How technical is Steve Jobs?
Here's a question. How technically inclined do you think Steve Jobs is? How much technical knowledge does he have? As one example, do you think he would know what all the chips on a motherboard do and have a full grasp of computer architecture? Would he be as knowledgeable as someone with a master's degree or a PHD in computer science? There is a large range of the technical knowledge that you could have. Would he know a lot about something like artificial intelligence.
The reason why I ask is because I wonder how he can pick winning technologies. For example, Next was based on the idea of object oriented program and was at the time head and shoulders above other OOP systems and maybe still is. In retrospect, it seems obvious that OOP was the way to go. But there are a lot of amazing things that people invest in that could be the next best thing but never turn out to be. Things like functional programming in Lisp, thin clients where "the network is the computer", and pen computing in the early 90's.
So if you were Steve Jobs, and you had access to lots of star people in the computer industry, how would YOU figure out what the next great thing is? Someone could tell you that object oriented programming had promise, but without looking at a few different systems yourself, how could you KNOW that OOP is the way to go? And how would you know that there was a possibility to make a system like Cocoa that was so much better than the others that it could be your businesses competitive advantage. It's easy to see after the fact but how do you figure it out before? For example, Bill Gates most likely doesn't see that people don't want .Net. that people won't buy his tablet PCs because there isn't a need and the interface will suck anyway, and other things. Bill Gates is supposed to be up on all of computer technology. How much would you say Steve knows compared to him?
The reason why I ask is because I wonder how he can pick winning technologies. For example, Next was based on the idea of object oriented program and was at the time head and shoulders above other OOP systems and maybe still is. In retrospect, it seems obvious that OOP was the way to go. But there are a lot of amazing things that people invest in that could be the next best thing but never turn out to be. Things like functional programming in Lisp, thin clients where "the network is the computer", and pen computing in the early 90's.
So if you were Steve Jobs, and you had access to lots of star people in the computer industry, how would YOU figure out what the next great thing is? Someone could tell you that object oriented programming had promise, but without looking at a few different systems yourself, how could you KNOW that OOP is the way to go? And how would you know that there was a possibility to make a system like Cocoa that was so much better than the others that it could be your businesses competitive advantage. It's easy to see after the fact but how do you figure it out before? For example, Bill Gates most likely doesn't see that people don't want .Net. that people won't buy his tablet PCs because there isn't a need and the interface will suck anyway, and other things. Bill Gates is supposed to be up on all of computer technology. How much would you say Steve knows compared to him?
Comments
i think that he's a lot more technically proficient than the average exec, but it's not his technical skills that made him rich and famous.
-aoeu
If I started a tech company with some EE friends of mine, in 25 years I guarantee, that if things went well, my technical side wouldn't be very visible, and it would be outdated nonetheless. Even so, I would have a good conceptual understanding of what's going on and what can be done. I think that's where Steve is today.
[ 09-16-2002: Message edited by: BrianMacOS ]</p>
As far as being technically-minded, it was never his job, no pun intended; that fell on Woz at the very beginning. Steve's vision sold Woz's computer, and that's how Apple got started. You can literally say that Jobs was one of the original founders of Apple and also Apple's first salesperson.
As far as ideas are concerned, yea, he's got ideas, but his strength is the ability to take a good concept and bring it beyond its original intentions and to the masses. You tell him something can't be done and you've pretty much just fired yourself.
So, is Jobs technical? No. Watching his keynotes will show you that. Is he a remarkable salesperson with great instincts on pre-bleeding edge technology? Yep. That's called vision. And that's all he really needs.
[ 09-16-2002: Message edited by: Gambit ]</p>
<strong>I thought Jobs dropped out of college...?</strong><hr></blockquote>Correct.
Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College after just one semester.
<strong>Steve Jobs isn't technical at all; I'm completely under the impression that he's a salesperson. However, he DOES possess some great instincts, as well as the charisma, charm, and intelligence to surround himself with brilliant people. But, that comes from the fact that he's sold these people his vision, which stems from his instincts.
As far as being technically-minded, it was never his job, no pun intended; that fell on Woz at the very beginning. Steve's vision sold Woz's computer, and that's how Apple got started. You can literally say that Jobs was one of the original founders of Apple and also Apple's first salesperson.</strong><hr></blockquote>
And this is why we watch every Keynote like he is a god, because he knows how to make people react to what ever he is doing. I can honestly say after watching 5 or 6 keynotes done by Steve Jobs finally made me go out and buy my first Mac.
[ 09-16-2002: Message edited by: BrianMacOS ]</p>
Steves mostly a promoter. Woz is the man.
<strong>
Steves mostly a promoter. Woz is the man.</strong><hr></blockquote>
double that.
Woz was the man behind the Apple I, the Apple II, Breakout (remember?) and so on...
he's the genius.
<strong>Either way he is a GREAT public speaker.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Except for that REALLY annoying coughing.
<strong>
Except for that REALLY annoying coughing.</strong><hr></blockquote>
do you have an audio file of that ?
He was never a hacker, that was Woz, but I would never say Jobs isn't technical.
Basically, I'd agree with everyone's points, overall. He did not technically drop out of college, by the way, because he was never enrolled there. He talked his way into taking classes by being buddy-buddy with the Dean. Apparently, he has amazing charisma, and he had it early in his life.
Steve Jobs is persistent in bringing his vision, at the time, to fruition. He is an excellent businessman, negotiatior, and saleman, now. He has amazing instincts, but he goes astray time to time. NeXT was brilliant software on a nice box, but the company was a flop. The amazing things at NeXT may have been driven by Steve wanting perfection and ease-of use, but it was all created by the best-of-the-best programers that were employed at the company.
I must say everything is turning out pretty well these days. NeXT technology in OS X makes for a wonderful OS that is years ahead of its time. The digital hub stradegy seems great, and it seems to be exactly where personal computing is heading.
Jobs main problem is he gets caught up in the ideal vision, and ocationally, he forgets the customer's desires and needs over his vision. However, Steve Jobs is a brilliant CEO who loves Apple like a child. Since it is his brain-child in many ways, I thing we have the ideal leader who is pushing for good things.
My opinion is he uses technical knowledge as he feels a need for it, and he surrounds himself with super talented people to accomplish his vision.
At a keynote a couple of years back, Steve talked about being a "product guy". But you don't have to be an official techie to understand the language, implications and possibilities of technology. Steve is GREAT at that.
Admittedly you could train chimps to wire-wrap, but it's still a technical ability.
[quote]Originally posted by Defiant:
<strong>do you have an audio file of that ?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Unfortunately not. There're probably old keynotes up somewhere on the Quicktime pages, though.
Straying further off-topic, I do think he paces around alittle too much on stage if I were to critique his public speaking skills.
That's his strength, he doesn't work at the technical level, he works at a broader concept/functionality level. He thinks about a computer the way a user would, and is more impressed by technology when it enables a new function.
Also, Jobs is good at surrounding himself with amazing talent. His charisma helps sell his ideas and passion to the engineers, and thus he's able to choose the best talent in the field. Almost everyone wants to work at Apple, because it's an honor to work for Jobs. Even if he can be a grade A as$hole at times, people forgive him because his ideas are so creative and powerful.
There is no doubt about it, the Apple 1 and Apple 2 would never have existed without Jobs. Woz may have engineered the first PC, but it was because of Jobs that he was able to focus on the engineering and not be distracted by convincing others that the PC was useful.
"We've built in a technology into Mac OS X Mail called adaptive latent semantic analysis. What is this? I don't know, but it works." (laughs)