This is what it was all about for Steve....

[Clix Pix]

Today I was sitting out on my deck with my iPad in hand, happily browsing forums and catching up with email. Movement at the corner of my eye caught my attention and I looked over my railing at our lake's pier, where two young girls were having a great time taking photos and just messing around. The one was happily posing as the other carefully held up her white iPad and aimed, focused and shot. They giggled happily looking at whatever the images were. They were having a great time.....

This is what Steve Jobs had in mind, what he had as his vision: people using and enjoying Apple products as a part of their everyday lives, having fun with them as well as maybe doing some serious work with them. Apple, more than anyone else, dragged the computer out of the office and tucked it into our pockets, slipped it into our hands and made it easy for us to have it wherever we are, whenever we need or want to use it. Now the computer can be in the Boardroom, in the bedroom, in the car, outside in the yard or on the deck or being used to shoot photos on a lakeside pier.... But more importantly than the mere portability, we're all having fun with our mobile devices, too, doing much more than just serious documents and business-related emails. We're shooting pictures, we're shooting movies, we're viewing those same pictures and movies on the device, and, well, for many of us we're toting our world with us when we slip our iPhone into our pockets and purses, our iPad into a handy case or bag....

When I say "we," this covers a vast demographic from the two-year-old tentatively touching an iPad's sensitive screen to the 86-year-old who never had a computer but who loves being able to keep in touch with family and friends through email on her iPad, not to mention all of us in between.

Once again, thank you, Steve.....

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Nice sentiment, but pretty sure for Steve, it was all about Steve.

 

[iKIKO]

thanks for sharing it bro, i liked, and i also have seen similar cases.

 

[LiloThePleo]

Agreed, seeing a preppy at school pic up the school iPad and suddenly discover they can take movies and watching the sheer delight as they show their friends and discover more together is just... Magical

 

[Comeagain?]

Nice sentiment, but pretty sure for Steve, it was all about Steve.

That's the spirit. </sarcasm> I disagree. Steve was all about making quality products that were intuitive and user friendly. He helped come up with these amazing pieces of technology, for the user, not himself.

 

[mobilebuddha]

I really enjoy having the iPad.. but I would never pickup a iPad and start taking pictures. That's what you have your phones for.

I personally think there's a reason why cameras/camcorders aren't that bad or shaped like a tablet computer. I've seen 2 people (just randomly witnessed) dropping their iPads while taking pictures/videos.

 

[SteveAbootman]

Well said OP. I've had a number of times where I find myself wowed at what I'm able to do on a 3.5 or 9.7in slab of glass and aluminum.

 

[ellaimac]

Hehe, nice story, oh btw, to the guy talking about not taking piccs on iPad, You can take good pics, as long as youre not clumsy as hell

 

[spcdust]

To a certain extent I see where you're coming from but looking at the value of Apple stock I'm guessing it was also an awful lot about the money?

Let's face it, with Apple's premium priced (some might say over priced) products Apple aren't all about some utopian vision connecting the World at large using their products. Come on, to buy into the Apple eco system you have to have a pretty large wedge of cash - you could argue thus creating a bigger divide between those who have the financial means and those who don't. Also, if you want to be a part of Steve Jobs vision it's likely going to cost you further as Apple have designed their business model based on generating cash from multiple revenue streams (itunes, apps, books, movies) and ensuring their products are designed to almost force the general user down these avenues, almost creating a "closed wall" environment.

This comes from someone who has many Apple products and has been an Apple customer/user for the best part of twenty years. I'm not knocking it, they're good products but I'm also realistic that Apple are a huge multi national corporation that want to constantly find new ways of getting a cut of the money we spend.

 

[Clix Pix]

Of course there's money and business interests and all sorts of other stuff that comes into play here as well....I was just having a soppy sentimental moment. LOL! Yep, I'm another who has been a part of the "walled garden," the "Apple ecosystem" for quite a while and I have no plans to leave.

As for taking photos with the iPad, I've only done it a couple of times, just to see what would happen. Sure, it's awkward, but it is kind of fun, especially if you implement Photobooth. The camera in the iPad (or my iPhone, for that matter) isn't going to replace my DSLR any time soon, but it's still a nice little touch....

 

[robanga]

The elegance and usability of the products we have is amazing. What a time to be alive.

 

[spcdust]

Of course there's money and business interests and all sorts of other stuff that comes into play here as well....I was just having a soppy sentimental moment. LOL!

Ahhhhh, well there you go, I'm British and we're a bunch of cynical buggers

 

[Clix Pix]

I'm American and usually I"m rather cynical, too.... Something about Apple products, though....

