Apple's tribute to Steve Jobs, one year on. | Hacker News Reader

Apple's tribute to Steve Jobs, one year on.

apple.com

588 pointssjtgraham194 comments

Yesterday: "Apple is a worthless patent troll. All of their 'inventions' are things that were invented somewhere else. The only thing they did was patent other people's work, then charge twice as much for it to a bunch of worthless fan-boys."

Today: "R.I.P. Steve Jobs. He did so much to change the face of technology forever."

Sometimes you have to sit back and appreciate the fickleness of a crowd...

Both are generalisations. Besides, Apple was simply the first to do some of these things, or the first to do it well. But many were inevitable.

> Apple was simply the first to do some of these things, or the first to do it well. But many were inevitable.

The hover car is inevitable. Should I not be amazed at one when I see it?

I guess not, because whoever makes it will "simply" be the first to do the inevitable.

Well, the App Store was accidental, for example. I have no evidence of this, except that it would have been fairly obvious to Apple that, having had the iTunes Store, and sold apps this way before, letting any developer make apps would be great.

It's really a little from column A, a little from column B. I'm a huge Android guy right now, and that Samsung lawsuit annoyed me to no end, but I still watched that video straight through and even sat in a bit of silence at the end. Even I can recognize what Steve and Apple have done, and what America and the world has lost in his dying early.

I don't think it is possible to die early. To die young, perhaps.

Amazing how drawing two biased samples from a population can result in differing observations!

No person or company is perfect. Apple does some things very right, and some things very wrong, and I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out instances of both.

If Apple were a person it would be psychopathic.

But Apple isn't a person and anthropomorphizing a corporation is pointless. Companies don't act with the same motivations as people do, while there are some general principles that can be seen at work in both human colonies and corporates in the market, and while a process similar to evolution (where startups are the mutant DNA experiments) can be seen at work in moving the market, companies act in the interest of their shareholders. Even if the analogy were to hold, I don't think you've characterized Apple accurately.

The analogy of corporations/market place and human colonies is an interesting one that has ramifications through society all the way to the Supreme Court, but I think the flippant remark about Apple lacking empathy, or being fearless or lacking responsibility is rather like thinking a dolphin is smiling at you at sea world.

Name a large and successful corporation that isn't.

The subset of the 'crowd' hating on Apple is not necessarily the same as its 'fanboys'. In fact they're probably mostly mutually exclusive.

The Apple mapping debacle frustrated lots of Apple fanbois as well.

Why should people that 'hate' Apple be frustrated at the new map apps.

I think, I exemplify what you find fickle. In my humble opinion, Apple does a lot of stuff. Jobs would filter out the ugly and stupid, so Apple appeared a lot cooler than some random fortune 500 company.

I'm skeptical of Apple ever regaining a filter like that. I think, they'll lumber around for a few years while their products lose mystique. It's not that their products are much different than android, it's that Apple will lose its super cool image by doing things like suing samsung.

Mr Jobs put a great image on the company. In an age where dell would make you sit on hold for hours, then do a dance where you replace certain parts, Apple would just send you a new one. Being hassle free in an age of hassle is just one example.

Suing Samsung was Jobs' legacy. He was planning to do it himself if he lived long enough. He was incredibly petty, especially for an intellectual property thief.

What notable IP did Jobs steal? You don't mean the Xerox PARC stuff, I hope.

"We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."

Triumph of the Nerds (1996)

source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

As everyone around here likes to quote endlessly: You can't patent an idea. What notable intellectual property did Jobs the "thief" steal?

Same goes for the Samsung lawsuit. What notable intellectual property did Samsung the "thief" steal?

Give it a rest.

I don't know what Apple stole/didn't steal. But do you remember what the number 1 selling phone was before the iPhone? According to Wikipedia it was a Nokia 1200. I had a Motorola Razr.

Jobs and Apple were a decade ahead of their competition.

The problem is with your thinking of individuals as "a crowd" and expecting some sort of cohesiveness, as if the crowd and not the individual is the basic unit of intention and action.

If other HNers are like me, this might explain it: I'm not a big fan of Apple. And lately I think they've become the "Big Brother" they were fighting in the 1984 commercial. However, I'm a huge Steve Jobs fan. He's right up there with Henry Ford and Fred Harvey on my list.

