Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

Sad

I wanted to pick up on a couple of things Bill and Damien said.<br />

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<i>I bitch and moan about iTunes as much as the next guy, but if you stop to think about it, it transformed the entire music industry, and turned what began as a network of illegal file sharing (Napster), something I regrettably missed out completely, into a legitimate business model.</i><br />

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Isn't it funny how we all thought in those years before iTunes, "Why doesn't someone make songs available as downloads, cheap?" The record company execs were so wedded to their particular world that they decided to sue their customers to try to keep from going the way of the dinosaur. How unbelievably stupid. And Steve, always ready to see the change, and to do what needed to be done in service of that change, made songs available as downloads, cheap.<br />

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Isn't it funny how we all thought in those years before the iPhone, "Damn - what are all these buttons for? And which button do I push to do this? Why can't there be something like a little computer screen that can change the buttons to fit the situation? And I'd really like the Internet and a bigger screen on this thing, that would be cool." The phone company execs were so wedded to their particular world that they put out phones with 80+ tiny buttons, with two letters on many of the tiny keys and sophisticated software to try to figure out which of the two letters you wanted. Steve just went right ahead and got rid of nearly all the keys, devoted just about all the phone's working surface to a computer screen that changed buttons to fit the situation, and gave people a usable web browser. Then he went the extra mile, as he often did, and gave us what we wanted before we knew we wanted and needed it: "There's an app for that."<br />

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And I'm sure we've all wondered, "If it's a <i>phone</i>, and I talk to it anyway, why can't I just talk to my phone and give it commands instead of having to type everything?" Siri's coming. (Sure to be used in a zillion Japanese jokes, because apparently <i>shiri</i> means "ass" in Japanese.)<br />

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Just as Damien said, <i>The computer</i> [or phone, or music, or tablet, or...]<i> at the service of the human, and not the opposite...</i><br />

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Of course you know, Damien, that all that training and all those management methods seminars are useless, because first you have to be as open to change as Steve Jobs was, second you have to be as ruthless in executing the change, third you have to be as smart or nearly so, and perhaps most important, you have to have unquestioned authority. I would bet exactly none of the companies having their managers take these training courses would be willing to give those managers unquestioned authority to execute radical change strategies all the way through to the final product and marketing to the consumer.<br />

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As the old joke says, "A camel is a horse designed by a committee." Steve had the authority to give people horses. Everyone else goes through committees, gives people camels, and wonders why their products aren't as beloved.

Gang,<br />

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A friend of mine who knew Steve texted me last night. After all the nice things people have said about Steve it makes me want to go out and design something really creative!<br />

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When I was at DCA and we were a huge company about 42K at the time we were primarily a Windows/Unix development company. I had just split an engineer group in 1992 to make a product that allowed dial up internet access. We had determined that a MAC group would be required and we hired a ton of people. Before that only the documentation group used MACs. We gather up a bunch of older MACs from the doc group for the lab and some did not work at all. I took home two of these and pulled the power and mother board out of one and put it in the other and it fired right up. I then got a processor upgrade kit and a nice SCSI hard drive and was really liking the way this worked.<br />

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I tried counting the number of macs after that:<br />

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Color Classic<br />

Power PC 6100 with the Windows Co-processor<br />

PowerBook Duo with the Duo & Micro Dock<br />

Mac Pro actually a couple<br />

PowerBook 12<br />

several MacBooks<br />

probably about 10 MacBook Pro 13,15,17<br />

At least 4 MacBook Air<br />

At least 5 MacMini<br />

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The MacMini I am writing this on still has the name of my the last Power PC Mac Pro I had probably 10 years ago.<br />

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Go out and do something positive today, that is what Steve would want us to do.<br />

<br />

Thanks<br />

Gordon

How is one supposed to feel when someone who has had a profound impact on your life dies? Especially when you don’t know them personally? <br />

