The messiah of the Apple cargo cult has walked away from his role as Apple's CEO after suffering from a bad case of perspective, as we reported at midnight.
Steve Jobs is probably the first person in Apple's history to suddenly wake up one morning and realise that there are better things in life than shiny toys. In Steve's case there is his health.
A long time ago we warned Jobs that creating fantasies for fanboys was a largely pointless exercise when your health was on the rocks.
In a letter to the Board, Jobs said that he had always said if there ever came a day when he could no longer meet his duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, he would be the first to let them know. "Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee," he said.
With the news that he has pushed forward the publication of his autobiography there are some fears that Jobs might be getting very sick.
Jobs co-founded Apple 35 years ago with his school chum Steve Wozniak after dropping out of Reed College. The pair's breakthrough product, the Macintosh, on which Jobs oversaw development, was introduced in 1984.
But although Jobs was credited with the Mac's success he was also instrumental in preventing it gaining wide scale acceptance, refusing to allow the technology to be cloned, like the PC.
In 1985 his autocratic rule was challenged and he was fired as chairman in a power struggle on the company's board. He then started NeXT Inc., a company that developed a sophisticated computer workstation, and later co-founded Pixar Animation Studios.
He returned to Apple, initially as an adviser in 1996, as part of the company's acquisition of NeXT. The outfit had suffered badly and was unable to dent the reign of Microsoft.
He was drafted back in and shifted the company away from its traditional nice looking PC model, to gizmos and toys such as the iPod. Pushed with clever marketing, Jobs made it appear as if the gadgets had never been invented before. Many still believe that he invented the portable MP3 player.
But Jobs' masterstroke was to move into the mobile arena first with the smartphone. Smartphones had been around but they had never had Apple's design applied to them. That, coupled with a fanatical base and a sympathetic press, enabled Jobs to create a mobile hysteria around smartphones.
It was dubbed Jobs' 'reality distortion field' where whatever the man said was considered to be absolutely true. It resulted in a company which was less about viable technology and more of a shallow 21st century cult where products were a replacement for religious satisfaction. Jobs' Apple managed to keep the cult exclusive by keeping prices high and regularly refreshing products.
Just as interest in the iPod started to die off, Jobs came up with the iPad which successfully dusted off the tablet idea which Microsoft and indeed he had failed to convince the world was viable.
In doing so, Jobs created the "mobile boom" which lead to the development of more mobile consumer gadgets. This boom caught the industry on the hop and it has been slow to find an answer. This is mostly because rivals lacked the slick marketing and the fanatical Apple fanboy base and Tame Apple Press which Apple cultivated.
So far no one has managed to replicate Jobs' success at this and it is not for a lack of technology.
Jobs also developed a cult of personality based around himself and turned the company into an incredibly secretive and proprietary outfit. He was one of the few CEOs who ignored the trends in open source development and touted total control over products. As a result his iTunes software store became more censored than China as he fought to appease the US Bible Belt.
All this success came at a price. Jobs was sick and took long medical leave in three bursts since 2004. His problem was pancreatic cancer. He had the neuroendocrine tumor removed in 2004 and said afterwards all the cancer was gone, and he did not require chemotherapy or radiation treatment.
In a normal universe, Jobs would have quit and spent loads of money getting better. However the cult of personality which had developed around Apple had forbidden that. Even rumours that Apple's messiah was under the weather was enough to send the outfit's stock price falling.
The belief, which had been cultivated by Jobs, was that the business could not do without him. As a result health reports were suppressed. In 2009 it was revealed how sick he was getting, and shareholders were furious that they had not been told.
When information was released, the Tame Apple Press insisted that although pancreatic tumours, which are highly lethal and which kill 95 percent of patients within five years, Jobs had a neuroendocrine tumour which was different. Jobs went missing on sick leave and had a liver transplant. However at the time the world was not reporting some important facts. Only that 44 percent of the patients who were treated for such a tumour with a liver transplant were alive five years later. The age of the patient was crucial and Jobs at 55 just makes the cutoff.
Nevertheless the Apple cult of personality insisted that Jobs had got better and the operation was widely reported to have worked right until this year when Jobs again took time off.
Jobs' impact on Apple was vital and if other companies match his move into mobile, he could have a dramatic long term effect on the IT industry. However the real danger for Apple is that the reality distortion field around its products will crumble over time.
As such, Jobs has left the company at its peak and it will need to come up with some pretty good moves to match what he managed.
Those who have come to believe that Steve Jobs is their personal saviour, might have difficulty accepting Tim Cook in the same role. It is easy to buy a pile of tat from a man who you think is Jesus, however Tim has an uphill battle convincing anyone that Elijah's mantel has fallen to him.
Needless to say we expect Apple's shareprice to suddenly become more realistic today.
My wife, who is no technology maven, asked on the way to work this morning, "Rich, I can't remember where Apple actually created anything." Dear, I said, that is entirely true. Fruityco never actually invented anything, they were just good at stealing other peoples' ideas and turning them into the products of a religious cult. Feel unloved, buy a fruityco product and you will be saved. That was what fruityco was good at. Nothing else. Certainly not at technology. And anyone who claims otherwise is just a useless drooling genetically defective script kiddie nobody. Just something to be ignored. Or dropped in the trash can.
Nonetheless, Apple is an example of what the West can still do when quality matters. You didn't see any Chinese firms come up with anything like the iPad, and the interfaces of most of the MP3 players out there STILL sucks.
Give a little credit where it's due. People do USE these items - they're not just buying them and throwing them away. Their shiny stuff is somewhere between god-like and usable.
The build quality of their products is no better or worse than any other and claiming otherwise is a fine example of the aforementioned reality distortion field.
The 'reality' is that the Chinese, while good at building things, are horrible interface designers.
