The Apple website is one of the bigger ones - and yet they essentially removed all of their products from the landing page, if anything I would guess that there will be a small dip in revenue today for the online store. I disagree that this is about PR, the people running the company lost their colleague and probably genuinely miss Steve. A somewhat classy tribute.
It also reminds everybody of their mission, contrast with HP for example who have lost their way.
I sure hate it when it's the anniversary of an event and people take the time to remember it.
Keep in mind to many of the people at Apple Steve Jobs was the company, and to many there he was a friend. Generally people do take the opportunity to remember the people they've lost on the day they've lost them.
Your comment would be valid if they actually did try and make money off it, but they're likely going to lose some sales. You probably are missing something if you also think he was just a former CEO, he was a bit more than that to Apple.
The only conspiracy theory here that I can dream up is that this is both a fitting tribute to Jobs and a not-so-subtle plea for consumers to associate any new iProducts in the future as ultimately coming some Jobsian level of genious.
(hint: I always download Apple videos (for future reference, and because my internet connection is really slow) and the trick is to replace "_r848-9dwc.mov" at the end to "_848x480.mov")
Do you mean "[in a world where Samsung or Dell had a public personality like Steve Jobs] would they remove the products from their landing page?" or do you mean "[if Michael Dell died] would Dell remove their products from the landing page?"
If they had someone like Steve they definitely would. They don't, so it doesn't matter.
If I remember correctly (I'm not totally sure), a few years ago Apple had a full page tribute when one of their directors died. So I'd say yes, probably.
I might argue that this makes as much financial sense as it does compassionate sense. Reminding everybody about Steve Jobs being the "heart of the company" every so often is probably very good for Apple's business.
Perhpas not in the tech industry. Bill Gates is pretty legendary in his own rights. I remember when growing up, he was the man you wanted to be. Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Phill Knight, Michael Bloomberg, and I'm sure plenty of other CEOs have a pretty good "personality cult" Perhaps not as cultish as Steve Jobs, but still very legendary and an important face to their company and industry nonetheless.
Absolutely, Warren Buffett as well. We could go way back too, what about Rockefeller, Carnegie, William Randolph Hearst, J.P. Morgan, the Vanderbilts et al.
Would they? Microsoft worked very hard for a long time to make it clear that they could continue without Bill. He might get a 'tile' on the new home page, or one of the banner images, but do you really think Microsoft would shut down their home page like that? (I don't think so)
I was making a joke. To debate how one of the greatest tech leaders in the world would be honored on a webpage if they were to pass at the height of their career is quite foolish and mundane. Microsoft WOULD probably take a more corporate standpoint and not flog a leader like a cultist to be honest, but I wouldn't argue it.
I'm sure they would do somethign, but probably not a total takeover of the page. Bill is a great man that had probably done more "good" than Steve actually.
First and foremost - they know that it wont stop one person from buying -- eventually, even if, arguendo, it would temporarily stop someone, if they watch Steve's message they will get the company DNA so sooner or later they will convert them.
Second, money is not always everything. You know H&N the biggest New York tech shop -- multiple stores high, automated baskets flying everywhere, a product's catalog of 1,500 pages, things you can buy there that you didnt know exist. They always full easily making half a mil in profit a day. You know they close their doors every single Friday for religious purposes, regardless of what their customers think.
Yes; it's Bach's Cello Suite #1. You've probably also heard it in Master and Commander, where it was performed by Yo-yo Ma. It's one of my favorite pieces of string music.
"When Jobs was ill, Yo Yo Ma came to visit, bringing his 1733 Stradivarius cello and performing a concert in the Jobs’ living room. Jobs, who had been moved to tears by the music, told him, “Your playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.” He made Ma promise to play at his funeral".
I would not think so. My impression is many artists (musicians too) feel inspired by a higher spirit, so to speak. Personally, I am not a believer, but I understand how it can feel when one is.
I wasn't saying it wouldn't be received as a complement, after all, it's just as likely that it was offered in all sincerity. I'm just saying that the literal implication could be construed as an insult.
