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

A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 130 posts

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#121

Post by ssharp »

rmason wrote: post #13

It was a moving and powerful eulogy. Probably the most beautiful thing I've seen written about Jobs since his passing. One important takeaway for me was the quote: “Fashion is what seems beautiful now but looks ugly later; art can be ugly at first but it becomes beautiful later.” I've experienced this firsthand. I've been privileged to work with some great web designers. I've forced myself to wait a minimum of 24 hou…

Almost inherently, however, Jobs' creations were more aesthetically beautiful for their fashion and design trend than their art. In terms of usability, it's another area of continuous improvements, so the simplicity of a product has to be judged partially on the time of its creation.

Does anyone look at the Apple II and think it would be a beautiful design for a computer today? Or the orignal Mac? Or even the Steve Jobs 2nd go-around products G3? Original iPod? Original MacBook?

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#122

Post by F_J_H »

jjtheblunt wrote: post #110
mikeleeorg wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We all — in the end — die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories. This line is so beautifully & hauntingly crafted. I wish I had thought to add her books to my reading list sooner.

The idea is great, but it's not "in media res" which means "INTO the midst of things" not "IN the midst of things". She might not have had Latin, so may not have known it was a literary technique in Latin, and perhaps Greek, a way to start a story with no intro, just by jumping right into the action.

"INTO the midst of things" things could be very fitting as well, depending on your thoughts on the after life. Some choose to believe we join a party already in full swing...

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#123

Post by F_J_H »

hugh3 wrote: post #106
hugh3 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without wanting to burst anyone's bubble, I'm guessing that the words actually refer to a dose of serious palliative care grade painkillers. I don't like the emphasis on "last words" anyway. When I'm dying (and probably not especially lucid), I don't want to have to cope with the pressure that any set of words could be my last and hence I'd better make 'em good. I think we should let everyone record their official la…

Aw c'mon, I got downmodded to -3 for being cynical yet realistic on HN? I really do think that "massive injections of painkillers is the most likely context in which someone a few hours of dying of cancer is likely to say "oh wow oh wow oh wow".

True class is knowing when to voice an opinion and when to remain quiet, no matter how much truth you feel your words hold. I've had to learn that the hard way.

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#124

Post by huntley »

rmason wrote: post #13

It was a moving and powerful eulogy. Probably the most beautiful thing I've seen written about Jobs since his passing. One important takeaway for me was the quote: “Fashion is what seems beautiful now but looks ugly later; art can be ugly at first but it becomes beautiful later.” I've experienced this firsthand. I've been privileged to work with some great web designers. I've forced myself to wait a minimum of 24 hou…

I have to agree with you about giving a design time to sink in. So many times have I been sent designs for me to start working and a few hours later they are sending me an email saying to stop work while they rework something. First impressions can be very powerful, good or bad, but I do think its important to not rush into an idea.

As for the eulogy, there have been so many amazing things said about Steve Jobs, my wife has been a massive Apple fan for a long time and when she read what Obama said there were a few tears.

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#125

Post by jodrellblank »

blantonl wrote: post #65

He designed new fluid monitors and x-ray equipment. He redrew that not-quite-special-enough hospital unit. It is scary to think what Steve could have accomplished if he lived into his 70's.

I do wonder; he was a multi billionaire personally, and Apple was a multi tens-of-billionaire as a company.

So what was the most causative bottleneck stopping more new products and creations? Clearly not financial limits. Apparently not a lack of ideas. Was it logistical organisation of stuff? Managerial organisation of people? Which was the most constrained resource? Had anyone studied it or tried to optimise it?

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#126

Post by jodrellblank »

hugh3 wrote: post #96
seanmccann wrote: post #6

OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW. One can only wonder what he was referring to. Such a well written piece.

Without wanting to burst anyone's bubble, I'm guessing that the words actually refer to a dose of serious palliative care grade painkillers. I don't like the emphasis on "last words" anyway. When I'm dying (and probably not especially lucid), I don't want to have to cope with the pressure that any set of words could be my last and hence I'd better make 'em good. I think we should let everyone record their official la…

When I'm dying (and probably not especially lucid), I don't want to have to cope with the pressure that any set of words could be my last

'Pressure'? Exactly what are you afraid of happening if you screw up your last words??

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#127

Post by cstross »

jodrellblank wrote: post #125
blantonl wrote: post #65

He designed new fluid monitors and x-ray equipment. He redrew that not-quite-special-enough hospital unit. It is scary to think what Steve could have accomplished if he lived into his 70's.