The 'reality' is that the Chinese, while good at building things, are horrible interface designers.
The resignation by Jobs was an opportunity for benevolence but it merely became the straw that’ll break the camel’s back. Regardless, his time is limited, of course, but still the malingering is there, meaning the “Chairmanship” and “My Baby” bit. That means the end is nigh because what used to be within effort is now without. The liver is where one’s creativity/activity is centred, being located on the “right side” of the body [whereas the heart sits on the “left side”].
The problems of the liver is what is driving “Westernised” societies into their modern-day health maladies. Just look at the Chinese. Many are so mesmerised by the “Democracy” nonsense that they are willing to lose their identity for a little Fame, Fortune & Immortality, Cowboy/Western style. And in come the Westernised health issues. For example, T2 Diabetes is a problem of too much futuristic thinking and belief nor disbelief will not make any difference until the root cause is identified and stopped. The liver is responsible for many modern day health/immunity issues like diabetes, obesity, allergies and issues relating to the active brain/futuristic thinking. The “inactive brain” is the problems of the heart like nervous disorders [but not Alzheimer, that’s a protein/right-sided problem], cancers, “mental” problems, etc. This is not some “holistic” or “alternative” mumbo-jumbo, it is the reality. Jobs through his Apple delivery system has damaged many and many more will follow. If the physical damage, oka Count de Money, is all he wanted, that’s a small/limited price to pay but not when the price is unlimited like the emotional/conditional or the ego/intellect. Being non-physical, those afflictions have no physical boundary which is why the physical dimension was created to bring about a limit. You can be mad but when you are physical, that will only limit the damage to one - unless the Infinitisers/Pax Americanas are there.
Replacing one’s liver is more than a physical death sentence, death, in totality, being that which lacks the living. The liver is a gateway to the unseen dimensions, it is where one’s Attention resides. When the liver is overwhelmed, one’s Attention takes an enforced imprisonment/R&R. Witness an alcoholic drunkard, for example. To have the liver problem transcending onto the left/pancreas is the same as being drunk, but not through alcohol but via something entirely different. The left and right energies are like an electrical power grid where energy is channelled to balance the whole. Acupuncture is the “unauthorised”, extreme and unsanctioned form of this balancing act [and will manifest in future problems - to delaying/transferring/morphing the problem, just like Quackery & Handler is doing 25/8]. “Accupuncture”/”Mesmerism” is not some modern day mumbo-jumbo interpretation of some “ancient” method. Similarly, this is what the likes of Apple and Americana are damaging others with, except this time it is some modern mumbo-jumbo interpretation of “Humanity”. This method has only one outcome but its religiosity is accelerating the pace of Destruction/Devolution. It might not last 200 years let alone 2 thousand.
Should re-birth be a reality, will, say, an "American" be reborn as one? You sure? Do not judge "Apple" for its complexity, judge it and other Infinitisers for their simplicity - their destructiveness.
With all due respect, go fuck yourself, hack.
But more than the quality of the writing, it's the derisory sneer that you, who has clearly achieved so much more, that you just can't hide, which is so offensive to those of us with the grace to acknowledge real greatness, whatever personal idiosyncrasies accompany it. Not to mention the human tragedy of a life apparently being cut short before its time.
Yes, you are a shameless hack. Please reconsider if you really should be in this line of work, if you despise achievement, and writing, so much.
You are a fecking loon, but your rant was masterful in your ability to ignore all the actual facts.
Besides its callow and immature rant about a cancer patient, Apple itself did not become The MOST valuable company in the world by crappy or stolen designs.
Their products do not have the highest resale value of any electronics because of the mythical "fanbois" (which is tired, hackneyed juvenile school-yard taunt.) or shoddy workmanship.
This "article" was written by a kook-aid drinker, with absolutely no insight, or credibility (either street or journalistic) and doesn't qualify to see the light of day.
Thinking is hard for some people, and the author is obviously one of them. Come back when you have something intelligent to say.
Meanwhile, techeye has lost this set of eyeballs. The world is full crap publishers, and they are apparently just one more.
One, "The pair's breakthrough product, the Macintosh" - to the best of my knowledge Woz didn't have any significant input into the Mac.
And two, Jobs wasn't fired from Apple. Go check your facts. What actually happened was that he was relieved of all duties, so he was still employed but had nothing to actually do. He then quit in frustration.
In the unlikely event that you actually want to check what actually happened in Apple's history I recommend the book 'Insanely Great' by Michael S. Malone. It's a nicely level-headed recount.
One, "The pair's breakthrough product, the Macintosh" - to the best of my knowledge Woz didn't have any significant input into the Mac.
And two, Jobs wasn't fired from Apple. Go check your facts. What actually happened was that he was relieved of all duties, so he was still employed but had nothing to actually do. He then quit in frustration.
In the unlikely event that you actually want to check what happened in Apple's history I recommend the book 'Insanely Great' by Michael S. Malone. It's a nicely level-headed recount.
As for "hmmm" above, what a loser. Who cares that you bag groceries and still live in your parents basement on your grandmas old couch and thats the highlight of your life... even your D&D buddies have more class.
From zero to classless in 3.5 seconds
Enter TechEye.net’s Nick Farrell, who wants everyone to know how terrible it is that Steve Jobs did cancer wrong (tip o’ the antlers to markbyrn on Twitter).
The messiah of the Apple cargo cult has walked away from his role as Apple’s CEO after suffering from a bad case of perspective, as we reported at midnight.
Yes, you read that right. Farrell is chastising a cancer sufferer for failing to have had perspective.
[golf clap]
Bra-vo.
Steve Jobs is probably the first person in Apple’s history to suddenly wake up one morning and realise that there are better things in life than shiny toys.
