Steve Jobs helped hatch Obama's mobile campaign for reelection

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  • Reply 21 of 60
    Jobs was wrong about many things over the years, but trying to hoist Obama on the country for another four years takes the cake.
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  • Reply 22 of 60
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    I think this one is a bit too far outside of AI's mission. It doesn't really have anything directly to do with Apple. At least the previous political story here was about a campaign's use of Apple's iAd service, which was a first, previous customers were businesses.
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  • Reply 23 of 60
    echosonicechosonic Posts: 462member
    If discussion here gets out of hand…
    HEAR THAT? DON'T TALK POLITICS HERE. TALK ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF GENERIC POLITICAL HAPPENINGS AND THEIR MOVE TO MORE MODERN FORMS OF COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKING
    …we'll probably just move it to PO, no biggie.
    But I agree; there shouldn't be a political subforum here at all.

    unfortunately, there will always be some simpleton out there who replies to these threads with comments like "I wonder what Bohner thinks about Tim Cook being gay" or "I hope Romney is using the Windows guy's advice".

    Sadly, you can't stop stupidity, no matter how hard you try.
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  • Reply 24 of 60
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Lol it kills some of you to believe that SJ might've been an Obama supporter.
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  • Reply 25 of 60
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,657member


    Just because this is indirectly about a politician doesn't make it political. 


     


    And those of us who pretend to be business creators, product developers, UI designers, etc., will do a lousy job unless we engage in everything that's going on in the world.   The worst UI's and the worst products are developed by people who have no understanding of how other people live their lives.        You can't live life in a (technology) bubble and be accomplished in this area, IMO.


     


    While I agree that some of the stories on this site are questionable, this isn't "Apple Technology Insider", it's "Apple Insider".    Therefore, just about anything non-personal about an Apple executive is fair game.  And sometimes, even the personal might be fair game because it gives insight into how they think, which in-turn, gives insight into what they might do with Apple.   Much more insight than as to whether Apple is going to drop the 17" MBP or whether the next iPhone is going to have a 3.85" screen or a 3.95" screen. 


     


    As far as Jobs is concerned, in spite of the fact that he went to that Obama tech gathering shortly before he left us, I never pegged him as an Obama supporter.     I always felt that in spite of his early drug use and his quest for knowledge and new ideas, that at heart, he had a real conservative streak running through him.     I thought I saw that when he appeared before the planning board in Cupertino and they asked him about possibly providing some gratis technology (or gasp!, opening an Apple store) and he said something to the effect of, "I'm a pretty simple guy.   We pay taxes and you provide the services."     I also thought I saw his conservative streak when he reputedly pushed for the tax holiday on bringing Apple cash back to the U.S.    Maybe even a libertarian streak.    I remember wondering whether Jobs actually voted or not.    I always had a feeling that he didn't - that he probably felt that politicians of any persuasion were far less intelligent and insightful than he was.  Can you imagine if Steve had ever turned his wrath on Congress?

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  • Reply 26 of 60
    jonoromjonorom Posts: 293member
    k2director wrote: »
    Jobs was wrong about many things over the years, but trying to hoist Obama on the country for another four years takes the cake.

    I think the word you are trying for is "foist." Literacy is desirable here at AI. Politics - not.
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  • Reply 27 of 60
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    jeffdm wrote: »
    I think this one is a bit too far outside of AI's mission. It doesn't really have anything directly to do with Apple. At least the previous political story here was about a campaign's use of Apple's iAd service, which was a first, previous customers were businesses.

    I'm not sure about the lack of relevance. It seemed to me that a huge part of iOS 6 is about close integration with other systems like Twitter, Facebook, etc. Apple may be trying to differentiate itself uniquely for this ease of integration, in which case it would benefit a campaign to pay attention to Steve Jobs forecasting this coming seamlessness. The Republican side won't see this because of its inherent fixation on the past and its obliviousness to the present, let alone the future. That's not a political observation, it's about the inability to grasp the implications of technology.
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  • Reply 28 of 60
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    jonorom wrote: »
    I think the word you are trying for is "foist." Literacy is desirable here at AI. Politics - not.

    Like Foist Street? Are you from Brooklyn? Lol
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  • Reply 29 of 60

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


     


    I love how Jobs rewrites history.


     


    Introducing the Obama 08 iPhone App





    And I love when smug posters demonstrate ZERO reading comprehension:


     


    "For example, when Obama declared his campaign for presidency, the first-generation iPhone hadn't even been released."


    TFA


     


    "Barack Obama, then junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007."


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_presidential_campaign,_2008


     


    "The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007,[1] and released on June 29, 2007"


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone


     


    Or, in your world, does February 10, 2007 come after June 29, 2007?

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  • Reply 30 of 60
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 4,060member
    Odd, then, that Romney was the first to use iAd. You can lead a horse to water . . .
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  • Reply 31 of 60
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member


    Steve Jobs did a lot of good things, but this is obviously one of the low points, if the story is true. Obama is toast, regardless.

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  • Reply 32 of 60
    ajbdtc826ajbdtc826 Posts: 190member
    "Spell 'America' correctly in your app". Unlike Mitt Romney's app..."Amercia" (true story btw)
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  • Reply 33 of 60
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AjbDtc826 View Post



    "Spell 'America' correctly in your app". Unlike Mitt Romney's app..."Amercia" (true story btw)


    I wonder if Obama's app will be available in all 57 states?

