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Jobs has lighted our way
- technoslut 15y agoIt's amazing how many times I hear this same story about the iPad. When Jobs first introduced it I was skeptical. After seeing how adults and children alike have taken to this device, it yet again proves that Jobs can see what others do not.
- yalimgerger 15y agoIndeed. He not only envision thinks but executes incredibly well. Microsoft's attempts to create tablet computers in the pre-iPad world look pretty embarrassing from where we are today.
- cmontgomeryb 15y agoI realise we were never able to hold the Microsoft Courier, but I think they were on the right track there and had they executed (yes - I realise this is where Apple won) the landscape may look different today. RIP Courier, you passed before your time.
- yalimgerger 15y agoOh I've forgotten about this completely. Thanks for reminding. Will read about it a little. :-)
- emehrkay 15y agoFrom the couple of videos, that thing looked very confusing (cool though, but confusing). I would doubt that we'd hear stories like the one posted about the Courier.
- sjwright 15y agoAgreed. Gates had been pushing the tablet concept for 10 years, and it went nowhere. In contrast, the iPad smashed its way onto the marketplace within months of release. The only thing more astonishing than the iPad's success is that it comes off the heels of a dozen astonishing successes prior. The iPod was the first volley. The iTunes Store then revolutionised the entire freaking music industry. The iPhone then revolutionised the entire mobile marketplace. And how the #$*! is Apple dominating the laptop computer segment? Why is Apple the only ones making a compelling notebook that doesn't have a product name ripped from pages of a lawnmower parts supply catalogue?!?
- yalimgerger 15y agoI am wondering the same. I actually wrote a blog about that as well, which outlines several way too obvious issues with laptops. :-) http://gerger.co/yalimslodge/2011/08/19/free-advice-to-the-remaining-pc-makers/ http://gerger.co/yalimslodge/2011/08/19/free-advice-to-the-r...
- sid0 15y agoAnd how the #$! is Apple dominating the laptop computer segment?* Marketing obviously. The 2011 MacBook Pro I'm using right now is by far the most terrible laptop I've ever owned. It doesn't boot from USB, it doesn't sleep properly, brightness is broken, the WiFi antenna's range sucks... never again. Fuck Apple's shitty laptops. I'm getting a ThinkPad next time.
- arethuza 15y agoMy wife's parents, both in their eighties, were both delighted when they played with one of our iPads even though they had previously shown no interest at all in any kind of computing device.
- jinushaun 15y agoI too was skeptical, having seen Microsoft fail at selling a tablet so many times, but bought one anyway so that I could use it as a "development device". I was shocked to find that only weeks later I preferred using the iPad over my computers most of the time. If it wasn't for coding, Office or Photoshop--aka making things--I would be iPad full time. Jobs really did what Gates couldn't with a tablet. Microsoft has been trying to sell tablets since Windows XP with absolutely no success. Jobs rightly showed that you can't cram a desktop OS into a tablet and call it a proper tablet. Their tablets never felt right because you always wished you had a mouse, keyboard and right click available to get anything done. With MS tablets, users felt like something was taken away. With the iPad, users felt like they had something added.
- WA 15y agoSo what do you do on your iPad then except for surfing the web? I'm really curious as I don't see the point of an iPad right now.
- roadnottaken 15y agoThat's definitely one of the main things, but there are others. I suspect everyone has their own mix, like on a smartphone. For me it's probably: 35% web surfing 35% facetime chat with the wife 10% kindle app 10% random games and apps 10% watching shows and movies on the plane it's also fantastic if you have one of the video-out cables because you can just drag/drop hours and hours of movies onto it and then play them on any TV wherever you are. Netflix in bed (with the Netflix app) is also pretty good. There really is no "point" to having an iPad. It obviously doesn't do anything that you can't do without one. But it's a LOT easier to pick up and use than a laptop and if you have one you'll find it becoming your go-to device for a lot of things.
- WA 15y agoThanks for that. Well basically, most of the time I'm using a laptop (I'm a happy user of a new MacBook Air) for coding, surfing the web and, well, doing office stuff and that's it. I guess an iPad would be too much of a toy for me, but I'm curious anyways what people do with an iPad.
- bluekeybox 15y ago> When Jobs first introduced it I was skeptical We technologists are a jaded bunch; we underestimate the appeal that technology still holds to vast numbers of people outside of our narrow field. The potential for game-changing products like iPad is still there and is still huge. Our second biggest weakness is that we, having been either nerds or the "good kids" in school, hold dear a belief that the world is (or should be) a "fair" place where "pretty" is ranked below "smart" and where everything is judged on its own merit. Most people, for better or worse, do not think like that -- most people don't have the time to evaluate products on their own merit and, moreover, they don't even trust those who do (the logic goes: if you have so much time on your hands so as to compare products on their own merit, you must be doing something wrong with your life and therefore I will not follow your advice).
- grigy 15y agoSome of us may deny but this is the reality
- sid0 15y agoI don't think Bill Gates ever tried to sell toys. Calling an iPad a computer is an insult to Alan Turing.
- dereg 15y agoYour title totally mis-characterizes your own post (which doesn't even mention Gates[edit:I guess it does]). I'm tired of the comparison between Jobs and Gates. Can't you recognize the achievements of one without belittling the other in your flamebait title? Jobs: "We have to let go of a few things here. We have to let go of the notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose."
- araneae 15y agoIndeed. Personally I respect Bill Gates a lot more. He basically spends all his time working on his charity nowadays; he really couldn't care less about the future of his company. Jobs is good for Apple, but I think Gates is better for the world.
