What is Digg?136 Comments
- SkippyDoorknob, on 10/12/2007, -26/+152Steve Jobs is a man!
- zweben, on 10/12/2007, -22/+115We don't care.
- deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -8/+93He did supposedly pour a glass of water over someone's head once.
- zweben, on 10/12/2007, -7/+75I think the reason people think he's an ***** is that he doesn't sugar coat his criticisms at all. He's very blunt about what he likes and doesn't like. And while that definitely doesn't give off the best first impression in terms of one's personality, I honestly think that his type of criticism is extremely effective and, once people get over the initial shock of being criticised so harshly, it will make people strive to do better than they would have before.
Back when I was still pretty new to SLR photography, I had a friend who, if he didn't like my photo, he would just flat out tell me it sucked. At first I thought he was an *****, but now that I look back, I think that kind of criticism really helped me to be a better photographer. - hyperpasta, on 10/12/2007, -7/+69He sounds hilarious. I'd hate to work with him, but that attitude gets results.
- tonyspencer, on 10/12/2007, -13/+61Like him or not, he gets things done, is innovative, and gets ***** hot products out the door. Who cares how he does it?
He's changed the face of computing. - RadiantBeing, on 10/12/2007, -5/+44You have to look at this from the perspective of a famous billionaire entrepreneur who runs one of the hottest companies in the world. Jobs is constantly bombarded by useful idiots who know nothing except how to shape a message. The only way to cut through their ***** is to tear into them with tough questions. Meetings are usually a place for group-think, safety in numbers, and carefully scripted marketspeak... cutting through all the fear and BS is one way to get things done.
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -8/+46I like Apple and all... but that's just plain scary.
- FinishdLawSkool, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30Ballmer from Microsoft throws chairs (allegedly).
- ndm007, on 10/12/2007, -9/+33You do realize that those people were.....actors!
- theblueprint, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29Well, this is a business situation. Steve asked the hard questions, and they didn't have the answers. Blind support, friend or not, doens't help anyone.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+28At least he's honest about what he has to say. I'd hate to wait and forget all of my questions after a pitch. I can't write very fast so I wouldn't be paying attention half the time.
- Gatesophile, on 10/12/2007, -6/+25"Most hilarious comment I've seen all day" award goes to....
- SimonC, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23@apotropaic
Thanks for showing us your ignorance. I am no Apple fanboy at all, but give to Caesar what is Caesar's. We have cheap microcomputers now thanks to Apple, who ignited the microcomputers revolution with the first Apple, which made IBM release its own microcomputers (and unfortunately sign with MS for DOS), and the rest is history.
In 1984, it was again Steve Jobs who pushed the MacIntosh (within Apple, against their own Lisa), the first successful and useful microcomputer with a graphical user interface for the general public. May Apple be already bankrupt, it would still have marked the computer industry greatly, and Steve Jobs (and for the first Apples, Steve Wozniak) are greatly responsible for those innovations. - iamsjn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19There's no question that Jobs knows how to sell products with innovation, art and anthropomorphics. Dean and crew would be very wise to listen to this man.
I agree with Jobs. Although the technology is cutting edge, the design, the marketing so far, well.... sucks.
Personally, I love the guy. His attitude, his brash way of dealing with people moves mountains and gets things done. He cuts to the chase. ***** free. Trust me this isn't coming from an Apple fanboy. I only own an iPod. Just admire the guy thats all.
SjN - astrosmash, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19I don't think the choice quotes on the 37signals blog are a very accurate representation of what transpired during the meeting, but the entire transcript is a fascinating read. You certainly don't bring in high profile billionaires like Jobs or Jeff Bezos so they can act like a bunch of yes men. And for the most part their comments were spot on.
- RadiantBeing, on 10/12/2007, -7/+21Direct link:
http://hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu/archive/3533.html - Fitzhume, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Steve Jobs sounds like the kind of person that's nice working for. You don't have to guess around at what he's really trying to say. Instead you get the boss making very clear what he thinks, and you can adjust accordingly.
I worked for a guy once that would never say what he meant until 3 months later when he's screaming in your face asking how you could "fail" on his plan/vision/whatever. One of the worst people I've ever had to work for. - FinishdLawSkool, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Blunt comments that get right to the point may sound mean but they are efficient and effective. Too many people let their feelings get in the way with this sort of thing when feelings should not be such an issue at work. The point in a business situation (in most cases at least) is profit, not caring about feelings when someone makes a stupid suggestion.
This sort of ass kissing, political correct, don't hurt my feelings attitude definitely does not help all the time, although it must be accepted that in some situations it is a must... - inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11> “I think it sucks!” said Jobs.
As someone who has sat through my share of meetings and seen how corporate and bland and, frankly, pointless they can be, reading about someone willing to cut through the BS and get to the point is startling in a good way. I wish more meetings could have a Steve Jobs-type of edge to them. - Blazeix, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18Mirror:
http://www.duggmirror.com/apple/What_Steve_Jobs_is_like_in_a_Meeting/ - chewbaka, on 10/12/2007, -9/+19There's quite a few "the man's" at this meeting (the article claims 3 billionaires but actually 4)
An FYI of the major players involved:
John Doerr: Venture Capitalist extraordinaire. Funded/helped Google, Amazon, Sun, etc get their starts.
Steve Jobs: Needs no introduction.
Jeff Bezos: Amazon founder.
Dean Kamen: Inventor extraordinaire. Has over 150 patents. Dubious fame of Segway inventor.
Bezos *probably* leads this list w/ ~$5 billion or so to his name. - inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Never sat through a two-hour, highly-structured, buzzword-laden, get-nothing-done corporate meeting, I take it?