The Macalope’s not sure if Farrell is limiting his holier-than-thou judgement to Apple employees or if he means that all of Apple’s customers are soulless monsters who are only interested in gadgets and place no value on interpersonal relationships.
Either way, zing! Good one. You really reduced us all to a sleazy, cartoonish stereotype there.
It must be reassuring to Jobs that there are hacks like Farrell looking out for him, sitting on the sidelines and telling him he’s lost perspective by continuing to do what he loves in the face of adversity. Surely Farrell is in a better position to be judging how Jobs should have dealt with this sad, personal tragedy.
Lecture on.
A long time ago we warned Jobs that creating fantasies for fanboys was a largely pointless exercise when your health was on the rocks.
Did you, now. Well, goody for you. So, when you get cancer, you’ll do it right, not like Jobs did. Give yourself a big clap on the back and, oh, you already are. Never mind.
"The day after the announcement, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.51 percent, Apple dropped 0.65 percent. As of this writing, it’s up almost 10 points. The Macalope’s going to assume that wasn’t exactly the adjustment you had in mind, or you wouldn’t have brought it up. Looks like your stock predictions are about as good as your sense of decency." -Macalope
Get a life. You are in the Cult of Microsoft, and with the legions of fools who worship Windows. You need serious help. You simply make statements with no facts, but that has worked for Microsoft for decades. It is the Windows fundamentalists lie you who cannot accept any criticism of their holy OS. You need an intervention to save you from yourself.
Nick Farrell, you are just a plain coward and a liar. Apple products sell because people see the value in them. Microsoft has had a huge PR budget to pay factless hacks like you for years to write fluff pieces for Microsoft. You are just upset that despite the efforts drooling pay-for-hire hacks like yourself, Apple has succeeded with real products, not vaporware like the Microsoft Courier tablet, or the failed KIN phone, the failed Zune, or the failing Windows Phone 7.
This article is a disgrace.
Totally fucking offensive! I wonder how you will react if you get cancer? I hope you remember the words you wrote this week.
Although cowards like you won't have the guts to admit what they did.
I would sing a song for you but the notes on the piano don't go that low!
Most people don't like computers. This is why smartphones and tablets are such a success. Nevermind if they are Apple or Symbian. They are a success because people don't like computers.
Apple sells more smartphones and tablets because they are the least of the bunch that resemble "computers", and people find them easy to operate. Apple's also sell better because they have a design which is appealing to more. People fancy their products. People love fashion and design did you ever notice?
I think you love computers because they give you the opportunity to be good in doing something. Your satisfaction comes from operating a system, move files, fix broken stuff ecc. But may I remind you that when computers won't be around anymore (because people just don't like them), there will still be many things you can do, for example: electronics, motors, fixing the house, stuff like that. Those jobs will also help you stay fit so you can eat more hamburgers without feeling guilty. So don't worry.
At the same time, may I remind you that Steve Jobs is a man who created many job positions and his company is a pride for your country because it brought joy in many people, (yes ok... his reality distortion field). Don't try to be smart people by trying to demonstrate to the world that you know how better than him. Not today at least. He suffers from a bad illness and I think you should pay him respect by not criticizing him for a while. I think he would like to live his last moments in peace with his family.
Thank you.
Okay, grant that everyone who thinks it's strange to attack a cancer victim is a fundamentalist. But tell me why anyone should waste breath explaining "by intellectual arguments" the fallacy of many of the unfounded assertions in the article to someone who doesn't even seem to understand the basic facts at issue?
The second apology, of course, is owed to Jobs. Kicking a man when he is ill shows zero class. Man up and apologize.
The third apology is for all of the cancer patients that Ferrell has intimated could be well if only they had spent enough cash. There's insensitivity and there's hateful tripe. Apologize, oh clueless one.
Apple still makes computers. The majority of new Mac purchasers used to run Windows. You wouldn't think that either fact were true if you read only Ferrell.
Jobs spent a lot of money to get well. I recall his moving to Tennessee and spending both time and money there. He's been on a leave of absence for the entirety of 2011. Again, you would think that Steve was burning the candle at both ends if you limited your information sources to Ferrell.
As for Ferrell's ability to predict the stock market? Cue Nelson: "Ha ha!"
So unless you're quite the hatebearing schizophrenic you appear to be, please go live in a cave and try not to bother anyone with your views. I'm not even going to get started about the factoid basis of your story (if there even exists such a thing), but you've just gone beyond all common human decency. Bastard.
"Mommy; the mean Apple fanboys are hitting back. Make them stop!" Stop whining and act like a mature adult,
http://www.macworld.com/article/161981/2011/08/macalope_comfort_food.html
@Simon, comparing the tolerance of the supposed "apple cult" with that of Christianity or Islam is so twisted it's not even funny.
For the rest, please check this link for a nice deconstruction of this nasty, horrible article: http://www.macworld.com/article/161981/2011/08/macalope_comfort_food.html
That aside, your article also demonstrates the moral sensitivity of a grave robber.
I don't actually have words to describe fully how describe how distasteful your article is. I could only add it's a shame we can't cure Mr. Jobs by giving him your liver. You are clearly doing nothing useful with it.
Plenty of people said why they attacked it. The most basic one being the abundant lack of factual accuracy and complete absence of citation or evidence to back up any of his (mostly hallucinogenic) claims. Toss in the fact that it's poorly written from a grammatical and semantic point of view, and I'd say we had plenty to go on right there. Try looking up "Cargo Cult" as a starter and you might realise Farrell doesn't even know what the phrase really means. You should work on your reading comprehension skills.
You criticise negative comments for their (alleged) lack of rationality, and yet you fail to apply the intellectual rigour to the article that you then demand of others.
