One more thing! Steve Jobs died and Apple returned to greed. What would things be like today, if Steve would be still alive today? R.I.P Steve. Saw you on your last WWDC and will always remember you.
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Remembering Apple CEO Steve Jobs on His Birthday
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In my opinion there are two Apples; the old one before Steve passed and the new one after he passed. They are not the same. As a former Apple employee that worked for Apple for 13 years starting in 1982 both as a real employee and a contractor doing testing and support, I regard the old Apple as customer focused with a visionary as its foundation - i.e. Steve Jobs. Over that period of time, I saw some of the good and the bad, including some of Steve's tantrums. That said under his time, the company was customer focused with creating an outstanding customer experience as its paradigm. It produced, with very few exceptions, quality and reliable products with great design and useability. They were leaders in new products with emerging technologies. Customer support was outstanding with the goal of creating an exceptional and delightful customer experience with highly trained agents. Employee benefits were outstanding and Apple was rated nationally as one of the top 10 employees to work for.
After Steve passed the paradigm seems to have shifted to putting short term profits first ahead of everything else. The company now seems to be run by bean counters with Tim Cook at its helm and steward. Quality and reliability have degraded both in hardware and software with the cost/benefit ratio going sky high. Customer support has suffered with limited training for agents to solve complex issues, and there now is no escalation path for such issues when Tech Support is unable to determine the cause or find a solution. Apple also seems to have gone to great lengths to close their systems in regards to 3rd party hardware. Witness soldered in memory and refusal to release the APFS information to 3rd party developers to allow them to create complete repair and recovery tools for corrupted drives. Employeed benefits have been strongly curtailed and the company is no longer in the top several tiers of companies to work for. Witness the number of key employees that have left in the last few years. Instead, the focus now seems to be maximizing profits for management compensation and stockholder dividends. Instead of vision Apple seems to be resting on its previous laurels. In reflection I now find it difficult if not impossible to name a single product that is currently in production that is not an update, upgrade, design improvement, or a clone of some other companies' product that was either initially released or on the drawing boards when Steve was alive. Historically Apple never had the number up updates to its software under the old Apple as it does now. Now it seems to expect its customers to report the bugs for Apple to fix instead of investing in the level of testing before release to fix them. I suspect the reason is that quality testing costs money which impacts profits and it is less costly to have users unknowingly test products for them so they can fix them at that time via frequent software updates.
I do not expect this paradigm to materially change until Tim Cook exits as CEO. Hopefully when that happens things will change for the better. Speaking of which, based on the newspaper articles on Mr. Cook purchasing a home in Southern California for 10 million dollars, I am led to believe that the writing is on the wall as it does not seem rational for someone to spend that kind of money on a home and not live in it for any length of time. Nor can I envision him commuting to Cupertino to manage Apple on a regular basis. As such I would not be surprised to see Tim Cook leave Apple by the end of this year.
Oh, how I wish that Steve would have listened to his Stanford doctors when first diagnosed with his cancer instead of seeking alternative treatments in Europe first. If so, he likely would still be alive today, and creating incredible new products to make our lives better and easier, knocking the competitors 'out of the park' and scrambling to catch up.
That said Steve, like the rest of us, are only human and as humans, even the most intelligent of us sometimes make bad choices. I find it so unfortunate that in this case, both Apple and the rest of us are so much worse for it, in that there is no opportunity for him to learn from this mistake or for a do over.
After Steve passed the paradigm seems to have shifted to putting short term profits first ahead of everything else. The company now seems to be run by bean counters with Tim Cook at its helm and steward. Quality and reliability have degraded both in hardware and software with the cost/benefit ratio going sky high. Customer support has suffered with limited training for agents to solve complex issues, and there now is no escalation path for such issues when Tech Support is unable to determine the cause or find a solution. Apple also seems to have gone to great lengths to close their systems in regards to 3rd party hardware. Witness soldered in memory and refusal to release the APFS information to 3rd party developers to allow them to create complete repair and recovery tools for corrupted drives. Employeed benefits have been strongly curtailed and the company is no longer in the top several tiers of companies to work for. Witness the number of key employees that have left in the last few years. Instead, the focus now seems to be maximizing profits for management compensation and stockholder dividends. Instead of vision Apple seems to be resting on its previous laurels. In reflection I now find it difficult if not impossible to name a single product that is currently in production that is not an update, upgrade, design improvement, or a clone of some other companies' product that was either initially released or on the drawing boards when Steve was alive. Historically Apple never had the number up updates to its software under the old Apple as it does now. Now it seems to expect its customers to report the bugs for Apple to fix instead of investing in the level of testing before release to fix them. I suspect the reason is that quality testing costs money which impacts profits and it is less costly to have users unknowingly test products for them so they can fix them at that time via frequent software updates.