- jdkane, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Give me some context. The quotes that are included make Jobs like like a bad guy, and maybe he is, but provide fair evidence. Heck, you can take pieces of what I say every day and when strung together I can look very good or very bad depending on which pieces are chosen. This is crap reporting at its best meant to uphold a stereotype of the man.
- Klowner, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1274983729713522403
It's not difficult to imagine him whipping a few chairs across a room.. - dayquil, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11The only real new information I got from reading this excerpt is that the editor should be shot. I counted three cases in which quotes from more than one person were in the same paragraph, and a couple more where things that should have been quotes were instead replaced with paraphrasing - while that's ok in fiction, in a supposed nonfiction work it takes away any shred of credit the actual quotes had (if they *were* actual quotes, which they probably weren't - see how that works? I no longer believe any of it).
I'm inclined to believe the book is a perfectly lousy read. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Guys who obtain this level of success typically are like this, much before they were even successful.
- poipoipoi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9act like Steve Jobs in your meetings then.
- mikebritton, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8People are only rude like that when they know their asses will be kissed unconditionally. Still, I find Jobs' remarks really funny and would probably laugh at his brash comments in a meeting, despite myself.
- AhmedB, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6If they charged a few thousand dollars for the Metro and it was a hit, said Jobs, they could come out with the Pro later and charge double for industrial and military uses.
That's how Apple markets its computers and iPods! - noneloud, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7He doesn't run Pixar anymore. Disney does.
- toaplan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I doubt anyone would get fired by a person like Jobs for saying something you didn't think though, you'd most likely get fired for presenting the exact same thought again a little later ("I think we should make the iPod more edible", "That's the worst idea I've heard since that 'Ginger' crap", followed by "How about if we made the iPod more edible then?")
- inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If I owned the company I work for, I would. As I'm not fond of being fired, I'll sit and listen as is expected. I have to say however that I'd love for the company I work for to have someone as blunt and honest as Steve Jobs running things. IMO, the only people fearful of that kind of environment are incompetents who don't want to hear that a) they're worthless or b) they have no ideas.
- elroy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Um, I don't think he needs to say reasons. Do you remember the hype surrounding "ginger"? The news media was like "This invention revolutionize trasnporation. We will build an entirely new infastructure to support it. It will be the dawning of a new era in humanity. We will forever be remembered as the ginger generation."
...then someone uncovered the patent that was filed and everyone was like "hmmm... looks like it's a scooter." Eventually it would be known that it's an $11,000 scooter. Really, how could you say anything other than "I think it sucks." - morphie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3All he cares about is the result, nothing more, nothing less. I think that is a good thing when you're leading a company like Apple. He has a vision and a strong personality. "proof me wrong and I'll step away. Till then, I want my vision to be heard."
- glafira, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Despite the fact that Jobs is controversial, he gets the job done, and at the end of the day thats what counts.
- FinishdLawSkool, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9Ballmer does not brush his teeth or bathe (allegedly).
- Kazaki, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9They asked him what he thought about it. He answered them. It's one of the reasons Simon on American Idol is infamous as well.
- noneloud, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I think peopel would be better off if 1) they were that honest all of the time, and 2) never got insulted by the opinions of others. They are just opinions.
(however, if they are the opinions of your boss, you know that you have to act on them or you won't last long) - jonjonjon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4BOTTOM LINE: he was right.
segway, in spite of it's innovative tech, is retarded looking. imagine if it looked cool, too. you'd probably own one by now. - rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Coming Soon to a theater near you: Steve Jobs in...
Ladies Man 2 - xinul, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4sooner or later you people are going to understand it doesn't matter if its a dupe if this is the first time the 1000some diggers have seen it, it's new to them
- CamperBob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Correct. Say what you will about Jobs's personality, but he was right on target in this meeting... the Segway looks like something that belongs in a vacuum-cleaner museum. Sometimes the Emperor really is underdressed for the occasion.
- agitater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The meeting excerpt should be a lesson to everyone who has to deal with successful senior staff, to wit, don't waste their valuable time explaining mind-numbing detail. When someone like Jobs has already seen the product, you have to start the meeting with the following question: "Steve, you saw and used the product yesterday. Which of the presentations prepared for this meeting do you want to see?" That leaves senior staff free to a) dump the presentations, b) pick out one or two needed to fill in some info gaps, or c) start firing tough questions to see how well the concepts, ideas, technology and business cases hold up to an assault.
Pay attention all you 20-somethings! The road to success is NOT paved with ***** and obfuscation. If you've got the answers, Steve (and others like him) will pay attention to you. But to get & give answers in that rarefied atmosphere you can't simply look forward and make guesses. You have to do a sufficient amount of hard research so that when you're challenged, you've got hard data and proof to offer in return. Walk into a meeting with Steve or Bill or any of their peers with nothing in your pocket but a presentation and they will ***** you up every time. They're not vicious men and women. They just need to understand what it is you've got and how it can work in their worlds. - inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Have you ever been in a meeting with a CEO?
- Cyberdactyl, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Come on now. . Steve could stand on the conference room table, pull down his drawers and lay a huge, steamy pile in the center, and his minions would applaud him for his innovative insight on interior design philosophy
- mozzep, on 10/12/2007, -18/+205% of worldwide computers, do you realize how large that number is?
- diggerphelps, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Um, was he not RIGHT about the Segway?
Just imagine if Apple had designed and marketed that thing. - Dakana, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Yes, because he's a modern day business leader of a highly pertinent company that we interact with nearly ever day of our lives. You SHOULD "give a fuk".
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