Bonus douche bag points for trying to frame Apple as a question of religion (as though anyone is actually asking that question except for fruit loops like you and Nick Farrell) and then working in references to Christianity, Islam and Scientology that are so tangental it must have made you cross-eyed just typing them out.
Good work, take the rest of the day off.
Congrats, mate, you may have set a record here.
"A long time ago we warned Jobs that creating fantasies for fanboys was a largely pointless exercise when your health was on the rocks...
In a normal universe, Jobs would have quit and spent loads of money getting better. However the cult of personality which had developed around Apple had forbidden that."
Lord please forgive this jackhole. His wrongs are right and his rights are wrong Lord, and he knows not what he sayeth.
Apple's probably going to sell about 100,000,000 'fanboy fantasies' in the current and next quarter. It is the largest company in the world as I write this and it's just getting started.
By the time your grandchildren grow up and go to Harvard Business School, Jobs and the amazing empire he built will be deeply ingrained in their textbooks.
Do you cry and moan about Beatles fanboys too?
Read Atlas Shrugged. You'll hate that John Galt guy.
You sir are a putz of epic proportions.
"A long time ago we warned Jobs that creating fantasies for fanboys was a largely pointless exercise when your health was on the rocks...
In a normal universe, Jobs would have quit and spent loads of money getting better. However the cult of personality which had developed around Apple had forbidden that."
Lord please forgive this jackhole. His wrongs are right and his rights are wrong Lord, and he knows not what he sayeth.
Apple's probably going to sell about 100,000,000 'fanboy fantasies' in the current and next quarter. It is the largest company in the world as I write this and it's just getting started.
By the time your grandchildren grow up and go to Harvard Business School, Jobs and the amazing empire he built will be deeply ingrained in their textbooks.
Do you cry and moan about Beatles fanboys too?
Read Atlas Shrugged. You'll hate that John Galt guy.
You sir are a putz of epic proportions.
Looking up here is not a single poster who has said what Farrell has got wrong. Just people who don't like the way he writes. For the record, you are the same.... they are all abusive... you claim he was factually inaccurate yet you don't cite anything that was factually inaccurate... thus it is a typical Scientology style attack (which Farrell mentions) and you find so offensive. So either you are an Apple fanboy or a Scientologist.
http://www.macworld.com/article/161981/2011/08/macalope_comfort_food.html
Oh and for Simon, calling someone a fanboy pretty much means that you don't have anything interesting to say beyond gratuitous insults.
BB
Yea, I hope you sold all of your Apple stock and lost your ass in the market... Oh wait. You didn't own any Apple stock?
Never mind. you're more stupid than I thought.
While I agree that the flood of tech news about Steve Job's departure was a bit much (flooded my Google Reader feed), it doesn't excuse this blatantly biased article.
Also, criticism of the quality of this article does not equate being an Apple fanboy.
With respect to a laptop, I need something thin, light, and just works. That is why I am using a Macbook Air with Lion. Had Windows 7 installed, but the installation got corrupted for no apparent reason after 3 months of use...
With respect to a desktop, I need something powerful and expandable. That is why I built my own PC and installed Windows 7 on it.
With respect to a phone / tablet, I need something that just works AND can make use of the all the apps I had previously purchased from iTunes. That is why I have a iPhone 4 and iPad 2. The Android app store was only available after I had a significant investment into iTunes.
So does this make me an Apple fanboy? Obviously no. It makes me a wise consumer, who makes intelligent choices given MY own set of circumstances.
Stop with the name calling and just admit that this article was written just to be flamebait.
However throughout out this process sufferers get on with their lives. They do not give up the things that are important to them.
In Steve's case he has a wife and 4 kids and he has created two massively profitable companies - Apple and Pixar. Totally different in scope but dominant in their respective fields. (Yes, Pixar is now part of Disney and Steve is the largest shareholder.)
So you may have the cult of Apple but how does that explain Pixar. You can also say that Apple got lucky with the iPod, but then hit the bulls eye with the iPhone and iPad. Both developed in secrecy and as a result blindsided the rest of the tech world. They have managed to catch up with the phone, but no-one 18 months on, is close to replicating the iPad. When it comes to money, there is only 1 company making any - 70% of phone revenue and 90% of iPad revenue, which equals a whole lot. So much that even HP is bailing - it cannot play anymore.
(Would you prefer 2 products developed in secrecy that worked or the numerous hyped items pre-announced that ultimately flopped.)
It is sad that all you can do in your article is beat up on a person who is possibly terminally ill and try to rip his legacy to pieces.
Ultimately I hope there was an intention to be humorous in the piece but the overall tone just not work especially when dealing with the core subject at hand, which is actually not Apple but Steve Jobs.
Remember that Cancer is not a life style choice.
And for the record - I do NOT own an iPhone or an iPad. I have a 4 year old iPod and a 1 year old MacBook Pro (which dual boots) and 3 year old PC. I use the appropriate tool to do the job in hand. I do not care who makes it as long as it does what I need it to do.
Here is hoping that Steve has a long semi-retirement, I would never wish anything bad on anyone - even ones who wear black turtlenecks.
@rich the engineer, Your closed mindedness is astounding. Calling technical experts 'defective script kiddies' seriously undermines your credibility and competence. You sound childish and petty.
"apple didn't invent anything". and who's camp are you in? microsoft? google? cause, pumpkin, they didn't invent anything either.
religion? oh dear, there is no group more vocal, more attacking, more obnoxious or more devoted than the cult of softies. this ain't fox news kids. just because you keep repeating it don't make it true.
as for the tool who wrote this. you are all that and more aren't ya? telling someone with cancer how they should live.
and you throw out the old stand by's too! savior! wow, yours is a truly dizzying intellect. how original!
now, i'm sure those dozen or so fanboys that have managed to scar you for life somehow are representative of the millions and millions of users of apple products in your mind. after all, a few posts here and there in reply to some article of yours have clearly left it's mark on you.
i am curious though. how many did it take? dozen? two dozen? hundred? how many nasty little posts did it take to get you all beside yourself and acting like some little cry baby in a bad after school special?
how thin is your skin?
