Not really great (certainly not as a person). He basically created a cult for overpriced toys, and his business practices were as rapacious as any 19th century robber baron.
The best thing I can say is that he did kickass presentations.* But Apple products are generally slow and clunky to use and were so busy trying to look cool that they threw functionality out the window.
*Much like the Jaberwocky project.
He thought he could cure himself of cancer . Guess he was a little bit off on that idea.
I wonder how many guys without jobs or insurance who had cancer would have benefited from building I Phones in the USA?
Have they really though? What did he invent rather than adapt that changed the entire culture?
He certainly adapted and innovated and brought out some better versions of existing products but I’m struggling to think of any major cultural shifts.
How many docudrama movies are going to be made about him, anyway?
He didn’t rise from the dead on the 3rd day; that’s all I have to say about it.
Firstly…its a biopic title, not a 50,000 word essay.
Given 3-5 words the question gets across pretty effectively what’s being talked about here.
Secondly, two things that I’d credit jobs for bringing to market would be
You could also talk about making the digital music market a reality and the app store.
And just for the record, I hate the concept of the apple Eco system, many people however seem fine with it.
People like Douglas Engelbart and Alan Kay were the real innovators. But Jobs was the guy who made their concepts a commercial reality, and that act is what transformed our world. He wasn’t some supergenius visionary, but he was able to spot which ideas were game changers.
Well, if you’re connecting Apple design with Jobs then his greatest contribution was in seeing the remarkable skill set of Johnny Ive:
JP Morgan died over 100 years ago. The fact that you are mentioning him as a business leader kind of speaks to his greatness.
100 years from now will decide if Lee Iaccoca or Jack Welch are “great” men or were just really good businessmen.
I wouldn’t say he was a great businessman. He was a great artist. His creations have changed the world, probably in more ways than we can even see so close to this. The invention of gunpowder was known for centuries before muskets and artillery changed the battlefield for ever. The iPhone was not the first smartphone - but it is the gun that’s changed the course of every battle since.
Whether he was nice to his daughter is irrelevant to anyone outside his immediate family.
I have a lot of admiration for Steve Jobs. I admire people who have a vision and stick to it, and he certainly did that. He failed spectacularly a couple of times, but for the most part he was spot-on, and I think that was largely because he was talented at figuring out what people wanted before they wanted it, and keeping things simple and elegant.
I will admit I was very sad when he died, and mourned him probably more than almost any other dead celebrity. I visited his memorial at Apple’s headquarters (I live near there, and the spouse works at Apple). I think his death was a huge waste, and if he’d simply allowed himself to be treated with standard medicine instead of hippie woo, he’d still be alive today.
Do I think he was a great man? In a visionary business sense, absolutely. In the greater scheme of the world, probably not. As a human being? No. Much as I admired him, I don’t think I’d have wanted to meet him.
A complete and total asshole is someone I do not have time to waste on be he “great” or obscure.
A “Great Man” would have done something for elephants, gosh darn it. :dubious:
Not to mention creating jobs for Americans by making the darn things in our country.
It does kinda bug me that everybody picks on Apple because they don’t build their products in the USA. Name me one major electronics company that does. Those Android phones and HDTVs and Windows laptops aren’t built in the US either. If they were, they’d be so expensive that people wouldn’t buy them.
I’m not saying what Apple or the other companies are doing is right. But it’s not fair to pick on Apple for it and give everybody else a pass.
I think he was great in the sense that he was the best in his field. But as far as a good man, I don’t believe he was evil but he didn’t strike me as particularly good. In contrast I can look at someone like Bill Gates and say that he Gu is both great and good. He had talent in a field that made him great and he has through his charitable contributions made himself good. I think Gaya truly cares about what he can do to help and benefit others. Jobs I think was more ingested in what he could do for himself, not just monetarily, but the pursuit of accolades, legacy etc. …
Reminds me once of something my wife said to me. I’m disabled and I don’t have much money any longer. Last Christmas I was in a place that rented storage units. There was a woman in there crying because she was behind on her payment for her storage unit and they were going to lock get it if it and auction of her belongings. When she key I asked what she owed and she was only behind something life $50. So I told the guy that I would pay to catch her up. My wife asked me why I did that considering I’m in such s limited income and then said, no one helps you. I thought about it for a minute and told her, I don’t think God is going to judge me on how much help other people gave me, but rather if I helped others when I could have.
Please note, I’m not trying to paint myself in a good light rather point out that Penrod being great is your willingness to help others when you can. From what I’ve read, Jobs want that type.
Jobs was a great innovator and an even greater visionary (the significance of the iPhone was completely lost on me when it came out). But great man? No. That requires a level of humanity that Jobs did not possess.
The biggest thing I hate about his legacy that always gets swept under the rug is how much of an unbelievable, money-grubbing capitalist he was and Apple still is because of him. Not that I don’t believe in capitalism, but not when you also foster an image of being a peace & love neo-hippie.
I think this is hyperbole. A different device interface is in no way akin to the gun example you use. One gives people the option of mass slaughter, the other makes using an electronic communication device a bit nicer.
A better example would be that Jobs was like the first person to put vehicle controls in what we now consider to be the “correct” positions.
Useful, interesting but not ultimately life-changing.
Well, great compared to whom? I think his impact is a bit overstated. The creation of the Internet has been more significant , the creation (and commercialization) of the worldwide web has been more significant, innovations in transistors and integrated circuits that have allowed computers to be continually made smaller and more powerful are more significant, and the development of the first personal computers was more significant. (Jobs of course had a role in the early days of personal computing, but was far from the most important figure.)
I think with all those technological elements in place, it was inevitable that we’d all eventually end up with miniature computers that we could carry in our pockets. Jobs (and his employees) deserve credit for being the ones to bring it all together in a design that people wanted, and for turning it into an amazing money making machine. And the choice to go with a touchscreen interface was a smart move. But it’s not as revolutionary as some of the revolutions that made it possible.
Ghandi was something of an ass personally though. Good thing too. I’m deeply suspicious of great men who are also good men. Those are the ones which really have the potential to go completely psycho on the world. Hitler and Stalin were that kind of men. Churchill by comparison was only a great man, not particular good.
Apple is certainly more than that, but the mark of a great man has always been the ability to recognize and propel other people of talent.
n/m