5 ms·

Ashton Kutcher annotates Steve Jobs' 1982 Academy of Achievement speech

61 points by dshankar 13y ago

cgs1019 13y ago
Sorry..what's the significance of this (I feel like I'm missing something)?
- dataminer 13y ago
  Ashton Kutcher is portraying Steve Jobs in an upcoming movie.
  - cgs1019 13y ago
    Right, I realized that. I guess I don't grok what RapGenius and these annotations are about.
    - gkoberger 13y ago
      He's an investor.
    - mmahemoff 13y ago
      RapGenius is a YC-funded (and VC-backed) company that lets people annotate rap lyrics. BUT rap is just the initial theme that helps them fine-tune the product. It's increasingly used as a general annotation engine. So here's a high-profile investor demonstrating exactly that point, that it can be used beyond rap.
      - kahirsch 13y ago
        But what do these annotations mean? Are they things that Jobs said that weren't in the prepared remarks? Are they some kind of ironic commentary by Ashton Kutcher? Are they explanatory annotations?
- kamarupa 13y ago
  It seems to be some of the usual Reality Distortion Field in effect by someone who feels they really appreciate and understand who Jobs was and what his inner-most thoughts are.
Zweihander 13y ago
We got Ja Rule on the phone. Let's see what Ja's thoughts are...
- flyt 13y ago
  For those that don't know this reference, from Dave Chappelle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc
  - sebkomianos 13y ago
    Do you speak reddit flyt?
pud 13y ago
Ashton Kutcher plays Steve Jobs in the new movie and did a crazy amount of research for the role. He listened to hundreds of Steve's talks, studied art & topics that influenced Jobs, read Jobs' favorite books, obsessed over him for months, ate Jobs' diet, even learned to walk like Jobs (who has an odd gait, likely due to years of walking barefoot). I got to see a screening of the movie yesterday with subsequent QA by Kutcher. Even though he's humble and doesn't claim to be an expert, it was borderline freaky how well Kutcher seems to understand Jobs. At least, from the point-of-view of someone who wasn't friends or family. I consider him an expert. Related: I like when RapGenius branches out from rap. I wonder if it will always be called RapGenius for non-rap content, or if they'll come up with a more general brand name. I think it'd be neat if RapGenius became as broad as Wikipedia.
- dombili 13y ago
  He also talked about Jobs extensively on here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4GB-2l9_kc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4GB-2l9_kc. It really looks like he studied everything Jobs had done, as well as he can. His reasons for accepting the role is kind of funny, but I liked that he was being honest about it.
- wikiburner 13y ago
  Hey Pud, there was actually a chapter on this in the YC book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Launch-Pad-Combinator-Exclusive/dp/B00D9TCIBI http://www.amazon.com/The-Launch-Pad-Combinator-Exclusive/dp... - with a ton of interesting debate between them and Harj Taggar on it. Anyone who has ever tried to name a startup can definitely relate. I believe they're eventually planning on silos, like Stack Exchange, but are focusing on the main brand initially. Their thinking could have obviously changed since launch, though.
- fsck--off 13y ago
  > I consider him an expert. What do you make of this Wozniak's comments [1]: "It's so awful and atrocious," said Wozniak, who said he got access to a copy of the movie's script. "Unlike the way Steve and I really dealt with each other. "I didn't want to have much to do with that movie." [1] http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/tech/innovation/wozniak-jobs-movie/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5 http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/tech/innovation/wozniak-jobs-m... news.yc discussion of [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5157396 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5157396
mentos 13y ago
'That seems to dovetail with their goal of annotating the entire internet, a notion that would seem to sit well with Andreesen Horowitz and other Rap Genius investors including Ashton Kutcher and budding venture capitalist Nas.' http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/05/02/how-rap-genius-created-news-genius-at-disrupt-ny/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/05/02/...
- acqq 13y ago
  I wish this can be upvoted much higher. A celebrity-signed promotion. Otherwise, we gain practically no new information.
skannamalai 13y ago
semi-related: I saw the trailer for Jobs before Pacific Rim and it was cut to be laughably bad, like a Daily Show or MADtv sketch. I have low hopes for the movie, but the trailer seemed almost intentionally terrible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nryTz9iBqEI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nryTz9iBqEI
- danellis 13y ago
  They show Jobs and Woz with the caption "It only takes one person..." Nice :-\
  - acqq 13y ago
    Typical Hollywood pushing stereotypes to the extreme "That's what the public wants, bro. You want this to sell." On another side, Jobs going around barefooted and even stinking is a true story. It's really a good material for the movies.
- georgemcbay 13y ago
  Oh god, that looks so bad.