Just watch this little clip and you can see why I like one and not the other: http://www.wimp.com/stevemoment/

As a 21 year old, it took me a second to realize that was Steve Jobs. He looks so young.

Is that a trailer for The Matrix?

I think that Henry Ford is a really good comparison. I admire Henry Ford. He was a true innovator. He was everything an entrepreneur should strive to be.

Yet he was also incredibly flawed. His shortcomings are well documented. I still admire, and attempt to emulate, Henry Ford the entrepreneur even if I don't love the man as a whole.

In the same way I admire Apple (and their embodiment in Steve Jovs) for what they've done, and in many ways emulate their approach and passion for making delightful products. Yet I'm wary, and extremely critical, of much of what they're doing.

I can definitely be both. I want to promote the Apple that makes amazing products, while quashing the Apple that wants to exert utter control over everything.

> I want to promote the Apple that makes amazing products, while quashing the Apple that wants to exert utter control over everything.

Which is kind of like wanting to promote water without promoting getting wet.

not necessarily. e.g Nokia's Meego platform was open, yet it was extremely well designed

In some ways, I think of jobsy as a great filterer - very focused. Both of your statements are somewhat true if you consider that perspective. Jobsy made a big difference by picking the best and putting it together. However, what was put together was largely taken from others. Fickle? Maybe - just not as one dimensional as it may first appear to be.

I still am not a fan of apple and it's views on software patents. I also don't consider Steve Jobs to be a personal hero of mine.

A lot of us don't like to say anything when apple or some blogger puts up a tribute to Jobs. It isn't because we don't have convictions, it's because we have respect for the dead.

One can respect what a guy like Jobs did to promote and advance innovation mutually exclusive of the ethics of the guy and the company.

People say "Steve wouldn't have done this to maps." but they're wrong. Apple still has it because they're still willing to piss off their users in the short term, but for the benefit of the long term. They're the only major company that sees and understands the innovator's dilemma.

No, they're the only major company that has a huge and scarily-loyal fan-base who are willing to rationalize major screw-ups as some kind of visionary strategic decision.

And they didn't innovate - they replaced a nicely-functioning product with a broken imitation.

As pointed out by others, the screw-up was not admitting that Apple Maps launched as an inferior product. The long-term benefits of a homegrown mapping product were very obvious, such as turn-by-turn and vector tiles.

So tune it, get it right, then release it.

I see this implied repeatedly by everyone, so could someone explain how customers on the ground using Apple Maps are somehow providing Apple with any data that could improve the maps?

For example if you find lots of People driving in a consistent manner on what is not already a road on your map then it needs to become one. You can do this ordered by number the number of people per unmapped road segment to have the most effect.

Another example, if you find that everyone drives off the road in a certain area then comes back on a little farther down and that no one drives the intervening segment, then the road probably needs to be adjusted.

It is for the benefit of the user to be locked in the Apple's environment?

A moving tribute and wonderful video in and of itself. I'm far too young (21) to fully appreciate everything he embodied. His early death really makes you appreciate the luck of being alive. From the normal to the billionaire magicians, remember this:

"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." - Mark Twain

Music by Yo-Yo Ma I think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZn_VBgkPNY

Yes; it's Bach's Cello Suite #1. You've probably also heard it in Master and Commander, where it was performed by Yo-yo Ma. It's one of my favorite pieces of string music.

Didn't Yo-Yo Ma perform a private concert at Steve Jobs' house? I think it was in the biography.

Huh, dunno. I haven't gotten around to reading the biography yet. I wouldn't be surprised; they seemed to have a mutual respect for each-other.

Just found out that he performed at the memorial service though.

"When Jobs was ill, Yo Yo Ma came to visit, bringing his 1733 Stradivarius cello and performing a concert in the Jobs’ living room. Jobs, who had been moved to tears by the music, told him, “Your playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.” He made Ma promise to play at his funeral".

Thank you for sharing that.

> “Your playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.”

Which is kind of an insult to Yo Yo Ma.

I would not think so. My impression is many artists (musicians too) feel inspired by a higher spirit, so to speak. Personally, I am not a believer, but I understand how it can feel when one is.

As a musician, I would view that as the ultimate compliment.

