Disputes on Jobs' contributions

[RiverOfIce]

The mouse too?

I told myself I would stay out of this thread. Steve jobs first got the idea for the mouse after visting Xerox and seeing the mouse being used by PARC, which was created by Engelbart.

He then hired a outside group called Hovey-Kelley, to design and build the perfect mouse. They made hundreds of variations, field tested them all, came back to apple with the mouse that worked best, it was Engelbert's design with a button placed on top of it.

But it was not until 1987 and ibm and windows creating the first ps/2 connection that allowed for a the 2 button mouse, did anyone find a point to the mouse. The mouse on the lisa computer was pretty, but really did not do anything. Most people did not bother to plug in the mouse, because it was kind of hard to use.

 

[EarlyMon]

This wasn't appropriate in a condolences thread, and I'm sure others are biting their tongues, so I've made a new thread beginning with your post, just for this topic.

Did you ever use a Lisa or are you going by what someone told you?

I used a Lisa. A lot. The mouse was far from useless.

Lisa ran the USC p-System software stack and there's a lot to be said for that. It did implement the Xerox intellectual property as the first available in a personal computer - and Apple purchased the rights and IP for the Xerox PARC developments that went into the Lisa and the Mac. So - no ripping off, and the Lisa desktop was a paradigm shift for those who'd never used a Xerox (or Burroughs to a limited extend) computer.

Mice, trackballs and pads were used in industrial application workstations before the IBM PS/2 - so your history is accurate only if limited strictly to PC scene on that one point.

So with that, welcome to another anti-Apple thread. I would have wished that we could at least let the guy pass in peace and that we could focus on all things Android and exciting like the upcoming Nexus Prime and what the iP4s may mean to us, but here it is.

 

[thermal]

I think A.Nonymous and Vihzel said it best:

He had a way of grabbing something that already existed and turning it into something great.

That is probably the defining statement about Steve Jobs. Even though he wasn't much of an inventor, he was a magnificent and one of the best innovators that the tech industry has ever seen. He took existing things and made them better or more user friendly. He may not have invented multitouch, but he sure knew how to utilize that technology for the mainstream market far earlier than anyone else even imagined. He may not have invented tablets, but look where the iPad is now. What he did with the iPad was like what he did with the iPhone albeit less revolutionary. Tablets before the iPad were quite... archaic and cumbersome in comparison (from what I can remember).

It's truly a devastation for all of us that a crucial innovator of the tech market passes away. Who knows what else he would have introduced mainstream or what technology he would have utilized in future products. I hope that Tim Cook has the same innovating prowess that Steve Jobs had so that it can continue and provide for solid competition for Google and all of Google's partners, especially Samsung (which to me is Apple's main competitor in terms of hardware).

 

[novox77]

If you watch any of Jobs' historical launches, speeches, press events, etc., you will hear him say this over and over:

He wants Apple to design their products starting from the consumer's perspective. What is it that the consumer wants?

The fast majority of companies work from the other direction: they start with a cool technology and figure out how to market it. Engineers don't know what consumers want. All they think is that the tech will sell itself.

So it doesn't matter that Jobs/Apple didn't invent the mouse, the computer, the mp3 player, the smartphone, tablet, capacitive touch, etc. What matters is they abstracted the technology and focused on the user experience.

That is Jobs' legacy. Most people around here attribute Apple's success to rabid fanboyism. To some extent, that's correct. But how did they earn such a loyal following? Why can't other companies attract rabid fanboys? Why is it that so many people use Windows and gripe about it, while so many people use iPhones and love it to death? Why do Pixar movies earn such acclaim? It's always the same philosophy. It's not about the technology: the quality of the rendering, the 3D, etc. It's about the human aspect - the good story that people of all ages can relate to.

Jobs' contribution is allowing the masses be introduced to very technically sophisticated machines and allow them to enjoy and benefit from that technology. It was never about being the first to anything. To think otherwise is to completely misunderstand why Apple has been so successful under Jobs' supervision.

 

[zuben el genub]

Here's one: I remember the camera:
Was the iPod Accessory Port Inspired By a 40-Year-Old Camera? - Slashdot

I wish that someone would make the mfgs and whoever else standardize connections!
It hasn't hurt the pc trade.

 

[A.Nonymous]

That was one of the greatest abilities of the man. He would take an existing technology -- usually someone else's invention -- and adapt it or implement in a way that made it useful at a very basic level. He saw complexity in simple terms and demanded that it remain that way.

Because he was the visionary of practical use, many confuse him with the inventor. While it may not be accurate in the strictest historical context, it wasn't the thing that was necessarily his contribution, but it's implementation. For that, he was a genius of the common man (and woman).

This is why I think, ten years from now, people will say that Jobs invented the smart phone.

 

[MJM128]

This is why I think, ten years from now, people will say that Jobs invented the smart phone.

We already have people that think that, along with inventing the tablet.

 

[RiverOfIce]

Go ahead and just lock this thread, it is really not worth having.

 

[EarlyMon]

I appreciate your point of view, but let's see how traffic fares - Jobs wasn't perfect and the outlet may yet be of service to others.

 

[Droid_Genius]

All I have to say is no matter whether you loved Apple or hated it, you cannot say this man didnt change the industry. He was great and will be missed, glad he lived to see iP4s before he passed

 

[Frisco]

Go ahead and just lock this thread, it is really not worth having.

One choice we have about threads which we feel aren't needed, is to not participate in them. I don't mean that sarcastically at all. Non participation causes the non needed threads to drift down off of the first page where they're seldom used unless needed again, "bumped."

The reasons we lock threads, rather than allow them to drift off the page naturally, have more to do with anticipated or existing user guideline violations than our opinions about whether or not the thread is a useful one. Here in the Lounge it's tough to find a truly useful thread, when you think about it. The Steve Jobs Condolences thread, now closed, was one of the most useful I've ever seen in the Lounge.

This one looks good, too. It's an invitation to those who went into the Condolences thread with things to say about Steve Jobs and/or Apple that were not expressions of sorrow etc about his death.

What did he do? What was so good about him, etc.

One other question I have had since the death of SJ: would/will the feelings be similar when Microsoft founder Bill Gates dies? I know I feel a lot differently about him as a person than I do about Steve Jobs.

 

[Member243850]

There was 1 thing I can recall that Steve Jobs stole about several thousand USA Dollars or about $ 4000 from Apple co founder Steve Wozniak from the Game "Break Out" for the Atari back in the day.

I do remember reading about that.

Woz: OK, so Jobs stole from me, but he also made the iPod

But why should we remember him for being some body like that?

What good does it achieve???

Yes he might have stolen a few thousnad dollars (about 4000 and some change) back in the 1970's if recall from Steve Wozniak the co founder of Apple but we all do silly things in life.

Any wayz just my 2 cents.

I think Steve was an amazing genius that was a truly unique individual.

Who cares if he stole a few thousand from his best friend?

We all make mistakes it is true.

Hell no one is perfect and the good he did for man kind faaaaar out weighs the bad he things he did for humanity.

Anywayz just my 50 cents.

 

[tommy_ed]

One of my friends posted something on facebook to the tune of "RIP Jobs" and posted an article summarizing his life. I've always thought the man was a genius at advertising, innovating, business management and marketing in general, but I'll be honest as I was reading it I was kind of thinking to myself wow... he was kind of a dick. LOL

It was a really good article tho. I'm referring to him denying his fatherhood even after a paternity test, screwing Wozniak out of money, etc. haha

The Article