All Comments on 'Steve Jobs - An Eulogy'

That poem was shown to me as a homework project when I was 13 years old. I have lived by its message ever since, from choice. I am now 64 years old and wouldn't change a thing. Just like Steve Jobs following his dream, so I have followed mine. Not nearly as successful, I might add, but, as Frank Sinatra sang: "I did it MY way"

My first "personal computer" was the Apple //e. After it was stolen, the pragmatic choice (because of software considerations) was to move to "industry standard" (i.e.IBM compatible). The Macintosh had just been produced, and didn't yet have a broad array of software applications.

Steve Jobs changed many things. Directly or indirectly, his technology produced iPhones, iPads, Sony Walkmans, ever-smaller cellphones {as you mentioned}, and the obvious explosion of desktop computers of various manufacturers. And somewhere in all that, Silicon Valley created faster and faster computer chips.

Certainly, Bill Gates and his Microsoft contributed heavily to the advancement of this computer age. But essentially, he relied on the hardware developments of Steve Jobs.

The past thirty years have been very interesting.

I am glad to see the things HIM AND HIS COMPANY (because countless idea's and improvements where NOT from himself but rather the team he employed) accomplished and improved upon and/or made more mainstream to get the other companys to get their heads out of their asses..

That being said, I detest apple and jobs as a whole, why you ask? Think back to WW2, what was hitler's and the nazi party's view? One race the race they believed/approved of? What was jobs/apple's view? One market standard that they believed/approve of?

I again miss mr.jobs because of the fire he lit under other company's asses but again, the depths that both him and his company go to keep a "nazi" garden as well as strike out against others NON-nazi gardens, IE trying to copyright and sue for a single worded name, trying to copyright previously existing technology's and also trying to sue for them as well... his company was like any other company in the "money grubbing" respect, so for all the stolen innovations re-realized, I again am happy for his accomplishments, but I have allways detested jobs/apple for their "nazi" approach and vicious ways pertaining to idea's that where NOT theirs originally

Really?

Of course they were agressively promoting their own software/hardware platform. It's called "business". What else would you expect them to do?! Advertise someone else's product? Promote someone else's platform?! IBM's 8086 and 8088 machinges were struggling, at best. Apple's product hit the market and took off like a rocket. In some regards, the early versions of Apple operating systems beat the socks off anything IBM had put out. You could manipulate it. If you halfway knew what you were doing, it was a cakewalk to move things, delete programs, add programs; all without a glitch. What I hate about Microsoft's assorted versions of Windows operating systems is that you basically have to ask permission to add, delete, or (heaven forbid!) move a program or a data file to some other place.

Your "nazi" reference is over the top.

Jobs and his partner were, so to speak, sailing in uncharted waters. You are correct in stating that Apple/Jobs motivated other companies to start making massive improvements in the available technology. But to accuse them of taking their own view of what was the most marketable equipment is rather like suggesting that Ford should be copying Chryler's vehicles.

Thank you for so eloquently reminding each person who reads this piece that life is meant to be lived to the fullest. Regardless of ones' personal opinion of Apple, the company, Steve Jobs the co-founder knew how to practice what he believed- in word and in deed.

How many of us can say that?

Signed,

Another forty-six year old who is closing in the life she would desire and who enjoys Jobs' reminder in his 2005 speech to follow my dreams, to be the person I truly want to be: independent and free.

There were things I liked about this a lot but to me the most important thing about all of this wasn't who Steve Jobs was as far as his life in entrepreneurship, but that once stricken with cancer, he was given the world stage and on it, he wore a brave face. Returns to work, alternative medicine (withhold comment), talking openly of death and dying as you quoted from (I believe) his Stanford Commencement speech.

If you were speaking of Pancreatic Cancer, you are not speaking of a rare disease. It is the number 5 cause of cancer deaths in the US. We hear relatively less about it because it kills people so quickly. Steve Jobs had an uncommon Pancreatic Tumor, one of the reasons for his treatablity and longevity. Most of my clinical (and sadly personal - Mom, MIL, and Aunt) experience with PanCA has been a length of illness of months not years.

His quotes about death and dying give insight into what a wonderful resource the dying are - they have no time to lie to you and can teach you the most wonderful things.

A nice piece.

