Steve Jobs

[misterN]

The thing that Apple does super well is it's marketing.

Most technology companies sell off of this basic model: We make computers, they come with this improvement, this technology, and this speed. Buy our computer.

Apple seems to sell based off of an emotional appeal: "Everything we do is based on making a simple, easy to use product. We have these technologies. Oh yea, we also sell computers.

Apple seems to sell why they do things, as compared to other companies that sell products.

[maverick]

pm4hire,

apple does manufacture products in china. it is well known that foxconn factories have been one of the primary outfits assembling products for apple. they also assemble products for amazon, intel, cisco, hewlett-packard, dell, nintendo, nokia, motorola, sony, ericsson, vizio, microsoft, and acer.

sadly, i don't know if large scale computer fabrication facilities exist in the u.s. anymore.

if you've looked at apple products or packaging, you'll recall that they read "designed by apple in california. assembled in china."

it is also well known that apple is the largest employer in the city of cupertino, california - as of 2010, employing over 34,000 people in the cupertino area.

apple's contribution to the northern california economy is not insignificant.

also not insignificant and in fact without parallel is the economy apple has created around the ios platform.

what made steve jobs great is not that he started a company in his garage, although such a start seems like the classical american entrepreneur story, and then lead that company's rescue from bankruptcy to amongst the most valuable companies in the world. these were the result of his greatness, and his greatness, in my humble opinion, was his vision of what does and does not work well, his ability to lead the company to deliver on that vision, his ability to hire and keep talented people, and what people have called his reality distortion field - his ability to sell an idea, his ability to build relationships, his ability to market.

there are many companies out there that make computers - dell, ibm, lenovo, hp, acer, and others. there are other operating systems out there besides mac os x - microsoft windows certainly has the larger market share. and whether one prefers using windows or a mac or linux is personal preference.

i think we understand that you don't care for apple products, and that's totally fine.

my request to you is for us to please keep the conversations on this forum positive.

i prefer using a mac over windows, but i won't post something bashing microsoft or bill gates or steve balmer.

i ask that you please reciprocate the same courtesy.

thank you!

[ceepee]

The thing is PM4HIRE, although you're entitled to your views, maybe voicing them in a thread that was started to pay homage to a bloke that's just died isn't the best way to go about it?

[MtnMan]

^ It depends on how much responsibility you want to assign to him for the shift of manufacturing jobs overseas. From where I sit, the country's political leadership (both parties) and key business interests (not Apple) had alot more to do with it.

[PM4HIRE]

Again, Steve Jobs loved America so much that he
created 1000's of jobs in China.

[MtnMan]

Perhaps the most fitting epitaph for Steven P. Jobs, courtesy MACWORLD magazine:

Steve Jobs: Informed by his era
by Christopher Breen, Macworld.com Oct 7, 2011 4:02 pm

Steve Jobs: Informed by his era | Computers | Macworld

[Maria]

There's always going to be a percentage of employees who have negative comments. Personality conflicts, self absorbed agendas, not really understanding the responsibilities of those above them and the pressures, feeling jealous or that "they" could do a better job, being an "ex" employee....very few have walked in the shoes of being a CEO or such a high position and with such a position of responsibility with shareholders, employees, lawyers and perhaps unions, customers - there is always more going on then the average employee sees nor understands. You cannot please everyone. Nor should someone in such a position have to "explain" themselves to the average employee. You often have to make unpopular decisions for the good of the company as a whole, even if it is not popular with the staff. Some people would love to be an employee of Apple, much less own shares. It's cowardly to speak badly of someone who cannot defend themselves nor their position.

Reading books on the lives of Ludwig van Beethoven, and Michelangelo Buonarroti - I cannot imagine they were the "nicest" people to be around either. Does one then judge their work, their gifts, by what a few people who got in their way have to say?

[Fat Crip]

Perspective.

Jobs founded Apple with Woz and was very successful till he was pushed out. Without him the company all but went to the wall. When was brought back they were 90 days from Bankruptcy. Earlier this year they were briefly the largest company in the world by market cap (they're currently no.2 behind Exxon Mobil). You can't achieve that by being Mr Nice Guy. Ex-employees often speak poorly of their ex-employers - there's always a reason that they're ex, after all. Apple has turned the mobile world on its head, especially music. Not always for the best - low bit rate digital music isn't the May West, but high bit rate 'studio master' digital is phenomenal. Did Jobs single-handedly invent everything, or even anything? No, but his strengths were in picking good people, pushing them very, very hard and having an uncanny knack of knowing what we'd like before we'd even ever thought of it. Can Apple go on without him? I hope so, but sadly, I suspect that it needed Steve Jobs to push, push, push people. No wonder he was a pain in the backside to many - that might well have been his gift to the world. I for one was sad to wake up to the news of his death on Thursday morning, but hope that Apple will survive his passing as I, for one love their products!

[Badger]

@ Flinx, you're right. I've removed my troll-feeding post.

[Flinx]

Let's not let one voice of dissent ruin an outstanding memorial thread, people.





I've never owned or even used an Apple computer, but even I have an iPod. What Apple did for portable music alone deserves major kudos, never mind the smartphone phenomenon.

RIP Steve.

[Maria]

de mortuis nihil nisi bonum.

Cheers Maverick!

[MtnMan]

THE LAST WORD ON STEVE JOBS...all Apple products are made in China!!!

True, but it's hard to find any electronics that aren't.

de mortuis nihil nisi bonum.

Very well said.

[maverick]

de mortuis nihil nisi bonum.

[PM4HIRE]

THE LAST WORD ON STEVE JOBS...all Apple products are made in China!!!

[MtnMan]

Tragically, there are those in the news media who could not resist a parting shot at Jobs and Apple. There's a disturbing news story on the Washington Post web-site titled "Apple is a new religion, and Steve Jobs was its high priest" which essentially characterizes Apple's loyal customer base as a bunch of "gadget-obsessed" freaks chasing after a later-day Marshall Applewaite. I found the piece highly insulting.

Apple is a new religion, and Steve Jobs was its high priest - The Washington Post

It got me to thinking: is customer loyalty and enthusiasm for Apple, the MacOS, and the iOS really irrational? I quickly concluded this is not the case. While I have no doubt that the quality and impressive design of Apple hardware and software, and all the possibilities of what you can do with this hardware and software does generate some enthusiasm, I would say that peoples' loyalty to Apple and their mourning for Jobs has as much to do with the dysfunctional state of technology outside of the Apple sphere of influence. People are understandably frustrated with Microsoft, Blackberry, and a host of other companies that make our lives miserable with their anti-piracy activation keys, their tech support fees, their security problems and their inferior designs. People get fed up with paying good money for technology that either fails them or greets them with more hidden costs and problems. Apple is far from perfect, but their products consistently reward customers with a superior experience, based in no small part on being reliable and satisfying.

Maybe a few people get carried away in expressing their loyalty, but Apple and Mr. Jobs earned a great reputation. Maybe instead of attacking that reputation by misleading the public with accusations of cult-like behavior, the Post's Michael S. Rosenwald and other Apple-detractors may want to think more carefully about how Apple customers "consider the alternative." Perhaps if the outpouring of grief tells us anything about technology today, it is the anxiety people feel about whether or not their investment in those gadgets will actually pay off. On that count, Apple often acquits itself with distinction, and Mr. Jobs is seen as a leader of a movement toward greater customer satisfaction in tech.