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It’s clearly okay to grieve for a person who is a national hero, like JFK. His death was a shock to our nation, a nation to which we all belong and could feel a part of. It was sudden, and unexpected, and left us all in shock. Our country had been wounded, and in a way, it felt like each one of us had our heart ripped out. <br />

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It’s clearly okay to grieve when our heroes meet a tragic and fiery end, as in the Challenger disaster. Though hardly any of us knew the people on that shuttle, we all knew of them, and more, knew someone just like them. <br />

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And it was just as okay to grieve when John Lennon, an anti-hero if there ever was one, was gunned down in front of his home. Hated by some, loved by others, and always controversial, his loss somehow left a hole in our lives. <br />

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But what about a man like Steve Jobs? He was not a national hero. He wasn’t jumping into space to explore dangerous and unknown frontiers. He was not leading our entire nation during a time when nuclear disaster was only a breath away, and most of us don’t know anyone quite like him. He was not putting his fortune and livelihood on the line protesting an unpopular war. He was the leader of a commercial company, making commercial products, making pots of money. And he did it in a dictatorial way all his own, never ever giving in to the establishment. He demanded, and got, perfection. Or at least as close to it as the then existing technology would allow. And if the technology didn’t allow perfect execution of his ideas, he still didn’t compromise. He demanded his people create new technology. <br />

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So why should the passing of man like Steve Jobs leave a hole in our lives? Why should it sadden us and make the future seem a little less bright? <br />

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I can’t answer that for you, but for me, Steve Jobs was more than just a eccentric businessman out to make pots of money, even though he was amazingly successful at doing just that. <br />

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He was three years older than myself, and like most in my generation, wanted to change the world. Unlike most of us, he did. <br />

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Not only once, but many times. <br />

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The personal computer, graphic interfaces, music from a computer, iPod, iTunes, digital typesetting, and more are commonplace today, only because of Steve Jobs. Oh, he might not have invented the ideas, but he took them, polished them to a gleaming ideal, and drove the infinitely creative engine he created at Apple to implement them. <br />

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Idea after idea, gushing forth with an unlimited spring of enthusiasm. Some of them flopped, but some of those ideas - ah some of them changed the world. Time after time after time. <br />

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And more, with each new idea Jobs would enthusiastically champion, somehow, our lives became richer, and our dreams became that much more possible. Oh, not like a religious revelation, and not in a sudden burst of realization, but slowly. Insidiously. And with utter certainly. <br />

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And along the way, we have all adopted Steve Jobs view of the world - at least a little. <br />

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For me, back in the early 1980s, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to be the unpaid Apple Rep at a Navy Exchange. I sold a lot of Apple computers by talking to people, and communicating the excitement I felt about the products. <br />

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I must have done something right, because I got a phone call one day from a person at Apple who demanded to know what I was doing. I explained I was just talking to people, and that I was excited about Apple. This person listened, thought for a moment, and then asked me why was I excited? <br />

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My answer was kind of stupid, but it was honest, short and simple - “They make me want to try and think up amazing things I can do with them.” <br />

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A few days later, I got a note in the mail from Steve Jobs, thanking me for taking the time to talk to him, for supporting Apple so well, and wishing me success.<br />

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I cannot say it was a eureka moment, but it did help to change my point of view from being the “little guy” struggling against insurmountable odds, to the guy who believed a little bit more in himself, and in his dreams. <br />

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A small thing perhaps, but one never forgotten. A gift, from a man who could not possibly have remembered even making that call or writing that note almost three decades ago. <br />

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Steve Jobs was a man who changed the lives of countless millions, just by stubbornly following his own dreams, and demanding those who work with and for him do the same. Who told the whole world, you can be different - come along with me for the ride! <br />

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I grieve at his passing because while not a national hero, he was at heart, an everyday person with extraordinary dreams. Just exactly the kind of person I would like to be, and I hope my kids are. They show promise along those lines. I am proud of them. <br />