Reworded: "I'm so blown away by what I'm experiencing that it's hard for me to believe it's even humanly possible, what you're doing."
I can't imagine anyone taking this as an insult. If that person exists, I hope I never end up in the unfortunate situation of paying them an incredible compliment.
Reworded: "I'm so blown away by what I'm experiencing that I think there's a very real possibility that you don't deserve full credit for this achievement."
If you're ever in the position to give someone a hyper-superlative complement, you could simply use one of the many hundreds of constructions that don't involve doubting the skill of the recipient.
Calm down mate, I'm merely disagreeing with you. I do understand your point, and I do think that your interpretation makes for a reasonable hypothesis, but it's my opinion that it's less plausible given the exact wording originally provided.
I don't remember the biography mentioning a private concert at his house (wouldn't surprise me) but Jobs did personally ask Yo Yo Ma to play at his funeral.
Bach's cello suites were what originally inspired me to start studying music. And the first recording of them I ever heard was Yo-Yo Ma's original recording (he has at least one newer recording now).
The piece is the prelude of Bach's first cello suite. The thirty-five other movements in the Bach cello suites are equally beautiful, but it is mainly this movement that is played.
While my cello playing was originally inspired by Ma's interpretation of the cello suites, I now find his rendition of them a bit insipid. I suggest checking out Pablo Casals' interpretation - he popularized the Bach suites, and the recordings are beautiful. Rostropovich also played them fairly well.
If I had to pick a Bach cello suite movement for such a video, it would be the Sarabande from the 6th suite:
I was lucky enough to hear Rostropovich play the 5th cello suite live once. I would rank his performance a lot better than "fairly well", but tastes vary. Another favorite performance of mine for those suites is Anner Bylsma[1]. He uses a more historically accurate instrument than most modern versions. I don't necessarily think that makes other versions bad, but it does make his (or one like it) worth trying.
Pierre Fournier does a super smooth rendering of all the suites... he's like a French machine, technically perfect & soulful interpretation. especially the 6th preludium is a joy to hear as he climbs up the stairway.
yeah, Casals is the man. don't like rostropovich rendition IMHO.
currently playing those Suites on a Carbon Fiber Luis & Clark instrument - luisandclark.com
Wow, before coming here and seeing this comment, I had my speakers off and assumed there was no sound. I thought the video was just as good, if not better, completely silent.
If you had to boil Steve Jobs's biggest contributions down to a minimum, it's:
* the first genuinely usable, affordable GUI (i.e. the Mac)
* the iPod
* the iPhone
I'd say the Apple ][ is debatably on that list (the first personal computer than "just worked" or something). NeXTStep is a wonderful OS with a lot of Good Stuff in it but it's a piece of a product. The iPod Touch and iPhone are fairly obvious evolutions of the iPhone.
The other missing item isn't an Apple product: Pixar.
No question about Apple ][ - That was the first computer schools across the country (US) started buying en masse.
To my mind, that is the product that really touched off the personal computer revolution. As you mention, the Mac paradigm shift was about the GUI, Mouse, and taking what they started with the I and ][ to the next, more refined and "product-ized" level.
I tend to agree with you. (I actually started writing a defense of my initial position and realized that I was wrong!) I think some would like to dismiss the Apple ][ as, say, merely being the luckiest of a bunch of similarly conceived products that came out around the same time (e.g. the Commodore Pet was announced earlier but delivered later, and the TRS-80 came out slightly afterwards), but then not only was the Apple ][ more successful, it was also dramatically superior technically (e.g. its expansion bus allowed for self-configuring cards that could even slave the computer, which led to products like the DTACK 68k board that turned a humble Apple ][ into a workstation-class computer back in 1980.
Signs of his illness were, unfortunately, more evident at the iPad launch, he was much thinner. I think this video pays appropriate tribute to his spirit, and the way he would prefer to be remembered.
Everything coming out now went through him, do you think it really takes a year to develop products? The maps team had been working on the new maps for years. I guess Apple should have invented warp drive in the last year too.
