Brian Williams is the man!
Not just for the nomination, but he's an overall awesome person and newscaster.
Not just for the nomination, but he's an overall awesome person and newscaster.
Deal with it, Gates contributed nothing to the success of the IBM personal computer. He just purchased an OS from a third party, then sold it to IBM. IBM put a great deal of money into marketing those personal computers. Before the IBM systems, there were lots of small business and home computers on the market. Companies were mostly using CP/M based systems while home users were running Apple II or TRS-80.
I don't think the IBM systems increased the total number of systems sold, they just cannibalized the market from other vendors.
I think most of the people who want to see him win, don't view it as being about 2011, but more as a lifetime achievement award dating back to what he and the Waz did in the 1970's.
Actually, neither of them. That honor goes to one Jack Tramiel, the founder of Commodore. The Commodore 64 sold 17 million, most of them to ordinary households while Apple and IBM PC were largely confined to offices and businesses. Also, Sir Clive Sinclair, to a lesser extent.
You guys need a reality check. The guy sold consumer products. Get a grip. He didn't change the world, though he did have an impact on the way we engage with media.
What about the vendor who set himself on fire igniting the Arab Spring?
Steve Jobs' legacy = relentless consumerism, trashing of the environment, slave wages. That's it.
I used to enjoy reading macrumors FP and the forums. Of late, particularly over the past six months, IMHO it has just begun to deteriorate in value with all the biased reporting. Not to mention the grandstand attitude of some of the users on the forums who are just full of themselves and are sounding like blind salesmen in car dealership.
Gates, not Jobs, is the man who placed a computer in every mans home. Deal with it.
Some of the delusional comments in this thread make me embarrassed to be a fan of Apple and their products. I think even Steve Jobs would be annoyed with some of them.
If people actually believe that Steve Jobs had the greatest impact on the world as a whole this year, then they are either ignorant of current events or so far gone in bias and denial that nothing they say can be taken seriously.
If Steve Jobs is the Person of the Year, then Time magazine has become even more of a farce than it already was. I didn't agree with Zuckerberg getting it last year, but naming Steve Jobs this year isn't going to remedy it. If anything it will likely make it worse.
As far as I can tell, Time's Person of the Year is someone who made the most of that impact of that particular year. I agree, Steve Jobs made amazing contributions over the past 20 or 30 years. But I'm questioning 'What if he didn't die this year, would you have given the award to him?' As far as this year is concerned, I'm thinking someone else.
www.geekchoice.com
Things invented or brought to the mainstream masses by S. Jobs:
- Personal computers (Apple II)
- GUI interface (Mac)
- Movie computer animation (Pixar)
- Legal music and movie digital purchasing (iTunes)
- Personal music players (iPod)
- Smartphone (iPhone)
- Tablet device (iPad)
Also, the WWW was invented by T. Berners-Lee on a NeXT workstation, another one of his creations.
At first I disagreed because it would seem like a "pity prize" because he died prematurely. There were other years where he surely would have deserved it.
But with some more thought: his personality, his products, and the amplification of his personality and his impact in the public consciousness because of his death, made me reconsider. Also consider the popularity and iconicity of his products and his image, especially around the world--all points towards this honour (that is if Time Magazine still has such cultural capital). I am sure his face has become one of the most recognizable in the world.
This award often does not go to the person who has (practically) contributed most to humanity, but who has loomed large in the public imagination--which in many ways does make a huge impact.
Who might the other candidate(s) be?
Things invented or brought to the mainstream masses by S. Jobs:
- Personal computers (Apple II)
- GUI interface (Mac)
- Movie computer animation (Pixar)
- Legal music and movie digital purchasing (iTunes)
- Personal music players (iPod)
- Smartphone (iPhone)
- Tablet device (iPad)
Also, the WWW was invented by T. Berners-Lee on a NeXT workstation, another one of his creations.
Oh, please, this is getting ridiculous. The first iPhone couldn't even run 3rd party apps, so it wasn't a smarthpone at all.
Or, he bought something and made it work (the Apple argument). Regardless, it was Gates, not Jobs, that had the vision of placing a computer in every mans home, and it was Gates, not Jobs, who succeeded in making that vision come true.
