2011年10月11日
Steve Jobs
As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers and Pixar Studios, died last week of cancer. I actually went to the Apple Store in Nagoya today, and I was amazed to see all the flowers and messages laid out on the pavement outside the shop. It is difficult to imagine the death of any other business leader causing such a reaction among the public.
The reason for this is that Steve Jobs was much more than a business leader. Here is a quote from an article I read today:
"It's the dream of any entrepreneur to effect change in one industry. Jobs transformed half a dozen of them forever, from personal computers to animation to music to publishing to video games."
The first time I touched a Macintosh (= an Apple computer) was when I worked at Nagoya Women's University. The teacher who worked there before me had left his old computer for me to use if I wanted. I played around with it a bit, but I really didn't like it very much. It was so different from the Windows system that I was familiar with, and I had trouble doing even the simplest things like ejecting a CD, so I bought myself a new PC very soon after.
I came back to Apple when I got into publishing because Macs are used by almost everyone in the industry. The printing company told me that if I used Windows, there might be some problems with the data when we came to the final printing, so I decided to make the change This time, however, I bought a book called "Switching to the Mac," which was aimed at people like me who were used to Windows. It made everything very simple.
After a few weeks of using the Mac, my whole opinion of computers changed. Until that point, I had thought of them as a necessary evil - a cause of stress in my life, but one that I couldn't do without. My Mac changed all that. It was the first time I felt that the people who made the computer were actually trying to help me instead of trying to make my life more difficult. One of the biggest bonuses for me was the language of the operating system. With Windows, I had had to choose whether to buy the English version or the Japanese one. If I chose the English one, I had to install Japanese fonts and press strange keys to switch from one language to another. Also, many programs that had been designed for the English Windows didn't run properly on the Japanese version, and vice versa. The Mac came pre-installed with every language I could think of, including Japanese. There were two buttons on the keyboard: 英数 and カナ. How incredibly simple! Since that first computer, I have only bought Apple products. I now have an iMac, a Macbook, an iPad 2, and three iPods, and I love them all!
A lot of people criticize Apple products for being too expensive and too controlled. These are usually people who are good with technology, and they don't seem to realize that most people are not interested in the technology - they just want something that they can use without too much stress.
If you search for information about Steve Jobs on the internet, one of the things you will find is a copy of a speech he gave at a graduation ceremony at Stanford University in 2005. I think there is probably even a Japanese translation of this. (If not, let's make one!) The ideas in his speech are really important for all of us, so please have a look at it if you have time.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
(You can also find this speech on YouTube.)
Of course, Steve Jobs was a human, and he was not perfect. A lot of people have talked about the fact that he got his girlfriend pregnant when he was 23 and refused to admit that he was the father. He only started giving the woman money after she took him to court to make him have a DNA test.
Other reasons why some people were not fans of Jobs are given in this article, which is also quite interesting.
http://gawker.com/5847344/what-everyone-is-too-polite-to-say-about-steve-jobs
Personally, I am more a fan of his company than I am of the man, although I admired him enormously. I love Apple products, and it is not because I like the cool brand, it is because they are miles better than any of the other things I have used. As you know, I have been using an Android phone for the last year, and I have to say that I cannot wait to change to an iPhone. Android phones can do a lot of the same things as the iPhone (and even more, in some cases), but they are really not user-friendly. Also, there is no such thing as a pure "Android" operating system. Sony-Ericsson, Samsung, and all the other makers produce their own versions of it, which means it is a bit different on every phone you use, and you only get updates when that company decides to make them, not when Google produces new versions of the system. If you have an iPhone, everything is much simpler.
One interesting difference between Android and the iPhone is that Android phones usually have cameras with lots of complicated settings, whereas iPhones are completely automatic. You just touch the screen at the point you want to focus on, and the camera does the rest. Some people criticize the iPhone for this because it reduces the control and choice of the photographer. What these people don't realize is that the vast majority of people don't want that kind of control and choice - they want something that "just works."
