THE GLOBAL ELITE

34: Steve Jobs

The ailing creator of the iPod and iPhone is next to irreplaceable.

By Daniel Lyons | NEWSWEEK
Published Dec 20, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Jan 5, 2009

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  • Posted By: SLIPSHINE @ 12/30/2008 3:03:30 PM

    STEVE JOBS IS GREAT FOR APPLE FOR SURE - BUT POWERFULL IN THE WORLD.
    NOPE DONT SEE IT. HOW ABOUT THE GATES FOUNDATION WICH HAS FINANCIAL
    BACKING AND A WORLD PRESENCE.

  • Posted By: Tabi @ 12/24/2008 9:23:48 PM

    As much as Steve Jobs may be a good CEO, it is gushing praises like this that make possible the bloated CEO egos and compensations. Steve Jobs exists as the head of an organization. He may be at the top, but he is supported by a whole legion of Apple workers. Steve Job certainly deserves some credit, but it is all shared credit.

  • Posted By: Caius @ 12/22/2008 1:34:15 PM

    I second what the guys below have said about Job's health, but also he started with the iPod? Wrong.

    He started with the iMac back in 1998.

    • Posted By: kestudila @ 12/22/2008 11:46:03 PM

      Very true. The iMac was a hit way before the iPod, and even started the "iEverything" moniker craze. But I would venture that the earliest and deepest contribution the second-coming Steve Jobs made to the Apple ecosystem was the NextStep operating system, which he brought over from Next and had deftly reshaped into OS X. Remember how baffled we were at the time, all drooling over the dazzling but unfinished BeOS? Jobs was right, and captained the difficult transition with characteristic mastery. Today, OS X is the central force of Apple, driving the healthy growth of the Mac, iPod (with the touch, other models to follow) and iPhone product lines.

  • Posted By: captbilly @ 12/20/2008 4:45:20 PM

    This is the most rediculous story I have seen in a while. I am not saying that Steve Jobs isn't a bright guy, but to serriously suggest that the Apple computers "are the best period" or that "the Iphone is simply the best smartphone" is arguable at best. If you look at the sales numbers one would have to see that Apple computers sell at a fraction of the rate of PCs. If you look at apples products from an engineering standpoint (I am a mechanical and electrical engineer, you would have to realize that they have no new technology or inovation at all. In fact the new Apple computers are actually simply PCs with OS10 installed on them. THere are people who prefer OS10, largely due to it's simplicity (it's a version of Linix) but it is much more limited than Windows in what it can do, and only a tiny fraction of the applications written today will run on OS10. My son's Windows mobile phone was able to do more thngs than an Iphone, a year before the first Iphone hit the market.

    Now if you want to argue about who's products are prettier then Apple may have an edge. The original Iphone was the nicest looking phone on the market (the new one has lost a bit in looks in my opinion), and some Apple computers are pretty cool looking, but that is hardly the basis for a sustainable business model. But surely we can't be expected to go along with this god like feeling about a man who's high tech company's only real claim to fame is that it makes the nicest looking products (and as I said before, some may not even agree with that claim.)

    • Posted By: Harvard Irving @ 12/22/2008 6:43:25 PM

      captbilly:

      "THere are people who prefer OS10, largely due to it's simplicity (it's a version of Linix) but it is much more limited than Windows in what it can do,"

      You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. MacOS X is not a version of Linux, it's a completely different OS, that is based on UNIX. And it is far more powerful than Windows. Do you get a proper UNIX shell in Windows? I don't think so.

      As for the engineering aspects of Apple hardware - go look at the design of a Mac Pro - the engineering and quality control is heads and shoulders above your typical PC. Just because they use Intel chips, doesn't mean they don't put effort into hardware design. Apple designs their own motherboards, and carefully designs systems for modularity, accessibility and airflow. Much of the Windows PC market, in contrast, is carelessly assembled from the cheapest components, not well thought-through in design, made for cheapest cost rather than quality.

      Thinking that all computers are the same, just because they use the same type of processor is just ignorant. It's amazing how many people act like they know everything, but are ignorant of basic facts. I mean, where did you get the idea that MacOS is a version of Linux from?

      Also, you write:

      "and some Apple computers are pretty cool looking, but that is hardly the basis for a sustainable business model. "

      Right, and making "cool looking" computers has never been the basis of their business model. You really don't seem to understand much about Apple.

    • Posted By: Harvard Irving @ 12/22/2008 6:39:15 PM

      captbilly:

      "THere are people who prefer OS10, largely due to it's simplicity (it's a version of Linix) but it is much more limited than Windows in what it can do,"

      You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. MacOS X is not a version of Linux, it's a completely different OS, that is based on UNIX. And it is far more powerful than Windows. Do you get a proper UNIX shell in Windows? I don't think so.

