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Twelve years after the death of Steve Jobs, the cracks are starting to appear at Apple
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this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2024
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Steve Jobs was a piece of shit human being who contributed nothing to technology.
That said, he was a hell of a skilled bullshitter/marketer. Most people fucking looooove to be bullshitted, and Americans more than most.
It's why we elect virtually no wonks/technocrats, even though thats who we should elect almost exclusively. We'd rather some snake oil motherfucker sell us on magical lies while telling us we're pretty.
I've never complimented, or defended Steve Jobs before, because he was a grade A piece of shit...but, Steve Jobs transformed technology precisely because he was a phenomenal salesman, with a great eye for technical talent.
Just because he wasn't an engineer, doesn't change the fact that he forged Apple into what it became, and that absolutely contributed to modern technology - for better, and worse.
I think the big complaint about Jobs is not the lack of engineering skills, but that he got where he did through deception, taking advantage of people, and often treating folks like garbage. Many of us view him as unworthy of celebrating, because the ends don't justify the means.
(There's also the fact that what Apple became was not all good, but perhaps that's a separate discussion.)
Steve Jobs could sell his turds to the Apple fanboys, and they would eat it up.
Doesn't mean what he sold is some culinary dish or he a master chef. Just that he could sell them whatever he wants, no matter what it was. Whether it was technology or not.
The irony here is that you're a cliche anti-Apple fanboy, and I don't even use Apple products.
So blinded by your dork rage, that you missed the entire point of this little comment thread.
What's even funnier, is that you also unintentionally proved mine.
I think marketers should get to take credit for ad campaigns they create, and engineers should get to take credit for technology they create.
Capitalists just want to take the credit for what others do. Societal leeches. I don't buy into their false narrative that providing the means of production they hoard out of greed means they deserve most to all of the credit for what they permit talented people to engineer and produce by the swear of their brow and the migraines of their solutions.
We should be rewarding the Teslas of the world for what they invent, and punishing the Edisons that would claim other's inventions as their own. But we suck, so we won't.
Moving goalpost?
You said he didn't contribute to technology, so I pointed out that he's responsible for Apple becoming what it became, which itself transformed technology.
Now, you're saying he shouldn't get technical credit for...making the iPhone?
Okay...I never said he should...but it you want to go down that path, he was very hands-on with in the design processes for two of their most pivotal products: the iMac and iPod.
Again, he was a grade-A douche bag, who died a fucking hilariously stupid death, but that doesn't erase, or override his impact.
I think the argument is that the motivations society allowed him under capitalism are what drew him to do what he did, not just that he was some brilliant asshole but that he wanted to own the work those beneath him had done.
Lots of us who have spent our lives being told “yeahuh but that’s how it’s supposed to work!” probably have a hard time grappling the concept that just because it turns out good sometimes doesn’t mean we can’t do better.
So to the original point of the rebuttal - we’re lucky it only turned out like it did, and not way way worse (and some other high-on-capital folks have been busy proving that lately…)
If you want to congratulate his corpse for what he didn't engineer or design, go ahead.
It has nothing to do with congratulating.
You made a false statement, and then moved the goalpost (motte and bailey) when I pointed it out.
Simple as that.
After listening to the recent Behind the Bastards episode on him, yeah absolutely. It's amazing his legacy isn't judged more harshly.
He's one of those people who died at the right time to preserve their own legacies, before public reckonings for non illegal bad behavior became common.
Harvey Dent: You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself to become the villain.
Steve Jobs: Bet.
I guess he died more or less pre-Twitter, so that's something. He'd have a different legacy otherwise.
I work in tech and specialize in Apple hardware. I get really sick of industry folks talking about Jobs as being inspiring and other nonsense. No, he was an asshole and we should not celebrate him.
Have you read the rest of this thread?
These comments aren't reflective of mainstream views or silicon valley views where people aspire to be like Jobs. They're not even representative of the linked article.
It’s also partially because any decent engineer/technocrat both lacks sufficient charisma and cash flow, and more importantly looks at public service and says “there’s no reliable way I can keep my morals and make a difference there.” As an engineer myself, I can’t imagine dealing with the general public. Choosing the correct, logical path will never win over people who put opinions and faith/feelings over reasoning and science. We’ve seen it time and time again and I’m not going to bang my head against that wall.
Instead I help friends and family, contribute to open source and projects I believe in and be the change I want to see in the world. Trying to do that as an elected official would foster insanity and pushback from those who don’t care and only want their side to win, regardless of the overall outcome.
Also: yes SJ was a POS, but he was a POS with charisma, a plan, and smart enough to surround himself with people who could make his ideas happen… and then micromanage them.
...Knowledge Fight-like typing detected?
I had the same thought!
If it wasn't for jobs Wozniak would still be putting breadboards together in his garage. We have no idea what the personal computer ecosystem would have looked like without the apple 2. He gets a lot more credit than he deserves sometimes but the idea that he contributed nothing is absurd. If he had contributed nothing you wouldn't know his name.