Anyway, I am interested to hear your reactions to the death of Steve Jobs, and I would love to hear from people who are using Apple products.
Look forward to reading your comments.
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Comments
Hi David and everyone,
Thanks for your message. I am ok now.
I am in Okinawa and I was very busy with a house event. So I haven't had a chance to write a comment here about last topic. Thanks for your feedback.
I don't think I have a time to write a comment this week too.
Sorry I haven't read your new entry yet!! Anyway I just wanted to say hello to everyone and thank you.
Hi new comers,
Nice to have you with us. Look forward to your next comments.
Bye for now,
amo
- amo
- 2011年10月11日 21:23
Hello! It has been a while to have written my comment here. I’m one of those who don’t know much about Steve Jobs besides he is the founder of Apple Computers. A few days ago, I was very surprised to see my favorite musician from you tube appearing on ABC news in America. In the news show, his comment for Steve jobs on his you tube channel was picked up in order to show the death exerted enormous influence on lots of people. The musician tells how much Steve Jobs has impacted his life, like i-tunes enables independent musicians to distribute their music and make a living doing music. He also says he will always be Apple fan boy. I like his comment.
See you,
taco
- taco
- 2011年10月11日 22:22
Hi David and everyone,
Amo, have a nice day in your hometown.
Unfortunately, I haven't used a Macintosh yet, but there are some huge fans of Apple around me like you. They are always enthusiastic about recommending Apple products saying how nice and unique their functions are and how beautiful the designs are. However, they never told me about Steve Jobs himself, so I hadn't known much about him untill the day he passed away. I also watched the famous speech he made at a commencement ceremony at Stanford University in 2005 on YouTube on that night. I also came across the one with Japanese subtitles, so let me share that for anyone who needs.
http://sago.livedoor.biz/archives/50251034.html
He was talking about three interesting things in a clear English introducing his own experiences.: "connecting the dots" "love and loss" and "stay hungry, stay foolish." I especially like the first topic, "connecting the dots."
That way of thinking surelly makes me relieved and go ahead to achieve my vision even though I feel what I'm doing every day is very small. One day, they all would be able to be connected.
Thank you, Steve Jobs. May he rest in peace.
Tsuneko
- tsuneko
- 2011年10月12日 00:53
Hi Yuki and no-name san,
Nice to have you with us. Look forward to talking with you.
Hi Anne and Noriko,
You are most welcome.
Good night.
- tsuneko
- 2011年10月12日 01:01
Hi David and everyone,
This is the lovely day to see a beautiful sunshine today.
Well, the topic about Steve Jobs seems not lovely for me in the first time because I am not familiar with him and computers.
However second article that David introduced was interesting for me.
After reading this article, one thing came to my mind:
It was the luckiest that Jobs existed this world, it was the luckiest that I was not in his universe.
よく「普段はいい人なんだけど、一緒に仕事するとイヤな人なんだよね」というセリフをそこかしこで聞きます。
In his case, how many people really love him as just a human?
- noriko
- 2011年10月12日 16:48
Hi David,
I heard the news that Steave Jobs passed way with surprised.
He was only 56 years old and he must be able to development more things.
I saw many Apple fans were disappointed in front of the shop.
I think I've never used Apple computer and Apple products.
My daughter use ipod to listen to her favorite music. .
And she use ipad at dental office that she works part -time job.
I really want to try them!
Hi amo,
I'm glad to hear that you are fine.
Have a nice day at your hometown Okinawa!
Hi tsuneko,
Thank you for sharing Steave Jobs's speech.
I really wanted to read and listen it.
I'm in my office now so I’m going to watch youtube later!
I can't wait!
Hi new comers,
Let's study English together on this blog!