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  • Reply 34 of 60
    msimpsonmsimpson Posts: 452member


    Steve's advice:  


     


    "Outsource as much of your campaign to Foxconn and then make some warm & fuzzy commercials with Samuel L Jackson and that Zoe chick. Spend a lot of money integrating iwith Facebook. And wear a black turtleneck when you campaign"

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  • Reply 35 of 60
    basilbasil Posts: 6member


    Capitalizing on social networks? Like Ping?

     

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  • Reply 36 of 60
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleZilla View Post


    Meanwhile, Rmoney's Campaign has gotten a boost from old-fashioned billionaires:


     


    Representative File Photo:


     


    image



     


    Because this guy represents the middle class right?


     


    obamas-boss.jpg


     


     


     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post



    I somehow don't believe this at all.

    I also don't want to discuss it.


     


    I agree.  I have the feeling if Steve were here to defend himself the story would be slightly different.  I imagine more of a "you guys are f'n morons, this isn't how you run a campaign".


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    I wonder if Obama's app will be available in all 57 states?



    Sadly half the people here will have no idea of what you are talking about...


     


     


    The thing I don't understand is if the President is so awesome why does his campaign feel the need to name drop?  Tell us why you would be the better president instead of letting us know who you've hung out with.  

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  • Reply 37 of 60
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post



    At least the previous political story here was about a campaign's use of Apple's iAd service, which was a first, previous customers were businesses.


    Obama was the first US President to use a Blackberry and the first to use an iPad. They didn't let 'W' have a mobile phone because there was a law that all presidential communications must be archived which apparently was not possible with his technology team at the time. As I recall they relaxed that rule, regarding personal mobile phones, because Obama was reluctant to give up his BB after being elected.

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  • Reply 38 of 60
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    I somehow don't believe this at all.
    I also don't want to discuss it.

    I believe the version in the article. However the article title implies that Jobs directly worked on the campaign and that I doubt.

    As for the whole no politics, no more what Steve did or said etc stuff, I agree with the lack of desire to see those articles. I also don't care to know about what is happening with Android, windows phones etc. I come here to read about Apple. When I want to know about the other guys I'll go read androidinsider.com etc
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  • Reply 39 of 60
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    .
    But I agree; there shouldn't be a political subforum here at all.

    A political sub forum is not the issue, a 'read more bout dead Steve' forum is not the issue.

    The issue is putting that stuff as front page news. It really isn't. So don't. Let those that care go find it themselves.

    Or which to an adaptive system where every article must be keyworded and let us pick what we see as headlines based on those words. Those that don't care about politics can choose to exclude that keyword etc
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  • Reply 40 of 60
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post



    Lol it kills some of you to believe that SJ might've been an Obama supporter.


     


    Hardly.  Anyone who's surprised that a vegan iconoclast who freely talked about his LSD use and named Al Gore to his board might support a Democratic president really hasn't been paying attention for decades.  Nor does it "kill" (most of) those of other political persuasions who still want the best digital devices around.  Rush Limbaugh misses few opps to talk about his latest Apple gear on the air.  Plus I have to wonder what percent of the user base has any notion of the political leanings of the former CEO of the company whose products they buy.  


     


    And not only their Apple products.  How many of you know ANYTHING of the politics of the CEO or President of the company that built your car (or much about the politics of the country the company is based in if not the US) - or any other product you use regularly?  Is your toothpaste dollar benefiting political causes you don't support?  Your beverages?  Your chain restaurant providers?  


     


    Are your Apple dollars supporting Chinese adventurism in Africa or that country's general military build-up, its tacit (or more) support of North Korea and Iran and its still successful suppression of any democratic movement in that country?  And if so, does that raise a serious ethical quandary for you?  Are Apple's ties to Foxconn helping to create an eventual larger middle class there - which will eventually help create a more democratic country or are they profiteering from the shameless exploitation of labor?  Are their outsourced products contributing to a decline in the US economy - or does the new "app economy" offset that?  And again, has any of this influenced which computer, OS, phone or tablet you buy?  


     


    Also, have Apple's environmental policies - in sourcing, using and recycling their products - actively influenced your buying decisions - which have gotten major press - either when criticism first came to light or since Apple's been responding to them?


     


    Still, while I've never heard of a study, I would imagine overall user base of Mac users would skew more liberal than the populace at large since they're also "hipper," younger and more "aspirational."  And OS X is more "right-brained" in its approach to use (more visual, intuitive, always more appeal to creatives etc.) compared to Windows (textual, analytic, more appeal to an engineer's, corporate type's, spread-sheet geek's mind set).  In fact, I now recognize that's what made switching much more difficult for me (in the early 00's) than I'd expected it to be - I was trying to just apply my old PC skill set to what looked like a new set of instructions, whereas OS X mastery actually engages a different part of your brain. 


     


    There used to be a campaign (in the '60's? '70's) in NYC for a brand of rye bread which featured pictures of people of various ethnicities with the tagline "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's!"  Were this story to gain traction and become truly controversial - which odds I rate at p<.01, if not p<.001, i.e., it's a blip and gone - Apple could have one "You don't have to be liberal to love Apple!"  


     


    Meanwhile, while I followed his companies from the beginning, I really don't care what Steve's political views were - they're hardly what he'll be remembered for.  It's more like a comedy routine (I'd credit the comedian, but can't remember) I heard, "I'd much prefer a pilot with a good touch of OCD to a 'well-adjusted' person - I want that sucker to be focused on nothing other than getting my plane from point to point - even if he'd be a terrible drinking buddy."  And Apple's notoriously quirky founder and driver was successful - eventually on an almost unimaginably huge scale - because of a famously focused approach to creating (and creating the desire for) insanely great products to the exclusion of many other qualities we value in most people we associate with.   

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