I think they would have released it. It seems they had little choice. It was either release it or renegotiate their contract with Google since it is almost up.
Anything to detract from the disaster that is Apple Maps. If I could I would undo two things, first revert to iOS5, then bring Jobs back. Ah, the good old days.
Yeah second, because my immediate problem is getting to my intended destination tonight and since the upgrade which screwed with my WiFi tethering and maps that's a problem.
It would take even him more than a couple of hours to fix this. A downgrade I could do myself, if Apple allowed it that is...
my immediate problem is getting to my intended destination tonight
Just in case you hadn't noticed, complaining about your inability to get to where you're going with your new maps app looks really whiny and entitled.
Go back just a few short years in human history and we didn't have any smartphones with maps and GPS, and you know what? people actually managed to find their destinations. Get some perspective.
It worked three weeks ago, now it doesn't. So I miss Jobs.
FYI, I was a participant at the root of that development (drove with GPS on the roof of a mini cooper in 1992, the company I worked for then, licensed data to Google Maps for many years). The perspective I have is that there was no reason to screw with something that worked at the expense of the user.
Still miss jobs.
My wife's Android navigation will do tonight. Her S3 Looks pretty nifty suddenly.
Technology and a focus on the future go hand in hand. I wonder whether Jobs (at his best) would be dwelling on the past like this (over any event)? What happens when an army of sheep loses its lion?
Also, while the hockey puck quote in the video could be interpreted as a hedge/ preemptive rebuttal of the above observation, I don't think it was meant that way. The tremendous irony there must have escaped quite a few people, since they ended up running with it.
Yesterday: "Apple is a worthless patent troll. All of their 'inventions' are things that were invented somewhere else. The only thing they did was patent other people's work, then charge twice as much for it to a bunch of worthless fan-boys."
Today: "R.I.P. Steve Jobs. He did so much to change the face of technology forever."
`
Sometimes you have to sit back and appreciate the fickleness of a crowd...
Well, the App Store was accidental, for example. I have no evidence of this, except that it would have been fairly obvious to Apple that, having had the iTunes Store, and sold apps this way before, letting any developer make apps would be great.
It's really a little from column A, a little from column B. I'm a huge Android guy right now, and that Samsung lawsuit annoyed me to no end, but I still watched that video straight through and even sat in a bit of silence at the end. Even I can recognize what Steve and Apple have done, and what America and the world has lost in his dying early.
No person or company is perfect. Apple does some things very right, and some things very wrong, and I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out instances of both.
But Apple isn't a person and anthropomorphizing a corporation is pointless. Companies don't act with the same motivations as people do, while there are some general principles that can be seen at work in both human colonies and corporates in the market, and while a process similar to evolution (where startups are the mutant DNA experiments) can be seen at work in moving the market, companies act in the interest of their shareholders. Even if the analogy were to hold, I don't think you've characterized Apple accurately.
The analogy of corporations/market place and human colonies is an interesting one that has ramifications through society all the way to the Supreme Court, but I think the flippant remark about Apple lacking empathy, or being fearless or lacking responsibility is rather like thinking a dolphin is smiling at you at sea world.
I think, I exemplify what you find fickle. In my humble opinion, Apple does a lot of stuff. Jobs would filter out the ugly and stupid, so Apple appeared a lot cooler than some random fortune 500 company.
I'm skeptical of Apple ever regaining a filter like that. I think, they'll lumber around for a few years while their products lose mystique. It's not that their products are much different than android, it's that Apple will lose its super cool image by doing things like suing samsung.
Mr Jobs put a great image on the company. In an age where dell would make you sit on hold for hours, then do a dance where you replace certain parts, Apple would just send you a new one. Being hassle free in an age of hassle is just one example.
Suing Samsung was Jobs' legacy. He was planning to do it himself if he lived long enough. He was incredibly petty, especially for an intellectual property thief.
I don't know what Apple stole/didn't steal. But do you remember what the number 1 selling phone was before the iPhone? According to Wikipedia it was a Nokia 1200. I had a Motorola Razr.
