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I agree his talents did not lie in the technical areas. But given how much he stole credit for ideas, I'm naturally suspicious about the source of the brillianc

I agree his talents did not lie in the technical areas. But given how much he stole credit for ideas, I'm naturally suspicious about the source of the brilliance attached to him. And I'm not willing to concede that a combination of stubbornness, single-minded vision, and eccentricity can necessarily be called genius. What if those are simply personality traits that happen to drive other people to work hard to achieve something or fork over money? Genius implies a true insight. So did he truly understand people enough to manipulate them like he did (both business partners and customers)? I guess that's the question I ask myself. Or was it a happy accident of his style, desire, and stubbornness that just happened to work.

MrScruff 15y ago
I think you're being very presumptuous about what his role was at Apple. You're portraying him as nothing more than an exacting editor, yet there's plenty of evidence to suggest he contributed ideas and direction to Apple's products. And as others have said, as CEO he was more responsible than anyone else for one of the most remarkable turnarounds in business history. Oh, and I don't think any manipulation of customers was required. Just a focus on making great products.
- gujk 15y ago
  Don't go overboard there. Jobs had no compunction getting up on stage and making untrue or exaggerated claims to a gullible public. Maybe no more than the average CEO, but no saint. The term "Reality Distortion Field" was invented for Jobs
  - MrScruff 15y ago
    As you say, no more so than the average CEO. In fact, you could argue that for a while now his product unveilings were relatively spin free, since when he'd say "Isn't this great?" he actually believed it.
    - afterburner 15y ago
      Not much support for the genius argument here: he's just an average CEO? And plays up his product when he's selling it?
      - MrScruff 15y ago
        The claim wasn't that he was a genius because he endorses his own products (I wasn't claiming he was a genius in the first place). I was refuting the claim that the manipulation of customers was one of his primary skills.

MrScruff 15y ago

I think you're being very presumptuous about what his role was at Apple. You're portraying him as nothing more than an exacting editor, yet there's plenty of evidence to suggest he contributed ideas and direction to Apple's products. And as others have said, as CEO he was more responsible than anyone else for one of the most remarkable turnarounds in business history. Oh, and I don't think any manipulation of customers was required. Just a focus on making great products.

gujk 15y ago
Don't go overboard there. Jobs had no compunction getting up on stage and making untrue or exaggerated claims to a gullible public. Maybe no more than the average CEO, but no saint. The term "Reality Distortion Field" was invented for Jobs
- MrScruff 15y ago
  As you say, no more so than the average CEO. In fact, you could argue that for a while now his product unveilings were relatively spin free, since when he'd say "Isn't this great?" he actually believed it.
  - afterburner 15y ago
    Not much support for the genius argument here: he's just an average CEO? And plays up his product when he's selling it?
    - MrScruff 15y ago
      The claim wasn't that he was a genius because he endorses his own products (I wasn't claiming he was a genius in the first place). I was refuting the claim that the manipulation of customers was one of his primary skills.