Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs? • Hacker News Board

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#31

Post by fredoliveira » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 12:58 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #25

shinratdr wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't even acknowledge the contribution and impact Apple has made on computing in general right now, then you are significantly more far-gone than anyone you have ever accused of being a fanboy. That's just a ridiculous statement. Steve Jobs made no contribution to computing? Complete bullshit.

Oh, I acknowledge the impact Apple has had on computing. But they've done that primarily by being very good at marketing, not by being technically innovative.

Show me a laptop thinner than the Air.

Show me a smartphone more popular than the iPhone.

Show me a tablet more popular than the iPad.

Show me a desktop computer selling more than the iMac.

Show me a laptop selling more than the Macbook Pro.

Show me the company that did multi-touch for the masses before the iPhone.

Show me some better knowledge of this industry, and a bit of decency.

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#32

Post by rottencupcakes » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 12:58 AM UTC

s-phi-nl wrote: post #12

courtewing wrote: post #3

For the unenlightened (or perhaps just me), what do you mean by "have the black bar out"?

PG has twice put a black bar above the top bar in memory of someone's death. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=644954 for the first use of it, http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=859117 for the second.

He also did it (most recently I think) for rtm's father: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2712469

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#33

Post by mqatrombone » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 12:58 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #29

saulrh wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He introduced millions of hackers to their first computer. I'd call that a contribution, indirect as it is.

I attribute that more to Steve Wozniak than to Steve Jobs.

And without Jobs, do you think Wozniak is able to do that?

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#34

Post by tlrobinson » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 12:58 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #14

I'll say what nobody else seems willing to say: I don't think he deserves it. De mortuis nihil nisi bonum and all that, but let's face it: Steve Jobs was a skilled salesman, nothing more. Let's keep the black bar for people who have actually made a contribution to computing. Edit: 2 minutes and already voted down to -4. Oh well, I knew this would be an unpopular opinion...

Fortunately this site is about more than just pure computer science. Steve Jobs was one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#35

Post by shinratdr » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 12:58 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #25

shinratdr wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't even acknowledge the contribution and impact Apple has made on computing in general right now, then you are significantly more far-gone than anyone you have ever accused of being a fanboy. That's just a ridiculous statement. Steve Jobs made no contribution to computing? Complete bullshit.

Oh, I acknowledge the impact Apple has had on computing. But they've done that primarily by being very good at marketing, not by being technically innovative.

Once again, complete bullshit. iOS is extremely innovative, iPods changed the portable player landscape and challenging Microsoft for a real place in the desktop OS market isn't exactly easy.

They are also great marketers, but to deny that Apple has brought no technical innovations to the table is just ridiculous and you know it. Or at least I hope you know it.

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#36

Post by megaman821 » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 1:00 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #14

I'll say what nobody else seems willing to say: I don't think he deserves it. De mortuis nihil nisi bonum and all that, but let's face it: Steve Jobs was a skilled salesman, nothing more. Let's keep the black bar for people who have actually made a contribution to computing. Edit: 2 minutes and already voted down to -4. Oh well, I knew this would be an unpopular opinion...

I have never owned an Apple product but it is quite obvious that Apple with Steve Jobs at the helm have had a large effect on a lot of the hardware and software I do use. Whether he was a salesman, a programmer, or a janitor he was obviously important to a lot of hackers.

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#37

Post by lawnchair_larry » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 1:01 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #14

I'll say what nobody else seems willing to say: I don't think he deserves it. De mortuis nihil nisi bonum and all that, but let's face it: Steve Jobs was a skilled salesman, nothing more. Let's keep the black bar for people who have actually made a contribution to computing. Edit: 2 minutes and already voted down to -4. Oh well, I knew this would be an unpopular opinion...

I don't see why this is being downvoted. Is it because people disagree? Because that isn't a reason to downvote.

It seems accurate to say that Jobs was a salesman. He didn't design or write any software or hardware that I know of.

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#38

Post by bitops » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 1:01 AM UTC

saulrh wrote: post #20

cperciva wrote: post #14

I'll say what nobody else seems willing to say: I don't think he deserves it. De mortuis nihil nisi bonum and all that, but let's face it: Steve Jobs was a skilled salesman, nothing more. Let's keep the black bar for people who have actually made a contribution to computing. Edit: 2 minutes and already voted down to -4. Oh well, I knew this would be an unpopular opinion...

He introduced millions of hackers to their first computer. I'd call that a contribution, indirect as it is.

Agreed. My first real programming experience was on a Macintosh doing BASIC.

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#39

Post by fredoliveira » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 1:02 AM UTC

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #37

cperciva wrote: post #14

I'll say what nobody else seems willing to say: I don't think he deserves it. De mortuis nihil nisi bonum and all that, but let's face it: Steve Jobs was a skilled salesman, nothing more. Let's keep the black bar for people who have actually made a contribution to computing. Edit: 2 minutes and already voted down to -4. Oh well, I knew this would be an unpopular opinion...

I don't see why this is being downvoted. Is it because people disagree? Because that isn't a reason to downvote. It seems accurate to say that Jobs was a salesman. He didn't design or write any software or hardware that I know of.

Even if you were right, curation is an act of creation. (Clearly, too)

Re: Request PG: Could we please have the black bar out for Steve Jobs?

#40

Post by orblivion » Thu, Oct 06, 2011, 1:04 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #25

shinratdr wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can't even acknowledge the contribution and impact Apple has made on computing in general right now, then you are significantly more far-gone than anyone you have ever accused of being a fanboy. That's just a ridiculous statement. Steve Jobs made no contribution to computing? Complete bullshit.

Oh, I acknowledge the impact Apple has had on computing. But they've done that primarily by being very good at marketing, not by being technically innovative.

You don't need to be technically innovative to make an impact on computing. Steve was also smart about what technology not to use. Sacrificing multitasking for battery life, for example.