Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

Or, to be more precise, it would be just as weird but we would never find out about it.

RIP Steve Jobs, thanks for everything. Very nice Sam.

I was already programming in a scientific FORTRAN based language on an IBM 370 mainframe by modem when I bought my first home computer, an Apple II. The only storage system available on it when I bought it was to use a cassette recorder with a data quality tape. Then Steve Wozniak wrote the first truly user friendly DOS (Disk Operating System) and they came out with the 5-1/4" floppy and a controller card that would handle two drives. I immediately bought a two drive system and that was when the Apple II became a truly usable home computer. Pretty much every innovation IBM eventually came out with was copied (stolen) from Apple. I ran my business on an Apple II and eventually a hopped up Apple IIE. I kept my books on VisiCalc, the first good spreadsheet, and used T W Systems CadApple CAD program and a 24 pen plotter for all my design work.

It wasn't until Bill Gates created Windows that the IBM PC surpassed the Apple in speed and utility.

Thank you Steve Jobs and may you RIP.

Why is that I suspect that most of you guys on here are 40 or 50 IQ points ahead me?

@patty

IQ is just a measure of mental prowess, not worth. You, my dear lady, are worth any two of us guys. 😜

Awww Yogi, that is so sweet. Thank you honey. 💋

Here is a LINK to the Washington Post story.


And a quote from the story...

As a 21-year-old college-dropout entrepreneur, Mr. Jobs led Apple to multimillion-dollar success in five years. Forced out of his own company by the time he was 30, he started another computer firm, Next, whose technology was used to create the World Wide Web. Mr. Jobs also took over a foundering computer animation company and turned it into the Academy Award-winning Pixar, maker of “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo.” He returned to Apple in his 40s, restoring the company to profitability by paring down the product line and being a leader in innovation.

Yogi stole my thunder whilst I slept!

There is also a good side...

I would still be drawing "D" sized electrical schematics in ink on velum for OEM customers and scrapping 6 hours work if I made a single small mistake.

I would still be typing with carbon paper for copies and also scrapping a lot of hours of work for simple mistakes.

I would still be putting presentations together on an easel pad.

I would still be using REAL cut and paste to put together simple illustrated documents.

I would still be using snail mail for normal communications of documents and special couriers for things that just have to be there in a few hours. Or air mail for things that have to be there in just a day or two.

I would still be keeping massive database records and spreadsheets in paper form by hand. Including all the calculations done automatically by the spreadsheet.

High precision parts would still be made by hand on manual machine tools in hours instead of on computer controlled machines in minutes. Some of the more complex parts would be impossible without the computerized machines.

We wouldn't have had many of the major advances in science and medicine without the internet for cross specialty sharing of ideas and experimental results.

The list could go on for a lot longer but I think my point is made; ergo, you have to take the bad with the good for the better good to happen.

@ mike M

You couldn't be more wrong. The computer revolution took the drudgery out of creativity, not the creativity itself. And not all programs were written by snot nosed teens. Many were written by adults with the intelligence it takes to help creative minds work smarter, not harder.

And please be adult enough yourself to not start making this personal. You won't succeed.

Hay! As a once pro photographer who did his own B/W and stood by while the color work was done I applaud the digital photo revolution!

I can now take 20 images where I used to take only 1 to ensure I get the lighting, angle, and lack of unwanted objects (people, dogs, birds, etc) in the shot. Then, if I do get "the shot" and there is still some tuning up to do (and, there always is) I can do it myself on my computer at home. And, if I happen to goof after hours of painstaking work under a magnifying glass, I've not ruined the only negative I've got!

Another "up side" is now I don't have to drag my camera to every wedding, christening & birthday party because "Your the photographer!".

Like I said Expat, there are up sides and down sides to most everything. I prefer to enjoy the up sides and let others worry about the down sides.

As to digital photography, the best part is that when a pro had to shoot ten rolls of film to get that one "special" shot he could afford to because he was a pro and made enough money off of his trade to pay for that film. Now with the digital revolution the average Joe Schmo can also shoot tons of shots just like the pro without going broke on film costs. Digital photography has opened up a whole new vista to the skilled amateur photographer. As for Photoshop, it is just digitized airbrushing; nothing new, just easier. Which is really the whole point to advancements in technology.

http://synd.imgsrv.uclick.com/comics/dt/2011/dt111006.gif

Just to set the record straight, we may have not had graphical OSs as quickly without the Steves, but the innovation was a Xerox thing. Jobs was just able to see the worth where Xerox didn't.

And everyone knows the Internet was invented by Al Gore.

Just like Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile. He did create the assembly line and bring it within reach of the people though.

I have had enough of your diatribe. We will just have to agree to disagree and I will ignore anything you have to say from now on. You are turning this into a personal attack and I am reporting it to Paul under his civility ruling posted here a few weeks back.

@jswolf: IIRC there was a graphical OS in CPM that was available on the Commodore 64 and I'm not too sure Xerox had anything to do with it. GEM seems to come to mind.

@MikeM: Parting shot for me.... Grab a pressure pad and your favorite art/drawing/graphics program and see how easy it is. I can't do it and I've had the classical pen/brush training.

In short.... don't blame the tool for the workman's mistakes.

Mike, we play nice around here. I am sure you are a fine artist, but different people express themselves in different ways. Lets leave it at that.

We WU-vies tolerate and encourage and even solicit differences of opinion, wittily and intelligently expressed, even with certain levels of intense passion. It's only when name-calling or ad hominem insults occur that we draw the line.

I don't think this discussion has so far ventured into that territory, so we should be certain to continue to steer clear!

I am an engineer by profession and have become more productive and creative over the years as the tools available have become better. And that includes software as well as hardware.

Anyone who ignores the advances in technology will soon be left behind by those who embrace them and learn to use them, both in quality and productivity.