Thanks for the pointless exercise in mental masturbation.
You ? Nobody will remember you. The only thing you will left behind is some bad writing and the stench of your smell.
http://tinyurl.com/44slouk
"But although Jobs was credited with the Mac's success he was also instrumental in preventing it gaining wide scale acceptance, refusing to allow the technology to be cloned, like the PC." There are two things wrong with this: first, Apple was and is both a hardware and OS/software manufacturer, unlike Microsoft which didn't control hardware that used its OS, resulting in significant irritation to many users through incompatibility issues (me included, but maybe that was before your time). Secondly, cloning didn't work for Apple.
Now, the other thing I'll note is the notion that Apple's products are just "shiny toys" that are taken up by legions of "fanboys". If that's true, why are so many corporates shifting to the iPhone and away from RIM smartphones (the industry figures are there if you care to look)?
I don't hear many (any, really) Apple users shouting about MicroSoft Fanboys but I do hear lots of disgruntled Apple haters continually deriding Apple products and using silly put-downs about the users of them.
I agree that there's a lot more to life than shiny toys, but there's also more than irrational hatred of "the other", either. That's just primitive tribalism.
You win Nick Farrell.
You will get a lot of brief fame and hits for this drivel.
But you also lose and so does Techeye.
Ultimately there is only so much room in the blogosphere.
Hit whores win....in the short-term because most people are bozos and gravitate to crap.
But in the long run, liars don't sell too well and advertisers grow smart enough to look beyond the click to the kind of content that brings the bozos a-clicking.
As the world is rapidly learning, bozos don't have money that they will spend and so they are mere insects as far as advertisers are concerned.
I hope it doesn't take very long for this site to sink into bankruptcy. You don't need any time at all, for that to happen.
You are morally bankrupt to the core.
Have a nice day.
Go achieve something.
Go build the most valuable corporation in the world.
I'm sure you've got (sh)it in you. Lots of it, no?
In discussing the transition to Tim Cook as the new CEO, Farrel states that "Those who have come to believe that Steve Jobs is their personal saviour, might have difficulty accepting Tim Cook in the same role." Two big issues with this statement. First, Tim Cook has been the COO and has run the day to day operations at Apple for some time, and has been running the company during Jobs' latest leave of absence. During that time, Apple has seen record growth and its market cap EXCEED that of Exxon Mobil (in fact, as of this weekend, it has pulled ahead again). To me, that indicates that neither the company nor its customers have any issue accepting Cook as the CEO, since he's effectively been doing that already. Likewise, many Apple suppliers see no changes with Cook at the helm, as it is Cook whom they have been dealing with already.
Farrell also overlooks the fact that while Jobs has stepped down as CEO, he is still an Apple Employee and Chairman of Apple's Board of Directors. In fact, he was at Apple the day after his resignation. So all indications are that Jobs isn't completely walking away from Apple. Yet Farrel chooses to blame Apple for Jobs' health, implying that his dedication to the company somehow caused his health problems. That is some of the most ignorant, reckless, and flat-out most irresponsible "journalism" (I use that term very lightly) I have seen in years - it's even worse than some of the drivel FOX News spits up.
In short, if TechEye is allowing articles like this to be passed off as "objective" examples of reporting, then the entire editorial staff should be asked to seek employment elsewhere. This is nothing more than muckracking and and a personal attack on both a company and its now former CEO.
I am a Mac user...I also have an iPhone and an iPad, and several other Mac computers. All in all, however, I own almost twice as many Windows machines as Apple ones. I have been using Macs since 2002, but Windows for years before that, and still do. So, even though I prefer Apple products, I am not a member of some "fanatic religious cult", I simply think they're made and work better--although I also like Windows 7. Just so we're clear...I am not a "fan boy" and can be objective in my comments.
Which is more than I can say about some of you--what is with you people? What has Apple (or Steve Jobs) done that you (apparently) hate it and him so much? What's been written here is just about unforgivable..to continue your lame religious example, I wonder how your Creator would judge you for this kind of expressed unabashed hatred for your fellow man and the company/products he has created, one who is probably--hopefully for you, anyway--much more likely to soon meet Him that you will.
(And yes, I do have a sense of humor, and I appreciate sarcasm and dry humor. But if you consider these postings as either, I suggest you look again at the definitions of each.)
I respect the opinions of others, despite however much I might believe them to be ill-informed. I'm just curious what could have caused some of you to formulate and then publicly post those opinions/observations.
It's been said that hatred is borne from ignorance and fear. To those responsible for the negative postings about Apple and Steve Jobs, I have to ask: which is it for you?
I am adding this site to my web filter.
This is true, I just asked my dad who is a lawyer and works for The Internet. Seriously @MadDog you have lost, and also stop breaking the rules.
@simon That's not the definition of the phrase "cargo cult". That's a description of *an actual* cargo cult. People like you who can't distinguish are why we can't have nice wikis.
@simon That's not the definition of the phrase "cargo cult". That's a description of *an actual* cargo cult. People like you who can't distinguish are why we can't have nice wikis.
@simon That's not the definition of the phrase "cargo cult". That's a description of *an actual* cargo cult. People like you who can't distinguish are why we can't have nice wikis.
@simon That's not the definition of the phrase "cargo cult". That's a description of *an actual* cargo cult. People like you who can't distinguish are why we can't have nice wikis.
While I don't claim Apple's products to be the absolute best, they have their merits. However, arguing with you would be pointless, as I don't think anyone can ever change your twisted mind.
