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Mixed feelings about him honestly. I still can't forget how he betrayed Wozniak.

google234123 5y ago
You should get over it
snek_case 5y ago
Having read multiple Jobs biographies, it also seemed to me that he may have been bipolar, but unmedicated because of his stance on medication. Sometimes very hard to work with or be around. People ascribe incredible genius to this guy, but forget that he could be a very impulsive, arrogant and sometimes cruel human being. Regarding Steve Wozniak, that's another big issue. Not only the betrayal, but it betrays a divide between Jobs and Wozniak. The original Apple II was a computer designed by Wozniak, and very open to tinkerers. Jobs didn't want the computer to be open or to have many extension slots, he wanted total control over the system. He designed his vision of a computer (the Macintosh), and it was a flop. Jobs killed the Apple II and sent the company on a downwards spiral that lasted several years. It kind of pains me to see that so many people in tech love Apple products, but forget that Apple is not a platform made for creative engineers, it's designed to be a closed system they have control over. They don't really value or encourage your curiosity. They don't want you to peek at what's inside. Even though Apple, like most tech companies, was started by creative engineers.
- pfraze 5y ago
  Jobs was chronically focused on producing products that were ahead of the market. As a consequence, the Macintosh and the NeXT were incredible, forward-looking, and overpriced for the market. I’m by no means happy or in agreement with his “closed system” thinking, but it’s worth noting that the iPhone was exactly that.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- eigenvalue 5y ago
  It's not really a fair characterization to call the first Mac a flop; it sold reasonably well, though obviously not as well as the Apple II given the higher price point: https://www.cultofmac.com/479113/today-apple-history-first-100-days-mac-roaring-success/ https://www.cultofmac.com/479113/today-apple-history-first-1...
paxys 5y ago
He screwed over a ton of Apple employees. In Jobs' mind he truly deserved all of the credit and profits for their success because he was the vision guy. Woz and the rest of the team were just doing the boring implementation stuff.
- bigtones 5y ago
  He didn't just screw over Apple employees - Pixar employees and founders too.
- m0llusk 5y ago
  This is a big oversimplification. Some people got screwed therefore he was always screwing everyone over. His career spans many years and quite a few people managed great contributions working with him in that time and got very well compensated and congratulated for that. Steve Jobs did give a lot of credit to the people who worked under him, just to pick out a couple of notable examples he frequently heaped praise on Avie Tevanian and also the guy who actually made the initial speculative potential merger call to Apple. And in doing so he specifically called out their accomplishments as being savvy and decisive and not just boring implementation stuff.
biggieshellz 5y ago
Or how he taunted Alvy Ray Smith because of his Southern accent. Or how his example continues to be used to excuse bad behavior today ("but Steve Jobs did it that way").
- philwelch 5y ago
  He occasionally did that to Tim Cook as well.
amelius 5y ago
Indeed. No hacker deserves to be treated like that. Without hackers, Jobs would have been designing plastic utensils with rounded corners for Tupperware, or something like that.
skeeter2020 5y ago
especially when contrasted withg how Woz acted and continues to act. He just seems like a much more happy human being, and it's warming to see good things happen to good people.
WalterBright 5y ago
I wonder how many of us would fare if subject to the same kind of scrutiny Jobs is. As for the Wozniak thing, Wozniak forgave him. As he was the one wronged, we should let it go, too. Heck, if I didn't forgive my friends now and then, I wouldn't have any.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  Woz's forgiveness speaks mountains more of Woz's character than it does of Jobs.
JJMcJ 5y ago
Let's not forget the wage fixing cartel that he started and really kept going. Ended when Facebook wouldn't play along. One reason developer salaries have popped so strongly in the last five years or so.

You should get over it

Having read multiple Jobs biographies, it also seemed to me that he may have been bipolar, but unmedicated because of his stance on medication. Sometimes very hard to work with or be around. People ascribe incredible genius to this guy, but forget that he could be a very impulsive, arrogant and sometimes cruel human being. Regarding Steve Wozniak, that's another big issue. Not only the betrayal, but it betrays a divide between Jobs and Wozniak. The original Apple II was a computer designed by Wozniak, and very open to tinkerers. Jobs didn't want the computer to be open or to have many extension slots, he wanted total control over the system. He designed his vision of a computer (the Macintosh), and it was a flop. Jobs killed the Apple II and sent the company on a downwards spiral that lasted several years. It kind of pains me to see that so many people in tech love Apple products, but forget that Apple is not a platform made for creative engineers, it's designed to be a closed system they have control over. They don't really value or encourage your curiosity. They don't want you to peek at what's inside. Even though Apple, like most tech companies, was started by creative engineers.

pfraze 5y ago
Jobs was chronically focused on producing products that were ahead of the market. As a consequence, the Macintosh and the NeXT were incredible, forward-looking, and overpriced for the market. I’m by no means happy or in agreement with his “closed system” thinking, but it’s worth noting that the iPhone was exactly that.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
eigenvalue 5y ago
It's not really a fair characterization to call the first Mac a flop; it sold reasonably well, though obviously not as well as the Apple II given the higher price point: https://www.cultofmac.com/479113/today-apple-history-first-100-days-mac-roaring-success/ https://www.cultofmac.com/479113/today-apple-history-first-1...

paxys 5y ago

He screwed over a ton of Apple employees. In Jobs' mind he truly deserved all of the credit and profits for their success because he was the vision guy. Woz and the rest of the team were just doing the boring implementation stuff.

bigtones 5y ago
He didn't just screw over Apple employees - Pixar employees and founders too.
m0llusk 5y ago
This is a big oversimplification. Some people got screwed therefore he was always screwing everyone over. His career spans many years and quite a few people managed great contributions working with him in that time and got very well compensated and congratulated for that. Steve Jobs did give a lot of credit to the people who worked under him, just to pick out a couple of notable examples he frequently heaped praise on Avie Tevanian and also the guy who actually made the initial speculative potential merger call to Apple. And in doing so he specifically called out their accomplishments as being savvy and decisive and not just boring implementation stuff.

biggieshellz 5y ago

Or how he taunted Alvy Ray Smith because of his Southern accent. Or how his example continues to be used to excuse bad behavior today ("but Steve Jobs did it that way").

philwelch 5y ago
He occasionally did that to Tim Cook as well.

amelius 5y ago

Indeed. No hacker deserves to be treated like that. Without hackers, Jobs would have been designing plastic utensils with rounded corners for Tupperware, or something like that.

skeeter2020 5y ago

especially when contrasted withg how Woz acted and continues to act. He just seems like a much more happy human being, and it's warming to see good things happen to good people.

WalterBright 5y ago

I wonder how many of us would fare if subject to the same kind of scrutiny Jobs is. As for the Wozniak thing, Wozniak forgave him. As he was the one wronged, we should let it go, too. Heck, if I didn't forgive my friends now and then, I wouldn't have any.

Apocryphon 5y ago
Woz's forgiveness speaks mountains more of Woz's character than it does of Jobs.

JJMcJ 5y ago

Let's not forget the wage fixing cartel that he started and really kept going. Ended when Facebook wouldn't play along. One reason developer salaries have popped so strongly in the last five years or so.