I wasn't saying it wouldn't be received as a complement, after all, it's just as likely that it was offered in all sincerity. I'm just saying that the literal implication could be construed as an insult.

Reworded: "I'm so blown away by what I'm experiencing that it's hard for me to believe it's even humanly possible, what you're doing."

I can't imagine anyone taking this as an insult. If that person exists, I hope I never end up in the unfortunate situation of paying them an incredible compliment.

Reworded: "I'm so blown away by what I'm experiencing that I think there's a very real possibility that you don't deserve full credit for this achievement."

If you're ever in the position to give someone a hyper-superlative complement, you could simply use one of the many hundreds of constructions that don't involve doubting the skill of the recipient.

Addendum to your rewording "... BECAUSE I'M SO MOVED THAT BEFORE TODAY I'D HAVE THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN A FUCKING DEITY TO DO WHAT YOU JUST DID."

Edit:

Further, I don't believe in God but I also don't believe I've ever felt I deserved "full credit" for an achievement in the way you're describing.

Calm down mate, I'm merely disagreeing with you. I do understand your point, and I do think that your interpretation makes for a reasonable hypothesis, but it's my opinion that it's less plausible given the exact wording originally provided.

That's not at all what he was implying.

Steve was a huge fan apparently. Did a quick search to confirm, found this excerpt from his bio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj4b8oaV0MI

I don't remember the biography mentioning a private concert at his house (wouldn't surprise me) but Jobs did personally ask Yo Yo Ma to play at his funeral.

Bach's cello suites were what originally inspired me to start studying music. And the first recording of them I ever heard was Yo-Yo Ma's original recording (he has at least one newer recording now).

The piece is the prelude of Bach's first cello suite. The thirty-five other movements in the Bach cello suites are equally beautiful, but it is mainly this movement that is played.

While my cello playing was originally inspired by Ma's interpretation of the cello suites, I now find his rendition of them a bit insipid. I suggest checking out Pablo Casals' interpretation - he popularized the Bach suites, and the recordings are beautiful. Rostropovich also played them fairly well.

If I had to pick a Bach cello suite movement for such a video, it would be the Sarabande from the 6th suite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3dgACCAzwM

Edit: I changed my mind, I would go with the Sarabande from the 1st suite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvOo0cS8w10

I was lucky enough to hear Rostropovich play the 5th cello suite live once. I would rank his performance a lot better than "fairly well", but tastes vary. Another favorite performance of mine for those suites is Anner Bylsma[1]. He uses a more historically accurate instrument than most modern versions. I don't necessarily think that makes other versions bad, but it does make his (or one like it) worth trying.

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Suites-Cello-BWV-1007-1012/dp/B00...

I also prefer the Casals recordings, although I have yet to meet anyone who is not a cello player that had the same opinion.

I absolutely love that this thread has gone from "nyah Apple's a patent troll" to discussing Rostropovich and Bach cello suites.

Well played HNers.

Pierre Fournier does a super smooth rendering of all the suites... he's like a French machine, technically perfect & soulful interpretation. especially the 6th preludium is a joy to hear as he climbs up the stairway.

yeah, Casals is the man. don't like rostropovich rendition IMHO.

currently playing those Suites on a Carbon Fiber Luis & Clark instrument - luisandclark.com

Great music to study to btw!

Is it my imagination or did they leave the last note off of this recording?

They cut out a significant portion, but not the last note. It's done more often than not when this prelude is used as backing music.

Steve, like you, would've noticed.

Wow, before coming here and seeing this comment, I had my speakers off and assumed there was no sound. I thought the video was just as good, if not better, completely silent.

Here's an HD version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCicM6i59_I&hd=1

Scrolling through all the comments, I find that it is impossible to not encounter cynicism - e.g. Apple is trying to divert from the Maps folly etc. - in this forum.

This is Apple paying respect and taking a moment to reminisce about Steve ... it's just a nice, human thing to do.

Even I am a staunch anti Apple proponent but I have to sit back and applaud what Steve has achieved and what an incredibly visionary and accomplished man he was, I wish I could live like he had.

The video was a frank reminder that we had lost a great man.

Removing their products from the landing page to pay tribute to Steve.

Would Dell or Samsung do this? Genuine question.

It's a slightly fatuous question.

