“Was it salesmanship or engineering? Creativity or ruthlessness? Or was Steve Jobs simply gifted with vision and impeccable taste? Whatever the true source of his success, there was more than a touch of genius about Jobs,” Tim Harford writes for FT Magazine. “Even his side project, Pixar, was an astounding achievement. His first love, Apple, he built from nothing and then dragged back from the brink to make it the most valuable company in the world. No wonder so many of us felt sad at the news of his passing: surely he had more to offer.”
“I spend my life in front of a computer, and that life is better because of what Steve Jobs created. But here’s the strange thing: I’ve never owned an Apple product for longer than the two weeks it took to give up and send it back. (Apple’s customer returns department is impeccable, by the way.) My Macbook Air? Glorious hardware, but fussy software and a counterintuitive interface,” Harford writes. “My iPad? Beautiful – but also heavy, not too fond of wireless, and refused even to turn on until I did some most impertinent things to my Windows laptop.”
Harford writes, “Apple never made a penny from me. Why, then, do I say that Steve Jobs improved my life? It’s because I am surrounded by technology that looks good and works well because others followed where Apple led.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Dummy was ruined by Bill Gates’ upside-down and backwards bastardized Mac.
Why, for just one example, did Gates and Microsoft have Windows’ icons on the wrong side of the screen? Because they thought it would help them avoid an Apple lawsuit, not because research told them the left side was better for most humans. Apple did the human interface research, that’s why the Mac’s icons are on the right and correct side. Ditto for the individual window controls.
Thankfully, most people have a bit more patience and can unlearn bad habits when they upgrade from Windows to Mac. It’s times like this we’re doubly thankful for having started on Macs. Microsoft has done more to retard humanity’s progress than any company in history.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Nicholas C.” for the heads up.]