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Steve Jobs didn’t

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Re: Steve Jobs didn’t

#4

Post by dbattaglia »

dangero wrote: post #2

"Steve Jobs did not design anything." Not true. Look at the history of Apple. He definitely did.

I know. It's almost as if Apple's incredible rise post OSX/ipod/iPhone have made people totally forget all of his original contributions back in the 80s. I think the first computer I ever used was an Apple II back in elementary school.

Re: Steve Jobs didn’t

#5

Post by espeed »

"Steve Jobs was not a visionary. He put the dots together and saw where they led."

That's what being a visionary/genius is -- seeing things and making associations or "connecting the dots" before others do. It's having a rare and valuable perspective on the world.

Re: Steve Jobs didn’t

#6

Post by TomOfTTB »

I HATED this list. A few rebuttals to point out why...

Steve Jobs did not create products he created an organization. No. He was partially responsible for the creation. He sat in on design meetings and offered input and feedback. Plus he vetoed bad idea (just as important)

Steve Jobs did not wrest market share from competitors he created new markets: Tell that to Creative Labs and Microsoft. Creative labs had an MP3 player and Microsoft had tablets before apple came along. Apple just did things better.

Steve Jobs did not design anything he gave others freedom to think: Not really. He certainly encouraged people to think for themselves but anyone whose studied Jobs will tell you he stuck to his own vision. Your only way to design a product at Apple under Jobs was to make your case to him and change his vision.

Steve Jobs did not develop new management theories he showed by example: Well how do you think management theory is born? Good management theory comes from people who practiced what they preached.

Steve Jobs was not a futurist he built the future one piece at a time: WHAT?!? You don't build the future one piece at a time unless you have a vision of what it will be like as a whole.

Steve Jobs was not charismatic he spoke from the heart: WHAT?!? What do you think "being Charismatic" means?

Steve Jobs was not a gifted orator he spoke plainly: A gifted orator is someone who is engaging to watch speak. Jobs was engaging.

Re: Steve Jobs didn’t

#7

Post by bradleyland »

marquis wrote: post #3

That's all a little disingenuous. Who among us can do all of these things, and stand so strong in the face of criticism?

I think Horace's point is that the potential is in all of us. He's taken each of the things we all think about Steve Jobs and presented a different perspective. I don't agree with the absolute manner in which they're stated, but that's sometimes the nature of writing. No one likes to read writing that is as firm as pudding. It's boring and doesn't challenge the reader.

If you didn't walk away from that list wondering whether you could do things Steve Jobs did, then Horace failed in his intention, which was, I think, to inspire.

Re: Steve Jobs didn’t

#8

Post by bradleyland »

TomOfTTB wrote: post #6

I HATED this list. A few rebuttals to point out why... Steve Jobs did not create products he created an organization. No. He was partially responsible for the creation. He sat in on design meetings and offered input and feedback. Plus he vetoed bad idea (just as important) Steve Jobs did not wrest market share from competitors he created new markets: Tell that to Creative Labs and Microsoft. Creative labs had an MP3…

I think Horace's intention here was to inspire us all to believe that we are closer to becoming great than we think we are. I'm not crazy about the rhetorical device "Steve Jobs was not X", because of its absolute tone.

Read less literally, the reader could take a lot of things away from this list: the value of teamwork, trust, seeing things through, and being yourself. Steve Jobs was unique in many ways, not the least of which was an absolute commitment to the things he believed to be true. There are plenty of people out there today doing that same thing, but their ideas are horrible. Still, I'm thankful for them, for without that dedication there would have never been a Steve jobs.

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