S. Jobs died today: lucky & dissapointed.
So. Steve Jobs died today. We're watching CNN - Piers Morgan /
Anderson Cooper, it's got to be 3 hours of uninterrupted prime-time tv. I've left to go do my ironing.
I watch. I hear. I hear: "...greater than Edison" "...changed the way we live
forever...", etc. Come on.
I am one of the heartiest Apple fans ever, but, really now. People!
Today Lybia is asleep, Washington has no big events, it's one of those low-importance days in world news. So Jobs lucks out. The media are making this into a huge, historical event. He gets prime-time on all the major networks (god knows about web news). It's luck, man!
Regarding the historical importance of computers, the internet, iphones, itunes and Apple.
My eternal question is: does it increase worldwide productivity?
Let me ask that again: Has any of this increased the output and/or
efficiency of our economy? Made the world a better, safer place?
This is pertinent. We are now wrappedup in the "technology revolution" -
very reminiscent of the "dotcom"bubble that we remember from the 90's.
People (the public) get all excited and invest, invest, invest.
And what did we learn from that?
Meanwhile, jobs are lost, service is slower and expenses across the board are going up. And there is no solution in sight.
Computers have been good for business. Especially the large corporations that can now process all that data and steer it towards more profits and more growth (for themselves).
The internet is a wonderful gift to consumers. No more libraries, instant communications for (virtually) free, and the ability to go shopping while buck naked, etcetera. I enjoy it, but admit I spend way too much time on it - TV stands for "time vaccuum". Still true.
But for importance to humanity at large and relevance to how we live now,
only Wikileaks and Craigslist have made much of a difference.
Apple products have always been the BMW's of the tech world. Beautifully
designed, far more functional, and ... pricey. Apple users are extremely loyal
to the brand, and have paid for the privilege. Apple's user interfaces and
product design have made them the leaders worldwide and set new standards
across almost every category of product. {Why everyone else cannot copy
boggles my mind}. But, Apple are for those who can afford Apple. The Elite.
So, what was S. Jobs? Worthy of history books? My answer is, humbly, no.
He was a brilliant driver of design and marketing. {I must say that I personally
give much credit to Lee Clow of Chiat/Day, who gave vision to the brand in
media advertising}. The music industry desperately needed to be "ripped a
new asshole". He did it. Jobs tried the same tactic with the cellphone industry
but failed. He perhaps deserves a small space in the American Business History
Book, mentioning that he did a few things between 1984 and 2004. But remember.
we are sill in a world that is 88% Microsoft / IBM pc based. PC's rule the world.
I have absolutely no doubt that he had the concepts for Apple innovations: the
iphone, itunes and all the rest. Others may have implemented it and made it
work. I visualize Steve Jobs with a Thai whipping stick (I have one in my office)
beating the poor little geniuses until they produced the seeminly impossible.
Good for him. Well done.
And I remember the the launches of iphone and itunes. The shook the foundations
of the cellphone business ( a ripoff proposition - price gougers), and the music
industry (charletans of the highest order and irrelevant to any real change in
the world).
I believe he died dissappointed. That he did not live to concieve the real purpose
of technology - to increase actual productivity and improve the lives of all, not just
those whom could afford the BMW's of technical toys.
Now it'll be up to me to define that, and I hope that makes Steve rest in peace.
Steve Jobs wasn't a bad person. But he wasn't a god, either. I admired him. I was
jealous - that a person could make what he did out of something that nobody could
see a future in. But Thomas Edison? Come on, people.
road trip #2, 2011
At the end of summer, my daughter and I drove from Minnesota
to the East Coast, to get her to college in Vermont. I had the truck
all packed (16mpg), and looked at our little BMW convertible and
thought: "Damn if I can't fit all that into there"(27mpg). 
Road Trip #1, 2011
Thursday: Family needs a car - our lease is up and I'm panting about
what to do next. Brother in San Diego to the rescue - offers his 2000
Silverado pickup truck, I accept.
Login to kayak.com, find and buy a cheap one-way ticket ( $150! ).
Saturday - nice to fly again, been a long time since. Am tired, nod off,
awaken to guy next to me eating. Steward is in aisle next to us.
ME: "Excuse me, but I was asleep. Can I have a meal too please?"
STEWARD: "I'm sorry but he brought his own - we don't have any food."
NEIGHBOR: "Want half of mine?"
11pm at brother's house - a quick look at the car, but it's late and I'm
tired. We tour the newly-renovated house - beautiful! A palace.
And then out back to look at the rare bicycle collection. In bed, browse
through book about Alex Singer - French bicycle maker and artist,
unbelievable detail and design!