Jobs and Apple were a decade ahead of their competition.
The problem is with your thinking of individuals as "a crowd" and expecting some sort of cohesiveness, as if the crowd and not the individual is the basic unit of intention and action.
If other HNers are like me, this might explain it: I'm not a big fan of Apple. And lately I think they've become the "Big Brother" they were fighting in the 1984 commercial. However, I'm a huge Steve Jobs fan. He's right up there with Henry Ford and Fred Harvey on my list.
I think that Henry Ford is a really good comparison. I admire Henry Ford. He was a true innovator. He was everything an entrepreneur should strive to be.
Yet he was also incredibly flawed. His shortcomings are well documented. I still admire, and attempt to emulate, Henry Ford the entrepreneur even if I don't love the man as a whole.
In the same way I admire Apple (and their embodiment in Steve Jovs) for what they've done, and in many ways emulate their approach and passion for making delightful products. Yet I'm wary, and extremely critical, of much of what they're doing.
I can definitely be both. I want to promote the Apple that makes amazing products, while quashing the Apple that wants to exert utter control over everything.
In some ways, I think of jobsy as a great filterer - very focused. Both of your statements are somewhat true if you consider that perspective. Jobsy made a big difference by picking the best and putting it together. However, what was put together was largely taken from others.
Fickle? Maybe - just not as one dimensional as it may first appear to be.
I still am not a fan of apple and it's views on software patents. I also don't consider Steve Jobs to be a personal hero of mine.
A lot of us don't like to say anything when apple or some blogger puts up a tribute to Jobs. It isn't because we don't have convictions, it's because we have respect for the dead.
A moving tribute and wonderful video in and of itself. I'm far too young (21) to fully appreciate everything he embodied. His early death really makes you appreciate the luck of being alive. From the normal to the billionaire magicians, remember this:
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." - Mark Twain
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[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 221 ms ] threadhttp://imgur.com/eWREY
More critically, there was no gracious fallback. All I get is a completely broken page with absolutely no outgoing links or any textual content!
There is, in fact, a little "X" that loads in the top left. http://elsewhe.re/Jwtz
Let the man rest in peace.
It also reminds everybody of their mission, contrast with HP for example who have lost their way.
Keep in mind to many of the people at Apple Steve Jobs was the company, and to many there he was a friend. Generally people do take the opportunity to remember the people they've lost on the day they've lost them.
I used Movie Player to open it (Movie -> open location)
(hint: I always download Apple videos (for future reference, and because my internet connection is really slow) and the trick is to replace "_r848-9dwc.mov" at the end to "_848x480.mov")
Would Dell or Samsung do this? Genuine question.
Do you mean "[in a world where Samsung or Dell had a public personality like Steve Jobs] would they remove the products from their landing page?" or do you mean "[if Michael Dell died] would Dell remove their products from the landing page?"
If they had someone like Steve they definitely would. They don't, so it doesn't matter.
How about, if Tim Cook died, would Apple do the same?
EDIT: This was it: http://mashable.com/2010/03/18/jerome-york-tribute/
It's certainly a touching tribute, but let's not act like Apple is sacrificing significant revenue (which is looks like some people are assuming).
The letter from Cook brings the spotlight back onto Apple's products.
/endrant
The video was really good though :)
Second, money is not always everything. You know H&N the biggest New York tech shop -- multiple stores high, automated baskets flying everywhere, a product's catalog of 1,500 pages, things you can buy there that you didnt know exist. They always full easily making half a mil in profit a day. You know they close their doors every single Friday for religious purposes, regardless of what their customers think.
B&N is the book stop.
B&H is the tech stop.
Just found out that he performed at the memorial service though.
Which is kind of an insult to Yo Yo Ma.
I can't imagine anyone taking this as an insult. If that person exists, I hope I never end up in the unfortunate situation of paying them an incredible compliment.
If you're ever in the position to give someone a hyper-superlative complement, you could simply use one of the many hundreds of constructions that don't involve doubting the skill of the recipient.
