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Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple (1980)

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Re: Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple (1980)

#2

Post by skore »

Interesting video, particularly seeing him reminisce about their hacker roots ("liberating" designs, "studying" what other companies are doing, buying parts on "thin air and enthusiasm") and "building tools". His justification for that is talking about how technology enables people. The same rhetoric that he used ever since, even if his position on "liberation" of technology changed somewhat over the years. I really still enjoy his presentations, particularly the more intimate and insightful ones like this one. But with all the talk about building bicycles, I wish he hadn't spent his later years building so many cars.

Don't get me wrong - I love to see how the iPad just shattered the barrier of entry for non-technical users, even though I'm a FOSS guy. But I do think that it was at too great (and an unnecessarily so) a cost to the understanding of that technology.

[edit]Oh yeah, forgot to say: A post mildly critical of Mr. Jobs - Keep the downvotes coming!

Re: Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple (1980)

#3

Post by appleflaxen »

skore wrote: post #2

Interesting video, particularly seeing him reminisce about their hacker roots ("liberating" designs, "studying" what other companies are doing, buying parts on "thin air and enthusiasm") and "building tools". His justification for that is talking about how technology enables people. The same rhetoric that he used ever since, even if his position on "liberation" of technology changed somewhat over the years. I really…

That's exactly the part that stuck out to me, too (2:36 for the curious, and again at 3:05).

It makes him look like a complete hypocrite. It's not unique to Steve Jobs; it's human nature. But it's still kind of distasteful to see.

Re: Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple (1980)

#4

Post by skore »

appleflaxen wrote: post #3
skore wrote: post #2

Interesting video, particularly seeing him reminisce about their hacker roots ("liberating" designs, "studying" what other companies are doing, buying parts on "thin air and enthusiasm") and "building tools". His justification for that is talking about how technology enables people. The same rhetoric that he used ever since, even if his position on "liberation" of technology changed somewhat over the years. I really…

That's exactly the part that stuck out to me, too (2:36 for the curious, and again at 3:05). It makes him look like a complete hypocrite. It's not unique to Steve Jobs; it's human nature. But it's still kind of distasteful to see.

I wouldn't got as far as saying that it makes him look like a complete hypocrite. After all, much of the rest of the talk, he makes no secret of his business-sense ("saw dollar signs"). To me, Mr. Jobs was above all a pragmatist, which is how he can reconcile both the hacking in his early and the position against hacking in his later career.

I suppose it's all just part of the natural circle-of-life thing - in his later days, he would probably just brush off questions about this with "being young and wild" or something similar. This change of focus is typical for a matured businessman and puts him at a disadvantage against fresh entrepreneurs and innovators. But that's just how the world turns.

Re: Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple (1980)

#5

Post by mbateman »

skore wrote: post #4
appleflaxen wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly the part that stuck out to me, too (2:36 for the curious, and again at 3:05). It makes him look like a complete hypocrite. It's not unique to Steve Jobs; it's human nature. But it's still kind of distasteful to see.

I wouldn't got as far as saying that it makes him look like a complete hypocrite. After all, much of the rest of the talk, he makes no secret of his business-sense ("saw dollar signs"). To me, Mr. Jobs was above all a pragmatist, which is how he can reconcile both the hacking in his early and the position against hacking in his later career. I suppose it's all just part of the natural circle-of-life thing - in his la…

Steve Jobs was definitely not a pragmatist. He believed there is a moral dimension to his work and products.

Re: Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple (1980)

#8

Post by skore »

mbateman wrote: post #5
skore wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't got as far as saying that it makes him look like a complete hypocrite. After all, much of the rest of the talk, he makes no secret of his business-sense ("saw dollar signs"). To me, Mr. Jobs was above all a pragmatist, which is how he can reconcile both the hacking in his early and the position against hacking in his later career. I suppose it's all just part of the natural circle-of-life thing - in his la…

Steve Jobs was definitely not a pragmatist. He believed there is a moral dimension to his work and products.

Those are not mutually exclusive. He certainly cared about the moral dimension, but it was never a priority. He always introduced as much of his moral dimension as possible, which is what he deserves credit for.

But again - that's a pragmatic thing to do. He'd never let it ruin good business. In fact, quite the opposite is true - he did embrace it if it was good business.

Re: Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple (1980)

#10

Post by VladRussian »

skore wrote: post #2

Interesting video, particularly seeing him reminisce about their hacker roots ("liberating" designs, "studying" what other companies are doing, buying parts on "thin air and enthusiasm") and "building tools". His justification for that is talking about how technology enables people. The same rhetoric that he used ever since, even if his position on "liberation" of technology changed somewhat over the years. I really…

>Don't get me wrong - I love to see how the iPad just shattered the barrier of entry for non-technical users, even though I'm a FOSS guy. But I do think that it was at too great (and an unnecessarily so) a cost to the understanding of that technology.

25+ years ago, s/iPad/AppleII\/Mac)/. Was Mac too great and unnecessary cost?

I'm not an Apple fun. The Apple philosophy (and prices) has always been foreign to me. Yet, it isn't possible to dismiss the fact that back then they paved the way for the ubiqutous cheap commodity "inferior to Mac" PC and these days they did it again for these "inferior to iPhone/iPad" devices

http://www.everbuying.com/Wholesale-Notebook-UMPC-MID-b-815....

Some analogy comes with icebreaker ships - they have so much unnecessary stuff, so overbuilt, have so low utility ... until it comes to the 2m thick ice.

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