Do you mean "[in a world where Samsung or Dell had a public personality like Steve Jobs] would they remove the products from their landing page?" or do you mean "[if Michael Dell died] would Dell remove their products from the landing page?"

If they had someone like Steve they definitely would. They don't, so it doesn't matter.

I think he means "[if Michael Dell died] would Dell remove their products from the landing page?". Dell does not have a personality like Apple did.

How about, if Tim Cook died, would Apple do the same?

If I remember correctly (I'm not totally sure), a few years ago Apple had a full page tribute when one of their directors died. So I'd say yes, probably.

EDIT: This was it: http://mashable.com/2010/03/18/jerome-york-tribute/

They had a full page tribute when George Harrison died. But I guess being one of the Beatles justifies special commendation.

I might argue that this makes as much financial sense as it does compassionate sense. Reminding everybody about Steve Jobs being the "heart of the company" every so often is probably very good for Apple's business.

There's no personality cult around any CEO like there was around the Steve.

Well, don't forget about Elon Musk.

With all due respect, outside HN he is nowhere near level of Steve Jobs "fame".

He should be, again with all due respect to Steve.

And perhaps one day he will, if any of his amazing ventures pays off.

Perhaps he's the only CEO right now that has audacious plans for the future, just like Steve! RIP Steve

Perhpas not in the tech industry. Bill Gates is pretty legendary in his own rights. I remember when growing up, he was the man you wanted to be. Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Phill Knight, Michael Bloomberg, and I'm sure plenty of other CEOs have a pretty good "personality cult" Perhaps not as cultish as Steve Jobs, but still very legendary and an important face to their company and industry nonetheless.

Walt Disney, too.

Absolutely, Warren Buffett as well. We could go way back too, what about Rockefeller, Carnegie, William Randolph Hearst, J.P. Morgan, the Vanderbilts et al.

Jack Welch is pretty much the most famous example of this.

Microsoft might do it if it was Bill who passed away? Don´t you think?

Absolutely, but not Ballmer! Sorry, was that mean?

Would they? Microsoft worked very hard for a long time to make it clear that they could continue without Bill. He might get a 'tile' on the new home page, or one of the banner images, but do you really think Microsoft would shut down their home page like that? (I don't think so)

I was making a joke. To debate how one of the greatest tech leaders in the world would be honored on a webpage if they were to pass at the height of their career is quite foolish and mundane. Microsoft WOULD probably take a more corporate standpoint and not flog a leader like a cultist to be honest, but I wouldn't argue it.

Let's be honest, Apple didn't shut down their home page. There's a very visible "X" in the corner that can disable this immediately.

It's certainly a touching tribute, but let's not act like Apple is sacrificing significant revenue (which is looks like some people are assuming).

The letter from Cook brings the spotlight back onto Apple's products.

/endrant

The video was really good though :)

I'm sure they would do somethign, but probably not a total takeover of the page. Bill is a great man that had probably done more "good" than Steve actually.

"It's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities...[with humanity]... that yields us the result that makes our heart sing"

First and foremost - they know that it wont stop one person from buying -- eventually, even if, arguendo, it would temporarily stop someone, if they watch Steve's message they will get the company DNA so sooner or later they will convert them.

Second, money is not always everything. You know H&N the biggest New York tech shop -- multiple stores high, automated baskets flying everywhere, a product's catalog of 1,500 pages, things you can buy there that you didnt know exist. They always full easily making half a mil in profit a day. You know they close their doors every single Friday for religious purposes, regardless of what their customers think.

I think you mean B&H?

H&M is the fashion stop.

B&N is the book stop.

B&H is the tech stop.

the products were front and center in the video

You know, I opened Safari this morning and, while I was startled by the music suddenly blasting through my speakers with no warning, I watched the video through to the end. It was nice, I enjoyed it.

But EVERY TIME I OPEN A NEW SAFARI WINDOW IT STARTS PLAYING AGAIN. Sound and everything. Couldn't they have set a cookie for "already watched"?

The annoyance this occasioned was the final push I needed to go into the preferences and reset my Safari home page from the default Apple page -- actually, I just chose to have new windows open empty -- but Apple has now lost the chance to advertise to me every time I open a new browser window.

Or you know, you could change your home page...

