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Honestly, I am not sure I like this story or hate it. I like that you shared it, but my reaction to Jobs only saying "OK", my read on that is that he was too bu

Honestly, I am not sure I like this story or hate it. I like that you shared it, but my reaction to Jobs only saying "OK", my read on that is that he was too busy to say much more and therefor a jerk or if he, in a Jobs-like minimalist way just though that in a serious situation like that, less is more and not much more needed to be said. Either way, thank you for sharing an interesting and thought provoking story.

robgough 14y ago
Perhaps he believed that platitudes wouldn't have helped, but that giving the permission was enough (as it so obviously was for this person). I couldn't imagine it was a particularly easy request to receive and he could have just ignored it.
graeme 14y ago
I've dealt with busy people. In person, 1-on-1, they're great, absolutely focussed on you. And I've received emails from them like this. I concluded that it was not arrogance or a lack of empathy but rather that their time had gotten constrained. If they wanted to preserve themselves for other things than email, they HAD to email like this. If I had received this reply, I would have been thrilled too. Probably more thrilled to receive some other comment, but I wouldn't have been miffed by the terseness.
mkoble11 14y ago
I'm inclined to agree with robgough's response. Jobs didn't need to respond if he thought it was a waste of time and/or didn't care. He simply needed to give approval - not much else needed to be said.
- zw123456 14y ago
  The thing that sucks the most, is that Steve is not here for us to ask, I am sure the answer would have been confusing and interesting.
obviouslygreen 14y ago
While this reaction is definitely understandable, I think along similar lines of some others here that someone that busy just doesn't always have time for a verbose response. "OK" may have been exactly what he had time for, and if that were the case, I'd say his response was likely sent faster than it would have been if someone had asked him an interesting but less urgent message. Of course, as with everyone else's opinions... this is 100% speculation. I have the same like-or-hate reaction, though for a different reason: This sort of thing encourages the irrational hero worship that Jobs fostered while he was alive and that's only grown in some circles after his death. Yes, this story shows that he did something good for someone. Once. And I'm sure there are other similar anecdotes. But the takeaway here will not be "this is something that Steve Jobs did that was nice," it will be "OH WOW STEVE JOBS WAS A SAINT."
- imsofuture 14y ago
  I'm more disturbed by the fascination that we as a species have with gadgets. I think that was a totally-chill-but-perhaps-not-especially-saintly thing for Steve to do. But... what... show iPad to dying friend?
  - awolf 14y ago
    The iPad was a true innovation when it was released and even more so 3 months prior to its release. To be able to experience a new invention so far before everyone else on that planet is a special experience. At least, I'd see it that way were I in her friend's shoes.
    - lostlogin 14y ago
      I'm obviously a bit simple if I'm willing to admit it - but I still feel like I'm in the future when I pull the iPad out the bookcase/bag/couch crack. It's a computer, its only a few mm thick, and its now!
      - DanBC 14y ago
        There aren't many things that make me think I'm in the future, but the first time I saw an iPhone it was like a Star Trek device.
ben1040 14y ago
Maybe the story around it primed my reaction, but the terseness struck me a little differently. "Every minute I spend writing this email is another minute you will spend waiting for the response, and a minute less you will have with your friend."
dools 14y ago
Either that or it's a brilliant and ironic illustration of how fucking inconvenient touch screens are to type on.
- salgernon 14y ago
  But he had to manually capitalize the second letter. iOS doesn't automatically complete "ok" with caps. (As evidenced by this comment.) Edit: typos
snowwrestler 14y ago
If you're dealing with high volumes of email, terse responses are the only way to keep up. All this guy needed was the ok; that's what he got.

robgough 14y ago

Perhaps he believed that platitudes wouldn't have helped, but that giving the permission was enough (as it so obviously was for this person). I couldn't imagine it was a particularly easy request to receive and he could have just ignored it.

graeme 14y ago

I've dealt with busy people. In person, 1-on-1, they're great, absolutely focussed on you. And I've received emails from them like this. I concluded that it was not arrogance or a lack of empathy but rather that their time had gotten constrained. If they wanted to preserve themselves for other things than email, they HAD to email like this. If I had received this reply, I would have been thrilled too. Probably more thrilled to receive some other comment, but I wouldn't have been miffed by the terseness.

mkoble11 14y ago

I'm inclined to agree with robgough's response. Jobs didn't need to respond if he thought it was a waste of time and/or didn't care. He simply needed to give approval - not much else needed to be said.

zw123456 14y ago
The thing that sucks the most, is that Steve is not here for us to ask, I am sure the answer would have been confusing and interesting.

obviouslygreen 14y ago

While this reaction is definitely understandable, I think along similar lines of some others here that someone that busy just doesn't always have time for a verbose response. "OK" may have been exactly what he had time for, and if that were the case, I'd say his response was likely sent faster than it would have been if someone had asked him an interesting but less urgent message. Of course, as with everyone else's opinions... this is 100% speculation. I have the same like-or-hate reaction, though for a different reason: This sort of thing encourages the irrational hero worship that Jobs fostered while he was alive and that's only grown in some circles after his death. Yes, this story shows that he did something good for someone. Once. And I'm sure there are other similar anecdotes. But the takeaway here will not be "this is something that Steve Jobs did that was nice," it will be "OH WOW STEVE JOBS WAS A SAINT."

imsofuture 14y ago
I'm more disturbed by the fascination that we as a species have with gadgets. I think that was a totally-chill-but-perhaps-not-especially-saintly thing for Steve to do. But... what... show iPad to dying friend?
- awolf 14y ago
  The iPad was a true innovation when it was released and even more so 3 months prior to its release. To be able to experience a new invention so far before everyone else on that planet is a special experience. At least, I'd see it that way were I in her friend's shoes.
  - lostlogin 14y ago
    I'm obviously a bit simple if I'm willing to admit it - but I still feel like I'm in the future when I pull the iPad out the bookcase/bag/couch crack. It's a computer, its only a few mm thick, and its now!
    - DanBC 14y ago
      There aren't many things that make me think I'm in the future, but the first time I saw an iPhone it was like a Star Trek device.

ben1040 14y ago

Maybe the story around it primed my reaction, but the terseness struck me a little differently. "Every minute I spend writing this email is another minute you will spend waiting for the response, and a minute less you will have with your friend."

dools 14y ago

Either that or it's a brilliant and ironic illustration of how fucking inconvenient touch screens are to type on.

salgernon 14y ago
But he had to manually capitalize the second letter. iOS doesn't automatically complete "ok" with caps. (As evidenced by this comment.) Edit: typos

snowwrestler 14y ago

If you're dealing with high volumes of email, terse responses are the only way to keep up. All this guy needed was the ok; that's what he got.