What shocked me the most is how much vitriol there is in your little piece of writing directed to a man whose life is hanging on a thread—not much different from shouting expletives at a person on his deathbed.
Not that I'd expect even an ounce of compassion from, I quote, "a olympic-sized dick."
While pointing out errors like this is usually not worth the effort, in this case the error serves as a kind of synecdoche of the entirety of Nick's cluelessness. A cargo cult, Nick, is a cult in which a group of people mimic the superficial aspects of a source of wealth in the hopes of gaining more wealth, without understanding anything about where the wealth comes from or what makes it possible. The term has a very specific meaning which totally escapes you, not surprisingly, in *precisely the same way* that you do not understand why Apple is so successful.
But back to your really unparalleled moral rottenness. Simply put, they have not invented a circle of hell hot enough for people whose first response to the medical downturn of a cancer patient is to proclaim - in public! - that his life's work was a waste of time and that it brought about the cancer in the first place. I really have not read anything quite so morally offensive in the tech press before, and it's the last time I ever visit this site. Even worse that the existence of people like this author is the lack of any editing around here.
Sadly, Jobs lives in the normal universe where pancreatic cancer is almost always fatal. Even a modicum of research could have told you that no amount of money would've made a bit of difference in his prognosis. The fact he went on as long as he did is so far beyond any expectation that it doesn't even fit on the chart. Beyond all odds, the man came back from his initial bout with the cancer and was well enough to go back to work and spend several more years doing what he loved.
When you are diagnosed with a terminal illness with a five-year survival rate of just over 5%, maybe then you'll be qualified to judge somebody else for the choices they're making six or seven years out from that diagnosis. I suspect if that happened, though, you might gain a somewhat clearer perspective about what Jobs chose to do with his remaining years.
Until then, at least learn to use Google.
http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/pancreas.html
http://www.pancreatic.org/site/c.htJYJ8MPIwE/b.891917/k.5123/Prognosis_of_Pancreatic_Cancer.htm
You seem to be relishing in Steve Job's bad health
I'm looking for the following:
a computer that runs Unix
a computer that runs the Adobe CS Suite
a computer with an elegant interface
a computer the has software that combine power, usability, and elegance such for programming and design such as BBEdit, CSSEdit, and Transmit
a computer with the power, performance, and design-build of the MacBook Air
I'm really looking forward to your suggestions. Since you think that the Mac is a mindless cult or a product of defective script kiddies, please send me a link to the product you have written yourself if you can't find one.
Just because people anticipate the next Apple release does not mean that they worship Apple. It may simply mean that they believe their products have demonstrated through time to be better! (Of course, that is a subjective opinion that everyone has a right to have.)
You have little ability to think rationally and instead rely on emotions...good luck with that!
Just because people anticipate the next Apple release does not mean that they worship Apple. It may simply mean that they believe their products have demonstrated through time to be better! (Of course, that is a subjective opinion that everyone has a right to have.)
You have little ability to think rationally and instead rely on emotions...good luck with that!
The grim reality is that a $1B budget for a Pancreatic Cancer patient - - if it was caught early - - only buys you a ~5% chance of survival (5 years).
Nick, you're waaaay off base here and utterly displaying your ignorance as well as your insensitivity. Try to keep this in mind when one of your own loved ones (including yourself) is struck down with one of the currently incurable forms of Cancer, which is what Steve Job's fate was.
FYI, not unlike Jobs, our familymember persevered for the remainder of their life to carry on (as best as they could) what they were doing - - they did so because the blunt alternative was to do nothing but feel sorry for themselves until they died.
Pancreatic Cancer is a very slow and lingering way to die.
-hh
Meanwhile, back in the real world, we'll see what happens regarding your view of the future.
Asshole. Complete dick move.
Farrell, you are a bitter little homunculus who will be entirely forgotten by the world. Except for this, your one lasting monument. Taking an angry crap on a sick man's chest.
You must be so proud.
"A long time ago we warned Jobs that creating fantasies for fanboys was a largely pointless exercise when your health was on the rocks" - who the hell is "we"? Are you a group of doctors? Psychologists? Or just one a$$hole with a grudge?
"But although Jobs was credited with the Mac's success he was also instrumental in preventing it gaining wide scale acceptance, refusing to allow the technology to be cloned, like the PC." - untrue. There were Mac clones and they were dismal failures. Jobs ended them upon his return.
"Just as interest in the iPod started to die off, Jobs came up with the iPad which successfully dusted off the tablet idea which Microsoft and indeed he had failed to convince the world was viable." - this would be a terrible sentence even if you hadn't totally screwed the pooch and combined two separate ones. And if the point was the Microsoft came up with the tablet first then it's yet another incorrect statement. The Newton predated it by a long time and the Gridpad and others before that.
"All this success came at a price." - Seriously? Are you saying he got sick from overwork? Or struck some Faustian bargain to exchange his health for widely selling products? Do you actually even read this before you submit it?
I could go on but it's kind of ridiculous. I hope the "TechEYE" editors (assuming there are any) read this because I can't imagine anyone wanting this kind of tripe published under their name.
...right. Apple was failing and less than a year from bankruptcy because it WAS following the PC model, allowing clones, to many models, etc. Jobs killed te clones, and reduced the product line to 4 lines. Consumer Notebook, Pro Notebook, Consumer Desktop, Pro Desktop.
Gatway 2000 coupdnt make money on the 'nice looking PC model' as you put it. Compaq couldn't make a go of making PCs and sold to HP. HP has now quit.
This article is utter trash, devoid of facts.
And by the way, I hope you've got enough money (earned by writing this utter nonsense) to cure yourself from cancer, when you get it.
Worst. Marriage. Ever.
