4 ms·

The question is wrong. They should have asked "Who wants to be next Steve Jobs?" I suspect not too many: most technical entrepreneurs are more interested in qui

by tx 18y ago

The question is wrong. They should have asked "Who wants to be next Steve Jobs?" I suspect not too many: most technical entrepreneurs are more interested in quickly making a "widget" of some sort and sell out to the first real business that comes along. Some may argue that personal computers in the 70s can be compared to web-widgets of today: the public at large didn't look at them as at "real computers" and few believed in truly global adoption. In that regard early PC pioneers were swimming against the flow. While today, the entrepreneurial mantra is to "figure out where everybody is going and be there first", being "part of the flow" is crucial (any VC will tell you that). And nobody bothers with re-thinking anything: hey, ideas are nothing, execution is the king. Build something fast. Be in a browser. Get on TechCrunch. Next Steve won't grow out of making half-assed JavaScript reimplementations of existing desktop software. And I honestly have no idea what the Next Steve will do. I know for sure, that what we're doing today is sorta "configuration files" for software built in the 50s. Perhaps this is what they call a "matured industry" and perhaps looking for a next Steve Jobs is as practical as looking for a next Henry Ford.

aston 18y ago
Steve Jobs probably should not be compared to Henry Ford. Apple, if anything, is a great fast-follower with an incredible sense of design and marketing. Henry Ford, on the other hand, was mainly responsible for the initial commercialization of something that's pretty much reshaped culture. If anyone's had a similar impact in the computer industry, it's Microsoft, not Apple.
- mlinsey 18y ago
  I disagree - Apple was pushing the entire idea of a Personal Computer before that market existed. Microsoft's big break was when they were called upon by IBM to provide the OS for IBM's competitor to Apple. Had not Apple taken IBM by surprise, IBM may have eventually decided to go into that market anyway. But absent competitive pressure from Apple compressing their timeline, they probably would have gone with a more proprietary design and wouldn't have even needed Microsoft.
  - mechanical_fish 18y ago
    I disagree - Apple was pushing the entire idea of a Personal Computer before that market existed. Okay, time to channel Grandpa Simpson! Where's my cane? <grandpa> Now, sonny, what people forget is that Apple Computer brought their Apple II to an existing market for home PCs. [1] The first home PC had been introduced in January 1975, and by 1977 when the Apple II came out there were already multiple PC enthusiast magazines, Microsoft had been in the software business for two years, and there were multiple companies selling PC hardware. The Apple II was introduced at a personal computer show. Even the Apple I was an entry into an existing market. Jobs and Wozniak certainly pushed the envelope: The Apple II was, for example, arguably the first PC to be marketed at folks who didn't know how to solder, who didn't even care about hardware but just wanted to buy or write software and run it. But the hardware hackers drooled over it too [2], and they bought it, and thus the venture was less risky that you think -- it didn't have to create its own market, because Jobs knew the core market was already there; the challenge was to grow the market. Pioneering the PC market was the work of the Altair guys at MITS, two years prior. MITS, of course, followed the usual good advice for people who are trying to discover a brand-new market: They launched early to test the market. They launched really early. As in "before they actually built more than a single prototype, they photographed a mockup and sent that photo plus the schematic to the editor of Popular Electronics [3], who read the schematic, concluded that the hardware was probably real, and published an article on it that drove hundreds and hundreds of mail orders in a few weeks." Then the company used the money from the mail orders to actually buy the parts, package the kits and send them out. [4] You could even argue that MITS was targeting an existing market: If the folks writing Popular Electronics hadn't built a fan base that was ready and waiting to solder together computers, the PC revolution wouldn't have caught fire in 1975. </grandpa> All of this is cribbed from Steven Levy's Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, a book you should really read. [1] Note: Here "PC" has its original meaning of "generic personal computer" and does not refer to MS/DOS compatible boxen. Those came later, obviously. [2] It helped that the Apple II not only came with schematics and a complete listing of its ROM, but had been designed by a hardware-hacking genius of the first water who liked to show off. [3] MITS also mailed their single prototype to Popular Electronics. It got lost in the mail and was never seen again. If you find it, contact some historians. [4] If you think you intend to follow this business plan, make sure your lawyer is sitting down before you broach the subject.
helveticaman 18y ago
I kind of want to be the next Steve Jobs. Sorta.
- pg 18y ago
  http://news.ycombinator.com/apply http://news.ycombinator.com/apply
  - hugh 18y ago
    But first, find the next Steve Wozniak.
    - prakash 18y ago
      I am here ;-)
  - helveticaman 18y ago
    OK, will do.
pg 18y ago
Steve didn't originally intend to build computers. They were just going to sell plans for computers. So don't be too hard on present day founders. Companies tend to grow in the making.

