you know Windows Server 2008 doesn't have drivers for early Intel Gigabit Server NICs, so you can't run that OS on an unsupported computer? Just as you can't run Windows on "any computer you choose", only on ones with supported hardware, it's the same thing with OS X.

Another link, laptops this time:

http://www.mymacnetbook.com/compatibility-chart/

The following listings of Hackintosh compatible computers, parts, motherboards and drivers (kexts) should be helpful in your endeavor:

http://www.hackintosh.com/#hackintosh_compatible

Happy hacking!

// Yes, I realize your request for a link was rhetorical.

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can assure you, controlling everything is the last thing Apple wants. Apple is not proprietary. Hell, Mac OS X is the most popular open sourced operating system on the planet. The Safari web browser is just a thin shell around webkit. Apple could have kept both closed and innovated on them, instead they innovate on them and give them away (and yet so called "open source" fans actually complain about this.) Wow! T…

> Wow! This is great news. I've been waiting for this to happen so that I can go ahead an run OS X on any computer I choose. Kindly point me to the link? I would have guessed it was at http://opensource.apple.com ... You have the URL wrong. I will kindly point you to a link: http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page It's not "any computer you choose", but any desktop or laptop with hardware components tha…

> It's not "any computer you choose", but any desktop or laptop with hardware components that are supported. Did you know Windows Server 2008 doesn't have drivers for early Intel Gigabit Server NICs, so you can't run that OS on an unsupported computer? Just as you can't run Windows on "any computer you choose", only on ones with supported hardware, it's the same thing with OS X.

Nobody said that Windows was open source or could run on any computer. However, as I type in a Windows vm running on a computer assembled from commodity hardware, I can honestly say that are certainly a much larger number of choices, since neither of those are options with OS X.

The Hackintosh stuff is not really relevant either as a) it is not open source, and b) violates the EULA of OS X. I won't go so far as to say it's "illegal" but I don't see any overriding moral reason to violate Apple's wishes here.

"You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so."

http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/macosx105.pdf

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#48
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve actually drove a Mercedes SL55 AMG: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/10/steve-jobs-...

The article mentions that he drove with no license plate. But I always wondered if he possessed the plate and never attached it, keeping it inside the car just in case.

New cars in California don't come with plates, so it's not uncommon to see cars without any plates at all, especially in the Bay Area. You get temporary plates in the mail and are responsible for affixing them yourself. As long as your registration is current, your taxes are paid, and you have insurance, getting caught without the plates is a small fine.

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Apple could have kept both closed and innovated on them" Webkit is based on GPL code from KDE, so Apple had no choice but to release the source.

They didn't have to start http://webkit.org and run it as a public open source project. They did far more than simply comply with the GPL.

After a big PR scandal.

Originally they just threw useless code patches back at KHTML to minimally comply with the license (LGPL, iirc).

Re: Steve Jobs, BMW & eBay

#50

Interesting anecdote; I wonder if there is any software which people "lust after" or if that's something reserved for physical products.

I think there is a fair amount of 'lust' surrounding Diablo III, in much the same way as a yet to be released BMW. As to productivity software, Photoshop and other high end design software probably qualify. http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/10/photoshop-unblur-leaves-max-au...
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