It makes sense: conditional on having achieved a lot, achievement doesn’t matter that much. This is why so many successful people will tell you they are glad for the time they spent with family and friends and so many people who didn’t succeed will talk about the opportunities they wish had worked out.
Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
101–110 of 139 posts
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#102Happiness comes after financial stability.
That single sentence makes a strong point. It illuminates a weak part of Wozniak's reasoning. But I still disagree, you've got to look for happiness where you're at.
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#103I resonate with this a lot. There is a time horizon beyond which the work we do doesn't really matter. No code I wrote five years ago is in production today. A vanishingly small number of products I built are still around. The act of building is a pleasure, but once it's built, its success and impact are pretty much out of my hands. Once I accepted that, I enjoyed the process a lot more, and ironically my output got…
> No code I wrote five years ago is in production today.
This is one of the reasons I'm a free software enthusiast. Outside of capitalism and trade secrets, programs I wrote 10-20 years ago can be just fine.
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Focusing on happiness is a concept for children” is a really bleak worldview. I hope you’re doing okay.
“I must feel good, I must feel good, no bad thoughts, feelings or words! Happy jokes hahahaha” Seek happiness through accomplishments
Imagine how sad Steve Jobs was when he reaffirmed the call to not perform his fully-funded pancreatic cancer treatment. Do you think he was laying on his deathbed thinking about all the great hours of work he put in at Apple before reaching the pearly gates? Or was he reflecting on the $5,000 he stole from Woz in the name of "accomplishment" earlier on, the ways he ignored his peers when they succeeded with the Apple II, the Lisa he failed to sell in utter vanity, the family he ignored in his delusional ego-trip, the world he forgot in pursuit of a better business?
Maybe if Jobs lived more like Woz he'd not be so eager to die. Accomplishment be damned.
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Based on your post, I was curious how long the stuff I write will be around for. I write software for cars, so that means a lot of legacy stuff, I've seen code written by coleagues hang around in the next generations of product for about 10 years. Then you have the life of the vehicles that varies greatly, but at least _some_ of the vehicles will reach 25 years, so I'd expect at least some of the SW I write to linger…
Can relate. My in-vehicle SW is driving for 20 years and counting (and it is not just some standard AutoSar stuff but high performance video processing pre "A" "I" ;) ). When I see cars with it I always remember some funny anecdotes and good fellas that I was lucky to share some journey with. Making a durable dent feels satisfying for sure, but also doing "cyber physical" projects and moving real things around.
Dent.
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
“I must feel good, I must feel good, no bad thoughts, feelings or words! Happy jokes hahahaha” Seek happiness through accomplishments
Imagine how sad Steve Jobs was when he reaffirmed the call to not perform his fully-funded pancreatic cancer treatment. Do you think he was laying on his deathbed thinking about all the great hours of work he put in at Apple before reaching the pearly gates? Or was he reflecting on the $5,000 he stole from Woz in the name of "accomplishment" earlier on, the ways he ignored his peers when they succeeded with the Apple…
>Do you think he was laying on his deathbed thinking about all the great hours of work he put in at Apple before reaching the pearly gates?
Yes, I could easily imagine him reflecting on his contributions and legacy, and it was known he was thinking of his family. https://www.rd.com/article/the-rumors-and-truth-behind-steve...
>Or was he reflecting on the $5,000 he stole from Woz in the name of "accomplishment" earlier on
Absolutely not
> Apple II, Lisa
I have a hard time thinking Steve Jobs was thinking of nearly 30 year old commercial failures on his death bed
>Wozniak is living proof that you can be both a smart and productive person without destroying everyone and everything around you
Woz was nowhere near as productive as Jobs and you know it. He had numerous failed business attempts you haven't mentioned, most of his accomplishments seem to be philanthropic and funded by residual Apple wealth. He's regarded as a "darling of the valley", that's it. There were other Engineers who could've designed those early products, but far less Steve Jobs.
It takes more than a big cuddly gullable teddy bear to curate something as impactful as the iPhone, arguably the most significant consumer electronic product in the past 20 years.
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Imagine how sad Steve Jobs was when he reaffirmed the call to not perform his fully-funded pancreatic cancer treatment. Do you think he was laying on his deathbed thinking about all the great hours of work he put in at Apple before reaching the pearly gates? Or was he reflecting on the $5,000 he stole from Woz in the name of "accomplishment" earlier on, the ways he ignored his peers when they succeeded with the Apple…
>Do you think he was laying on his deathbed thinking about all the great hours of work he put in at Apple before reaching the pearly gates? Yes, I could easily imagine him reflecting on his contributions and legacy, and it was known he was thinking of his family. https://www.rd.com/article/the-rumors-and-truth-behind-steve... >Or was he reflecting on the $5,000 he stole from Woz in the name of "accomplishment" earlie…
> Woz was nowhere near as productive as Jobs and you know it.
Now I need this quote as a stitched sampler to hang over my toilet.
Why didn't Jobs do the Atari contract himself? Why didn't he build the Macintosh alone? Why didn't he build his Phreaking business without the help of others?
Such a vast mystery. The world may never know! It's just so hard to tell... obviously Jobs' genius surpassed Woz's weak intellect!
> He had numerous failed business attempts you haven't mentioned
And Jobs didn't?
> most of his accomplishments seem to be [...] funded by residual Apple wealth
And Jobs wasn't?
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#108He had a driven business partner who helped turn his passion for computers into a multi-billion corporation. He always struck me as immature. Not a great businessman, not a great engineer, more of a hobbyist who got lucky and quickly reached the limits of his knowledge and ability with the original Apple. His myth has greatly outgrown his accomplishments and I have a feeling even he is not comfortable with it, he'd r…
That's an amazing life.
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#109> I decided that that life, for me, was not about accomplishment. It was about happiness. He is in the unusual position to have achieved a great level of accomplishment.
If you suffer from the "arrival fallacy" (discussed in the article), then you will find out only after reaching the top that there's not much hapiness in there. Woz kinda saves you the trouble of many years working towards an illusory goal ("when I acommplish this, everything will be great").
To be fair, it is much nicer to cry in a Porsche than an old Kia.
Re: Steve Wozniak: When I die these are the moments I want to remember
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Do you think he was laying on his deathbed thinking about all the great hours of work he put in at Apple before reaching the pearly gates? Yes, I could easily imagine him reflecting on his contributions and legacy, and it was known he was thinking of his family. https://www.rd.com/article/the-rumors-and-truth-behind-steve... >Or was he reflecting on the $5,000 he stole from Woz in the name of "accomplishment" earlie…
> Woz was nowhere near as productive as Jobs and you know it. Now I need this quote as a stitched sampler to hang over my toilet. Why didn't Jobs do the Atari contract himself? Why didn't he build the Macintosh alone? Why didn't he build his Phreaking business without the help of others? Such a vast mystery. The world may never know! It's just so hard to tell... obviously Jobs' genius surpassed Woz's weak intellect!…
There were many engineers who could've designed those products, but far less people who had the vision. A handful of engineers can design many amazing things, and yes they're essential, but they need use to a consumer. The people who vote with their wallet and keep a company alive.
> And Jobs didn't?
He did, but he certainly redeemed himself. Also there's this little company called Pixar you might've heard of.
- Sent from my iPhone