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Unanswered Steve Jobs questions

28 points by bretthellman 15y ago

snprbob86 15y ago
> Maybe he was a closet philanthropist. Wasn't he a buddhist? My understanding is that buddhism encourages philanthropy without acknowledgement or attribution.
- 37prime 15y ago
  That was the teaching in Buddhism and Steve Jobs was a devout Buddhist. It is likely that Steve Jobs was a closet philanthropist.
meric 15y ago
Here's some unanswered Steve Jobs questions of mine I haven't be able to stop thinking about. Did S.J pick the right successor? S.J built Apple as a machine he controls, optimised for himself, to build many wonderful products. The co-pilot is now in charge. Apple will be able to milk the iPhone, just as it was able to milk the Apple II, but will Apple be able to move on to the next great thing? How long will Apple's success continues for? Assuming it will continue for the next half decade, will we keep getting advances in consumer technology in the 10 years after that?
- guywithabike 15y ago
  Here's to hoping that they learned their lesson the second time around: Disrupt yourself before someone else does.
- Jach 15y ago
  I'm cautiously betting that Apple will end up like current Microsoft. They'll stagnate to some degree, have some more ups and downs, and they'll still be around for a long while. They've grown to a tremendous height, they have a long way to fall.
generators 15y ago
had he been ceo of pharma company, cancer and aids could have been cure..... kidding...rip steve.
narag 15y ago
More than a plan, it seems that there is a method. Technical advances and Moore's law make different kind of devices first possible, later practical for mass production and finally appealing. Apple seems to be waiting for the last phase to focus all its forces in the release of one optimal product. So far it has had a very good eye.
jfruh 15y ago
The question of whether there was a grand plan is certainly an interesting one, but it seems unlikely that in 1998 there was a big whiteboard in Cupertino with "iMac -> iTunes -> iPod -> iPhone -> iPad -> profit!" written on it. But some of those internal steps may have been planned. iTunes came out about 10 months before the iPod did, but obviously the iPod was in development for longer than that. I wonder if iTunes was specifically designed to be the interface between the computer and the iPod? Or if it was just part of a "digital hub" strategy (this was a term Apple bandied about a lot in the early '00s) that was envisioned as being focused on the Mac and that only pivoted when it became clear what a runaway success the iPod was.

28 points by bretthellman 15y ago

> Maybe he was a closet philanthropist. Wasn't he a buddhist? My understanding is that buddhism encourages philanthropy without acknowledgement or attribution.

37prime 15y ago
That was the teaching in Buddhism and Steve Jobs was a devout Buddhist. It is likely that Steve Jobs was a closet philanthropist.

meric 15y ago

Here's some unanswered Steve Jobs questions of mine I haven't be able to stop thinking about. Did S.J pick the right successor? S.J built Apple as a machine he controls, optimised for himself, to build many wonderful products. The co-pilot is now in charge. Apple will be able to milk the iPhone, just as it was able to milk the Apple II, but will Apple be able to move on to the next great thing? How long will Apple's success continues for? Assuming it will continue for the next half decade, will we keep getting advances in consumer technology in the 10 years after that?

guywithabike 15y ago
Here's to hoping that they learned their lesson the second time around: Disrupt yourself before someone else does.
Jach 15y ago
I'm cautiously betting that Apple will end up like current Microsoft. They'll stagnate to some degree, have some more ups and downs, and they'll still be around for a long while. They've grown to a tremendous height, they have a long way to fall.

generators 15y ago

had he been ceo of pharma company, cancer and aids could have been cure..... kidding...rip steve.

narag 15y ago

More than a plan, it seems that there is a method. Technical advances and Moore's law make different kind of devices first possible, later practical for mass production and finally appealing. Apple seems to be waiting for the last phase to focus all its forces in the release of one optimal product. So far it has had a very good eye.

jfruh 15y ago

The question of whether there was a grand plan is certainly an interesting one, but it seems unlikely that in 1998 there was a big whiteboard in Cupertino with "iMac -> iTunes -> iPod -> iPhone -> iPad -> profit!" written on it. But some of those internal steps may have been planned. iTunes came out about 10 months before the iPod did, but obviously the iPod was in development for longer than that. I wonder if iTunes was specifically designed to be the interface between the computer and the iPod? Or if it was just part of a "digital hub" strategy (this was a term Apple bandied about a lot in the early '00s) that was envisioned as being focused on the Mac and that only pivoted when it became clear what a runaway success the iPod was.