      As for the engineering aspects of Apple hardware - go look at the design of a Mac Pro - the engineering and quality control is heads and shoulders above your typical PC. Just because they use Intel chips, doesn't mean they don't put effort into hardware design. Apple designs their own motherboards, and carefully designs systems for modularity, accessibility and airflow. Much of the Windows PC market, in contrast, is carelessly assembled from the cheapest components, not well thought-through in design, made for cheapest cost rather than quality.

      Thinking that all computers are the same, just because they use the same type of processor is just ignorant.

  • Posted By: phredcat @ 12/22/2008 3:03:12 PM

    So someone who has survived a bout of cancer is "ailing"? Where does that leave Lance Armstrong. 7 Tour de France wins and possibly an 8th this summer - he must be ailing too. In fact, Lance lost weight after cancer also.

    Dan, go back to being FakeSteve or just go away. You are becoming the new Rob Enderle, and that is not good at all.

  • Posted By: SkipD @ 12/22/2008 1:44:51 PM

    "He can't write a line of software code." Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jobs write Breakout for Atari (or some version of it)? I'm not suggesting that he spends his days rewriting Mac OS X, but I'm pretty sure he knows how to write code.

  • Posted By: SkipD @ 12/22/2008 1:43:04 PM

    "He can't write a line of software code." Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Jobs write the old Breakout game at Atari? I'm not saying that he spends his days rewriting the Mac OS X Finder, but I'm pretty sure he knows how to write code.

  • Posted By: AlFinch @ 12/21/2008 3:26:40 PM

    Two problems with this story....

    Firstly, there's no credible evidence that Jobs is sick. Don't report on stuff you don't know.

    Secondly, this article is biased. Jobs being a genius? The Mac being the best personal computer? The iPhone the best smartphone? Come off it. Jobs has a keen eye for style and for things that work. That's universally agreed. However, the claims about his intelligence and the value of his products to everyday users varies wildly.

    This story belongs in an Apple-owned discussion forum post.

  • Posted By: todorov @ 12/21/2008 2:15:20 PM

    As CTinCT posted this article is devoid of any evidence that Steve Jobs is presently ailing. Please either provide it, or remove the unsubstantiated nonsense. It might have been OK to post anything that crossed your mind, true or not, to the Fake Steve Jobs blog (indeed that's part of wht made it so much fun), but at Newseek, you can't just make stuff up.

  • Posted By: grozakis @ 12/21/2008 12:14:53 AM

    He should check out www.dzugan.com and have Dr. Dzugan strengthen his immune system to fight whatever cancer he may have. At 53 he looks emaciated and that can be helped a great deal with the proper bioidentical hormones. If he does not his deficiencies coupled with his medical problem will continue to affect him.

  • Posted By: CTinCT @ 12/20/2008 11:17:36 PM

    Mr. Lyons,

    I twice searched your article for any evidence that, as your headline claimed, Mr. Jobs was "ailing." I did not find any. Since you've not produced proof that he is "ailing" why did you write such a misleading headline. Please correct it before you do any further damage. If yo have facts please share them with your readers. But if you do not then please do not speculate.

    Thank you.

  • Posted By: vaporland @ 12/20/2008 10:22:19 PM

    good story dan. now post something here: http://realdanlyons.com/ - have you heard of it?

  • Posted By: vaporland @ 12/20/2008 10:20:37 PM

    Enter Your Comment

  • Posted By: Ron Gee @ 12/20/2008 9:16:40 PM

    Anyone hear about Jobs possibly funding research for the John Kanzius Non-invasive Targeted Radio-frequency Cancer Treatment?

  • Posted By: Ron Gee @ 12/20/2008 9:15:13 PM

    Anyone hear anything about Jobs funding research for the John Kanzius Non-invasive Targeted Radio-frequency Cancer Treatment?

  • Posted By: momphard @ 12/20/2008 8:50:56 PM

    Dear Newsweek,
    Topping your year-end list with the leaders of the US, China, France, Great Britain, Germany and Russia is certain to sell magazines everywhere north of the equator, but what a bore. Next year, how about "The 50 People We Didn't Tell You About But Should Have". Fewer "elites", please, and more people who are actually interesting.

  • Posted By: walterd49 @ 12/20/2008 6:20:02 PM

    I'm sick of every news feed and aggregator I have now being overrun by any article that has "Steve Jobs" or "Apple" in the title. Everyone is falling for this sorry strategy to get as many readers as they can to their blogs or articles by writing anything, mostly useless garbage, about Apple, in the hopes that the readers will click the ads on their page served up by Google and the like. Granted it has worked, clearly worked on me, as I sit here actually taking the time to write this comment. But I can't help it anymore because this is all that shows up in my RSS feeds now a days and frankly I am quite fed up. How many articles like this actually make it into real print copies of newspapers or magazines out there? Few if any, since they would not be read. Why, because fanboys don???t read print material anymore as they sit in coffee shops around America touting their Apple ???merchandise??? for all to see as they sit surfing the web, soaking up anything written about Apple and taking every opportunity to comment on these, or something negative about any other non-Apple worthy tech company out there. -I???m done???