I can understand hating on Apple because on the face of it, to some observers, it's just another company with a collection of products and yeah lots of people seem to love Apple, so writing hate columns is great link bait.
But hating on a former cancer patient who decides to continue working and contributing to the company he created is beyond despicable, it's subhuman.
You, Nick Farrell, are an obnoxious, evil, bottom-feeding scumbag and it beggars belief that any publication would give space to your drivel. When your day comes, as it surely will, please know that I, for one, will be hoping that it comes with even a tenth of the pain that cancer patients have to go through. I pray that you are cracked and broken and that you have to beg for the plug to be pulled so your worthless dregs can slither off to the cold, empty rock reserved for those that don't make it into hell.
Let's make a few things clear: Apple is (at time of writing) the most valuable company in the world because of 3 simple mantra's, instilled within the core believes of all employees of Apple: Make products that are easy to use, pleasant to look at and just work. I defy you to find another company in the consumer product market that even considers point 1 during every phase of the product design. Once the techo's get hold of an idea or concept, they all want to ensure that everybody knows how incredibly brilliant and geeky they are by making the end product impossible to use by the average person. Steve Jobs' legacy is that everybody at Apple works towards making consumer electronics accessible to everyone, not just the Geek. And that's the man's brilliance as far as I'm concerned. Not the technology, not the marketing, not the showmanship but the simplicity rule he applies to everything Apple makes. Tim Cook may not have the showmanship (yet? It took Steve a while as well) but I can guarantee you he lives by the same mantras as Steve does: Make it work, make it beautiful and keep it simple.
Opinions are fine, debate is encouraged but unresearched pieces like this we can do without. Seriously.
The author is a bag. A bag of douche.
Asshole.
You are being inappropriately and unprofessionally hostile towards Steve Jobs. He is a successful visionary and futurist who happens to be very sick, and you're taking jabs of failed-wit at him and his fight with cancer? Tech pundits love to harass successful visionaries. This will always be the case, and unfortunately, you're only carrying that torch to the next guy. Cancer isn't funny, bro. Trust me, I know ...
I understand if you don't agree with Apple's vision of the future of software and tech (or their policies), but you are getting venomously personal. You are being insensitive, incommensurately vitriolic, malicious and short-sighted. Just look at how the Web is viewing you because of this post: http://www.macworld.com/article/161981/2011/08/macalope_comfort_food.html.
You are not doing yourself any favors.
It's very elementary: It's OK to have an unfavorable opinion about a tech company's design philosophy, but when you start personally attacking someone's sickness (especially when they're fighting cancer), you lose ... it's that simple. You're committing tech-pundit suicide.
Good luck.
Seriously -- a little research and a slightly less slanted point of view might have made this into a decent article highlighting the rise, fall and resurrection of one of the legendary companies of Silicon Valley. Instead, you settle for this "yellow-dog" style of journalism that is abhorrent.
Better luck next time.
What a sickeningly vile, vile column. I would say that the author should be ashamed of publishing such dredge, but it's clear he's not the type of person with the consciousness or capacity to feel shame. Not sure why I'm even wasting my time with a response.
My father died of pancreatic cancer a few years ago. He died slowly, with excruciating pain, while I sat by helplessly. We spent a small fortune on therapies, to no avail. Many times I considered whether it wouldn't be best to relieve him of his misery.
I don't see any 'fanboys' in outrage over your comments. I see see reasonable, human beings with a soul responding to the shameless tearing down of a cancer sufferer who may very well be on his deathbed, while you spit and vomit on his legacy. What makes it even worse than that is that this is someone who has achieved great things in his life, having brought a company from bankrupcy to one of the most valuable on the planet, while creating products that hundreds of millions of people love and use- all while battling a merciless form of cancer. Reading your hate-filled words, one would think this is someone who raped and slaughtered your entire family, burned them to ashes, then spit on their remains. Who else would deserve such mockery, denigration, and spite, in which you blame them for their condition and then shamelessly rewrite their history to suit your own ends? (I know enough basics about SJ to know your recounting of Apple's history is completely trash, and stems from either grotesque ignorance, or willful lying and manipulation. Which is it? What have you accomplished in your life to think you're in a position to spit on such a man with such vitriol? What positive impact have you had on this world, apart from writing these types of hit-pieces?
This column either stemmed from irrational, unjustified, biased and childish hatred, or you don't believe a word you wrote and it is cynical link-bait, and frankly I don't know which one is worse. Noone will ever force you to spend a penny on Apple's products, therefore your vendetta has no justification. Save it for a cause worthy of such hatred, instead of a dying, former CEO of a tech company. Better yet, never write another word in your life, the world would be better for it.
Absolutely sickening.
Nick Farrell is a link bater, pure and simple.
And an idiot.
If you don't like Apple products don't buy them, but don't make up BS about the company, the products, or the former CEO.
If you don't like Apple products don't buy them, but don't make up BS about the company, the products, or the former CEO.
I get the whole 'root for your team' thing, Apple versus the world. But you sir are a classless jerk. What goes around, comes around. And I pity you for what will be coming back your way.
Yes, you read that right. Farrell is chastising a cancer sufferer for failing to have had perspective.
[golf clap]
Bra-vo.
"Steve Jobs is probably the first person in Apple’s history to suddenly wake up one morning and realise that there are better things in life than shiny toys."
Not sure if Farrell is limiting his holier-than-thou judgement to Apple employees or if he means that all of Apple’s customers are soulless monsters who are only interested in gadgets and place no value on interpersonal relationships.
Either way, zing! Good one. You really reduced us all to a sleazy, cartoonish stereotype there.