by tx 18y ago

aston 18y ago

Steve Jobs probably should not be compared to Henry Ford. Apple, if anything, is a great fast-follower with an incredible sense of design and marketing. Henry Ford, on the other hand, was mainly responsible for the initial commercialization of something that's pretty much reshaped culture. If anyone's had a similar impact in the computer industry, it's Microsoft, not Apple.

mlinsey 18y ago
I disagree - Apple was pushing the entire idea of a Personal Computer before that market existed. Microsoft's big break was when they were called upon by IBM to provide the OS for IBM's competitor to Apple. Had not Apple taken IBM by surprise, IBM may have eventually decided to go into that market anyway. But absent competitive pressure from Apple compressing their timeline, they probably would have gone with a more proprietary design and wouldn't have even needed Microsoft.
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  I disagree - Apple was pushing the entire idea of a Personal Computer before that market existed. Okay, time to channel Grandpa Simpson! Where's my cane? <grandpa> Now, sonny, what people forget is that Apple Computer brought their Apple II to an existing market for home PCs. [1] The first home PC had been introduced in January 1975, and by 1977 when the Apple II came out there were already multiple PC enthusiast magazines, Microsoft had been in the software business for two years, and there were multiple companies selling PC hardware. The Apple II was introduced at a personal computer show. Even the Apple I was an entry into an existing market. Jobs and Wozniak certainly pushed the envelope: The Apple II was, for example, arguably the first PC to be marketed at folks who didn't know how to solder, who didn't even care about hardware but just wanted to buy or write software and run it. But the hardware hackers drooled over it too [2], and they bought it, and thus the venture was less risky that you think -- it didn't have to create its own market, because Jobs knew the core market was already there; the challenge was to grow the market. Pioneering the PC market was the work of the Altair guys at MITS, two years prior. MITS, of course, followed the usual good advice for people who are trying to discover a brand-new market: They launched early to test the market. They launched really early. As in "before they actually built more than a single prototype, they photographed a mockup and sent that photo plus the schematic to the editor of Popular Electronics [3], who read the schematic, concluded that the hardware was probably real, and published an article on it that drove hundreds and hundreds of mail orders in a few weeks." Then the company used the money from the mail orders to actually buy the parts, package the kits and send them out. [4] You could even argue that MITS was targeting an existing market: If the folks writing Popular Electronics hadn't built a fan base that was ready and waiting to solder together computers, the PC revolution wouldn't have caught fire in 1975. </grandpa> All of this is cribbed from Steven Levy's Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, a book you should really read. [1] Note: Here "PC" has its original meaning of "generic personal computer" and does not refer to MS/DOS compatible boxen. Those came later, obviously. [2] It helped that the Apple II not only came with schematics and a complete listing of its ROM, but had been designed by a hardware-hacking genius of the first water who liked to show off. [3] MITS also mailed their single prototype to Popular Electronics. It got lost in the mail and was never seen again. If you find it, contact some historians. [4] If you think you intend to follow this business plan, make sure your lawyer is sitting down before you broach the subject.

helveticaman 18y ago

I kind of want to be the next Steve Jobs. Sorta.

pg 18y ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/apply http://news.ycombinator.com/apply
- hugh 18y ago
  But first, find the next Steve Wozniak.
  - prakash 18y ago
    I am here ;-)
- helveticaman 18y ago
  OK, will do.

pg 18y ago

Steve didn't originally intend to build computers. They were just going to sell plans for computers. So don't be too hard on present day founders. Companies tend to grow in the making.