 

[spcdust]

I'm American and usually I"m rather cynical, too.... Something about Apple products, though....

I get where you're coming from.....for example it kind of impresses me, like a child, when I'm using my iPad or iPhone and I can instantly mirror video footage / photos I've shot or TV programmes I've got on my device straight onto my main TV, via Apple TV. Or, being a subscriber to Spotify, I can have a huge selection of albums at my finger tips which I again mirror via Apple TV to my AV amp. It does, to a greater degree, just work. I imagine if I tried the same with a Windows based system it would likely be a nightmare of conflicting drivers etc. etc.

 

[spiderman0616]

It wasn't all about the money for Steve Jobs. Look at the house he lived in and the salary he drew for his efforts. Yes, he got stock options, but that was mostly all left for the well being of his family after his death. He didn't lead an extravagant life. I'm sure he had a lot of nice things, but his focus was simplicity, and that went way beyond what he was doing at Apple. I'm sure he enjoyed the money when he needed it, but that was never his main goal, and I think Apple benefitted from that in a big way. Steve Jobs loved Apple and wanted Apple to be hugely successful. Most of his motivation came from that.

I 100% agree with the OP, and I think I can even take it a step further. I think that the iPad is the computer that Steve Jobs had in mind back when he first started. A computer that anyone can use with no instruction manual and a super simple UI. Something that can be turned into anything you want and is even powerful enough to do some heavy lifting when you need it to. Let the techies of the world deal with file systems and drivers and things like that. Let the rest of us get on with our lives.

 

[entatlrg]

To a certain extent I see where you're coming from but looking at the value of Apple stock I'm guessing it was also an awful lot about the money?

Let's face it, with Apple's premium priced (some might say over priced) products Apple aren't all about some utopian vision connecting the World at large using their products. Come on, to buy into the Apple eco system you have to have a pretty large wedge of cash - you could argue thus creating a bigger divide between those who have the financial means and those who don't. Also, if you want to be a part of Steve Jobs vision it's likely going to cost you further as Apple have designed their business model based on generating cash from multiple revenue streams (itunes, apps, books, movies) and ensuring their products are designed to almost force the general user down these avenues, almost creating a "closed wall" environment.

This comes from someone who has many Apple products and has been an Apple customer/user for the best part of twenty years. I'm not knocking it, they're good products but I'm also realistic that Apple are a huge multi national corporation that want to constantly find new ways of getting a cut of the money we spend.

LOL, you think what Steve Jobs did, he did for the money?

Ha ha ha, you know absolutely nothing about the man, do you?

----------

It wasn't all about the money for Steve Jobs. Look at the house he lived in and the salary he drew for his efforts. Yes, he got stock options, but that was mostly all left for the well being of his family after his death. He didn't lead an extravagant life. I'm sure he had a lot of nice things, but his focus was simplicity, and that went way beyond what he was doing at Apple. I'm sure he enjoyed the money when he needed it, but that was never his main goal, and I think Apple benefitted from that in a big way. Steve Jobs loved Apple and wanted Apple to be hugely successful. Most of his motivation came from that.

I 100% agree with the OP, and I think I can even take it a step further. I think that the iPad is the computer that Steve Jobs had in mind back when he first started. A computer that anyone can use with no instruction manual and a super simple UI. Something that can be turned into anything you want and is even powerful enough to do some heavy lifting when you need it to. Let the techies of the world deal with file systems and drivers and things like that. Let the rest of us get on with our lives.

Well said.

 

[spcdust]

LOL, you think what Steve Jobs did, he did for the money?

Ha ha ha, you know absolutely nothing about the man, do you?

----------



Well said.

One assumes he was a dear friend of yours?

What I hope I can do is separate the myth, so effectively marketed to the masses, and the reality. Really, wake up, he was a great entrepreneur not some deity. He made a whole stack of money (nothing wrong with that) but this hero worship some niave members show the man is really very misplaced. For starters multi million dollar yacht, designed by top designer Philippe Starck, kind of betrays the Buddhist ideals as does Apples Corporate Social Responsibilities record.

 

[spiderman0616]

One assumes he was a dear friend of yours?

What I hope I can do is separate the myth, so effectively marketed to the masses, and the reality. Really, wake up, he was a great entrepreneur not some deity. He made a whole stack of money (nothing wrong with that) but this hero worship some niave members show the man is really very misplaced. For starters multi million dollar yacht, designed by top designer Philippe Starck, kind of betrays the Buddhist ideals as does Apples Corporate Social Responsibilities record.