Not IBM, not Apple. Gates, and Microsoft. .
Things invented or brought to the mainstream masses by S. Jobs:
- Personal computers (Apple II)
- GUI interface (Mac)
- Movie computer animation (Pixar)
- Legal music and movie digital purchasing (iTunes)
- Personal music players (iPod)
- Smartphone (iPhone)
- Tablet device (iPad)
Also, the WWW was invented by T. Berners-Lee on a NeXT workstation, another one of his creations.
I think its more accurate to say Gates had the vision of putting a computer in every business. The idea of putting a dos-powered PC in consumers' hands came to Microsoft relatively late in the game. And arguably it was the Macintosh, which showed how an "affordably"-priced GUI computer could be used by the typical consumer that showed them the way.
When Bill Gates dies, I'm sure he will be remembered and mourned for much more than his fortune and Microsoft. He'll also be remembered for his unprecedented philanthropy, something that Steve Jobs didn't seem to have much in the way of time or inclination (at least not publicly.)
Gates' great achievements were a) recognizing the vital role the Operating system would play in the coming PC revolution; b) having the business smarts to get IBM to sign a deal letting Micro-Soft (as it was then known) retain the right to sell their own version of PC-DOS; and c) having the relentless drive the get every independent computer company to buy into the DOS model. He had a leg up by being able to sell MS-DOS as "100% IBM Compatible" (see B above) - but a lesser businessman would have let that opportunity slip away.
The recent relative decline Microsoft has suffered was, IMHO, all but inevitable. Microsoft was lucky to be able to catch up in the Internet era. But the mobile revolution (where a billion people are walking around with more computing power in their pocket than NASA had in 1969) has put them - most probably permanently - playing catch-up.
I'm still mixed about Steve Jobs as Time's MOTY.
I would say, the year he got the idea of selling pre-built computers instead of selling a set of plans, then asking the purchaser to go out and try to find the parts. The year he got the idea, computers would be a good thing to have in a classroom would also be high on the list.
No one deserve more respect or attention than him...at least in 2011
RIP Steve
I just finished reading Steve's autobiography. An epic reminder of what he accomplished much of it based on other people but led by him. We have the book ... and all the technology available ... I don't see person of the year for 2011.
And Eric Schmidt can watch from the sidelines.. he should be used to that by now.
He won't.
Brian Williams is the man! Not just for the nomination, but he's an overall awesome person and newscaster.
None of that was done in 2011. And we talking about 2011 achievements here. This is a person of the year and not a lifetime achievement award.
He deserves it, a crowning achievement for a brilliant tyrant.![]()
This is a done deal. He will win.
Better the youths themselves than attributing Twitter or Facebook with change in those countries.I wouldn't bet on that...
(Though, if TIME puts down the "youths" as their PotY, that's prolly going to piss more peeps off)
I wouldn't bet on that...
(Though, if TIME puts down the "youths" as their PotY, that's prolly going to piss more peeps off)
Oh, please, this is getting ridiculous. The first iPhone couldn't even run 3rd party apps, so it wasn't a smarthpone at all.
COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORE COMMODORECommadore
I'll never forget the time I was at MSP and the Android user in front of me couldn't get his boarding pass to scan at the TSA checkpoint. He tried unsuccessfully several times to scan his Android (placing it at different angles and distances in front of the scanner) while the long line of travelers, TSA's, and myself grew frustrated. I calmly stepped in front of him, reached over his arm, placed my iPhone (with the Apple logo visible to all) in front of the scanner and immediately heard the beep of a successful read. I proceeded forward. The frustrated TSA agent motioned the Android user toward a kiosk to print his boarding pass. The embarrassed look on his face was priceless. LOL!!
it's also a bit odd - but i'm never had tsa scan my boarding pass. It's always the airline employees at the gate who scan it - not the tsa people at the security station.
And the airlines that i fly use downward-facing scanners, so that the checkers can see the laser scan across the bar code. That would put the apple logo facing downward, where no one could see it.
Don't want to ruin a good story with facts, though.
Zuckerberg was person of the year last year ... Steve should of had this honour years ago![]()