RIP Steve Jobs

NoOneLikesUs · Oct 5, 2011

A great man indeed!

Jobs returned to his previous job at Atari and was given the task of creating a circuit board for the game Breakout. According to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Atari had offered $100 for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. Jobs had little interest or knowledge in circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the bonus evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Much to the amazement of Atari, Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, a design so tight that it was impossible to reproduce on an assembly line. At the time, Jobs told Wozniak that Atari had only given them $700 (instead of the actual $5000) and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.
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Inky_Wretch · Oct 5, 2011

Double Down said:

Jobs speaking to Stanford's graduating class in 2005. Read.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
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Or watch it.

YouTube: http://bit.ly/nZxdvn

LongTimeListener · Oct 5, 2011

NoOneLikesUs said:

A great man indeed!

Jobs returned to his previous job at Atari and was given the task of creating a circuit board for the game Breakout. According to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Atari had offered $100 for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. Jobs had little interest or knowledge in circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the bonus evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Much to the amazement of Atari, Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, a design so tight that it was impossible to reproduce on an assembly line. At the time, Jobs told Wozniak that Atari had only given them $700 (instead of the actual $5000) and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.
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I think Wozniak is alright.

Jobs would have to rank as one of the 100 most influential people of both the 20th and 21st centuries. That's a tough double to pull off.

Brian · Oct 5, 2011

I think Steve Jobs broke Twitter.

What a life he led. Stunning to think he put it all in 56 years.

Point of Order · Oct 5, 2011

I guess heaven needed a bunch of cool new shit.

Flip Wilson · Oct 5, 2011

When I talk to my students about how to cover a speech, we always watch Jobs' graduation speech at Stanford. So I watch that speech two or three times every semester, and have for the last five years. I always know exactly what he's going to say, but I still get goosebumps.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that that was one of the greatest graduation speeches ever given. I agree. I've listened to a lot of them trying to find other ones to use in class, but haven't found a better one yet.

Point of Order · Oct 5, 2011

Flip Wilson said:

When I talk to my students about how to cover a speech, we always watch Jobs' graduation speech at Stanford. So I watch that speech two or three times every semester, and have for the last five years. I always know exactly what he's going to say, but I still get goosebumps.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that that was one of the greatest graduation speeches ever given. I agree. I've listened to a lot of them trying to find other ones to use in class, but haven't found a better one yet.
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Check out Conan Obrien's too if you haven't.

http://www.allowe.com/Humor/book/COBspeech2k.htm

NoOneLikesUs · Oct 5, 2011

Point of Order said:

I guess heaven needed a bunch of cool new shit.
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I'd lean more towards hell. You know, suicide nets at the factory and all.

Double J · Oct 5, 2011

Chef2 said:

Fuckin Vigoda.
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I was just gonna say.....

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.

This guy begs to differ:

HC · Oct 5, 2011

Politics aside, I liked this quote from Obama: "The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

Point of Order · Oct 5, 2011

Why the eff is everyone speaking over-my-head snark to me tonight?

old_tony · Oct 5, 2011

Introducing the new iCoffin.

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RIP Steve Jobs

NoOneLikesUs Active Member

Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

Brian Well-Known Member

Point of Order Active Member

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RIP Steve Jobs

NoOneLikesUs Active Member

Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

Brian Well-Known Member

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Flip Wilson Well-Known Member

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