I don't think anyone is saying he was a deity. But he had laser focus on Apple and making great products. Selling them for gazillions of dollars was a side effect of that. He was also perfectly willing to sit in poverty if it meant he got to do things the way he thought they should be done. There were periods in his life where he lost millions of dollars at a time just in the name of doing what was right. He didn't care.

This was to his detriment as well. His cancer was totally common and treatable IF he had taken care of it when the doctors told him to. He let it go for a year. It was something he believed he could out think or just wish away, and that's just not how life works. Just because you want the iPad to be an amazing product doesn't mean your cancer will wait until you're ready to deal with it. And he constantly lied about the true status of his condition, even at his famous Stanford speech.

I think there is another element to his motivation too--he wanted to come back and take over an industry that basically kicked him out and left him for dead. And he didn't want to force his way back in or beg his way back in. He had THEM begging HIM to be the CEO again when all was said and done.

There are many aspects of his life and way of doing business that had nothing to do with money. He was a very complex man. I think the only time he really went crazy with money was when it was to feed or satisfy one of his crazy obsessions with details and getting everything exactly right.

 

[spcdust]

I don't think anyone is saying he was a deity. But he had laser focus on Apple and making great products. Selling them for gazillions of dollars was a side effect of that. He was also perfectly willing to sit in poverty if it meant he got to do things the way he thought they should be done. There were periods in his life where he lost millions of dollars at a time just in the name of doing what was right. He didn't care.

This was to his detriment as well. His cancer was totally common and treatable IF he had taken care of it when the doctors told him to. He let it go for a year. It was something he believed he could out think or just wish away, and that's just not how life works. Just because you want the iPad to be an amazing product doesn't mean your cancer will wait until you're ready to deal with it. And he constantly lied about the true status of his condition, even at his famous Stanford speech.

I think there is another element to his motivation too--he wanted to come back and take over an industry that basically kicked him out and left him for dead. And he didn't want to force his way back in or beg his way back in. He had THEM begging HIM to be the CEO again when all was said and done.

There are many aspects of his life and way of doing business that had nothing to do with money. He was a very complex man. I think the only time he really went crazy with money was when it was to feed or satisfy one of his crazy obsessions with details and getting everything exactly right.

Agree with your articulately expressed posting - I haven't got anything to add.

 

[blueroom]

My friend has been sending me iMessages of his vacation taken with his iPad 3. Not too shabby the camera in that thing.

 

[poloponies]

One assumes he was a dear friend of yours?

What I hope I can do is separate the myth, so effectively marketed to the masses, and the reality. Really, wake up, he was a great entrepreneur not some deity. He made a whole stack of money (nothing wrong with that) but this hero worship some niave members show the man is really very misplaced. For starters multi million dollar yacht, designed by top designer Philippe Starck, kind of betrays the Buddhist ideals as does Apples Corporate Social Responsibilities record.

He's not a deity; he could well afford a yacht and it was, ironically, his misplaced attempt to connect with his family after his cancer diagnosis.

Isaacson's book was fairly effective in dispelling any myths about Jobs, but it's indisputable that he was an Edison for our times. Like him or not he changed the world and deserves respect for that.

 

[trip1ex]

Yep. Great story. A bunch of white girls from wealthy families in the backyard of their mansion near the lake running around with their iPads taking photos.

No care in the world if they drop the $600 devices or not. Daddy will buy 'em a new one.

The Apple way.

 

[S.B.G]

.....

Very well said, and I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[Clix Pix]

Yep. Great story. A bunch of white girls from wealthy families in the backyard of their mansion near the lake running around with their iPads taking photos.

No care in the world if they drop the $600 devices or not. Daddy will buy 'em a new one.

The Apple way.

Ah....no mansions here. This is a nice, ordinary middle-class community with townhouses on one side of the man-made (small) lake and condominium apartments on the other. The girls might not even live around here,they may have wandered over from the nearby high school....

Thanks, all, for your comments, which have certainly made this an interesting thread!

 

[Dangerous Theory]

Like him or not he changed the world and deserves respect for that.

He most certainly hasn't "changed the world". Apple, (and I stress Apple, because it's comprised of many incredibly intelligent designers and engineers that really do the work) have brought us some great products over the years that add more elegance and simplicity than others we can compare to, but they aren't revolutionary - they're just 'the best of their type' (to some, myself included).

It's all too easy for some people to get carried away in the wishy washy love story with Apple and Steve Jobs, but he was just a guy with a bunch of great product ideas and Apple are a company of well-screwed-on heads. They didn't invent the Internet, or the wheel, or come across electricity or nuclear fission.