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One of the first projects they collaborated on was this huge sign of a hand with the middle finger raised. It was a huge cloth poster and they put it up on the
by GuiA 10y ago
One of the first projects they collaborated on was this huge sign of a hand with the middle finger raised. It was a huge cloth poster and they put it up on the roof of our school and weighted the ends with rocks, I think. This was the end of the building that all of the parents faced during graduation. And the idea was that during graduation they would cut some strings which would release this thing to roll down over the side of the building and it said, “Best Wishes, Class of ‘72!” and it was giving them the finger. [...] So that was like, their first prank together.
Sometimes, like when a student was entering the telephone booth, Woz would call the telephone booth and it would ring and student would answer it. Then Woz would say, “This is Ramar the Mystic. I see wetness in your future,” and as the guy is saying, “What?” Woz would throw a water balloon at him from the second floor. The guy would be all angry and Woz would say, “Well, Ramar was only trying to help.”
These kind of remind me of those YouTube pranks where guys randomly kiss girls on the street or pick fights with people for "social experiments". Not really "pranks", just idiotic fun at other people's expense.
Jobs got a printed circuit board made and he figured out where to get all the parts.
Jobs often gets put down as just "the marketer" from Apple's early days, with Woz doing all the execution, but when you get deeper it sounds like Jobs enabled a lot of the logistics, supply chain, etc. Without him, Woz's prototype would have remained just that - a one off. In this light, Woz almost appears as the "idea guy" (where idea includes initial concept + first execution), whereas Jobs is the one who made it a viable product and company.
- dpark 10y ago> Not really "pranks", just idiotic fun at other people's expense. The middle finger thing is really not at someone else's expense. It's a dumb prank. The water balloon thing is a bit more mean spirited, but it's still far more innocuous than assault or sexual assault "pranks".
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- Retra 10y agoA water balloon is mean spirited only because we've built roofs everywhere. Humans can get wet with very little to be afraid of.
- dpark 10y agoIt's still mean spirited to dump water on a stranger even if it doesn't actually hurt them. It's subjecting someone to something they don't want for your own amusement. The claim that humans have nothing to fear about getting wet is also less true than ever now that people are carrying electronics with them constantly, but that's not really relevant for people Woz targeted in his 20s.
- dave_sullivan 10y ago> In this light, Woz almost appears as the "idea guy" (where idea includes initial concept + first execution), whereas Jobs is the one who made it a viable product and company. I'm not sure of the exact ratio, but as far as I can tell, if they hadn't teamed up, Woz would have ended up an engineer at HP (or Google if it happened today) and Jobs would have ended up starting a cult or joining Scientology or something. Maybe there would have been someone else to market Woz's genius, but I doubt they'd have done it better. Maybe Jobs would have found another Woz, but I doubt they'd have built as good of a product; Jobs would have been selling just as relentlessly, but a less compelling product. They both had an important role to play. What came after? Who could have known.
- antisthenes 10y ago> and Jobs would have ended up starting a cult He sort of did and it ended up being pretty successful.
- jakeva 10y agoI assume you're taking a shot at Apple the company. Not sure what the basis for making the comparison to a cult is and having escaped from an actual cult myself I find the comparison disingenuous and insulting. Apple sells products many people are happy to pay for. Cults sell a lifestyle usually built on lies and manipulation, generally taking much more from their buyers than just the sticker price.
- justinclift 10y agoErrr... just to point out, some people perceive similarities in Apple's approach to what you just described re: "Cults sell ...".
- freyr 10y ago> some people perceive similarities in Apple's approach to what you just described re: "Cults sell [a lifestyle usually based on lies and manipulation]" Marketing involves manipulation. Despite being good at marketing, I don't see evidence that Apple resorts to lying more than other companies. More often, the "cult of Apple" label is directed at avid customers who are particularly enthusiastic about Apple's products, and its used pejoratively by people who don't share or understand their enthusiasm. But it's metaphor, and it doesn't mean Apple or its fans are an actual cult.
- enraged_camel 10y ago>>Not really "pranks", just idiotic fun at other people's expense. Didn't you just define what a prank is?
- tedmiston 10y agoI think you can have a prank without (potential) negative externalities.
- enraged_camel 10y agoBut a prank is always at the target's expense. You are hurting, at the very least, their ego and/or pride. Or you are startling them, or surprising them (unpleasantly). That's the difference between a joke and a prank. A joke is told. A prank is done to someone.
- phaus 10y ago>But a prank is always at the target's expense. This is technically correct, but traditionally you're only supposed to execute pranks against friends that you already know would appreciate this kind of humor. If that's what you're doing, it's not usually a negative thing for anyone involved.
- kirrent 10y agoPut pocketing occurs to me as a simple prank that doesn't hurt anyone. It's all about making someone part of the joke, rather than the butt of the joke. https://youtu.be/Nv2j2PDPa_k?t=104 https://youtu.be/Nv2j2PDPa_k?t=104