I do not expect this paradigm to materially change until Tim Cook exits as CEO. Hopefully when that happens things will change for the better. Speaking of which, based on the newspaper articles on Mr. Cook purchasing a home in Southern California for 10 million dollars, I am led to believe that the writing is on the wall as it does not seem rational for someone to spend that kind of money on a home and not live in it for any length of time. Nor can I envision him commuting to Cupertino to manage Apple on a regular basis. As such I would not be surprised to see Tim Cook leave Apple by the end of this year.
Oh, how I wish that Steve would have listened to his Stanford doctors when first diagnosed with his cancer instead of seeking alternative treatments in Europe first. If so, he likely would still be alive today, and creating incredible new products to make our lives better and easier, knocking the competitors 'out of the park' and scrambling to catch up.
That said Steve, like the rest of us, are only human and as humans, even the most intelligent of us sometimes make bad choices. I find it so unfortunate that in this case, both Apple and the rest of us are so much worse for it, in that there is no opportunity for him to learn from this mistake or for a do over.
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Steve and I had this in common
Steve
me
I also look great in a turtleneck
Steve
me
I also look great in a turtleneck
Miss you Steve, miss your Apple, miss the presence, magic and brilliance you gave.
Thank You 🙏🏼
Thank You 🙏🏼
Every year MacRumors helps us remember Steve Jobs riddled with cancer. I prefer to remember him before death was approaching. Maybe next year we can have a different picture up there. It’s not like there aren’t many to choose from.
Yet here you are. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is still king.
My iMac G3 cost me about $1199 CAN in 2001/2002. Thats about $1900 today. A current M1 iMac costs $1599 CAN and is vastly superior to the G3. But in context of the time my G3 was a wonderful computer as well as my first computer. Apple brought back some of the fun and enthusiasm of those days with the colourful new iMacs.
The marketplace is different today and somewhat more mature. Apple was seen as more of a maverick then than today primarily because it has been so successful since. Once you’re on top it’s not easy maintaining that image.
But in my eyes Apple still puts out a superior product compared what else is out there. Apple wasn’t mainstream then and it’s not really mainstream now. Back in the day it appealed to those willing to think out of the box. Now it’s appeal is more inspirational for those interested in something more than mainstream.
A base M1 MacBook Air today is perhaps Apple’s best bang-for-the-buck computer today. To get anything like it in a PC device you have to spend that same kind of money, and the PC laptop would probably still be made of plastic. And it won’t hold anywhere near the same residual value.
The magic of twenty some years ago is gone primarily because the marketplace is different and because Apple is now a more mature company. It was inevitable.
The marketplace is different today and somewhat more mature. Apple was seen as more of a maverick then than today primarily because it has been so successful since. Once you’re on top it’s not easy maintaining that image.
But in my eyes Apple still puts out a superior product compared what else is out there. Apple wasn’t mainstream then and it’s not really mainstream now. Back in the day it appealed to those willing to think out of the box. Now it’s appeal is more inspirational for those interested in something more than mainstream.
A base M1 MacBook Air today is perhaps Apple’s best bang-for-the-buck computer today. To get anything like it in a PC device you have to spend that same kind of money, and the PC laptop would probably still be made of plastic. And it won’t hold anywhere near the same residual value.
The magic of twenty some years ago is gone primarily because the marketplace is different and because Apple is now a more mature company. It was inevitable.
it’s kind of interesting. he was born 4 days before my dad (same year) and his wife’s maiden name is my dad’s last name.
still can’t believe he’s gone, but Apple is in good hands still (don’t debate me 😂).
still can’t believe he’s gone, but Apple is in good hands still (don’t debate me 😂).
You can have all your drone shots and fancy AR sets and whatever but all you really need is a pair of jeans
Steve Jobs was a visionary, leader, a master salesman, control freak and quite a SOB all in one.
His biggest strength, I think, was to dream big, see the potential in ideas which time hasn't quite come yet and push people to make it happen. Steve couldn't have achieved anything without the other people in his life, but I'm convinced none of the other brilliant engineer, designers and others that have worked with him would have likely got where they got to without him either.
I think we put him on a pedestal too much at times. Steve wouldn't have done this, he would have never allowed that. Some of his ideas took longer to realise. Sometimes he was massively out of touch. I'm sure some were just bad ideas, period. The first iPhone had no fast internet connection or apps, for example. He wasn't shy of accepting compromises where they were necessary.
Apple, even under Steve, was always conservative and ahead of its time simultaneously and I'm not sure this has changed entirely under Tim. They don't introduce features when they're not ready (mostly), but are also not shy to abandon software and hardware if their vision goes in a different direction.
That being said, Apple under Tim definitely feels more driven by spreadsheets and sales projections than by a clear vision of what the product line should be. That has worked well as some technologies are maturing, and Apple has innovated a lot in the hardware space. The M-series chips are incredible, but they haven't translated that into any kind of jump forward in how you use a Mac or an iPad.
