If Steve Jobs were still alive...

[phalseHUD]

Would he have done something similar to Lavabit and shut iCloud down until further notice?
Interesting to note that Apple allegedly only signed up to this 'thing' in 2012 after Steve was gone.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/08/lavabit-email-shut-down-edward-snowden

For discussion?

EDIT: mods, might this thread be better off in the political section?

 

[Dulcimer]

No, they would never have shut down iCloud. Too big to suddenly halt it.

I have a feeling that SJ would never, ever sign up for PRISM. He'd probably get into some real, loud-mouthed arguments with the government. This would all be secret since it'd be behind closed doors.

 

[roadbloc]

iCloud was Steve's apparent legacy. Why would he have shut it down?

 

[phalseHUD]

iCloud was Steve's apparent legacy. Why would he have shut it down?

Because of his past perhaps? They flew the pirate flag on the campus back then. Apparently he wasn't a sentimental person either. As mentioned, it just seems strange how they hadn't signed up to PRISM until after his death...

 

[rdowns]

If Steve Jobs were still alive...

...we wouldn't have all of these inane if Steve Jobs were still alive threads.

 

[pdjudd]

I propose the following: Unless we have Steve Jobs recorded testimony saying what he would have done if X scenario had arisen, we should stop speculating since at the very least in a binary situation, we would have a 50% chance of being wrong. And since we can't ask Steve, we won't know and never will.

And lets not forget, Steve himself did not want people asking such things. And I agree with him. Who cares? He's dead and buried and he can't make the choices. Of we are going to do that, why go with Steve and not someone else more important?

 

[phalseHUD]

Agreed no one knows for sure... But here's a fairly revealing talk from the man himself. Lets also not forget he was a bit of a anti-establishment rebel type...

 

[pdjudd]

But here's a fairly revealing talk from the man himself.

I don't think that it's enough for us to derive what he would have done. And frankly I don't see the point in thinking about it anyway since he is dead and he didn't want people to ask what he would have done. I say we take that advice.

 

[A Hebrew]

It doesn't matter what Steve Jobs would've done. This is now Tim Cook's house!

 

[jav6454]

Would he have done something similar to Lavabit and shut iCloud down until further notice?

... but he isn't. Seriously, these threads about "What would Steve do?" are pointless. Give the man a good rest already.

 

[vvswarup]

It is rumored that in one of Steve's many conversations with Cook about how to run Apple after he left, one of the remarks he made was to never second-guess a decision and think about what Steve would have done. If he told Tim Cook, the man who would take the reigns of Apple from him, to never think about how Steve himself would have run Apple, then it's pretty ironic that day after day, people trot out the same old argument-Steve wouldn't have done that.

 

[pdjudd]

I don't think it's a "rumor". I think it's actually a quoted statement made by somebody (I don't think it was in the bio).

Of course people who say "Steve Jobs would have never done/said/anything X" are generally not really interested in said desire since touting the idea of "Steve Jobs was Apple" idea gets them page views.

And to be honest, it is a tempting idea to believe that Steve Jobs was Apple despite the fact that it is obviously not the case. I think it also plays into the mythology and secrecy of Apple - that the company was run enigmatically and the only source of info was Steve. We all know that people love mythology.