It must be reassuring to Jobs that there are hacks like Farrell looking out for him, sitting on the sidelines and telling him he’s lost perspective by continuing to do what he loves in the face of adversity. Surely Farrell is in a better position to be judging how Jobs should have dealt with this sad, personal tragedy.
Lecture on.
"A long time ago we warned Jobs that creating fantasies for fanboys was a largely pointless exercise when your health was on the rocks."
Did you, now??! Well, goody for you. So, when you get cancer, you’ll do it right, not like Jobs did. Give yourself a big clap on the back and, oh, you already ARE. Never mind.
"He was drafted back in and shifted the company away from its traditional nice looking PC model, to gizmos and toys such as the iPod."
Because, as everyone knows, Apple stopped making Macs. Also, “drafted”? He chose to sell his company to Apple and then conducted a boardroom coup to take over.
Are you trying to seem like an insensitive DICK who’s careless with basic facts? Because you’re doing a bang-up job of it.
"But Jobs’ masterstroke was to move into the mobile arena first with the smartphone. Smartphones had been around but they had never had Apple’s design applied to them. That, coupled with a fanatical base and a sympathetic press, enabled Jobs to create a mobile hysteria around smartphones."
Apart from the use of tired clichés, this isn’t even good writing. “Mobile hysteria”? The hysteria was PORTABLE??
"It was dubbed Jobs’ ‘reality distortion field’ where whatever the man said was considered to be absolutely true. It resulted in a company which was less about viable technology and more of a shallow 21st century cult where products were a replacement for religious satisfaction."
The man is stepping down from his position because of health reasons and you’re calling him a snake-oil salesman. Now THAT'S class!!
"Just as interest in the iPod started to die off, Jobs came up with the iPad which successfully dusted off the tablet idea which Microsoft and indeed he had failed to convince the world was viable."
Nicely worded. Don't usually jab people for simple typos, but in your case I’ll make an exception.
"In doing so, Jobs created the “mobile boom” which lead to the development of more mobile consumer gadgets. This boom caught the industry on the hop and it has been slow to find an answer. This is mostly because rivals lacked the slick marketing and the fanatical Apple fanboy base and Tame Apple Press which Apple cultivated."
Uh-huh. The same press that declared a new IPHONE KILLER every week? The same press that continues to declare a new IPAD KILLER every week? The same press that said Apple was DOOMED because it didn’t introduce a crappy netbook? The same “fanatical Apple fanboy base” that’s probably now mostly made up of people who were using WINDOWS just a few years ago? Clearly, it couldn’t be the fact that Apple’s products are just better than everyone else’s... RIGHT? Neeeeeewww...
They couldn’t be! The Xoom is 4G-READY!!!
"So far no one has managed to replicate Jobs’ success at this and it is not for a lack of technology."
No. It’s not. It’s because Jobs and Apple are simply BETTER than their competitors are at design and execution. Sorry!
"All this success came at a price."
Dude, did you REALLY just say his success caused his cancer??!! You gigantic, pompous PRICK?
"In a normal universe, Jobs would have quit and spent loads of money getting better. However the cult of personality which had developed around Apple had forbidden that."
I don't know about you, but I cannot conceive of an instance where I would suggest to someone with pancreatic cancer that if only he had spent more money, he might have cured himself. But, then, I'm not an A$$HOLE of Farrell’s caliber.
"Nevertheless the Apple cult of personality insisted that Jobs had got better and the operation was widely reported to have worked right until this year when Jobs again took time off."
Throughout this BRAIN-DEAD waxing, you don't provide ONE single solitary link to back up your DRIVEL that Jobs wasn’t actually better and then faced a setback, as happens all the time to cancer sufferers. Because he can’t, of course. Inconvenient facts are apparently not enough to stop you from being a overbearing, monstrous scold.
"However the real danger for Apple is that the reality distortion field around its products will crumble over time."
Sure, sure, because it’s all smoke and mirrors. WE GOT IT ALREADY.
"Those who have come to believe that Steve Jobs is their personal saviour, might have difficulty accepting Tim Cook in the same role."
True. Fortunately, no one on the planet outside the imaginary Apple-loving demons that live in YOUR HEAD thinks that.
"It is easy to buy a pile of tat from a man who you think is Jesus, however Tim has an uphill battle convincing anyone that Elijah’s mantel has fallen to him."
I may not be able to parse all of your ham-fisted religious bullshiit metaphors, but if you’re saying Apple’s sales will fall like a rock under Cook’s tenure, I'LL TAKE THAT BET.
"Needless to say we expect Apple’s shareprice to suddenly become more realistic today."
The day after the announcement, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.51 percent, Apple dropped 0.65 percent. As of this writing, it’s up almost TEN POINTS. The Macalope’s going to assume that wasn’t exactly the adjustment you had in mind, or you wouldn’t have brought it up. Looks like your stock predictions are about as good as your sense of decency. Now please just go FUKK OFF AND DIE, yes?
the Jiminy in the House of The Cricket
Ω
An example of DRF. Nick was never poking fun of SJ for having cancer. If anything, he suggested Jobs would have been better off quitting and having a rest and spending time with family especially with the quite gloomy prospects. He was criticising the greater than usual secrecy surrounding the whole thing. To suggest otherwise means that all the nasty things said above simply fall back on the heads of those who said it. I suspect many of the people commenting were just one-off blow-ins at TechEye, who've read an interpretation of the article on their fave apple fanboi forum and came here to vent. No loss of readership, so boo-hoo!
If anything, with the Apple cult, Jobs created a monster that now hastens his travel towards the inevitable (where we'll all get eventually). Yes, that's you, fanbois! You, yourself made Jobs sicker than what he should otherwise be. Martyrdom for a cult leader, indeed.
In any case, I don't think Nick is ready to hide in a quiet corner, curl up and die, just yet. So, take that fanbois and gals!!