As I wrote above, I did change my home page. In at least 5 years of Mac/Safari-use I have never bothered to change my home page before, even though I don't particularly care for seeing Apple advertising every time I open a new window. I'm just lazy that way. But having music (even beautiful music) play unbidden through my speakers every time I open a new window has forced me to make the change. Naturally (being lazy) I'm not going to change it back tomorrow, either.

And that's precisely the point I'm making: no matter how classy the video is, this is a minor mis-step for Apple, because I'm surely not the only one who will be annoyed enough to change my homepage.

And each person who changes their homepage as a result of this is one more person who won't see what Apple wants them to see every time they open up a browser window.

I think his point is that apple makes the safari homepage apple.com . They know that every mac they sell will start there. Despite knowing that, they don't seem to have thought that users might be annoyed by the video playing every time. I don't think that really matters, but it's interesting to talk about.

Well, I don't think it's the most fitting tribute to Jobs. It sounds more like an Apple commercial. Granted, Apple is the sum of his life's work. But a tribute to someone should be more than that person explaining the greatness of Apple, it should be someone explaining the greatness of Jobs, IMHO.

It's perfect. What could be a more fitting tribute to Steve Jobs than to put an elegant facade on someone else's work?

Direct link to video: http://movies.apple.com/media/us/stevejobs/stevejobs-memoria...

I used Movie Player to open it (Movie -> open location)

Direct download link: http://www.apple.com/105/media/us/stevejobs/stevejobs-memori... - 41 MB

(hint: I always download Apple videos (for future reference, and because my internet connection is really slow) and the trick is to replace "_r848-9dwc.mov" at the end to "_848x480.mov")

Page miserably fails to load on Chrome running on Ubuntu

http://imgur.com/eWREY

ya fails even with safari.

Try the mp4's posted above - http://www.apple.com/105/media/us/stevejobs/stevejobs-memori....

It worked. Thanks.

Thank you. The video would not play for me in the browser.

It says at the top that you need to allow VLC play to play the video...

I actually have it installed. But it couldn't load the video anyway.

More critically, there was no gracious fallback. All I get is a completely broken page with absolutely no outgoing links or any textual content!

The video is the only content on the page. If you don't have your system configured to play video (user error), why would you expect a fallback?

There is, in fact, a little "X" that loads in the top left. http://elsewhe.re/Jwtz

Odd, it's not a Linux-wide problem. I'm running a variant of Arch with Chrome 21, worked fine for me.

And with Chrome on Ubuntu, like them, it worked fine for me.

works for me with debian squeeze no plugins or media players installed

The VLC Multimedia Plugin doesn't seem to exist anymore: http://askubuntu.com/questions/113411/chrome-embed-vlc-playe...

Works on Chromium on OpenSuse.

Latest Chromium on FreeBSD x64, no flash, works perfectly.

Beautiful video. Well made, well executed, and showed how Jobs was a visionary for Apple and the brand. Love the minimalist presentation of the video, how the entire homepage is 'whited out' with just a simple video. Amazing experience, and made me remember some of my favorite Job quotes. Well done Apple.

There's irony in the page using a plug in for the video and SVG to render the text of Tim Cook's letter, right?

In chrome, I'm seeing a <video> tag, not a plugin.

I'm getting a quicktime plugin in chrome

What would be the irony in using SVG?

Has it already been a year? Jesus...

For those having trouble with the video, http://www.apple.com/105/media/us/stevejobs/stevejobs-memori...

just curious, why is the link "apple.com/?hn" ?

Because http://www.apple.com was submitted 600+ days ago and HN does not allow reposts.

Because the link has been posted before, to get around the duplicate detection you append meaningless GET params.

More because http://www.apple.com/ did not opened the Tim's note, while http://www.apple.com/?hn did. It seems any random GET param is indeed meaningful in this case :)

Works for me without the GET param. Maybe it's just because you're returning to the page?

I'd hate to be the guy to do this but...

I agree, to some extent, with Malcolm Gladwell's take on the Steve Jobs legacy.

http://tinyurl.com/br6rl7b

Still, RIP Steve and thanks for inspiring us.

Sent from my iPhone.

"in relation to Microsoft's Bill Gates"

Their's different types of legacies you can leave behind. apples to oranges.