Edit:
Further, I don't believe in God but I also don't believe I've ever felt I deserved "full credit" for an achievement in the way you're describing.
While my cello playing was originally inspired by Ma's interpretation of the cello suites, I now find his rendition of them a bit insipid. I suggest checking out Pablo Casals' interpretation - he popularized the Bach suites, and the recordings are beautiful. Rostropovich also played them fairly well.
If I had to pick a Bach cello suite movement for such a video, it would be the Sarabande from the 6th suite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3dgACCAzwM
Edit: I changed my mind, I would go with the Sarabande from the 1st suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvOo0cS8w10
[1]: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Suites-Cello-BWV-1007-1012/dp/B00...
Well played HNers.
yeah, Casals is the man. don't like rostropovich rendition IMHO.
currently playing those Suites on a Carbon Fiber Luis & Clark instrument - luisandclark.com
The other missing item isn't an Apple product: Pixar.
To my mind, that is the product that really touched off the personal computer revolution. As you mention, the Mac paradigm shift was about the GUI, Mouse, and taking what they started with the I and ][ to the next, more refined and "product-ized" level.
http://www.easy68k.com/paulrsm/dg/
Yeah second, because my immediate problem is getting to my intended destination tonight and since the upgrade which screwed with my WiFi tethering and maps that's a problem.
It would take even him more than a couple of hours to fix this. A downgrade I could do myself, if Apple allowed it that is...
Just in case you hadn't noticed, complaining about your inability to get to where you're going with your new maps app looks really whiny and entitled.
Go back just a few short years in human history and we didn't have any smartphones with maps and GPS, and you know what? people actually managed to find their destinations. Get some perspective.
FYI, I was a participant at the root of that development (drove with GPS on the roof of a mini cooper in 1992, the company I worked for then, licensed data to Google Maps for many years). The perspective I have is that there was no reason to screw with something that worked at the expense of the user.
Still miss jobs.
My wife's Android navigation will do tonight. Her S3 Looks pretty nifty suddenly.
Also, while the hockey puck quote in the video could be interpreted as a hedge/ preemptive rebuttal of the above observation, I don't think it was meant that way. The tremendous irony there must have escaped quite a few people, since they ended up running with it.
Something to think different about.
Today: "R.I.P. Steve Jobs. He did so much to change the face of technology forever."
`
Sometimes you have to sit back and appreciate the fickleness of a crowd...
The hover car is inevitable. Should I not be amazed at one when I see it?
I guess not, because whoever makes it will "simply" be the first to do the inevitable.
The analogy of corporations/market place and human colonies is an interesting one that has ramifications through society all the way to the Supreme Court, but I think the flippant remark about Apple lacking empathy, or being fearless or lacking responsibility is rather like thinking a dolphin is smiling at you at sea world.
I'm skeptical of Apple ever regaining a filter like that. I think, they'll lumber around for a few years while their products lose mystique. It's not that their products are much different than android, it's that Apple will lose its super cool image by doing things like suing samsung.
Mr Jobs put a great image on the company. In an age where dell would make you sit on hold for hours, then do a dance where you replace certain parts, Apple would just send you a new one. Being hassle free in an age of hassle is just one example.
Triumph of the Nerds (1996)
source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs
Jobs and Apple were a decade ahead of their competition.
Just watch this little clip and you can see why I like one and not the other: http://www.wimp.com/stevemoment/
Yet he was also incredibly flawed. His shortcomings are well documented. I still admire, and attempt to emulate, Henry Ford the entrepreneur even if I don't love the man as a whole.
In the same way I admire Apple (and their embodiment in Steve Jovs) for what they've done, and in many ways emulate their approach and passion for making delightful products. Yet I'm wary, and extremely critical, of much of what they're doing.
I can definitely be both. I want to promote the Apple that makes amazing products, while quashing the Apple that wants to exert utter control over everything.
Which is kind of like wanting to promote water without promoting getting wet.
A lot of us don't like to say anything when apple or some blogger puts up a tribute to Jobs. It isn't because we don't have convictions, it's because we have respect for the dead.
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." - Mark Twain