- thematt 15y ago"he couldn't care less about the future of his company" is quite an overstatement. He is still the chairman of the board after all. Also, that company is what allows him to fund his charitable endeavors, so you bet he cares about it's future.
- Hari_Seldon 15y agoSteve Jobs is a Buddhist. Buddhists believe that charitable giving should be done anonymously. For all we know SJ could be giving a lot to charities and other worthy causes, but as a Buddhist he will keep this to himself.
- nvictor 15y agooh well, that doesn't mean Bill Gates is doing it wrong. i remember his talk at TED where he released mosquitoes in the audience. his goals are pretty clear, invite other people to care. sorry, but it doesn't work like that if you keep it to yourself. and i'm by no mean belittling buddhists or anything...
- joezydeco 15y ago
- TamDenholm 15y agoVery misleading title but nice anecdote anyway. I also found the same kind of thing with my Grandmother, although shes 80 now, her ability to use or want to use computers is very low but she had a go on my iPad and managed to pick it up quite quickly.
- yalimgerger 15y agoIt is not misleading at all. On a personal level, this is what Steve Jobs is to me. I could not care less about anything else he accomplished.
- maheshs 15y agoIf you comparing somebody with Jobs then also you are admiring him.
- daimyoyo 15y agoI call linkbait. Someone should change the title of this link.
- yalimgerger 15y agoThis is absurd. A title is meant to be catchy. At the end of the story you learn what it is Steve Jobs did but gates could not.
- hugh3 15y agoI'd rather learn that in the headline, thus knowing whether it's worth my while to read the whole story.
- yalimgerger 15y agoI understand your concern. But this is not how stories work in general. There is always the risk of wasting time when you read a little story, watch a movie etc...I apologize if the story wasn't worth your while. I tried my best to put it as elegantly as I can.
- hugh3 15y agoNews stories work this way, putting the important information at the top. Other styles of writing (e.g. fiction) needn't. Fiction is designed to catch your attention at the beginning, and make you want to read to the end. News is designed so that you can stop reading at any point, or just read the headline, and have got the basic gist of what's going on. The attention-grabbing, mysterious headline on a "news" site, however, is a lousy trick in the memetic marketplace, tunneling its way into the host's brain to advantage itself at the cost of the reader.
- yalimgerger 15y agoThis blog post isn't a news story.
- bnegreve 15y ago>Jobs has lighted our way [...] >He showed us the path [...] I find this a bit too much.
- brudgers 15y agoYes, but Steve's resignation did move a major security problem with OSX Lion off the front page yesterday. The cynic in me says that it is too much of a coincidence.
- loup-vaillant 15y agoWhat I'm wondering is, why did your father refused to use computers? That's way beyond a mere lack of interest. So, could you give us his stated reasons, and your speculations regarding his real reasons?
- yalimgerger 15y agoExcellent comment/question. I thought about going into the details of the refusal in the post but it was making the piece way too long. Also the reasons deteriorated the post from its original purpose. Let me try an analogy here. I hope I do not miss the point because of cultural differences: I think he comes from a time where using typewriters at an office was perceived as the job of a female secretary. :-). A computer looks much like a typewriter from an outsider perceptive (a keyboard and monitor to look at instead of paper).
- silverbax88 15y agoYes, he just needed Gates' cash infusion to accomplish it. I find it hilarious when people think Apple "won" and Microsoft "lost". Microsoft "won" twice.
- mdonahoe 15y agoDidn't Microsoft sell their stake in aapl rather early?
- silverbax88 15y agoMicrosoft still owns a huge chunk. They are getting massively paid by Google and Apple while the media goes around claiming they are dead.
- felipemnoa 15y agoIt was part of a lawsuit settlement so Microsoft wasn't doing Apple any favors. Microsoft wanted the lawsuit to go away.
- silverbax88 15y agoThat's not even remotely accurate.
- felipemnoa 15y agoRead this http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-202143.html http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-202143.html From the article: Both Apple and Microsoft executives denied that the Microsoft investment represents a path to converging the companies' operating systems. However, they said they had agreed to work out a settlement to a long-standing dispute over whether Microsoft's Windows operating system infringes on any of Apple's patents.
- silverbax88 15y agoYes, that does NOT state Microsoft just wanted the lawsuit to go away.
- josephcooney 15y agoNot to sound mean-spirited but I don't think Bill Gates needs a penny from your father. For the last decade his focus has been the eradication of malaria and other charitable works of the Gates Foundation that bares his name.
- martythemaniak 15y agoI am guessing your father will not be using search, maps, youtube or gmail on his new iPad?
- yalimgerger 15y agoNo, unfortunately he has not used anything else so far. Listening to music and looking at beautiful paintings are the only ways he uses the iPad.
- saturdaysaint 15y agoWhat a great way to use a computer. I'm truly fascinated by the way technology-averse people actually use technology. I had a hippie roommate that I'd constantly catch just listening to ambient music and spinning around the world on Google Earth on his laptop. A pretty enlightening contrast to my usual non-work mix of social networking and news blurb reading.
- yalimgerger 15y ago:-). Amazing.
- hugh3 15y agoI feel envious for the guy who lives as if it's 1975 and never touches a computer. Must be nice.
- yalimgerger 15y agoThat's a rather nostalgic way of looking at life. :-). You are right it is nice in some aspects. However there are disadvantages. The biggest one is that you feel out of place and lonely. The rules of social engagement change. For example, my father is not allowed to smoke in restaurant anymore which he thinks is an abomination.
- mun2mun 15y agoI am grateful to Bill Gates because for his dream of computer in every home I am typing this on a cheap laptop from a third world country. If Steve Jobs vision of state of the art and stylish but pricey devices ruled I would not be in this position.