94 ms·

I think it's just that Jobs was much more interesting. I'm in the middle of the biography, and I hope to someday read one on Gates as well, but from what I've s

I think it's just that Jobs was much more interesting. I'm in the middle of the biography, and I hope to someday read one on Gates as well, but from what I've seen and read to date there was just more to talk about with Steve. He was charismatic and intense, yet somewhat tortured and insane. When people consider Bill Gates they definitely respect him and look up to him, but he's so laid back and humble that there's not much to talk about. He has a ton of money, he's sane, and he's pumping his cash into philanthropic goals that we won't see the effects of for years. I think people just prefer to talk about Steve because he was so vibrant (as Gates put it) and so you hear more about him, which you convert to people "looking up to him." However this video bothered me, why was the interviewer picking at Jobs' time left to live?

redthrowaway 15y ago
>he's so laid back and humble that there's not much to talk about. He certainly is now, but that's not the impression you get from reading the various and sundry Microsoft apocrypha. Check out Spolsky's recollection: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html
- its_so_on 15y ago
  you should look up the word apocrypha some time.
  - c0riander 15y ago
    I'm not sure what you are getting at here. The word is originally Greek (ἀπόκρυφα) and means "those hidden away" - in common usage it can refer to accounts that are not part of the "official story," such as the Bible's Apocrypha. There are other meanings as well which cast doubt on the authenticity of the story (not surprising actually when you consider the Bible's Apocrypha's relationship with the Church.) Here are the 2 definition OED gives: 1. A writing or statement of doubtful authorship or authenticity; spec. those books included in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of the Old Testament, which were not originally written in Hebrew and not counted genuine by Jews, and which, at the Reformation, were excluded from the Sacred Canon by the Protestant party, as having no well-grounded claim to inspired authorship. 2. [As in Greek] Hidden things; secrets. rare.
    - noobiscus 15y ago
      You've appeared to miss the fact that the OED lists as definition 1 the COMMON usage, and further definitions are LESS USED. Ergo; using an uncommon usage, you have to accept that many people won't understand you. Creating understanding is the essence of effective communication :)
      - c0riander 15y ago
        Actually, you may be interested to know the OED is a historical dictionary and in fact does not necessarily list common usage first. The OED is a historical dictionary, with a structure that is very different from that of a dictionary of current English such as ODO... For each word in the OED, on the other hand, the senses are dealt with in chronological order according to the quotation evidence. This way the senses with the earliest quotations appear first, and the senses which have developed more recently appear further down the entry – like a ‘family tree’ for each word. http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/the-oxford-english-dictionary http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/the-oxford-english-dicti... Not to mention, those familiar enough with the word to understand what Apocrypha are should hopefully be able to infer why someone may be referring to apocrypha without a capital A. It's not a long cognitive leap. If you're suggesting that a number of people may not actually understand how to interpret or use the word, then I agree (as in this thread, I suspect). But that is the case for many descriptive and useful words in the English language and has rarely been a good argument for dumbing down the level of communication.
abecedarius 15y ago
In Paul Allen's autobiography he mentions one time he and Gates were just late for a flight. The plane hadn't actually taxied away yet, so Gates rushed into the tunnel thingy and started manipulating the controls to hook it back up so he could board. (A regular commercial airliner -- they weren't rich yet.) Well, maybe he's laid back and humble now.
- artursapek 15y ago
  Really? Wow. I remember a spin-off of this in that terrible movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley," but in that scene the plane had started taxiing and Gates convinced the employees at the gate to call the pilot and have them turn back.
  - abecedarius 15y ago
    That's how I remember Allen's account, yes. (Anyone have the book handy?) An employee at the gate did take over soon and get them aboard rather than Gates actually carrying it all through, but still. I think of this sort of thing as Entrepreneur Personality Disorder.
    - artursapek 15y ago
      It's just determination :D
      - abecedarius 15y ago
        Yeah, I'd think it was cool if getting on that flight had actually mattered much.

redthrowaway 15y ago

>he's so laid back and humble that there's not much to talk about. He certainly is now, but that's not the impression you get from reading the various and sundry Microsoft apocrypha. Check out Spolsky's recollection: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html

its_so_on 15y ago
you should look up the word apocrypha some time.
- c0riander 15y ago
  I'm not sure what you are getting at here. The word is originally Greek (ἀπόκρυφα) and means "those hidden away" - in common usage it can refer to accounts that are not part of the "official story," such as the Bible's Apocrypha. There are other meanings as well which cast doubt on the authenticity of the story (not surprising actually when you consider the Bible's Apocrypha's relationship with the Church.) Here are the 2 definition OED gives: 1. A writing or statement of doubtful authorship or authenticity; spec. those books included in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of the Old Testament, which were not originally written in Hebrew and not counted genuine by Jews, and which, at the Reformation, were excluded from the Sacred Canon by the Protestant party, as having no well-grounded claim to inspired authorship. 2. [As in Greek] Hidden things; secrets. rare.
  - noobiscus 15y ago
    You've appeared to miss the fact that the OED lists as definition 1 the COMMON usage, and further definitions are LESS USED. Ergo; using an uncommon usage, you have to accept that many people won't understand you. Creating understanding is the essence of effective communication :)
    - c0riander 15y ago
      Actually, you may be interested to know the OED is a historical dictionary and in fact does not necessarily list common usage first. The OED is a historical dictionary, with a structure that is very different from that of a dictionary of current English such as ODO... For each word in the OED, on the other hand, the senses are dealt with in chronological order according to the quotation evidence. This way the senses with the earliest quotations appear first, and the senses which have developed more recently appear further down the entry – like a ‘family tree’ for each word. http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/the-oxford-english-dictionary http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/the-oxford-english-dicti... Not to mention, those familiar enough with the word to understand what Apocrypha are should hopefully be able to infer why someone may be referring to apocrypha without a capital A. It's not a long cognitive leap. If you're suggesting that a number of people may not actually understand how to interpret or use the word, then I agree (as in this thread, I suspect). But that is the case for many descriptive and useful words in the English language and has rarely been a good argument for dumbing down the level of communication.

abecedarius 15y ago

In Paul Allen's autobiography he mentions one time he and Gates were just late for a flight. The plane hadn't actually taxied away yet, so Gates rushed into the tunnel thingy and started manipulating the controls to hook it back up so he could board. (A regular commercial airliner -- they weren't rich yet.) Well, maybe he's laid back and humble now.

artursapek 15y ago
Really? Wow. I remember a spin-off of this in that terrible movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley," but in that scene the plane had started taxiing and Gates convinced the employees at the gate to call the pilot and have them turn back.
- abecedarius 15y ago
  That's how I remember Allen's account, yes. (Anyone have the book handy?) An employee at the gate did take over soon and get them aboard rather than Gates actually carrying it all through, but still. I think of this sort of thing as Entrepreneur Personality Disorder.
  - artursapek 15y ago
    It's just determination :D
    - abecedarius 15y ago
      Yeah, I'd think it was cool if getting on that flight had actually mattered much.