Steve Jobs is a Genius

[zgh1999]

I was looking at several of Steve Jobs' presentations -- ranging from his introduction of the Mac in 1984 and the 1984 ad, to his return to Apple from NeXT in 1997, and his 2005 Stanford speech.

I got to tell you, Steve Jobs is without the doubt the most creative and intelligent man in the computing industry, if not among all of the CEOs.

 

[roland.g]

I was looking at several of Steve Jobs' presentations -- ranging from his introduction of the Mac in 1984 and the 1984 ad, to his return to Apple from NeXT in 1997, and his 2005 Stanford speech.

I got to tell you, Steve Jobs is without the doubt the most creative and intelligent man in the computing industry, if not among all of the CEOs.

Shhh! Don't tell him that.

I mean, umm, that explains the clothing repertoire.

 

[rijiMacDij]

I was looking at several of Steve Jobs' presentations -- ranging from his introduction of the Mac in 1984 and the 1984 ad, to his return to Apple from NeXT in 1997, and his 2005 Stanford speech.

I got to tell you, Steve Jobs is without the doubt the most creative and intelligent man in the computing industry, if not among all of the CEOs.

He's gotta be pretty good, He got me to pay good money for .Mac..........twice

 

[TheAnswer]

I mean, umm, that explains the clothing repertoire.

How? The man's only been able to pick out one outfit his entire life! That's hardly genius level thinking there.

I don't know if he's the smartest, but he definitely is one of the most inspired and inspiring people in the industry.

 

[roland.g]

How? The man's only been able to pick out one outfit his entire life! That's hardly genius level thinking there.

I don't know if he's the smartest, but he definitely is one of the most inspired and inspiring people in the industry.

Geniuses are often lacking/challenged in some other area. Grooming, hygiene, dress, social interaction, etc.

 

[AdeFowler]

He's certainly a showman, what's more I think he actually believes some of his claims I watched the WWDC keynote this morning and was pleased to see his continued enthusiasm.

 

[Mr. Amiga500]

Steve Jobs is a Genius?

I disagree. He's an excellent presenter, salesman and businessman and he certainly knows how to promote his products and himself, but I wouldn't call him a genius. The true geniuses are the people who create amazing things, not the people who plan on how they are marketed and sold. Unfortunately, the true geniuses are usually much less known than the self-promoting business people who take credit for their work.

 

[Counter]

Depends how lightly you want to throw about the word genius.

He's had and hopefully continues to have amazing vision. But I'm not sure if it's genius level.

 

[macmike47]

Genius?

Now if I was going to give anyone at Apple genius-status, I'd have to go for Jonny Ive. He's the true visionary. Agreed, Jobs is excellent at what he does and he strikes me as highly intelligent. But Ive, as someone put it, "could probably design a better triangle, and when he was done you’d realize that three sides were one side too many".

 

[aricher]

I disagree. He's an excellent presenter, salesman and businessman and he certainly knows how to promote his products and himself, but I wouldn't call him a genius. The true geniuses are the people who create amazing things, not the people who plan on how they are marketed and sold. Unfortunately, the true geniuses are usually much less known than the self-promoting business people who take credit for their work.

While I wouldn't call Steve Jobs a "genius" per-se I do think that marketing and sales can be art forms in and of themselves. You don't actually have to hands-on craft an object to be considered a genius. I think everyone has the potential to create great things and that potential can manifest itself in many ways - including business and marketing plans.

 

[itcheroni]

He's definitely a marketing genius. And he's knows talent when he sees it.

 

[surferfromuk]

How? The man's only been able to pick out one outfit his entire life! That's hardly genius level thinking there.

Perhaps he's like Jeff Goldblum in The Fly and doesn't want to waste valuable CPU cycles on 'material' things.

Perhaps he thinks when his photos' are scrutinized in the year 2100 that jeans and turtleneck will still be 'in vogue' and hence whilst 'mere mortals' from the periods of the late 20th century look 'funny' and 'wierd' he will look like some kind of time traveller..

Perhaps he is a time traveller who slips between time dimensions and jeans and turtleneck are the only 'constant' he can be sure of to ensure that he doesn't suddenly 'appear' wearing a totally different outfit than the one he was just seen say 'entering the bathroom in'?

At least it's not a straight white smock like Dr No wore in the Bond Movie...then he'd really freak people out!.

 

[aLoC]

How? The man's only been able to pick out one outfit his entire life! That's hardly genius level thinking there.

I suspect he wears the Levis because they are an example of good design.

