Steve Jobs Would Have Celebrated His 70th Birthday Today

[citysnaps]

Steve and Apple essentially invented modern computing.

No, that would be Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) who invented computing using a graphical user interface and Doug Englebart at SRI (Stanford Research Institute) who invented the computer mouse.

Apple subsequently commercialized it for the masses after Jobs visited PARC for a demonstration in their lab.

 

[CarAnalogy]

No, that would be Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) who invented computing using a graphical user interface and Doug Englebart at SRI (Stanford Research Institute) who invented the computer mouse.

Apple subsequently commercialized it for the masses after Jobs visited PARC for a demonstration in their lab.

I know Steve and Apple personally did not literally invent computing. It reminds me of the story of the argument between Jobs and Gates about looting their neighbor Xerox.

But he was instrumental in bringing many great people together to do great things, and commercializing and applying technology. Somebody has to do it. Even Woz has said that for better or worse without Steve he would have just kept tinkering at the computer club and giving things away.

Look at Xerox today. Do you think we would have anything like this if it was all up to them?

 

[nikon1]

I’m one of the people who is happy to see him still being celebrated, but also not quite sure how long we should be fixated like this or stuck in the past. It’s important to celebrate individuals who have had massive impact, to remember them. But it comes a point where you have to look to the future without them. Not think what it would be had they still been here.

Steve was undoubtedly the biggest person in Apples history with others close behind and still alive today. But it starts to get a bit macabre when you say he would have been 70 today. 80, 90? When do you stop.

I don’t think of people in this way. Family or other famous people.

Just my two cents. 😀

Not to call you out — you are certainly entitled to voice your opinion but this thread really made my day when I read it:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/california-nominates-steve-jobs-for-1-american-innovation-coin.2449932/

I will certainly be ordering a few when they are minted and released next year. I feel it’s a wonderful and very much deserved real world recognition for just how he co-created a whole genre of Personal Electronics & Communication devices.

 

[citysnaps]

I know Steve and Apple personally did not literally invent computing.

More correctly... Jobs and Apple did not invent graphical user interface computing using a mouse.

Modern (electronic) computing in general was invented decades before in the 1940s.

 

[CarAnalogy]

More correctly... Jobs and Apple did not invent graphical user interface computing with a mouse.

Modern (electronic) computing in general was invented decades before in the 1940s.

Right. But thank god we aren't still using vacuum tubes and punch cards.

There were tons of other great smart people making computers. It's just that for a while there, Apple nailed the graphical ones.

Is there someone else you think deserves more credit for popularizing modern personal computing?

 

[citysnaps]

Is there someone else you think deserves more credit for popularizing modern personal computing?

No.

But it is very important to give credit where it is due as to who *invented* the graphical user interface computer and mouse that gave Jobs the idea to begin with when he visited PARC's lab.

 

[btrach144]

Happy Birthday Steve. Thank you for bringing that magic into our lives.

 

[JoshuaBru]

I remember being fresh out of college at my ****** first job sitting in my cubicle. I used to log on to macrumors and grab lunch counting down the time to the keynote and see the refreshing feed of the product announcements with Steve on stage. What a glorious time that was for both Apple and Macrumors. Now, not so much.

 

[freezelighter]

Apple died with him.
No innovation, no quality.


RIP Steve 😞💔

 

[mave1969]

What the ever-loving **** is going on with those quote marks and apostrophes? Seeing inch- and foot-marks used like that is something I'd expect from a sign made in WordPad pinned to an office door… jfc

For reference, this is what they should look like. Did the intern put this page up or something?

 

[Rayansb]

Dude died too young man, just too young. RIP, Steve. Miss your notes a lot.

 

[I7guy]

We need the next Steve Jobs to make Apple exciting again.

RIP Steve ❤️

What would Apple be like if he hadn't left?

More innovative for sure.

I understand where you are coming from, but I think there is a simple explanation for recurring thoughts of what things would be like if he were here: No one else has come forward who comes close.

No one can deny what Cook has done to grow Apple’s market cap, but to long-time Apple consumers, the company no longer has its finger on the pulse of consumers’ tastes like it once did, they no longer prioritize attention to detail across all aspects of daily interactions with their products like they once did, and there is no excitement about innovating anything like there was when Jobs was there. And that is without even getting into individual traits like the confidence, charisma, and intensity Jobs displayed during public announcements. I expect wondering “what things would be like if” will continue for some time.

A WSJ article from a few days back said the management top 250 ranking lists Apple first for innovation.

 

[mansplains]

Steve had vision
Tim has Vision Pro

 

[Dark_Omen]

Now we’ve got a bean counter that has the haircut of a grandma.
Imagine what Apple would be like if Steve Jobs was still around. Would probably be a 6 trillion dollar company.

 

[macsound1]

I’m one of the people who is happy to see him still being celebrated, but also not quite sure how long we should be fixated like this or stuck in the past. It’s important to celebrate individuals who have had massive impact, to remember them. But it comes a point where you have to look to the future without them. Not think what it would be had they still been here.

