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if the intent is to bring attention to technological innovations, Jobs was not a technological innovator, despite what the decades of PR would lead you to belie

if the intent is to bring attention to technological innovations, Jobs was not a technological innovator, despite what the decades of PR would lead you to believe. If we want to argue that he was a promoter of tech innovations, in his capacity as a businessman, I would find that less objectionable but I still don't think Jobs is the guy we should be highlighting, given his track record of screwing over the people doing the actual work and innovating. (though depending on how cynical you are, that is perhaps exactly the type of person that the Powers That Be would want to push as the face of innovation)

groundzeros2015 1y ago
Innovator has a broader meaning than the individual who wrote the program or built the circuit. Setting the direction and vision for technology is a big deal. The engineers were very smart but it’s hard to see us knowing their name or having such an impact on technology without Steve. Woz was destined for a comfortable 30 year career at HP.
alephnerd 1y ago
Why should driving a "design-first" and "user experience"/UX first model not be viewed as innovative? Just implementing something isn't enough. You need to also be able to ensure that it is usable by non-specialists. And this is something that Jobs really drove in the tech industry in it's early days, when non-technical users were basically an afterthought. That is the reasoning behind their choice for Jobs, and honestly it's a valid one.
hbn 1y ago
He created Apple, and then came back to save them from bankruptcy and made them profitable within months which none of their other CEOs leading up to his return could. The way he got the notoriously staunch record labels on board with their $1/song plan to make iTunes possible and make music infinitely more convenient and accessible overnight was unforeseen. Not many people have repeatedly proven themselves many times over like he did. I do believe he was one of the greatest business men of all time, and for all the things you can complain about with Apple, I'm glad they exist to inject some sense of taste into computing, and a standard for every other computing device to be compared to (cue examples of bad design decisions that came from Apple. Don't bother, doesn't disprove my point)

groundzeros2015 1y ago

Innovator has a broader meaning than the individual who wrote the program or built the circuit. Setting the direction and vision for technology is a big deal. The engineers were very smart but it’s hard to see us knowing their name or having such an impact on technology without Steve. Woz was destined for a comfortable 30 year career at HP.

alephnerd 1y ago

Why should driving a "design-first" and "user experience"/UX first model not be viewed as innovative? Just implementing something isn't enough. You need to also be able to ensure that it is usable by non-specialists. And this is something that Jobs really drove in the tech industry in it's early days, when non-technical users were basically an afterthought. That is the reasoning behind their choice for Jobs, and honestly it's a valid one.

hbn 1y ago

He created Apple, and then came back to save them from bankruptcy and made them profitable within months which none of their other CEOs leading up to his return could. The way he got the notoriously staunch record labels on board with their $1/song plan to make iTunes possible and make music infinitely more convenient and accessible overnight was unforeseen. Not many people have repeatedly proven themselves many times over like he did. I do believe he was one of the greatest business men of all time, and for all the things you can complain about with Apple, I'm glad they exist to inject some sense of taste into computing, and a standard for every other computing device to be compared to (cue examples of bad design decisions that came from Apple. Don't bother, doesn't disprove my point)