Steve Jobs was no genius..

[j0nb0y32]

Clever marketeer, certainly, but Jobs was no genius - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent

interesting article in the morning papers..

 

[baggss]

A student studying to an ME? Seriously? Why don't they go find some homeless guy from central London to write their next piece...

That being said, was he a genius? Probably not. Was he a techno visionary? Yes, of a different flavor even. Did he merge aesthetics with functionality? Yes he did, better than any one else had before.

 

[j0nb0y32]

i think your response has just made his point.........

 

[baggss]

i think your response has just made his point.........

Perhaps. Either way Jobs and Apple made a huge impact in the way people view and interact with technology. Like it or not, a lot of people view him as the "genius" behind their technology and how it works in their daily lives.

 

[j0nb0y32]

Perhaps. Either way Jobs and Apple made a huge impact in the way people view and interact with technology.

spot on!

 

[RavingMac]

The small-minded and unaccomplished have always whined that they too would have stood at the pinnacle had they had the opportunity afforded to others.

Was Steve Jobs a genius?
Genius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I, and most of the world believe so. If the young (and to my mind presumptuously arrogant) writer of the cited column can show us by his own accomplishments that he has the credentials to judge better than we, then I will give him heed. Until he does that my tendency would be to categorize him with the first group I mentioned above.

 

[j0nb0y32]

dear me, because the said journalist has a different opinion to you lot, he is hung drawn and quartered.....

small minded you say...hmm

 

[RavingMac]

dear me, because the said journalist has a different opinion to you lot, he is hung drawn and quartered.....

small minded you say...hmm

Go back and read the last paragraph again.


Also, everyone is entitled to their opinions (the young man in question not excepted). But it is never in good taste to go to a house in mourning and make snipes at the departed. This a a Forum about all things Mac and we here tend to respect the accomplishments and contributions of Steve Jobs more than others perhaps.
You should not be surprised if posts such as this one aren't viewed positively.

 

[indychris]

I guess I don't see the rationale that popular (i.e.- successfully marketed) and genius are mutually exclusive existences.

To me, it just seems like a bit of a hit piece with no real substantiation to support his view.

 

[BrianLachoreVPI]

I'm not even sure why this rates a discussion. A college student strings together a few sentences - taking a contrarian view but providing absolutely nothing to support that view - and we're supposed to take notice? This "article" wouldn't even rate publishing in a high school news letter - so I'm surmising the bar is pretty low for this particular blog. Usually - if you want to publish an opinion piece, whether in line with the popular view or not, you'd feel compelled to provide some substantiating evidence for your opinion - not just base your 'arguments' on further unsubstantiated opinion. I wish I had my 20 sec back that I wasted reading someone's completely irrelevant opinion. It seems to me - the proof is in the pudding. You don't impact the world in the way Steve Jobs did - and not rate some lofty title - and genius is as good as any. Whether quantified or not - it's immaterial. Anyone who can so dramatically change the landscape of technology and how we live probably deserves the title.

 

[RavingMac]

I'm not even sure why this rates a discussion. A college student strings together a few sentences - taking a contrarian view but providing absolutely nothing to support that view - and we're supposed to take notice? This "article" wouldn't even rate publishing in a high school news letter - so I'm surmising the bar is pretty low for this particular blog. Usually - if you want to publish an opinion piece, whether in line with the popular view or not, you'd feel compelled to provide some substantiating evidence for your opinion - not just base your 'arguments' on further unsubstantiated opinion. I wish I had my 20 sec back that I wasted reading someone's completely irrelevant opinion. It seems to me - the proof is in the pudding. You don't impact the world in the way Steve Jobs did - and not rate some lofty title - and genius is as good as any. Whether quantified or not - it's immaterial. Anyone who can so dramatically change the landscape of technology and how we live probably deserves the title.