(guess it goes without saying I'm a hospice nurse)

I was sorry to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs; he was a man I came to greatly admire. Jobs story is one of rags to riches, success, and failure; it highlights the role of personality and passion in the development of the American technology sector.

For almost three decades I observed Jobs from my seat with his largest competitor, IBM. When the IBM PC was introduced in the summer of 1981, Jobs heralded the announcement with a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal welcoming his larger competitor. It was a gutsy move, one typical of Jobs who wasn’t afraid to be different.

However, the Steve Jobs of the 1980’s was a control freak, a micro manager. When the IBM PC hit the market it did so with an open design, with published specs that invited others to create both complementary hardware and software.

In contrast, Apple kept their system closed, with Jobs opting to share his specifications with a relatively small number of selected hardware and software developers. The result was a closed system and a strategy that ensured Apple would never be the standard in the computer marketplace.

Thirty years later, the IBM PC compatible accounts for a 91% market share and Apple’s computer systems are stuck in single digits. Found mainly in grade schools and in businesses, where graphics and visual creativity are key, Apple computers have a small but zealous following.

Jobs was making computers designed for a consumer space but trying to sell them in a business environment. The machines were slick, compact and very easy to use. They were also expensive and lacked the portfolio of software and complimenting hardware found on IBM compatibles. They were the wrong machines for the wrong audience; small wonder that the premiere offering by Apple to businesses was the Lisa, and it turned out to be a colossal failure.

Seeing some deficiencies in his strategy, Jobs hired a business manager who eventually unseated him at Apple. Undaunted, Jobs founded his own computer company called Next. The company boasted a computed that looked like a black box and ran software that was advanced and innovative. However, Jobs still misjudged his audience and Next was floundering until it was purchased by Apple.

Within a few years Apple was on its last legs and Jobs was brought back as a business consultant. Through sheer guile, Jobs managed to return to the helm and even solicited an equity injection from his arch enemies at Microsoft.

I mention all this to say that Steve Jobs was never a dominant player in the computer industry. His failures and missteps lost Apple and Next millions of dollars. He was being beaten and losing in the marketplace at every turn.

What makes Jobs so fascinating is that when he realized that he could not compete against the ‘big boys’ he retreated, regrouped, and then redefined his mission. For years Jobs had been designing products for the wrong audience. The customers who would appreciate Apple products were consumers, not businessmen. When the iPod was introduced it was readily apparent it was a consumer product. The product was compact, and minimalist with a simple intuitive interface. The iPod set a new standard in how to design a product that was easy to learn and use.

However, I give Jobs the most credit for the way in which he revolutionized the telephone. Jobs more than anyone, created the smartphone. He early recognized the power of proving simple and inexpensive applications on phones. It also helped that by the introduction of the iPhone Jobs also had the iTunes infrastructure in which to distribute and sell his applications.

Today, much of the dynamism in the software community is focused on smartphones. There are literally over a hundred thousand applications for the iPhone. And every day, new ones are being offered.

However, Apple is still Apple, and the same closed philosophy of development prevails. iPhone applications Apple’s iPhone and not on phones by other manufacturers. Conversely, Google with their Android OS opted to publish their specs to the world and it runs on phones made by many manufacturers. Android OS is growing faster than iPhone OS. Consumer interest seems to insure that the marketplace for smartphones will be dominated by these two companies. That’s bad news for Microsoft and Rim.

After the iPhone Jobs and his team refocused on the tablet. Tablets had failed in the past but Jobs in true fashion decided to venture forth again with a new design and with a portfolio of applications from the iPhone. The result was another hit, this time with the iPad.

You don’t often get that many opportunities to succeed in this industry. Steve Jobs took what was once a company on the edge of bankruptcy and grew them to be at one time recently, the company with the highest capitalization in the world!

Unlike Bill Gates, who has a list of critics larger than the Manhattan phone book, Jobs had an every growing collection of fans. Even competitors like myself genuinely liked the guy. He made all of us work harder to compete, and consumers have benefited from this competition.

Jobs has created one excellent creative team at Apple. The company will go on after his death, and we’ll expect further exciting products from them. But will they still have that passion, that fire, to make things simpler, better, more functional for their customer?

I hope so, but it won’t be the same.

Thanks Steve.

or the selection, are destined for greatness. TK U MLJ LV NV