Steve was undoubtedly the biggest person in Apples history with others close behind and still alive today. But it starts to get a bit macabre when you say he would have been 70 today. 80, 90? When do you stop.

I don’t think of people in this way. Family or other famous people.

Just my two cents. 😀

I don't think there's a time when Steve stops being celebrated.
Sure Apple isn't called Job's Computers but I'll make the direct comparison to Disneyland.
Walt will always be remembered as the creator of not only the place and the brand, but the feeling that lives through what is otherwise just a company.

Many of us feel connected to Apple, the brand, because of the human, Steve Jobs, and we will forever equate Apple's legacy to the foundation that Steve created.

 

[Fuzzball84]

I don't think there's a time when Steve stops being celebrated.
Sure Apple isn't called Job's Computers but I'll make the direct comparison to Disneyland.
Walt will always be remembered as the creator of not only the place and the brand, but the feeling that lives through what is otherwise just a company.

Many of us feel connected to Apple, the brand, because of the human, Steve Jobs, and we will forever equate Apple's legacy to the foundation that Steve created.

I hear you and I don’t think he shouldn’t be recognized and celebrated

But no one says Walt Disney would have been xx by now.

I think maybe it’s because Steve for some was for them something more than a businessman and innovator. They created a culture around him that exists to this day amount a minority of extremely dedicated Apple users.

But most of Apples users do not have this relationship. Some know who he was and what he did, but they don’t think more than that and I dare so many don’t care.

 

[I7guy]

Now we’ve got a bean counter that has the haircut of a grandma.
Imagine what Apple would be like if Steve Jobs was still around. Would probably be a 6 trillion dollar company.

The 2024 Drucker Institute Company Ranking * Drucker Institute

drucker.institute

Or a 1 million dollar company.

 

[SnowPenguin]

I often think about how things would have been different has Steve lived to this day. I really admired the guy, and I think I liked him more than I actually liked Apple itself

 

[UK-MacAddict]

I’m one of the people who is happy to see him still being celebrated, but also not quite sure how long we should be fixated like this or stuck in the past. It’s important to celebrate individuals who have had massive impact, to remember them. But it comes a point where you have to look to the future without them. Not think what it would be had they still been here.

Steve was undoubtedly the biggest person in Apples history with others close behind and still alive today. But it starts to get a bit macabre when you say he would have been 70 today. 80, 90? When do you stop.

I don’t think of people in this way. Family or other famous people.

Just my two cents. 😀

The fact he is a founder of Apple means he will be celebrated forever until Apple dies and rightly so.

 

[Fuzzball84]

The fact he is a founder of Apple means he will be celebrated forever until Apple dies and rightly so.

Ooof that’s a bit rough. Apple dies?

It will become defunct not die. Depending on how popular the brand is it could be bought by another company, or its IP acquired and branding abandoned. But I suspect Apple will be around for a long time yet before any of that happens.

 

[SkippyThorson]

One of the greatest visionaries, salesman, and marketing geniuses of our time. He understood how to make you desire a product and how not having it in your life was a loss. How technology could be emotional, sleek, cool, dare I say sexy.

He knew product ranges should be simple and you should do one thing dang near perfect. You didn’t need choice; the choice was one thing you wanted to have or you didn’t have it.

Mind-blowing to think he saw market trends decades in the future and alluded to them multiple times in presentations and interviews. Flawed, absolutely, but he was one of the crazy ones, and he changed the world.

 

[Axemantitan]

If he were still alive, he might be retired by now, with occasional consulting if current Apple leadership asked for it.

 

[Fuzzball84]

One of the greatest visionaries, salesman, and marketing geniuses of our time. He understood how to make you desire a product and how not having it in your life was a loss. How technology could be emotional, sleek, cool, dare I say sexy.

He knew product ranges should be simple and you should do one thing dang near perfect. You didn’t need choice; the choice was one thing you wanted to have or you didn’t have it.

Mind-blowing to think he saw market trends decades in the future and alluded to them multiple times in presentations and interviews. Flawed, absolutely, but he was one of the crazy ones, and he changed the world.

This is exactly what he was. I recall slides where he showed a regular model and a pro model for each category. That was it. And for products like iPhone, it was just iPhone.

You had an iPad or not, an iPhone or not. No matter what the price people would want it. The only choice being the storage capacity in most cases.

 

[zeus423]

Wow, hard to believe it's been 14 years. Thanks for the great times, Steve!

 

[macnavarra]

Star Trek: first episodes!? or Whatever.

Cast & Crew

• William Shatner. Capt. James T. Kirk.
• Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Spock.
• DeForest Kelley. Dr. Leonard McCoy.
• James Doohan. Engineer Montgomery Scott.
• Nichelle Nichols. Lt. Uhura.
• George Takei. Lt. Sulu.

Thanks

• Nichelle Nichols. Lt. Uhura. for founding Apple! no Xerox! LOL