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I hope that Steve Jobs is somewhere, somehow, dreaming new dreams now. Perhaps, if there is a heaven, God is even now listening to Steve Jobs and thinking about a few changes he could make, here and there....<br />

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I can honestly say, it is rare to come across a manufacturer that gets every detail right, from the product with the user in mind, the human interface, the advertising, the buzz created around future products, the vision and innovation. He certainly didn't miss a detail. He married the computer with the arts like no one else. When IBM's were about being a "business machine", the first Mac was about being fun. A true visionary. He will be truly missed.<br />

I can sadly say that Apple will never be the same, the industry will never be the same.<br />

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My first computer was an Apple IIe in 1984, I took a detour to the darkside for a while, and since I have been back, I don't ever plan to leave.<br />

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The Pirate Flag will surely fly at half mast.

Thanks for the directive, Gordon,<br />

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I will.<br />

I'm going to make it something creative.<br />

Something musical.<br />

I just read in Yahoo news that it's been determined that making music relieves depression. Well, I'm not depressed, but I've been telling myself for years that I was going to get around to this, one of these days, and this is the perfect day for it:<br />

Garage Band. Should be fun.<br />

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Thanks, Steve.<br />

-Richard G.

... I was a computer/user expert. I knew all the ins and outs of keeping my personal computer tweaked and working well. Through extensive trial and error I had painfully gained the experience and knowledge necessary to use a PC constructively. On occasion, my friends would call on me to help them out with this stuff.<br />

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In about 2002, at a party, the conversation was moving in that direction and I realized, to my surprise, that I no longer knew that stuff. Someone asked me,<br />

"What happened?"<br />

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Before I understood the impact of what I was saying, I offhandedly replied, "I got a Mac."<br />

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It was a conversation stopper, and I realized at that moment that I was never going to be able to participate in one of those conversations again.<br />

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Thanks, Steve.<br />

-Richard G.<br />

....but have a been a big Apple fan since like forever. I've owned and loved his products since the Macintosh SE.<br />

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Now I feel like I lost a family member:(<br />

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CD

I've been going through the day feeling as though a huge void has opened up in my life.<br />

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We have lost a true innovator and visionary. Someone who made technology unintimidating and even pleasurable. Someone who enriched the lives of countless millions, in ways they never could have imagined. A real leader who inspired and encouraged us to buck the status quo, to "think different".<br />

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Steve, you left us all too soon, and we will likely never see the likes of you again. R.I.P.<br />

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Russell

Thanks for everything, Steve. I hope you find the rest you deserve, a place with tons of apple trees. And no gates.<br />

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I have been looking at this thread once in a while since yesterday, unable to gather my forces and do something. But I can't keep that for myself. The void is too big.<br />

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I was working in my hotel room in Vegas when my wife send me an email to inform me of the passing of Steve Jobs. What a shock. What a tragedy. My crazy schedule and the atmosphere in Vegas did not really allow me to digest the news. I felt queazy all night and when I woke up I was still feeling weird. Rushed to the airport. Sat on the plane. And it hit me. My WHOLE life has been transformed by Steve and Apple products. Let me tell you how, from seat 25G, my MacBook Air on my lap.<br />

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I am 42. When I was 13, I was the poor kid on a middle-class street. My 2 best friends were offered Apple IIe. Of course I could use theirs, but I wanted one just for me. No way my family could afford that. So I decided to work, did all sorts of jobs, like delivering newspapers. I even created with these two friends my first commercial software at age 14. Made a little bit of money. That got me started in the software business. Not long thereafter, the Mac was introduced. That was even more expensive than an Apple IIe! Now in high-school, I found our that my elementary school had just received 2 Macs! I called the principal and go to borrow one for the summer. MacWrite and MacPaint had no secret for me.<br />