Green
- Green
- 2011年10月12日 18:45
Hi David,
I did not know what Steve Jobs and Apple did (achieved) until recently. But after his death, newspaper covered what he and the company did and I learned how extraordinary they were. If I remember correctly, he made all these products to easy to use for everyone. Before that those products were only for professional or technology geeks. Here is the link which tells us its achievement.
http://www.microsoft.com/japan/mac/iusers/column/295.mspx
I do not have any Apple products. But that does not mean I am not interested in them. I just can not afford them. I think Steve Jobs and Apple are very innovative and without him, some of today's technology would not exist.
As a human, I look up to Steve. I like his word, "If you live each day as if it was your last". He lived his life exactly in this way. Also," follow your heart ~" is a great message to young generation. If people have such determination, we can succeed in many things. The death of him is the great loss.
Thank you Steve Jobs for made our world so magical!
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年10月13日 06:06
Good news and bad news about Apple today. AU called me to say that I can pick up my new iPhone on Saturday morning. I hadn't expected that it would come so early. The bad news is that the update to the new iOS 5 has been a disaster. The servers have been totally overloaded, and it took me seven attempts to get it installed on my iPad. Also the iCloud system is not working properly. When I try to sign in, I get a message saying that my Apple ID is not recognized. I checked on the web, and it seems that lots of other people are having the same problem. I hope they will get it sorted out soon.
- David
- 2011年10月13日 11:57
Hi David,
You're going to get new iPhone on Saturday?
Lucky you!
Please show us the picture of your new iPhone!
Noboby talks about it around me so I'm not going to have opprtunity to see it.
Green
- Green
- 2011年10月13日 12:42
To be honest, I didn’t know much about Steve Jobs until recently. And I just became aware that I’ve had no Apple products in my life. I grew up with Windows, I have a WALKMAN on me at all times and I’ve been using an Android phone (I didn’t choose iPhone at a Softbank shop anyway.). But having read all the articles about him, I guess no one can deny that he was “a visionary and creative genius”,and “he changed the way each of us sees the world”. If he stayed alive, what would be the next?
- Jazmín
- 2011年10月13日 16:07
↑
I should've said "Hi!" to everyone.
- Jazmín
- 2011年10月13日 16:16
Hi David and everyone
I was back from Britain yesterday. Unfortunately, I caught a cold in a plane, I'm getting better now.
I heard the news of his death in UK with huge surprise. It was big news in UK, of course.
I'm not a Apple fan. I prefer windows than mac. But I think Apple products are nice and I love my iPod touch and Macbook Air.
When I asked "Do you have iPad in this bag?" at baggage check in an airport, I felt Steve Jobs had changed world exactly.
I remember that Apple struggled while Jobs left Apple and rose again after his comeback.
Stieve Jobs' imagination always surprised us. I think when he was creating something, he was always thinking about that, "What to do with it?" and "Can you do that easily?"
Tim Cook, current CEO, may have a hard time like Steve Ballmer who took over CEO of Microsoft from Bill Gates.
By the way, Britain was very nice. I become more a fan of Britain. I travelled Manchester, Bolton, Liverpool, Lake District, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. If I had a chance, I wanted to visit Wales...
I watched a English Preimer League football match at Bolton for a first time. That was amazing moment. There was beautiful scenery in Lake District. There were a lot of masterpieces of art in Glasgow. I can't write down all of them. That was just great.
Hi amo
Are you in Okinawa? That's nice. Is Okinawa still hot?
trmr
- trmr
- 2011年10月13日 16:56
Hi David
Thank you for your comment at the few topics before.
My married life is good. Actually, we have lived together a year before marrige, so it didn't change so much :-)
trmr
- trmr
- 2011年10月13日 17:02
Hi trmr,
I'm glad you and your wife had a nice honeymoon!
You caught a cold?
Take care!
Green
- Green
- 2011年10月13日 17:52
Hi trmr. Welcome back.
I just found out that I can get my iPhone tomorrow! I'm a bit worried, though, because the shop has taken more than 30 reservations, so it's going to be really crowded. I might wait until Monday if there are too many people there tomorrow.
- David
- 2011年10月13日 20:21
Hi Jazmín,
>If he stayed alive, what would be the next?
