# Is Steve Jobs still an angry man?



## Mario8672 (Sep 20, 2007)

I just saw *Pirates of Silicon Valley* and I was surprised to find Steve overworking and really just being an abusive guy. My question, is he still like this or has he learned his lesson from what happened? Answer the question or discuss the movie in general. Thanks!


*Not sure if this was the right forum, sorry.


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## Thank The Cheese (Sep 20, 2007)

there have been many, many stories of steve jobs being a very scary man to work under. Like the story about the workers who got into a lift with Jobs, and were fired by the time it reached their floor. 

There was also the story where Jobs was going to be Time man of the year (someone please correct me -- I think it was Time man of the year, but it may have been another publication), but they ended up changing it to someone else because they couldn't find anyone to give a positive interview about him. 

Now, these are all stories, and I'm sure many of these myths can be busted, but they must be based on something. The fact that apple is so well liked, and yet Steve Jobs still has the reputation he does says a lot about how arrogant and overbearing he must be. 

Of course, his abrasive personality could easily be argued to be why Apple has had so much success. He is blunt and arrogant, but he has needed to be, and a lot of the time it is because he has to fight uphill battles for the right to do things that make us the consumers happy (eg. .99c music; 1.99 TV shows, etc). 

I'm about 2/3rds of the way through iWoz -- highly recommended btw -- it doesn't go into great detail from JObs' perspective, but he is clearly what Apple needs. Woz is shy and soft and good hearted, and Jobs is quite ruthless and a great salesman and not afraid to make enemies for the sake of business. 

I don't know the guy, but personally I don't feel he has changed much. However, at the same time, we as Apple fans probably shouldn't want him to .

PS. what did you think of the movie? I was a little disappointed myself.


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## symphonix (Sep 21, 2007)

I think all of us have changed a lot since 1984, Steve Jobs included.  However, I do picture him as being a difficult guy to get along with.

I remember in the MacWorld immediately after Pirates of Silicon Valley and Noah Wyle opened the keynote by walking on stage in his Steve Jobs persona, before the real Steve came out and chased him off. It was pretty good.


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## Qion (Sep 21, 2007)

The better question is: Who's going to take over for Steve once he's gone?


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## fryke (Sep 21, 2007)

That is easily answered. There are three options:

1.) Steve Jobs doesn't die. He's immortal. If not, he'll live until Apple can preserve his consciousness and genious in an iBrain, which is what'll power Keynote '18, btw.

2.) Should Steve Jobs ever die, the company will, at first, function for a while without him. Basically, we only notice _him_ when he's publicly speaking. The fact that he's gone will give Apple some martyr effect. Future keynotes would have a lot of "You know, Steve would have really liked this feature..." comments throughout the show.

3.) Five years before resigning (he won't die while being Apple's CEO), he'll introduce his successor. We probably won't notice him as such for a while. He'll pop up at a WWDC first (to test audience-compatibility and give him dev-cred). He'll demo some or other feature at a MWSF later. Shortly before the announcement that Steve will resign a year from then, he'll introduce the first major Apple product himself. By then it'll be abundantly clear that he has to become Jobs' successor. There'll actually be rumours beforehand, and petitions and wishlists pointing to that announcement.

I dunno. I just think Steve probably has given this already some serious thought when he learned about that pancreatic cancer thing.

There's an outside chance that Woz would get back to Apple. I don't see Phil Schiller ever filling the role, although he's "un sympa". Any (successful) future leader of Apple would need a halo of his own, I think.

One thing's to be sure: This is a religious thing. So maybe they can just name anyone "iPope". The role's basically the same as the Pope's, albeit for a demi-god. (Which is better than a god, because a demi-god is half-real.)


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## Lazarus18 (Sep 21, 2007)

Keep promoting Jonathan Ive. He has personality, he has vision, and he can keep Apple on track doing what they do best. Whether he has the business ruthlessness or not remains to be seen, but Apple has built themselves back up based on design.


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## Qion (Sep 21, 2007)

ah, Fryke, let's not start any religious wars from anybody. Anyway, I was kind of wondering if any of his offspring could possibly want to take over his role as Apple god. I think that might be the best thing to do, have somebody that knew him personally and that could really relate to what he ultimately desired. Anyway, Iknow it's far off, but somewhat troubling anyway.

To put it simply, I won't shed tears when Gates passes on.


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## Ferdinand (Sep 22, 2007)

I would say Jonathan Ive and Phil Schiller could replace Steve, the question is, who will be accepted better?


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## Thank The Cheese (Sep 22, 2007)

fryke said:


> There's an outside chance that Woz would get back to Apple. I don't see Phil Schiller ever filling the role, although he's "un sympa". Any (successful) future leader of Apple would need a halo of his own, I think.



I don't think Woz will every return to Apple. And even if he did, he has made it very clear that he has never wanted a management role in Apple -- he only ever wanted to be an engineer. He just would not be able to do what Steve does (and vice versa) -- that's why they made such a good team in the beginning. 

I guess it's all a question of how much of Apple's success can be credited to Jobs. If Jobs really has been responsible for as much as he is given credit for, then Apple will be in very serious trouble when he leaves. I think Apple will be fine though, at least for the first 5 years or so after he leaves. They have much clearer goals and business models than they did in the 90s.

This reminds me of the news of Bill Gates leaving MS. I like and respect Gates, but I am terrified of what Ballmer will do. *shudders*


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## chevy (Sep 22, 2007)

Ferdinand said:


> I would say Jonathan Ive and Phil Schiller could replace Steve, the question is, who will be accepted better?



I think they cannot replace him. Nobody can replace Steve, because of his personality and because of his history. Nevertheless, Steve selected very good coworkers and I am convinced that Jonathan, Phil and the others can give a very good future to Apple. It will of course be very different from Apple's present, but it can be fruitful.


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## Lt Major Burns (Sep 22, 2007)

seeing jonathan ive talk in interviews about what he's done, he talks very similarly to jobs in the same situation.


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## fryke (Sep 22, 2007)

And he's been hidden for the past few years, I think. Haven't seen Jonathan Ive talk about his products for quite a while. I think the G4 iMac was the last time he was talking in a keynote video...


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## Lt Major Burns (Sep 22, 2007)

iMac G5 intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVEuy1Zrf4E


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## Qion (Sep 22, 2007)

I remember seeing that iMac G5 introduction when it was first released. I can tell by the way Ive talks about his products that he has a creative vision and mentality that is similar to my own. I would have no qualms if he were to take Jobs' spot, besides maybe worry from the stress of overwork and what might result from that.

(What might it be like to have both the role of industrial designer and CEO?)


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