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Thursday, October 13, 2011

RIP Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs - Apple founder and superlative technological uber-guru - died last week. He was a futurist who made the future happen - he envisaged and then delivered. In the 1980s he made Mac a household name and when he re-took the helm of his Apple corporation and came out with the ipod, the iphone and the ipad he made it one of the most successful companies in America and the world.

A memorial service is being held in Wellington today for him.

My old Mac Powerbook laptop died only a week before he did. It is an indication of the Mac's superiority over its windows rivals that although it was 8 years old and never had a substantial upgrade since then it was still cranking along and compatible with almost everything on the market. It was like a hilux - it just kept going without complaint. Yes it was slowing down towards the end, labouring on under a swathe of image, movie and other files cluttering up every available space, but the underlying performance was unfaultering. I thrashed that laptop and it always delivered, it was superb value for money.

Having to use windows shit boxes since then it makes me appreciate every keystroke and mouse click of that Mac. There was no annoying multiple pop-up shit that you get with windows, no patronising and unwanted prompts interrupting - you could find where things were quickly and didn't have to hunt around for them. If you didn't know how to do something chances are you did what seemed intuitive and it would work. That was the genuis of the Mac; it was designed by smart people who knew it had to be simple.

The inner complexities to make that interface simple is another layer of genius. The slick outer design made every Mac (with perhaps the exception of the eMac!) looking like a Lamborghini in what was otherwise a showroom full of Ladas. It was a rare match where the cool designs of the cases did the operating system justice. It was one break-through after another with Jobs leading. The shear ease of use and accessibility of things with the Mac layout is not to be underestimated. I miss it. And the world will miss the man who made these amazing machines. Thank you, Steve Jobs.

7 Comments:

At 13/10/11 3:52 pm, Blogger Canichett said...

Tim, please buy yourself a new imac! The 27 inch screen is brilliant. I divide it and put up 2 browsers at once. Great for you-tube. Don't suffer windows crap anymore!

 
At 13/10/11 4:45 pm, Blogger Arto said...

Actually, Windows 7 computers are pretty good. And so are Mac's and so is Linux.

Are Mac's worth the extra $1,000 cost when compared to a similar Windows PC?

I don't think so!

 
At 13/10/11 10:59 pm, Blogger Duval said...

Ten years ago the world had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash... now we have no Jobs, no Hope and no Cash!

 
At 14/10/11 11:40 am, Blogger Tar and Feather The Bastards said...

Tim, don't forget the not so nice side of Jobs . . .that he was a psychopath control freak

http://inquiringminds.cc/what-everyone-is-too-polite-to-say-about-steve-jobs-like-almost-all-ceos-regarded-as-successful-jobs-was-clearly-an-out-and-out-psychopath

 
At 14/10/11 12:35 pm, Blogger Tiger Mountain said...

I’m with Tim on this one. Reflect on the positive Steve achieved. The over analysis and corporate criticism can wait till next week.

The mac enabled me to work from home from the 90s, PC users often aqcuired a new family member known as the tech or IT guy whereas I could maintain my own computers. Colour fidelity and fonts were reliable, commercial printers could trust my files.
My partner has an old G4 powerbook that does all the basics-current web apps, skype, office, even Photoshop CS. Try that on a stock 03 windoze laptop.

My current imac has not crashed once since purchase. Prices are competitive as they use intel chips. RIP Steve Jobs.

 
At 14/10/11 4:45 pm, Blogger Arto said...

"Prices are competitive as they use intel chips"

Oh please, go compare the current range of i7 Windoze and Mac laptops and you'll find the Win ones are at least $1000 cheaper than their Apple counterparts -and the Win specs will be a lot higher.

And the crashproof Mac is also a myth, add to that the horror stories of Apple updates that wiped out user's software are testament to that.

If you want to be locked into a proprietary system designed by a megalomaniac that offers fewer, more expensive choices, then go ahead and buy a Mac.

 
At 14/10/11 4:52 pm, Blogger Arto said...

WHen I decided that I might purchase an Imac, I looked at the $2,000 plus pricetag (over $3k for the 27 inch). I shivered and bought another Windoze box. And I saved a bunch of dollars by not purchasing a fashion accessory.

 

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