 

[Mac-Addict]

Woz was (Hm... say that 10 times faster..) the real Genius of Apple and Jobs is the Salesman of Apple. In a way Jobs is a manipulator, he can tell you what you need/want before you knew it and he can justify it, without you even thinking about it.
Take Leopard stacks.. My desktop has always been cluttered but I thought thats how it gets and you can't really change that easily, but when I saw stacks I had to have it right there and then.. unfortunately I can't but you get what I mean

 

[jeremy.king]

How? The man's only been able to pick out one outfit his entire life! That's hardly genius level thinking there.

Wasting no additional energy on deciding what to wear IS genius in my opinion!

 

[CrackedButter]

I disagree. He's an excellent presenter, salesman and businessman and he certainly knows how to promote his products and himself, but I wouldn't call him a genius. The true geniuses are the people who create amazing things, not the people who plan on how they are marketed and sold. Unfortunately, the true geniuses are usually much less known than the self-promoting business people who take credit for their work.

Its more than just marketing and having business sense, the guy is a visionary, I think focusing on the word "genius" is wrong, when you are a visionary and surround yourself with talented people, some who may be geniuses themselves and you're listened to, those other attributes you're picking apart are secondary to Steve Job's character.

Woz for example could be the genius due to his technical ability, but for Apple to do what it has done in its life span, takes more than one man so remember that.

 

[surferfromuk]

Woz was (Hm... say that 10 times faster..) the real Genius of Apple and Jobs is the Salesman of Apple. In a way Jobs is a manipulator, he can tell you what you need/want before you knew it and he can justify it, without you even thinking about it.

Woz was the second genius of Apple but Jobs is undeniably the first.

Getting Woz to apply himself is why Jobs genius ranks first, as is taking the esoteric 'research' at Xerox Parc and turning it into the mac.

Without Jobs you could even, perhaps tenuously, argue that the personal computer revolution may just never have happened, in the same way that you could argue that without Henry T Ford the 'personal car revolution' may never have happened even though Ford never actually invented 'the engine'.

There are no guarantee's that the Altair would have evolved beyond the homebrew clubs.

There really is the world 'Before Jobs' and the world 'After Jobs' - the divide is THAT CLEAR!

 

[AdeFowler]

It all depends how you define genius. I've read many stories about developers at Apple slaving for days on a project. Steve Jobs walks in and says, "That's ****. You can do better". Even Bill Gates admitted that he'd love to have Steve's eye for design.

 

[MrSmith]

Geniuses are often lacking/challenged in some other area. Grooming, hygiene, dress, social interaction, etc.

Thank you! You've just given me an excuse for carrying on living.

 

[rev316]

*looks at current wardrobe*

Looking like a promising future...

 

[Igantius]

Woz was the second genius of Apple but Jobs is undeniably the first.

Getting Woz to apply himself is why Jobs genius ranks first, as is taking the esoteric 'research' at Xerox Parc and turning it into the mac.

As has been pointed out by journalists such as Michael Malone (in his excellent 'Inifinite Loop'), Apple was already researching in the areas that it 'took' from Zerox Parc before any visits were made - as shown by the patents filed by Apple.

Jef Raskin should get his fair share of praise too...

The myth that Jobs 'took' the Mac from XP is just that - a myth.

While extolling the virtures of Lisa, Jobs called initially called the Mac, the "dumbest idea" he had ever heard of.

As to Jobs getting to Woz to apply himself, well if HP hadn't passed up Woz's offer of the Apple 1 , things would have been rather different. Let's not forget that Woz is one of the very few people to have started in hardware and then write code (or vice versa) and the person who created the first reliable floppy disk drive... amongst other things.

If Woz had all the money that Jobs cheated him out of (for the work he did on Breakout) he could have afforded the Intel 8080, that he so coveted for the Apple - instead he had to go with a cheaper Motorola microprocessor... and the rest is history as they say....

 

[dmw007]

I got to tell you, Steve Jobs is without the doubt the most creative and intelligent man in the computing industry, if not among all of the CEOs.

I agree, Steve Jobs is without a doubt in my mind one of the most intelligent/creative men ever in the computer industry.

 

[dukebound85]

no as much as i like apple, i would say gates role is so much more influential. gates is as much if not more a genius than jobs. now i expect all the apple fanboys to call me out but it was a great move to license software without a doubt

i know i use a heck of alot more things influenced by microsoft than apple. hands down

but yes steve jobs is also a genius dont get me wrong

 

[MrSmith]

SJ is the second bestest 'genius' in the computer industry.

 

[Counter]

SJ is the second bestest 'genius' in the computer industry.

I think you're thinking of Brill Gates.