Jobs Was This Age’s da Vinci
I’m sure that by now you have been beaten ad nauseam with reflections on Steve Jobs; here I am to hit you with another. In grade school there were a few inventive geniuses that would consistently get name dropped. Leonardo da Vinci comes to mind, maybe Thomas Edison. I would argue that Jobs belongs among those ranks.
The way I see it, Jobs was the kind of revolutionary thinker that propels the human species forward. He was almost insistent on conveying his philosophy, one that considered technology as something beyond empty specifications, but instead as invisible medium for getting things done. From the personal computer, the graphical user interface, and the ubiquity of touch screens- the theme is accessibility - new technology for more than just the young and geeky, through careful implementation and design. Design reverence like that has inspired new management classes and whole businesses that seek to sell design thinking.
Sure there are others who have used these technologies, but really Apple and Jobs were always first or first to get it right. Steve always quoted Picasso “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” The fact is, all of the others are just copying Apple.
Another thing Steve did, he built an amazing team in Apple- a business that ran without unnecessary bureaucracy and focused on the end product. That refreshing perspective so far outside of classic management theory has built the largest technology company in the world. Jobs would tell potential hires “Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?” That outsider, mercenary attitude is an inspiration, one that I think resonates with the youngest of today’s workforce.
On that note, Jobs was one of the few baby boomers who was inspirational to this new generation. Neither politician nor artist, his fame was built on the success of his inventions. And why not? For millennials- many remember their first iPod as a coming of age. Jobs wasn’t great for products or massive sales- he was great for his deep personal philosophy, a commitment to vision and refusal to compromise in that pursuit. For me, it has been an honor to spend my life inspired by a man with such conviction and execution of vision. His legacy will live on and just as he said "you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."
What do you think of the Steve Jobs early death? Droid user? Windows fanboy? Does Jobs deserve all of the tributes?
Read More
Design Architecture , Other posts by David.
Tagged
Related
Get Raleigh Updates
-
me
10/06 04:46 AM
All good points….Jobs was a true genius. Another lesson we should learn here is the value of free market capitalists to our society. Jobs showed the world that if you want real innovation, affordable and useful products that will change lives, it will come from for-profit firms that risk their earned capital to meet the needs and fickle demands of consumers. In an age where it is de rigeur to bash the imagined “fatcat ceo” flying around in chartered jets, Jobs is celebrated and admired, even while overseeing Apple to a record market cap. Next time you use your i-device, think of Jobs, and then ask yourself, “why didnt the government build this thing?”
-
Ken Metzger
10/06 09:17 AM
“me”, would the i-device really be so great without the internet or GPS?
-
george
10/06 10:02 AM
He certainly deserves the tributes. I poke fun and haven’t bought an Apple product in almost 10 years, but the fact is we wouldn’t be where we are today without him. Hacker, Philosopher, and an obvious lover of humanity… he’ll be missed. I’m not sure there’s anyone on the world stage right now with a mind like his, and that’s very sad.
-
me
10/06 11:09 AM
I’m the type of guy that farts at funerals cause it’s funny.
-
JeffS
10/06 11:09 AM
I’m really at a loss to understand how one would think to compare a corporate manager to one of the most prolific inventors of all time.
I’ve about lost my lunch several times over the “he’s made the world a better place” comments that everyone is throwing around today. Steve Jobs, or at least the company that he ran, has taken planned obsolescence to extreme levels. That IS his contribution to the corporate world, and while business might admire him for it, I can’t offer an ounce of praise. -
gspot
10/06 11:47 AM
Wow Walter Mossberg must read New Raleigh
-
David
10/06 11:50 AM
It really is your loss Jeff.
-
Alton
10/06 12:16 PM
“why didnt the government build this thing?” That ignores the entire history of post WW2 Silicon Valley and the history of the internet (which the US Government did, in fact, build). The US military, NASA and other federal agencies created the demand that founded Silicon Valley. Stanford University provided the land and local government provided the economic development. Leland Stanford made his fortune building railroads for, guess who, the Federal Government. Yes, without considering anything that happened before, or around, Steve Jobs, he is a powerful example of succeeding without the help of government. Your own arguments are farty.
-
smitty
10/06 02:35 PM
Steve Jobs killed all of Apple’s philanthropic programs.
-
Jortles Scrozzelle
10/06 02:55 PM
your link doesn’t support your claim.