+1 to that

 

[osxx]

I'm not even sure why this rates a discussion. A college student strings together a few sentences - taking a contrarian view but providing absolutely nothing to support that view - and we're supposed to take notice? This "article" wouldn't even rate publishing in a high school news letter - so I'm surmising the bar is pretty low for this particular blog. Usually - if you want to publish an opinion piece, whether in line with the popular view or not, you'd feel compelled to provide some substantiating evidence for your opinion - not just base your 'arguments' on further unsubstantiated opinion. I wish I had my 20 sec back that I wasted reading someone's completely irrelevant opinion. It seems to me - the proof is in the pudding. You don't impact the world in the way Steve Jobs did - and not rate some lofty title - and genius is as good as any. Whether quantified or not - it's immaterial. Anyone who can so dramatically change the landscape of technology and how we live probably deserves the title.

+2 to that

 

[ezcompane]

I decided to skip reading the linked article/blog because I"m sure he's just trying to gain notice to his blog by just writing something un-substantiating and of course hot topic. There's a film critic for Rotten Tomatoes that does this just to generate hits on his posts that seems to sound like the author above.

The term "Genius" when applied to Jobs could be ambiguous based on your opinion of his career accomplishments. Someone that doesn't particularly care for Apple products will of course discount anything successful he's produced as nothing more than a fancy wrapping paper on a PC. Someone that favors Apple products will of course view Jobs as a "Genius" and visionary in the field.

 

[dtravis7]

To me this is not worth arguing about, but in my eyes Jobs is a Genius in many ways. I have been following him since his early years at apple and he was so ahead of his time in many ways, and many of his ideas TO ME are true genius.

Now the Genius's at the Genius Bars, that is another Story!!! Grin

 

[harryb2448]

And let us wait for another fifty years and see if this Tim character is anywhere near the genius Jobs was.

 

[blairtechguy]

Genius at marketing like previous posters have said bringing aesthetics and technology together. Technological genius, I would disagree.

 

[Soylentgreen]

I would honestly say that Steve Wozniak is a genius of creation. Steve Jobs was a genius at marketing, selling, business, strategy, pricing, business structure, etc.
If I had a widget that I wanted to be mass consumed, and have a near frenzy sales upon release I would:
1. If it was under 20.00, hire Billy Mayes
2. If it was over 200.00 hire Steve Jobs
Both were exceptional at knowing their market and its limitations/potential.

 

[osxx]

I found this interesting. Steve Jobs?s Patents - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

 

[RONE]

I'm not even sure why this rates a discussion. A college student strings together a few sentences - taking a contrarian view but providing absolutely nothing to support that view - and we're supposed to take notice? This "article" wouldn't even rate publishing in a high school news letter - so I'm surmising the bar is pretty low for this particular blog. Usually - if you want to publish an opinion piece, whether in line with the popular view or not, you'd feel compelled to provide some substantiating evidence for your opinion - not just base your 'arguments' on further unsubstantiated opinion. I wish I had my 20 sec back that I wasted reading someone's completely irrelevant opinion. It seems to me - the proof is in the pudding. You don't impact the world in the way Steve Jobs did - and not rate some lofty title - and genius is as good as any. Whether quantified or not - it's immaterial. Anyone who can so dramatically change the landscape of technology and how we live probably deserves the title.

+3
My thoughts exactly.

 

[baggss]

I would honestly say that Steve Wozniak is a genius of creation. Steve Jobs was a genius at marketing, selling, business, strategy, pricing, business structure, etc.

Woz was the genius who got them started, but after the Apple II Woz went a bit "off the grid" and while he's still a talented individual the fame of Apple changed him in a different way that it changed Jobs. The stories of him crashing his sports car and the police finding piles of checks for thousands of dollars each are an interesting commentary on how the fast track to fame isn't for everyone. He eventually made good use of his fortune, but he is still, frankly "not quite right" in the head IMO.

While Woz designed elegant technology that worked in the early years, Jobs also strove to have the insides of the box look just as pretty as the outside of the box as much as possible. By and large, he succeeded. Many people would say "who cares" but I'll be honest, the inside of my old Quad G5 PowerMac was really a thing of beauty.