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57 Comments
- swmbuk, on 04/24/2009, -1/+53No matter how you feel about Apple, You gotta admit Jobs has done a hell of a job in a business sense.
- deweyhewson, on 04/24/2009, -5/+42Steve Jobs was a dick at Apple then. Yes, a visionary dick, but a dick nonetheless. He used to humiliate job candidates in interviews, including asking one potential employee about his sex life. He played aspects of the company against each other, and he literally treated his employees like machines, tearing them down to suit his purposes, and working them to the point of breakdowns. Even Woz left the company because of Jobs. He denied the existence of a love child he fathered until her mid-teens, and wouldn't even pay the mother $20,000 after he became a multi-millionaire out of pride.
Is he a genius businessman? Yes, but he's also the biggest jerk to come out of the tech boom of those days. He was fired from Apple because that aspect of him was dragging the company down. As a result, he had to force himself to shelter people from that aspect, and his return to Apple is evidence of those lessons he learned.
The clearest evidence of this? People like Bill Gates have families. Jobs has a cult of personality. - improvono, on 04/24/2009, -0/+33The work Jobs did at NeXT was invaluable to the success of OSX, and he probably learned some stark realities about the business world while away from Apple. So glad he came back!
- inactive, on 04/23/2009, -1/+23You know, I think that his parting with apple may have been good at that point. It's unfortunate that the people running the company afterward didn't have the same vision as he did.
It forced him to mature and grow as a businessman.
I think his hiatus was too long, because he reintroduced the vision that apple needed. - Spire3660, on 04/24/2009, -0/+19A few MAJOR advances in computing were done on NeXT machines as well
From wikipedia:
Several developers used the NeXT platform to write pioneering programs. Tim Berners-Lee used a NeXT Computer in 1991 to create the first web browser and web server.[33] In the early 1990s John Carmack used a NeXTcube to build two of his pioneering games, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.
Steve was also a very early supporter of Pixar which in turn allowed him to eventually become the single largest shareholder of Disney. - derektherock42, on 04/24/2009, -0/+15A lot of features in his OS "NeXTSTEP" (such as being Unix-based, having a dock, being graphic-intensive, etc) would reappear in OS X. Also, I think he learned what it was like to fail. Before 1985, he did nothing but go up, which probably made him pompous. Then he was fired and learned what it was like to feel defeat. But he picked himself back up and then saved Apple, while remembering that he isn't the smartest and most amazing guy in the world.
- derektherock42, on 04/24/2009, -0/+14I think Steve learned a lot from being fired. Compare the video of him introducing Macintosh to the video of him becoming permanent "iCEO" of Apple. Even though a team of people worked their fingers to the bone on Macintosh, when Steve was up on that stage, it was as if he was the sole creator of the machine. He essentially took all the credit. Compare that to when he became CEO, where he said he wouldn't be where he is today without his amazing employees, calling them the "most talented people on the planet". I think it's good that he lost that ego.
- Tenareth, on 04/24/2009, -2/+14Part of being visionary is maintaining focus, he got rid of the multitude of Apple products and focused their efforts. I don't understand this need to tell yourself "Bah, anybody could have done that..." Guess what, nobody else DID that, HE did that.
Unless of course you also happen to have turned around a company and successfully impacted Microsoft's share on the desktop? - mrBitch, on 04/24/2009, -1/+10This calls for a classic Steve Quote (after being kicked out of Apple) :
"You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me."
- Steve Jobs (Fortune, Sept. 18, 1995) - ttamshadbolt, on 04/24/2009, -0/+7And what's Sculley doing now!?
- aristotle0dude, on 04/24/2009, -1/+8Yeah uh dashdingo, speaking of vision, you seem to be a bit myopic. The comparable hardware in the all in one or laptop space is often similarly priced or more expensive than the Apple offerings. But you cannot see the forest apparently because what makes macs special is the OS and the software bundled with it.
If you are focused on hardware then you definitely don't get that it's the software stupid.
@iritegood:Only self-hating douchebags call other people douchebags without any provocation. The rest of society seem to get along just fine accepting people as they are. - sudowrestler, on 04/24/2009, -0/+7Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the story is what Jobs did after being ejected from the kingdom to wander in the wilderness: started a company that put together a graphically advanced Unix OS, exactly the kind of thing Apple would need when the classic OS ran out of steam.
- mrBitch, on 04/24/2009, -0/+6What's Mulder doing now?
- mrBitch, on 04/24/2009, -0/+6@Spire, RE: "... Several developers used the NeXT platform to write pioneering programs. Tim Berners-Lee used a NeXT Computer in 1991 to create the first web browser and web server.[33] In the early 1990s John Carmack used a NeXTcube to build two of his pioneering games, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom."
I knew about the first web browser, but I didn't think through the logic that the first web server had to have been created on NeXT. - MScrip, on 04/24/2009, -0/+6Trying to spend hundreds of millions of dollars.
- kreatre2007, on 04/24/2009, -1/+7In retrospect, it was a good thing for Jobs to get fired by Apple. He went on to form NeXT. The operating system that ran on NeXT computers (NeXTSTEP and OpenStep) became the basis of Mac OS X. Apple was doing a horrible job at replacing the aging Mac OS with a new and modern operating system. The purchase of NeXT solved that problem for Apple. It's arguable that NeXT actually took over Apple instead of the other way around since Steve Jobs brought in several people from NeXT, and totally revamped Apple's efforts at creating a new OS.
- jonsterling, on 04/24/2009, -0/+5Damn! Beat me to it!
- sudowrestler, on 04/24/2009, -0/+5I agree that it didn't absolutely need to be a Unix, although NeXTstep worked out very well for them. What would have happened if they'd acquired Be is one of the more interesting items in the "things we'll never know" category. But, of course, that would have left Jobs out of the equation. It's hard to imagine Apple turning around under the then-current management, regardless of the OS.