  • Posted By: publicspeaker @ 12/20/2008 5:37:34 PM

    scarletscar: As a founder of Apple, Jobs probably paid the $10 million for Pixar from his checking account. Whether or not he was still employed was irrelevant.
    jabberwolf: Did you miss the part about Apple nearly dying while Jobs was gone? He drives it. And look at all the new the mobile phone features since the iPhone introduction. Apple's designs are imitated by many competitors. So the lemmings would have to include those giant mobile phone manufacturers, too. Love Apple or hate Apple -- and it is possible to feel both ways at once -- the company does in fact lead the way. Get over it.

  • Posted By: mhamson @ 12/20/2008 5:28:19 PM

    I think there are some important points that are being missed here.

    Steve is a 'celebrity' CEO that is as much a part of the Apple image as any product and/or marketing campaign. Steve can be replaced by another person who can take over that mantle (if Apple itself does truly understand this).

    As case in point... a simple promotion of Jonathan Ive would give Apple there Steve replacement. Jonathan Ive does not need to be CEO, but given a clear or perceivable position of ultimate authority where he can stand out as the voice and image of Apple. As it stands, he is highly regarded by the community and would find very little if any rumble in such a transition.

    In response to captbilly and others...

    Apple is not necessarily about cutting edge products and/or features. They are all about the user experience. This is an area where nearly all companies struggle. Apple "Gets" their target markets. The reason why no other product has been able to trump the iPod is because companies (be it ODM or OEM) are unable to provide a mesh that gives the user a unified and GOOD experience.

    However, in terms of cutting edge... yes Apple does look at the longevity of a given technology and truly makes safe bets about them. Somethings this is very difficult swallow as an end user because it typically means the dropping of a given technology (before its true end-of-life) that we as end-users still believe to be vital. You do not need to look any further then "Serial" connectors, "PS2" connectors that are so prevalent on today's PCs,

    Another example is in the HDMI vs DP controversy. HDMI 1.3+ has a limited resolution of 2560x1600. That is it... the cap. Where as DP 4096x2160. it is very clear why Apple has not brought support to their "Computing". Apple seems to understand the difference between a consumer electronics standard and a standard for the computing world. This is really no different from when Apple moved to USB for its keyboards and mice.

    But... I have digressed from the topic of the article. I do not think that Steve is necessarily a demi-god. I have worked side-by-side with the most clever and gifted people in the industry. I know what a demi-god is! but that aside, in summation I have to say that Apple "marketing" whether intentional or not has captured what is needed in a modern image campaign. It is not the "I'm a Mac" Guy or the "I'm a PC" Guy. It is in a CEO who is a staple of the company and an all-around admirable guy who we can really want to be (yeah, like who wouldn't want to be in his position).



    -Michael

  • Posted By: mhamson @ 12/20/2008 5:25:49 PM

    I think there are some important points that are being missed here.

    Steve is a 'celebrity' CEO that is as much a part of the Apple image as any product and/or marketing campaign. Steve can be replaced by another person who can take over that mantle (if Apple itself does truly understand this).

    As case in point... a simple promotion of Jonathan Ive would give Apple there Steve replacement. Jonathan Ive does not need to be CEO, but given a clear or perceivable position of ultimate authority where he can stand out as the voice and image of Apple. As it stands, he is highly regarded by the community and would find very little if any rumble in such a transition.

    In response to captbilly and others...

    Apple is not necessarily about cutting edge products and/or features. They are all about the user experience. This is an area where nearly all companies struggle. Apple "Gets" their target markets. The reason why no other product has been able to trump the iPod is because companies (be it ODM or OEM) are unable to provide a mesh that gives the user a unified and GOOD experience.

    However, in terms of cutting edge... yes Apple does look at the longevity of a given technology and truly makes safe bets about them. Somethings this is very difficult swallow as an end user because it typically means the dropping of a given technology (before its true end-of-life) that we as end-users still believe to be vital. You do not need to look any further then "Serial" connectors, "PS2" connectors that are so prevalent on today's PCs,

    Another example is in the HDMI vs DP controversy. HDMI 1.3+ has a limited resolution of 2560x1600. That is it... the cap. Where as DP 4096x2160. it is very clear why Apple has not brought support to their "Computing". Apple seems to understand the difference between a consumer electronics standard and a standard for the computing world. This is really no different from when Apple moved to USB for its keyboards and mice.

    But... I have digressed from the topic of the article. I do not think that Steve is necessarily a demi-god. I have worked side-by-side with the most clever and gifted people in the industry. I know what a demi-god is! but that aside, in summation I have to say that Apple "marketing" whether intentional or not has captured what is needed in a modern image campaign. It is not the "I'm a Mac" Guy or the "I'm a PC" Guy. It is in a CEO who is a staple of the company and an all-around admirable guy who we can really want to be (yeah, like who wouldn't want to be in his position).



    -Michael

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