Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thursday thuds.

The founder of Pixar has died. Some guy named Steve Jobs.

***********

My understanding is that Bourbon Street was harmed by the street closures. Here's the thing about the "future" benefit of events -- if you're trying to establish yourself as a new restaurant and you lose summer business, you may not make it to the "future." The "future" is now.

**********

Sarah Palin is not running for president. Which means she's crazy -- like a fox.

Now can we ignore her?

Nah, she'll say something outrageously stupid and ignorant every few months and keep the circus going.

On the other hand, by showing the good judgment of not running for President, Chris Christie has shown his worthiness....heh.

**********

I almost expected the stock market to crash today because of Steve Jobs. It doesn't take much to send the market spiraling downward. Squirrel!

I was late to the Apple cult. I now have a laptop and an iphone. The biggest change that has resulted from the iphone is that I became obsessed with Pandora and new music. (For which I really didn't need an iphone, but that's how it happened.)

Meanwhile, I keep meaning to find out what my phone number is. How do I do that?

**********

I tried a new tack with Pandora and just put in one starter group: Neutral Milk Hotel. Even then, it seems to devolve into sensitive singer-songwriters. What's the deal with that?

Pandora not like upbeat music?

**********

I wasn't as concerned about Hank Williams, Jr. idiotic comments as I was about his appearance while saying them. He was laying back like he couldn't hold himself up, slurring his words, and making no sense and otherwise looking like a big turd.

The guy needs help.

**********

People are leaving flowers at Apple stores! How long before someone starts a religion, on the Holy Jobs, a high-tech religion? The Gospel of Jobs?

"That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."
Business Week interview, May, 1998.

There are tons of quotes like that. His Stanford address alone is pretty wise.

A hundred years from now, all us cyborgs who are still around will be plugging in once a day to chant, "Insanely Great!!!"

9 comments:

H. Bruce Miller said...

"People are leaving flowers at Apple stores! How long before someone starts a religion, on the Holy Jobs, a high-tech religion? The Gospel of Jobs?"

Apple has been a cult for a long time, and that cult was very cleverly created by Steve Jobs, the master marketer of the century. I don't think anybody has ever been better at reading what consumers want and figuring out how to provide it -- and then making them continually want newer versions of it. Jobs managed to convince millions of people that owning Apple products made them smart, cool, hip and sophisticated. He also managed to persuade them that Apple was not just another money-grubbing corporation but something better, grander, purer, nobler. Even people who love to rail against "corporate greed" and "the corporate culture" regard Apple as something different, and almost holy.

(Which is one reason, besides price, that I've never owned an Apple product other than an iPod. If hipsters like something, I tend to reflexively dislike it.)

Will the Church of Apple endure without its founder, guru and pope? That depends on how astute the new pope is. But it will be difficult to sustain the cult of personality that grew up around Jobs.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"Sarah Palin is not running for president. Which means she's crazy -- like a fox."

She's only in it for the money, always has been.

Leitmotiv said...

Apple's software lockouts are almost Draconian. Sorry, I'm not a believer either.

Carl said...

You don't know your own iPhone Number? Has anyone ever called you on it? You might as well sell the thing and get an iTouch and save the $$ for the phone data access.

Anonymous said...

I've bought an Apple product. I didn't like their computer mouse with only one button. Or the flimsy plastic feel that their 1990s computers had, at least.

Anonymous said...

Are you suggesting that Bocephus was under the influence? Nooooooo!!!!!

Jim Cornelius
www.frontierpartisans.com

H. Bruce Miller said...

"Pandora not like upbeat music?"

Pandora refines your playlists according to feedback from you. If it's playing something you don't like, hit the "Thumbs Down" button and it will learn not to play that type of song.

Duncan McGeary said...

"...hit the "Thumbs Down" button and it will learn not to play that type of song."

I think the problem is, the algorithm seems to track artists -- so I can click up all the upbeat songs by an artist, and down click all the sensitive sucky songs by the same artist, and I just get the friggen artist.

H. Bruce Miller said...

Oh, is that how it works? I guess the only solution then is to listen to artists who only play upbeat stuff.