61 points by dshankar 13y ago

cgs1019 13y ago

Sorry..what's the significance of this (I feel like I'm missing something)?

dataminer 13y ago
Ashton Kutcher is portraying Steve Jobs in an upcoming movie.
- cgs1019 13y ago
  Right, I realized that. I guess I don't grok what RapGenius and these annotations are about.
  - gkoberger 13y ago
    He's an investor.
  - mmahemoff 13y ago
    RapGenius is a YC-funded (and VC-backed) company that lets people annotate rap lyrics. BUT rap is just the initial theme that helps them fine-tune the product. It's increasingly used as a general annotation engine. So here's a high-profile investor demonstrating exactly that point, that it can be used beyond rap.
    - kahirsch 13y ago
      But what do these annotations mean? Are they things that Jobs said that weren't in the prepared remarks? Are they some kind of ironic commentary by Ashton Kutcher? Are they explanatory annotations?
kamarupa 13y ago
It seems to be some of the usual Reality Distortion Field in effect by someone who feels they really appreciate and understand who Jobs was and what his inner-most thoughts are.

Zweihander 13y ago

We got Ja Rule on the phone. Let's see what Ja's thoughts are...

flyt 13y ago
For those that don't know this reference, from Dave Chappelle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo-ddYhXAZc
- sebkomianos 13y ago
  Do you speak reddit flyt?

pud 13y ago

Ashton Kutcher plays Steve Jobs in the new movie and did a crazy amount of research for the role. He listened to hundreds of Steve's talks, studied art & topics that influenced Jobs, read Jobs' favorite books, obsessed over him for months, ate Jobs' diet, even learned to walk like Jobs (who has an odd gait, likely due to years of walking barefoot). I got to see a screening of the movie yesterday with subsequent QA by Kutcher. Even though he's humble and doesn't claim to be an expert, it was borderline freaky how well Kutcher seems to understand Jobs. At least, from the point-of-view of someone who wasn't friends or family. I consider him an expert. Related: I like when RapGenius branches out from rap. I wonder if it will always be called RapGenius for non-rap content, or if they'll come up with a more general brand name. I think it'd be neat if RapGenius became as broad as Wikipedia.

dombili 13y ago
He also talked about Jobs extensively on here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4GB-2l9_kc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4GB-2l9_kc. It really looks like he studied everything Jobs had done, as well as he can. His reasons for accepting the role is kind of funny, but I liked that he was being honest about it.
wikiburner 13y ago
Hey Pud, there was actually a chapter on this in the YC book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Launch-Pad-Combinator-Exclusive/dp/B00D9TCIBI http://www.amazon.com/The-Launch-Pad-Combinator-Exclusive/dp... - with a ton of interesting debate between them and Harj Taggar on it. Anyone who has ever tried to name a startup can definitely relate. I believe they're eventually planning on silos, like Stack Exchange, but are focusing on the main brand initially. Their thinking could have obviously changed since launch, though.
fsck--off 13y ago
> I consider him an expert. What do you make of this Wozniak's comments [1]: "It's so awful and atrocious," said Wozniak, who said he got access to a copy of the movie's script. "Unlike the way Steve and I really dealt with each other. "I didn't want to have much to do with that movie." [1] http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/tech/innovation/wozniak-jobs-movie/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5 http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/tech/innovation/wozniak-jobs-m... news.yc discussion of [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5157396 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5157396

mentos 13y ago

'That seems to dovetail with their goal of annotating the entire internet, a notion that would seem to sit well with Andreesen Horowitz and other Rap Genius investors including Ashton Kutcher and budding venture capitalist Nas.' http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/05/02/how-rap-genius-created-news-genius-at-disrupt-ny/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/05/02/...

acqq 13y ago
I wish this can be upvoted much higher. A celebrity-signed promotion. Otherwise, we gain practically no new information.

skannamalai 13y ago

semi-related: I saw the trailer for Jobs before Pacific Rim and it was cut to be laughably bad, like a Daily Show or MADtv sketch. I have low hopes for the movie, but the trailer seemed almost intentionally terrible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nryTz9iBqEI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nryTz9iBqEI

danellis 13y ago
They show Jobs and Woz with the caption "It only takes one person..." Nice :-\
- acqq 13y ago
  Typical Hollywood pushing stereotypes to the extreme "That's what the public wants, bro. You want this to sell." On another side, Jobs going around barefooted and even stinking is a true story. It's really a good material for the movies.
georgemcbay 13y ago
Oh god, that looks so bad.