Who's going to remember Malcolm Gladwell in 50 years?

Unless I'm too senile, I will.

Gladwell's writings are (if nothing else) extremely popular and extremely enjoyable to read. We remember content from 50 years ago that wasn't half as good.

Is there any reason for that to be a tinyurl link?

History is not so simple as this guy points out. Jobs had a significant impact, no doubt. People like Carnegie were not so nice, nor Rockefeller, Edison, Khan, Atilla the Hun. However, history remembers these people just fine, for good and bad. I believe it's quite normal to see the good and bad in people, because in reality that's how we all are. Jobsy left on a high note, turned Apple around. He will be remembered - and fondly, might I hazard a guess.

Why is there a ?hn link referral tag at the end of the URL?

There are few founders that are remembered as fondly as Steve after they retire or pass away: Grove, Gates, Hewlett, Packard come to mind.

Something to think different about.

I think I just found an easter egg in Siri in tribute to Steve: http://i.imgur.com/Ptz47.png

I got it too a while ago. I asked "Is Steve Jobs your father?" and Siri prompted me with the same page.

How do you fullscreen videos on apple.com?

You can't. Steve says it himself very well: "Apple is not about technology" :)

On OS X or iOS there should be a full-screen button in the upper right corner of the video player controls.

Its not about the idea, about the product or about the technology. It was Steve's unique way to change the way a product is made, to make it intuitive, elegant and simple which set him apart.

Its not the idea, but implementation of the idea, in the most creative and beautiful manner, that matters.

If you click the "x" in the upper-left, there is a message from Tim Cook about Steve's passing.

To me that was a bit of a special day: on the one-year anniversary of Steve Jobs' death I get the official notification that I am on the transplant list for a new kidney. (I also spent that morning on the operating table having a PD-catheter installed).

We miss you, Steve.

How different will this be from the Kim Jun Il tribute?

Very different. North Korea actually has nuclear weapons for use in their random "thermonuclear wars".

But didn't Steve Jobs threaten to "Go Nuclear" with patents?

"Nuclear patent winter is coming" -- House Stallman words

I could actually smell this comment from five pages up.

Technology and a focus on the future go hand in hand. I wonder whether Jobs (at his best) would be dwelling on the past like this (over any event)? What happens when an army of sheep loses its lion?

Also, while the hockey puck quote in the video could be interpreted as a hedge/ preemptive rebuttal of the above observation, I don't think it was meant that way. The tremendous irony there must have escaped quite a few people, since they ended up running with it.

I think this is the first time Apple posted a non QuickTime video on their site. As a Linux user, it felt different :)

Still QuickTime for me (Chrome on Mac/Lion) and it doesn't work by default (something with permissions).

Tasteful, elequent and respectfuly well designed tribute. I'm sure even the late great Steve Jobs would of approved.

I like the way they show the video, "Exit out" In the upper left corner, anyone know what they use to do this?

Why must I watch the tribute every time i open safari? I miss him less each time...

If you like this video you would like our creation Steve Jobs Timeline as well - www.nuskhalabs.com and http://tmblr.co/Zpw4yxUgp9Mi

If you reset safari you get the video. Interesting

Isn't that just because the default homepage in safari is apple.com?

Jobs, meh. Hardly up there with Ford or Rolls & Royce, for example. Far more inspiring, far greater creations, and much more interesting companies.

Still, his products were ever so pretty.

this makes me sad

(and that i'm the first one to use the word "sad" in this thread makes me even more sad)

Is this the beginning of making a legend and a myth out of Steve Jobs? Yes let's remember him but also let's move on.

* Not using the HTML5 Video Tag

It's using it on Chrome for me.

No mention of the iPad or OS X.

If you had to boil Steve Jobs's biggest contributions down to a minimum, it's:

  * the first genuinely usable, affordable GUI (i.e. the Mac)

  * the iPod

  * the iPhone

I'd say the Apple ][ is debatably on that list (the first personal computer than "just worked" or something). NeXTStep is a wonderful OS with a lot of Good Stuff in it but it's a piece of a product. The iPod Touch and iPhone are fairly obvious evolutions of the iPhone.

The other missing item isn't an Apple product: Pixar.

No question about Apple ][ - That was the first computer schools across the country (US) started buying en masse.