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A few year later, after I finished high-school, I got to play with Macs at school. I even negotiated with Apple Canada for the loan of an SE30 for a year for the student's newspaper that I was managing. We even had access to a laser printer — what a luxury! At age 19, I borrowed $3,500 from a teacher who believed in me and bought a Mac Plus 512 and a 45MB HD, plus - that was amazing - my own laser printer ($6000) financed with a loan guaranteed by my parents. I started a company to produce laser-printed badges at trade shows. Fast forward a few years, at age 27, I owned 350 mac, 600 Newtons and I had 75 staff. Our system had the best user interface (of course! it ran on a Mac). We were the only company in my industry using Macs. I was doing 7M of sales. All with Macs. The Mac help me become successful and gave my company a major competitive advantage.<br />

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Then, Apple kind of stumbled for several years, and it was more and more difficult to be a Mac user. The Mac had lost the battle. When I was visiting my clients with my PowerBook in tow, their IT guys would often say: "Oh, you are using a Mac…." with a grin on their face…. These were other times.<br />

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Fast forward 2-3 years - I had two minority shareholder who conspired to organize a scam to kick me out of my own company so they could sell it to a competitor. Contrary to Steve, I cannot yet say that "being kicked out of my own company is the best thing that ever happened to me" but I am working hard to get there. This event happened 8 years ago. Lost 4M$. I started another company, went bankrupt and started over again. Guess what my main source of revenue is now: developing apps for the iPhone. Yes, my whole life still revolves around Apple and its products. The iPhone allowed to rebound. I have 17 staffers now.<br />

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I learned about Steve's return to Apple on a Wall Street PowerBook, on a slow-poke 56K modem, on a week-end.<br />

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I received the news of Steve's passing on my iPhone 4. On my desk were also an iPad 2, a MacBook Air and a MacBook Pro. I was listening to music on my iPod Classic. My 3 kids and wife each have an iPod or iPhone and an iMac or a MacBook Pro.<br />

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I am devastated that Steve won't get to see the "Next Big Thing" that he has probably spearheaded. I am moved very deeply by the tragic aspects of his destiny. From being an adopted kid to the leader he was. I would have given everything to just shadow him for a week. Or just one day.<br />

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A lot of people think that Steve has "invented" the iPod and many other things…. True, Steve is named as main inventor or co-inventor in over 300 patents. That says a lot. But I believe that Steve's main contribution has been to nurture a culture of excellence at Apple. And now that he is dead, I think that his influence will be felt even more because his dead as made him even bigger than he really was. He did not event mp3 players or smartphones. He managed to create devices that were build the RIGHT way. Not contraptions. He has shown the way to build devices and software the right way.<br />

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Thanks again for everything Steve. I miss you already.<br />

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I think I feel better now.

RIP Steve Jobs, sad to see this untimely death. I guess I could say he had an indirect but somewhat profound effect on my life too, simply through the invention of the iPod. When this came out I was in middle school, and basically for all the wrong reasons, I ended up purchasing one. It was the big popular thing and so was music, so for those reasons I shelled out $300 of hard earned money. I didn't even purchase a mini despite the fact that the list of songs that I liked that I was going to put on was less than 25... <br />

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Still, I think something about it was actually appealing to me, it oozed class and I wanted the best version of it, and I realized that music could be downloaded easily from the internet which would help me find new music. I had a slight interest in music but I don't think it would have taken off had it not been for the iPod. It made listening to and finding music fun and exciting. I began with using Limewire (stupidly paying for it and believing it was legal...) but soon later I started using iTunes to increase my collection. The combination of the two helped introduce me to a lot of music and introduce me to a new passion.<br />

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Ironically, iTunes was probably my very first introduction to audiophile music. I soon realized that terrible quality downloads were not uncommon from Limewire, and I wanted to use iTunes more and more to get the best quality out of my music. It wouldn't be until 4 years later that I cared about hi-fi, but my first dip in was with the purchase of an iMod using my 3 year old iPod (second one) and beginning to change my library into ALAC. Though Jobs wasn't responsible for the modification, he did make that choice extremely appealing to me - I could now get into hi-fi without any convenience sacrifice. And once again, a new passion for music was discovered.<br />

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I ended up selling my iMod in lieu for a cheaper solution to make one more leap into audiophile music - buying a used Macbook Pro and a DAC/system. In fact, I loved this so much that I probably overspent! Whether it ended up being overkill or not, it has basically cemented my interest in music. An iPod and a meager list of songs resulted in a library of ~10,000 songs and counting, a beautiful music system, and an incredible hobby and love for music that has definitely been a great thing for my life. Thank you Steve Jobs for this and helping to make listening to music so much more enjoyable.