I do wonder; he was a multi billionaire personally, and Apple was a multi tens-of-billionaire as a company. So what was the most causative bottleneck stopping more new products and creations? Clearly not financial limits. Apparently not a lack of ideas. Was it logistical organisation of stuff? Managerial organisation of people? Which was the most constrained resource? Had anyone studied it or tried to optimise it?

Diffusion of responsibility?

When trying to create something disruptive and radical, it is much easier to screw things up than to get them right. (There are more Dunning-Kruger poster children with grandiose over-estimates of their own ability out there than there are actual geniuses.)

Most corporations are structured to restrain loose cannons in positions of authority, because everybody except the loose cannon in question is afraid of losing their meal ticket. (See, for example, the recent fiasco at HP, where Leo Apotheker decided to turn HP into a fundamentally different kind of corporation and did immense damage to internal groups that didn't fit within his vision.)

The standard form of corporate restraining structure is the committee. Committees are designed to promote consensus decisions, and consensus decisions stop random-looking outbursts from happening. From the stake-holders' point of view, this is a good thing. However, committee decision-making gets in the way not only of the very common bad internal entrepreneur, but in the way of the much rarer good internal entrepreneur.

The last time Steve Jobs answered to a committee was 1985. And they fired him. Thereafter, he carefully structured his working environments as start-ups, where the founder could impose their autocratic will on the company without having to drag a boat anchor of committees after him. For most people, this would have been disastrous. Luckily for Jobs, he was as good as he thought he was.

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#128

Post by jodrellblank »

cstross wrote: post #127
jodrellblank wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wonder; he was a multi billionaire personally, and Apple was a multi tens-of-billionaire as a company. So what was the most causative bottleneck stopping more new products and creations? Clearly not financial limits. Apparently not a lack of ideas. Was it logistical organisation of stuff? Managerial organisation of people? Which was the most constrained resource? Had anyone studied it or tried to optimise it?

Diffusion of responsibility? When trying to create something disruptive and radical, it is much easier to screw things up than to get them right. (There are more Dunning-Kruger poster children with grandiose over-estimates of their own ability out there than there are actual geniuses.) Most corporations are structured to restrain loose cannons in positions of authority, because everybody except the loose cannon in qu…

So the main bottleneck that meant Jobs-led-Apple released N products instead of N+1, was an attribute of Jobs himself?

Because that doesn't bode well for Apple in future. Or for any of us looking to ape them.

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#129

Post by andrest »

bluekeybox wrote: post #24
rmason wrote: post #13

It was a moving and powerful eulogy. Probably the most beautiful thing I've seen written about Jobs since his passing. One important takeaway for me was the quote: “Fashion is what seems beautiful now but looks ugly later; art can be ugly at first but it becomes beautiful later.” I've experienced this firsthand. I've been privileged to work with some great web designers. I've forced myself to wait a minimum of 24 hou…

I've forced myself to wait a minimum of 24 hours before rejecting a design and it has always served me very well. I've just completed designing a logo for the project I'm working on. Lacking experts around me whose judgement I could rely on, I came up with the following creative process: 1. Come up with an idea and prepare a demo/prototype. 2. Show the demo to a few people around you, preferably those who have some s…

I follow a similar series of steps.

But, my step 4. is slightly different. I also give them some time; and 24 hours is an excellent choice.

Now, I ask them to draw me the logo they saw the other day, and reiterate it in words. Depending on how they respond you should take action. If they can't recall it, you should start from scratch. If they can mention a few things, especially details, you should revision your work such that you make these very details even more bold and stand out. In the end, a good logo is something that is unique and well remembered.

Re: A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

#130

Post by adavies42 »

cstross wrote: post #127
jodrellblank wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wonder; he was a multi billionaire personally, and Apple was a multi tens-of-billionaire as a company. So what was the most causative bottleneck stopping more new products and creations? Clearly not financial limits. Apparently not a lack of ideas. Was it logistical organisation of stuff? Managerial organisation of people? Which was the most constrained resource? Had anyone studied it or tried to optimise it?

Diffusion of responsibility? When trying to create something disruptive and radical, it is much easier to screw things up than to get them right. (There are more Dunning-Kruger poster children with grandiose over-estimates of their own ability out there than there are actual geniuses.) Most corporations are structured to restrain loose cannons in positions of authority, because everybody except the loose cannon in qu…

Apple is the modern poster child for both the best and the worst aspects of monarchy--a great king can accomplish far more than a great president/prime minister ever can, but the succession plan is to roll some dice and hope....
Post reply on HN