To my mind, that is the product that really touched off the personal computer revolution. As you mention, the Mac paradigm shift was about the GUI, Mouse, and taking what they started with the I and ][ to the next, more refined and "product-ized" level.

I'm pretty sure the Apple //e was the first computer I ever touched. That or a TRS-80. But I choose to repress that memory.

I tend to agree with you. (I actually started writing a defense of my initial position and realized that I was wrong!) I think some would like to dismiss the Apple ][ as, say, merely being the luckiest of a bunch of similarly conceived products that came out around the same time (e.g. the Commodore Pet was announced earlier but delivered later, and the TRS-80 came out slightly afterwards), but then not only was the Apple ][ more successful, it was also dramatically superior technically (e.g. its expansion bus allowed for self-configuring cards that could even slave the computer, which led to products like the DTACK 68k board that turned a humble Apple ][ into a workstation-class computer back in 1980.

http://www.easy68k.com/paulrsm/dg/

It was mainly clips of Steve Jobs having fun. Maybe there wasn't a suitable clip from the iPad launch.

Signs of his illness were, unfortunately, more evident at the iPad launch, he was much thinner. I think this video pays appropriate tribute to his spirit, and the way he would prefer to be remembered.

I bet they wish he could come back, Maps/Siri/lack of innovation on new products.

Everything coming out now went through him, do you think it really takes a year to develop products? The maps team had been working on the new maps for years. I guess Apple should have invented warp drive in the last year too.

He wouldn't have released it, he will be spinning in his grave right now. They need to ditch Cook and get someone with a pair of balls.

I think they would have released it. It seems they had little choice. It was either release it or renegotiate their contract with Google since it is almost up.

Steve released plenty of crap. Anybody remember iCloud? How about Ping?

Jobs chose Cook and groomed/trained him and I'm sure gave him some specific details on the pipeline.

What a stunningly vulgar comment.

Gross.

Anything to detract from the disaster that is Apple Maps. If I could I would undo two things, first revert to iOS5, then bring Jobs back. Ah, the good old days.

You would bring back Steve Jobs second?

Seriously, downvotes? I was gonna bring him back!

Yeah second, because my immediate problem is getting to my intended destination tonight and since the upgrade which screwed with my WiFi tethering and maps that's a problem.

It would take even him more than a couple of hours to fix this. A downgrade I could do myself, if Apple allowed it that is...

my immediate problem is getting to my intended destination tonight

Just in case you hadn't noticed, complaining about your inability to get to where you're going with your new maps app looks really whiny and entitled.

Go back just a few short years in human history and we didn't have any smartphones with maps and GPS, and you know what? people actually managed to find their destinations. Get some perspective.

It worked three weeks ago, now it doesn't. So I miss Jobs.

FYI, I was a participant at the root of that development (drove with GPS on the roof of a mini cooper in 1992, the company I worked for then, licensed data to Google Maps for many years). The perspective I have is that there was no reason to screw with something that worked at the expense of the user.

Still miss jobs.

My wife's Android navigation will do tonight. Her S3 Looks pretty nifty suddenly.

I miss Jobs as well. On that we can absolutely agree.

Am I the only one who finds it kind of sick that Apple is squeezing out as much PR as possible of the death of their former CEO?

Let the man rest in peace.

The Apple website is one of the bigger ones - and yet they essentially removed all of their products from the landing page, if anything I would guess that there will be a small dip in revenue today for the online store. I disagree that this is about PR, the people running the company lost their colleague and probably genuinely miss Steve. A somewhat classy tribute.

It also reminds everybody of their mission, contrast with HP for example who have lost their way.

I sure hate it when it's the anniversary of an event and people take the time to remember it.

Keep in mind to many of the people at Apple Steve Jobs was the company, and to many there he was a friend. Generally people do take the opportunity to remember the people they've lost on the day they've lost them.

Your comment would be valid if they actually did try and make money off it, but they're likely going to lose some sales. You probably are missing something if you also think he was just a former CEO, he was a bit more than that to Apple.

The only conspiracy theory here that I can dream up is that this is both a fitting tribute to Jobs and a not-so-subtle plea for consumers to associate any new iProducts in the future as ultimately coming some Jobsian level of genious.

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