- FarrokhBulsara, on 04/24/2009, -2/+6no kidding.. that wasnt really about anything
- dragossh, on 04/24/2009, -0/+4"A lot of features in his OS "NeXTSTEP" (such as being Unix-based, having a dock, being graphic-intensive, etc) would reappear in OS X."
That's because OS X is NeXTSTEP 6.x. - MScrip, on 04/24/2009, -0/+3@dashdingo
One difference is that Jobs has his hand in the OS and the hardware. The "vision" that Apple has is that they can create a complete package.
In contrast, Microsoft has nothing to do with the way Dell and HP builds their laptops. Microsoft could have the best OS ever invented... but the laptops its loaded on could look and run like a beat-up lawn mower. - robbiedo, on 04/24/2009, -0/+3It's funny how Sculley is damned for the "failure" of the Newton. I still have an original Newton sitting in my kitchen drawer. Every now and then, I toss some batteries in it. It really is an amazing piece of technology. The Newton 2100 when paired with a keyboard was the first really good "Netbook," although the Psion 5mx was the most elegant piece of technology ever built.
- inactive, on 04/24/2009, -0/+3Jobs demands excellence, and he tries the products.
He wants the grand piano of computers.
He has really brought that. - YoctoYotta, on 04/24/2009, -0/+2Fight
- inactive, on 04/24/2009, -3/+5Be realistic, fanboy.
- goatworship, on 04/24/2009, -0/+2@dashdingo:
Job's changes were more than cosmetic, those were just the ones the general public could understand and appreciate. The line of macs before his return were perhaps the worst in history. The primary programs Photoshop and Quark would crash with pathetic frequency, that isn't directly Apple's fault, but the unix-based OSX made it easier to write a stable program, and when they did crash, they didn't take the whole system down with them.
I hated hearing it at the time, but it was absolutely true that Apple was at death's door. Even the Apple haters now must admit that is no longer the case, as irritating as it must be. - peestandingup, on 04/24/2009, -0/+2Here are a couple good videos I uploaded some time ago that deal with these very issues:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhjVidOFqBo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FytWjEd2gcg - implied, on 04/24/2009, -7/+9Way to write a non-article. Thanks for the foreplay though.
- RogerStrong, on 04/24/2009, -0/+2I remember when shortly after he started NeXT, some business show interviewed him. They showed him in a planning session, saying that they were selling the computer to students, so if it costs more than $2000, it's just not going to sell.
A year or two later the NeXT cube is released, and it costs $10,000.
And still they would only sell it to students. A couple local engineers at Bristol Aerospace tried to buy them, and were turned away because they weren't students. - Elranzer, on 04/24/2009, -0/+1A PDA with a Gameboy-like screen can be a netbook?
- CrimsonFlash, on 04/24/2009, -0/+1I have that book...
- Sammi84, on 04/24/2009, -0/+1All things can be rationalized in retrospect.
- Jabjabs, on 04/27/2009, -0/+1I suggest you read books like iWoz and iCon, you will see that you a bit of the details wrong (Job's quit he wasn't fired, Woz left because Apple 2 wasn't the focus any more). That said Job's and Gates for that matter still where mega douche bag's, they may be older and appear wiser but all I've heard from people working with them is that they are still the same old people. Once a jerk, always a jerk.
- Elranzer, on 04/24/2009, -0/+1Palm OS went on to buy Be... and nothing terribly interesting came from that (Palm OS6 was suppossed to be based on BeOS, but it never came out).
- Lemon, on 04/29/2009, -1/+2Congratulations, you have also watched Pirates of Silicon Valley.
- dragossh, on 04/24/2009, -0/+1Apple didn't need a Unix OS, to be fair. They were about to purchase Be, until they turned away and purchased NeXT (and thus bringing Jobs back to Apple).
- EthanHunt27, on 04/24/2009, -0/+1I had not idea what this guy was "really like" (only what i've read in iCon).
- Darkyuubi, on 04/24/2009, -7/+8...Bill wasn't all that great of a guy either. Before he met his wife, Bill was a fairly ruthless businessman as well.
And Steve is still a dick...He's just older. So he can't be a dick as often. - dashdingo, on 04/24/2009, -21/+22Vision?
"Alright guys, I have this vision - let's make the laptops WHITE. Oh, but some, will be BLACK - and they'll cost more. It's revolutionary." - NSResponder, on 04/24/2009, -1/+2"I didn't think through the logic that the first web server had to have been created on NeXT."
Something that will really surprise you is that the second type of machine to host a web server was an IBM mainframe.
-jcr - Nateon, on 04/24/2009, -1/+1I'm not sure you've ever seen "society"
- iHazLilHead, on 04/24/2009, -1/+1He also made the dock idea, which is a big hit among apple fans.
- inactive, on 04/24/2009, -2/+2Gates didn't invent vista.
…unless that's why it took so longhorn to release. - Zelf24, on 04/29/2009, -1/+1Hahaha, my thoughts exactly, Lemon.
- inactive, on 04/24/2009, -3/+3He likes his space.
Don't piss him off and i'm sure he's a nice guy. - mollerade, on 04/24/2009, -2/+1Awesome comment, very interesting. Still some part of me prefers Jobs being a dick, to Bill Gates creating Vista.. ah *****, there i dun gone started a flame war.
- BrownieMix, on 04/24/2009, -3/+2Are you trying to start something?
- gz2nyc, on 04/24/2009, -2/+1oh boy I can't wait until part 2 of the essay tomorrow.
- crazysamz, on 04/24/2009, -5/+3I couldn't have put that better myself. It's exactly true about Jobs and I've always hated him for it.
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