I watched a TV program of NHK on Steve Jobs last evening. Softbank CEO Son Masayoshi appeared as a special guest commentator and he said "if he would live another 10 years or so, he would definitely make an 'iRobot'. "
Hi trmr,
Thank you for sharing your honeymoon. You seem to have had a great trip in Britain. I'm happy for you.
Hi David and Fumie,
Thank you for letting us know about other interesting links. I'm interested in them, but it seems like I'll need some more time.
Bye for now.
- tsuneko
- 2011年10月13日 23:02
Hi David and everyone,
I don't have Apple gadgets besides ipod. A friend of mine recommended me to use Mac and said how it is(was?) better than Windows. Another friend of mine reserved new iPhone , and she looked excited when I met her last week. I've read lots of articles about him so far , and yet I don't think I'm familiar with Apple itself, but I've been interested in him. His commencement address is really amazing and inspiring!
Since he stepped down as CEO, people might assume this sad day could come, and I saw a lot comments on the web after he passed away other than articles or news.
Among them, I found the following one was really true:
Three Apples that changed the world- The one that Eve ate, the one that feels on Newton's head ＆ the one that Steve built.
Not related to Apple itself, I've been interested in his style and outfits, I mean , his black turtleneck and jeans. His image on the stage when he announced Apple's new products looked charismatic. I also found the following article interesting:
http://techland.time.com/2011/10/12/steve-jobs-sartorial-rationale-behind-the-turtleneck/
According to the article, Steve Jobs was inspired by a trip to Sony headquarters in the early 80s, and became fascinated with the idea of a "corporate uniform." He also came to like the idea of having a uniform for himself and asked Issey Miyake to make him some of his black turtlenecks that he liked.
I think his image strategy(? イメージ戦略）worked well.
Hi amo,
Hope you are having a great time with your family!
Hi trmr,
Both of you seem to have had a wonderful time there, and I'm happy for you!
Have a good sleep and take care.
Bye for now,
Anne
- Anne
- 2011年10月13日 23:19
Hi amo,
Hope you having a great time in Okinawa!
My son is in Okinawa for school trip. Unfortunately weather seems not so good for a few days.
Hi trmr,
Glad to hear that you had a wonderful time in UK!
Didn't you said you leave for honeymoon about 2weeks ago? How many days was your honeymoon?
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年10月14日 05:34
Hi tsuneko,
iRobot? iRobot! Yes! Could be. That would be great. Oh, I wish I could see it! Thank you for the information.
- Jazmín
- 2011年10月14日 10:31
Hi David n everyone!!
Bear with me for a moment as I just write terrible comment.
As I wrote here before, I had only known him as a founder of apple. But after he died, I saw so many article about him and hear many story about him from friends and teacher. I've remembered to hear one proverb(?),like this "After someone died, achievement which someone accomplished actually would be praised" In the fact there are many people who admired or respected him, though, like me there are also some many people who even didn't really know about him.I saw there were still many flowers and message and long line for new iPhone In front of apple store in Sydney. What I want to say is that I regreted that I didnt know about him and I want to praise people for their achievement when people are alive. The Death of him had me think of that.
Although I have only iPhone 4 as apple products, I am totally satisfied with this and I love it. As I worte here, I'm in Sydney, therefore I need cellphone which I can switch from Japanese to English easily and I can operate easily. At that point IPhone is wonderful compared to other company's products such as samsung. I have an experience in using my friend's samsung mobile. But I just felt it was complicated to understand system and to operate it for me.
Then this is about me, Ive just finished school. From that Ive been looking for aussie job here. It must be difficult for me, but I do my best!!
- Yuki
- 2011年10月14日 22:42
What a fun pattern! It’s great to hear from you and see what you’ve sent up to. All of the projects look great! You make it so simple to this. Thanks
- abercrombie
- 2011年11月16日 12:19
PS
Hi Yuki,
Nice to have you with us.