-
smitty
10/06 03:08 PM
Oh, sorry.
“When Jobs became CEO of Apple in 1997, he reportedly halted all philanthropic programs and said something to the effect of “let’s wait until we are profitable.”“
-
ct
10/06 04:56 PM
Jobs had problems. I know people who dealt with him personally, and every one of them disliked him—some of them intensely. Not only did Jobs not follow the example of Bill Gates’ philanthropy, he also attempted to evade responsibility for his first child until it became common knowledge.
That said, there is no denying that Jobs was a supreme marketing animal. I wouldn’t say that he was really big on innovation; nearly every innovation in the Macintosh was lifted directly from the Xerox PARC labs. Also he had some major busts. But by and large, he knew what would sell and he knew how to sell it. Bow ties, black t-shirts with blue jeans, iPods… all the same.
I applaud Jobs for his achievements and their impact on the US and the world. But I’m not nominating him for sainthood, and I think all this acclaim is partly misplaced.
-
sluv
10/06 08:46 PM
Da Vinci designed a helicopter and built a submarine 400 years before anyone else. I’d put Steve Jobs closer to the inventors of the slinky and the pet rock. I.e. somewhere between “that guy’s a genius” and “why didn’t I think of that?”
-
gregoryrme
10/12 08:38 AM
I would ask the author to just take a moment and rethink his comparison. 1,2,3. So, now I assume you will retract this ridiculous comparison. For me, Steve Jobs was another successful businessman who had his faults but was probably, generally, okay. He did some great marketing, and he insisted on really good products. Let’s be real: He didn’t save the world, or really even change it; he just built on what was there. Job well done Mr. Jobs, but no admittance to exalted-dom.
-
Jortles Scrozzelle
10/12 10:43 AM
slinky, pet rock? Didn’t change the world? What are you typing this stuff on? So much ignorance in here.
-
JeffS
10/12 11:04 AM
“What are you typing this stuff on?”
Nothing with a Steve Jobs patent on it, why do you ask? While he does have his name on ~300 patents, you might benefit from taking a look at what they actually are. The vast majority are ornamental design.
To get you started:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/24/technology/steve-jobs-patents.htmlMaybe I’m wrong though. If you see something “world changing” in here, let me know what it is.
-
Jortastical Scrodakle
10/12 12:02 PM
Jobs played a huge part in bringing computers into the home. He is comparing him to the pet rock inventor on a internet comment thread, just found that funny. Also “ornamental design” to describe those patents makes you sound like a f-tard.
-
JeffS
10/12 12:32 PM
I couldn’t care less about the pet rock guy, I was directly responding to you. You still haven’t made a point and resulting to name-calling shows that you’re incapable of doing so.
Maybe you really do consider box and case design world-changing.
-
Jortastical Scrodakle
10/12 04:12 PM
You really need Ol’ Jortles to explain the roll Apple played in the history of the personal computer to you in a NR comments thread? I don’t care if you care about the pet rock guy, that’s who I was talking to, the guy who made that comparison, not you.
-
ct
10/12 05:14 PM
Routine practice in large corporations is for management to get their names on patents. The companies pay lawyers to write the patent applications and to file at the USPTO, so the companies can select the names that go on the applications. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Jobs invented the ideas himself or carved clay for models or did his own CAD/CAM.
That said, I respect the accomplishments of Apple Computers, and I respect Jobs’ role in those accomplishments. I had an Apple II on my desk at work in 1982. -
smitty
10/13 10:59 PM
Dennis Richie just died. I’d argue that he was way more of an influential character in the computer industry, but he wasn’t trendy or an attention whore. Hero worship is retarded.
-
chad foley
10/14 10:08 PM
Where would Jobs be without Woz?
-
Sluv
10/16 09:51 PM
Wow. I see my comment got somebody all riled up. Look, if you’re a relative or a close friend of Jobs, I understand and I’m sorry. But if not, then that’s pathetic. Why are some people acting as if Ipods cured polio and were handed out free to poor orphans by Steve Jobs in a Santa hat? The guy was Chief executive officer of a company that makes neat gadgets. Accomplished guy, I get it. But people have got to get a grip. We’re not talking about Mother Theresa here. More like Montgomery Burns with cooler clothes. Move on. We will be okay.
Share Your Thoughts
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.