Steve gave me many years of pleasant computing - Where ever you are, Steve, enjoy the time off.

Yep - this is quite likely to be the case. Cloud computing, the Jobsian way. <br />

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<img src="http://www.computeraudiophile.com/files/JOBS20111007.jpg"><br />

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http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tt/2011/tt111007.gif<br />

(Shared from my account on ucomics.com. -PR)<br />

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-Paul<br />

He helped make some nice products and will be remembered by his legacy.

Whilst nobody can deny Steve Jobs success in perfecting and commercialising the portable digital music player, internet and media streaming tablet device, and all in one home computer, I really don't think he will be remembered for his contribution to the "computer audiophile" world. He did take on the music industry, which improved the availability of honest downloads and iTunes was a revelation in music library management. But that was a long time ago folks, so let's be realistic here. There has been very little Apple in general, or Steve in particular has personally done for our hobby in a very long while. I'm, not even aware if he actually new this site existed. Anybody know?

Tribute to steve jobs<br />

Thank you Steve<br />

<img src="http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll148/cocohong/Stevell.jpg">

...isn't the fact that iTunes is the defacto music management software for most audiophiles good enough of a contribution to the computer audiophile? <br />

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And if iTunes isn't good enough, there's PureMusic....which piggybacks off of iTunes. <br />

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And if that's not good enough, there's Amarra......which also piggybacks off of iTunes.<br />

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Stereophile had a report showing how you could get decent bit perfect sound out of iTunes, an Airport Express and the Benchmark DAC1.<br />

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Yeah, I think audiophiles will definitely miss Steve Jobs.<br />

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CD

Sure. But none of these changes were specifically engineered, endorsed or indeed supported by Apple. That is why I said any contribution to our "community" specifically by him was a long time ago..Tell me what changes to iTunes specifically, or Apple products in general have had ANY relevance to computers improving their audiophile quality. If Apple were serious, they would have there own dedicated audiophile streamer, and their own robust NAS device, or a quality mac computer with shielded electronics and audio quality components. If anything they are heading in a different direction. That is why many of us on this forum have moved to streaming, using non Apple products. So we can avoid using computers as sources.

Ford brought the automobile to the common man and changed the face of America. Jobs performed a similar feat with the Apple GUI. He made it where everyone could use a computer for daily tasks.

Those are Acoustat Model 3 speakers Steve Jobs is seated in front of. The original slim line series. Owned a pair myself for years. Bought them in the early 1980's from Wilson Audio in New Orleans. Mine had the dark cloth and teak bases. You can see a pair just like them at this link.<br />

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http://usr.audioasylum.com/images/y2011/02/45177/TT_032.jpg<br />

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I agree the deck looks like an Oracle Delphi but can't make out the electronics with the blue display. McIntosh? <br />

Accuphase?<br />

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It is difficult to tell for sure.

That pic is reproduced in a 2-page spread in the latest Time magazine (dated October 17) with Jobs on the cover. (Nice commemorative issue, BTW.) Still hard to tell exactly what that component is, though, but I know I've seen it before. (My first thought was Revox, but I can't be sure.)<br />

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Russell

wappinghigh - Wow, the body isn't even cold yet. In the spirit of this thread do you mind keeping the negativity out?<br />

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My guess is that the lower component is a Threshold FET-1. I don't know what the component sitting on top of it is. A tuner perhaps?

This is a very interesting article on the different types of skills required in the IT Industry. They range from programming to networks.<br />

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