Steve Who?

[OllyW]

In a poll of 1000 British people, 20% had never heard of Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and a further 10% thought he worked for a trade union.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8458880.stm

I don't see why this is such a shock. :confused:

[djellison]

I'm amazed it's as low as 20%. i'd have expected double or treble that. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my washing machine. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my car. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my television. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my PS3. I don't see why I should be expected to know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my phone or laptop.

[mkrishnan]

I'm amazed it's as low as 20%. i'd have expected double or treble that.

I'd have expected contralto or countertenor that. :confused:

I don't think very many industrialists / CEOs are widely known, to be honest. Bill Gates has strong international recognition, but outside of that... I think it's hit or miss across industries.

In terms of the poll also, I have to say... I am not familir with Tim Berners-Lee's name, although I did know CERN was involved in the initial use of HTTP/WWW tech. While I might have picked "virtual hard drive" out of a list, I'm sure that, in my fair amount of immersion in technology since I was a child, I can't recall a time when I've heard someone call a mounted disk image or other virtual drive a "VHD."

[robbieduncan]

I imagine Balmer would get a higher score despite the relative size of the companies.

[mscriv]

You're right Olly this should come as no surprise. There are plenty of successful people in this world that I don't know about because my life does not involve interaction in their field. Heck, even things I am involved with on a regular basis don't require me to understand every aspect of their business structure or the key players in their creation and development.

I drink Coke on a regular basis and have no idea who the CEO of the company is.
I work on a Dell computer at work everyday and have no idea who the CEO of the company is.
I drive a Nissan and a Ford and don't know who their CEO's are.
I use a Palm phone on the Sprint Network and don't know who their CEO's are.
I'm wearing Hanes underwear at this moment, but couldn't tell you the CEO of that company.

etc., etc., ad nauseum... :)

[Winni]

Someone once said that for most Americans it was more important who sits on the center chair on the bridge of the USS Enterprise NCC1701 (yes, we're talking about the TV show Star Trek here) than who sits in the oval office in the White House or who is the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

I'm pretty sure that more people knew James Tiberius Kirk or Jean-Luc Picard than they knew Maggie Thatcher or Tony Blair.

[Winni]

I imagine Balmer would get a higher score despite the relative size of the companies.

Well, Ballmer's company certainly has at least twice as many employees as Apple and certainly more global importance and without a doubt there are MUCH more people using Microsoft products than there people using Apple products.

[robbieduncan]

Well, Ballmer's company certainly has at least twice as many employees as Apple and certainly more global importance and without a doubt there are MUCH more people using Microsoft products than there people using Apple products.

That was my point: Microsoft are much larger than Apple but, I think, more people in the UK would not know who Balmer is.

[talkingfuture]

I'm surprised that only 20% had never heard of him. Thought it would be much higher.

[ss957916]

I agree - why would the majority of people know who Steve Jobs is?

I am not familir with Tim Berners-Lee's name

This, however, is fascinating. Not recognising the name of the man credited with inventing the internet is (I think) like saying you don't know who the Wright brothers or Henry Ford are. That's more shocking!

[robj]

Sometimes we're tend to think that our "world" is known by everybody.

The most of the people don't worry about apple and even computers at all.:)

[robbieduncan]

Not recognising the name of the man credited with inventing the internet is (I think)

The web. Note the Internet. I realise for many today they are the same, but they are not. The Internet existed happily long before the web.

[mscriv]

This, however, is fascinating. Not recognising the name of the man credited with inventing the internet is (I think) like saying you don't know who the Wright brothers or Henry Ford are. That's more shocking!

Count me as one of the ignorant on this issue. I'm glad to have learned this fact by reading this thread, but I'm sure in not time I will forget it. Why? Because it's simply not relevant to my everyday life. Sure, the internet is a daily tool for me, but knowing who invented it is probably only useful to me as a bit of trivia and thus the information will most likely be written over in my memory banks.

[arkitect]

Not recognising the name of the man credited with inventing the internet… That's more shocking!
Oh come now.
Surely most people know who Al Gore is?

;) :p :D


I agree though why should people know who Steve Jobs et al are?
Now, if they didn't know, for example, about Apple or Microsoft etc… that'd be disturbing.

And a VHD? WTF? (Even MacRumors spell check thinks it's a mistake. ;))

[ss957916]

The web. Note the Internet. I realise for many today they are the same, but they are not. The Internet existed happily long before the web.

Oh. Admittedly I thought they were the same thing. I meant the inventor of the World Wide Web.

[jessica.]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8458880.stm

I don't see why this is such a shock. :confused:

Only 20%? Well that could mean a few things. People are actually reading business & tech news, word gets around, Mac fans, iPhone/iPod owners, or people guessed.

[OllyW]

Sometimes we're tend to think that our "world" is known by everybody.

The most of the people don't worry about apple and even computers at all.:)

I know, my brother has got a Mac and should get his iPhone by the weekend but I'd be amazed if he knew who Steve Jobs is.

[djellison]

I bet if you asked 100 people who Bill Gates was - the majority would say something like 'is he the really rich dude?' rather than cite the business responsible for that wealth.

[mkrishnan]

Oh. Admittedly I thought they were the same thing. I meant the inventor of the World Wide Web.

At this point, I think you lose all credibility to call me out for any lack of knowledge on my part. ;)

[Compile 'em all]

Well, Ballmer's company certainly has at least twice as many employees as Apple and certainly more global importance and without a doubt there are MUCH more people using Microsoft products than there people using Apple products.

I thought Apple had 70+% of the mp3 market, no?

Jobs globally is more important than Ballmer

[mkrishnan]

I thought Apple had 70+% of the mp3 market, no?

Jobs globally is more important than Ballmer

I think this is a silly contest, but, I think it's important to remember:

- The number of countries in which MP3 music sales are well established make up a small portion of the global market for music

- Apple has put iPods in tons of hands, but if you consider all the people who interface with a Microsoft product at some point in their day (including most Mac and iPod users) -- at work, at school, at home, at the library, etc. -- I think it would be very hard to conclude that more people are using Apple products than Microsoft products on a daily basis, around the world.

[LynnW]

Steve Jobs is an employment agency for guys named Steve.

[Abstract]

I'm amazed it's as low as 20%. i'd have expected double or treble that. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my washing machine. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my car. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my television. I don't know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my PS3. I don't see why I should be expected to know who designed or is ceo of the firm that made my phone or laptop.

With Steve Jobs, it's different. He's like the American version of Richard Branson. He's more public than most other CEOs.


I'd have expected contralto or countertenor that. :confused:


A perfectly good way to say 'triple'. ;)

[sysiphus]

He's a tech company CEO. Not a big shock that most people don't know/care. Ask the average person to name five big-name Silicon Valley heads and I bet they couldn't do it.