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

Memories of Steve

donmelton.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 163 posts

Re: Memories of Steve

#31

Post by rmrfrmrf »

13hours wrote: post #21
general_failure wrote: post #6

It looks like some people like Steve are charismatic enough to get the complete devotion of very talented people. It's a great personality trait to have and pretty much guarantees success. We all know geniuses in our everyday life like Wozniak, Bob, cook. But how many of us can get these guys be terrified of us, make them change their lives for our visin and make them give us their complete attention... That's the be…

I sort of find it a little sad that very talented people have this god like image of someone like Steve. Without them he would have been nothing, but still he gets all the glory and fear, and they get little respect.

It's bizarre to me that people have this perception when Jony Ive is practically a household name in the US; not to mention that Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, and Scott Forstall all have been given props by Steve in his keynotes. I could rattle off more of Apple's senior leadership than any other tech company, so I really don't understand why people claim that Steve Jobs took all the glory.

Re: Memories of Steve

#32

Post by nnq »

throwaway7548 wrote: post #8

According to Wozniak, Jobs told him that Atari gave them only $700 (instead of the offered $5,000), and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.[65] Wozniak did not learn about the actual bonus until ten years later, but said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him.[66] --- End of story. Before continuing celebrating Jobs, ask yourself a question, do you want…

It's good to remember this story too, because it shows that he was also a ruthless businessman, no matter how much effort he put into convincing everyone that this part was not "the real him".

And it's not a bad thing, it's part of the "whole truth" about someone and about how you need to be in order to succeed. And the fact that you need to be like that is not something that one should "sweep under the rug" or present as a "minor part of an otherwise great personality", because it does show you something: that at some level something is very wrong with the system and as much as we like to believe otherwise, fairness and success are a bit like having the cake and eating it too ...something that rarely happens.

Re: Memories of Steve

#33

Post by collyw »

lightyrs wrote: post #9
throwaway7548 wrote: post #8

According to Wozniak, Jobs told him that Atari gave them only $700 (instead of the offered $5,000), and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.[65] Wozniak did not learn about the actual bonus until ten years later, but said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him.[66] --- End of story. Before continuing celebrating Jobs, ask yourself a question, do you want…

I agree with you on principle, however, the story does not end here. Woz himself said the following: "What Steve does on the good side — like the music scenario [in which] we didn't bring just a music device called the iPod, we brought a whole music system: a store that sells it, a computer that manages and organizes it. And an iPod is just a satellite to your computer. Plug it in and it works. You don't have to do a…

Fair point, but I generally seem to hear a lot of negative stuff about Steves personality. Sure give someone a second chance, but by the time they are on their tenth chance you have to start thinking differently.

Re: Memories of Steve

#34

Post by 72deluxe »

ksec wrote: post #28

I was reading and hoping there was an explanation why Safari for Windows discontinued. It is the only popular WebKit browser ( after Chrome fork to Blink ) on Windows. Otherwise another great piece.

I always found it odd how Apple didn't follow windows user interface guidelines on Windows, forcing the Appleness on Windows. Weirdly, they don't follow their guidelines on Mac OS either, unless the crazy window design of iTunes is meant to be normal?

Re: Memories of Steve

#35

Post by 72deluxe »

nnq wrote: post #32
throwaway7548 wrote: post #8

According to Wozniak, Jobs told him that Atari gave them only $700 (instead of the offered $5,000), and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.[65] Wozniak did not learn about the actual bonus until ten years later, but said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him.[66] --- End of story. Before continuing celebrating Jobs, ask yourself a question, do you want…

It's good to remember this story too, because it shows that he was also a ruthless businessman, no matter how much effort he put into convincing everyone that this part was not "the real him". And it's not a bad thing, it's part of the "whole truth" about someone and about how you need to be in order to succeed. And the fact that you need to be like that is not something that one should "sweep under the rug" or prese…

Does "ruthless businessman" ===== "liar"?

So to be a great businessman, I just have to lie to people that help me, right?

I suppose it would revolve around what people think "success" is - if it means lying to others and abandonment of morals for personal gain, then that's a very sad definition of "success".

Re: Memories of Steve

#36

Post by adrianoconnor »

I always love to read Don's stories, they're always pretty great, and this post is no exception. The last few paragraphs are poignant, and not because it's about Steve, but because the emotion is real and you can relate to it.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this, you should read the history of Safari posts he did a while back, also a podcast he was a guest on one time, though I forget who it was with -- ah, Debug I think -- that was really excellent and well worth listening to.

Re: Memories of Steve

#37

Post by _pmf_ »

salgernon wrote: post #7

Back in 1999 or 2000, shortly after Steve had rejiggered the cafeteria staff, I was walking back to my office in another building with an "afternoon doughnut" - that is, one that hadn't sold in the morning at the coffee place in the main lobby, and probably sold at a discount. I passed Steve in the hall and he glared at me as I walked with my doughnut. Steve was in great health in those days while I was pasty and obe…

That's fucking hilarious!

Re: Memories of Steve

#38

Post by bitL »

general_failure wrote: post #6

It looks like some people like Steve are charismatic enough to get the complete devotion of very talented people. It's a great personality trait to have and pretty much guarantees success. We all know geniuses in our everyday life like Wozniak, Bob, cook. But how many of us can get these guys be terrified of us, make them change their lives for our visin and make them give us their complete attention... That's the be…

It's probably common in technology area that due to Dunning-Kruger effect many super talented engineers have low self-esteem and real-life skills, and are attracted by "magical" personalities, forming narcissist-codependent pairs. I see it all around, it's sad, but unless engineers fix their broken "insides", it's going to happen. It's then pretty logical that the narcissistic part of the pair gets all the fame, spotlight, power, and the co-dependent part gets used, squeezed, depleted and thrown away once not useful.

Re: Memories of Steve

#39

Post by thecage411 »

72deluxe wrote: post #35
nnq wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's good to remember this story too, because it shows that he was also a ruthless businessman, no matter how much effort he put into convincing everyone that this part was not "the real him". And it's not a bad thing, it's part of the "whole truth" about someone and about how you need to be in order to succeed. And the fact that you need to be like that is not something that one should "sweep under the rug" or prese…

Does "ruthless businessman" ===== "liar"? So to be a great businessman, I just have to lie to people that help me, right? I suppose it would revolve around what people think "success" is - if it means lying to others and abandonment of morals for personal gain, then that's a very sad definition of "success".

He who dies with the most stuff wins.

Re: Memories of Steve

#40

Post by qq66 »

general_failure wrote: post #6

It looks like some people like Steve are charismatic enough to get the complete devotion of very talented people. It's a great personality trait to have and pretty much guarantees success. We all know geniuses in our everyday life like Wozniak, Bob, cook. But how many of us can get these guys be terrified of us, make them change their lives for our visin and make them give us their complete attention... That's the be…

Judging by the number of high level departures from Apple after Jobs' death, it seems like that devotion to Jobs was the main glue holding those personalities together.
Post reply on HN