I could see Steve push for a tablet that is a full blown computer, that supports both the desktop-level applications people expect with the input philosophy of an iPad when it's more suited if he thought that would be what a computer should look like and MacBook sales be damned (to a degree). Tim prefers to sell you two devices even if it doesn't push the envelope until there's no other way.
Tim has been good for Apple without a doubt. So has Steve. I'm not sure Steve could have grown Apple in the way Tim has by covering every base and getting the most out of the supply chain. I don't think Tim could get Apple out of a hole as Steve has when things weren't working great.
His biggest strength, I think, was to dream big, see the potential in ideas which time hasn't quite come yet and push people to make it happen. Steve couldn't have achieved anything without the other people in his life, but I'm convinced none of the other brilliant engineer, designers and others that have worked with him would have likely got where they got to without him either.
I think we put him on a pedestal too much at times. Steve wouldn't have done this, he would have never allowed that. Some of his ideas took longer to realise. Sometimes he was massively out of touch. I'm sure some were just bad ideas, period. The first iPhone had no fast internet connection or apps, for example. He wasn't shy of accepting compromises where they were necessary.
Apple, even under Steve, was always conservative and ahead of its time simultaneously and I'm not sure this has changed entirely under Tim. They don't introduce features when they're not ready (mostly), but are also not shy to abandon software and hardware if their vision goes in a different direction.
That being said, Apple under Tim definitely feels more driven by spreadsheets and sales projections than by a clear vision of what the product line should be. That has worked well as some technologies are maturing, and Apple has innovated a lot in the hardware space. The M-series chips are incredible, but they haven't translated that into any kind of jump forward in how you use a Mac or an iPad.
I could see Steve push for a tablet that is a full blown computer, that supports both the desktop-level applications people expect with the input philosophy of an iPad when it's more suited if he thought that would be what a computer should look like and MacBook sales be damned (to a degree). Tim prefers to sell you two devices even if it doesn't push the envelope until there's no other way.
Tim has been good for Apple without a doubt. So has Steve. I'm not sure Steve could have grown Apple in the way Tim has by covering every base and getting the most out of the supply chain. I don't think Tim could get Apple out of a hole as Steve has when things weren't working great.
RIP Steve. The greatest CEO of all time in my opinion. The magic is gone for sure and the keynotes absolutely suck since he passed. Hopefully one day soon the glorified bean counter will step down and they will get a design/product person back in the driver's seat.
I think Jony took Apple into the luxury space with luxury prices so while he has done a lot for Apple regarding his design skills and leadership I think it's moved past a slightly more expensive tool into silly territory that is becoming impractical to consider unless you go for entry-level devices and have limited requirements. Spec anything up and it is out of line with the rest of the industry.
Curious what trajectory Apple would have had if given another decade with Jobs. I don't know if he'd have cared for the insanely long and complex product lists that now exists. How many flavors of iPads can I get?
Fact: Steve Jobs was not a genius. He merely surrounded himself with the best people possible who could put up with him.
Oh give us a break, the Apple II was twice the price of competing hardware at the time. When the Disk II floppy drive came out it was $695.00. And that was decades before Jony Ive.
During the 2007–2008 financial crisis I had the opportunity to buy 4,000 $AAPL shares for $78.20.
If I did so I'd have >$16.7 million with a >$100k annual dividend.
If I sold that all during its 52W high I'd have sold it for >$20 million.
That's fire money there. That's a pre-tax more than $33.4k/month for the next half century.
Keep to an annual per person base physiological needs lifestyle of $33.4k then you'll be awesome.
If I did so I'd have >$16.7 million with a >$100k annual dividend.
If I sold that all during its 52W high I'd have sold it for >$20 million.
That's fire money there. That's a pre-tax more than $33.4k/month for the next half century.
Keep to an annual per person base physiological needs lifestyle of $33.4k then you'll be awesome.
Yes, from that time on, I stopped visiting cnet. Their message boards were full of Apple trolls.
Happy Birthday to Steve and to me. We will always share the same birthday. I bought my AAPL because of Steve.
One thing I admired about Steve was his method of managing their product line and keeping it pretty simple. Tim Cook's Apple keeps dinosaur products on the price lists for years after their usefulness has waned, at minimal $100 discounts. Then someone buys an old model introduced in 2017 but sold alongside the newest stuff and wonders why they got an obsolete piece of technology that is "slow" out of the box.
Steve was never solely profit driven and believed in reasonable level of profit on each product. He said that many times in interviews which you can view on YouTube. That's why he never gave any dividends to shareholders the entire time he was in charge.
This was his passion, his company he started from scratch with Woz. He truly believed in the ethos of making insanely great products for customers. You can't replace that kind of passion unfortunately and like someone said previously Tim runs Apple like Steve Balmer did for Microsoft. Time is running out for Apple.
Microsoft finally ousted Balmer and now they're making some great products and you can see a lot more cohesion in their lineup.