Steve Jobs was a brilliant businessman. He was also a complete and utter cockbite. Yes, he brought Apple back from the brink through his singular vision of corporate discipline and emphasis on design and branding, but he also made dozens and hundreds of other executives without his talent (which didn't change the fact that he shat on his workers regularly) think that their shiatty ideas would work well if they just focus on making things shiny and on ruling their companies with a retardedly iron fist.

Oh, we should totally bust up the teachers unions because Steve Jobs said so and Steve Jobs is always right.

Jobs refused potentially life-saving surgery on his pancreatic cancer because he felt it was too invasive. Nine months later, he got the operation but it was too late.

Oops!

Mr. Coffee Nerves: He was a pragmatic businessman who recognized the massive savings in shipping costs inherent in having illiterate quasi-slave labor in the United States rather than the current Apple illiterate quasi-slave labor force in China.

Educating EVERY child just delays those savings.

Um, do you do realize that all of Apple's hardware is built in China, right? By, among many other companies, Foxconn, which has such a horrible record that as a company it records record suicide rates and has nets on its buildings to stop jumpers.

Or I misread your thing in relation to TFA. DIsregard, I suck cocks.

Bloody William: Um, do you do realize that all of Apple's hardware is built in China, right? By, among many other companies, Foxconn, which has such a horrible record that as a company it records record suicide rates and has nets on its buildings to stop jumpers.

I still do not understand why they were killing themselves.

Big Cheese Make Hair Go Boom: Bloody William: Um, do you do realize that all of Apple's hardware is built in China, right? By, among many other companies, Foxconn, which has such a horrible record that as a company it records record suicide rates and has nets on its buildings to stop jumpers.

I still do not understand why they were killing themselves.

Basically, horrible working conditions and insane production paces. It seems to be dozens of people simply cracking under the stress.

Bloody William: Mr. Coffee Nerves: He was a pragmatic businessman who recognized the massive savings in shipping costs inherent in having illiterate quasi-slave labor in the United States rather than the current Apple illiterate quasi-slave labor force in China.

Educating EVERY child just delays those savings.

Um, do you do realize that all of Apple's hardware is built in China, right? By, among many other companies, Foxconn, which has such a horrible record that as a company it records record suicide rates and has nets on its buildings to stop jumpers.

I think that was part of his argument.

I wonder who does the purchasing for school computer labs all across the country, hopefully for apple they are not union members. Lobbying for touchy political subjects is probably not the best idea for a company that wants a large customer base.

If he's so smart, how come he's dead?

ib_thinkin: I never liked Steve Jobs for his restrictions on what could be used and viewed on the mobile devices he sold, but that article really puts into perspective how much of a douche he was.

Considering how naive of a comment this is - I will ignore the rest of your opinions in the future.

Jobs had quite an impressive PR machine. Unfortunately for him it stopped function about the same time his heart did.

Since when did preference for a computing platform become a political choice?

Phone: Apple
Gaming: Windows
Work: Linux

Can Obama even do anything about teacher's unions? That seems like a state issue.

Oh my god. Steve Jobs had an opinion that some libs don't agree with. If they buy an iPad they're totes hypocrital.

With Obama killing people left and right, this would explain why Steve Jobs is dead.

/too soon?

If Steve was so smart why did he allow Al Gore to remain on the Apple board?

Bloody William: I suck cocks.

How you doin'?

Bloody William: Steve Jobs was a brilliant businessman. He was also a complete and utter cockbite.

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself*

That's the weird thing about people, they're complicated like that. I don't know why some people wait breathlessly for everyone to freak out when they are reminded of this fact.


*It is well worth the re-reading, or reading if you're new to it

Cythraul: FTA: The publication date of the official biography of the notoriously-secretive Apple co-founder was pushed up after his death in October. "I wanted my kids to know me," Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying in their final interview. "I wasn't always there for them and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did."

Are his kids really young, or something? Or was he just a workaholic?

Uhh, he treated their mothers extremely poorly. The sins of the father passed through the son.

And Steve Jobs was well-known for being a brilliant tyrannical douche. If you're shocked by this news then you never really paid attention to who he was and what he did.

OSW would not know how to take this. Being completey non-partisan and not owned by Ad Busters, they swear all loyalty to the Democrat Party.

Steve Jobs was a great inventor...Therefore his opinion on politics is valid?

How is this any different than the celebrities who insert their uninformed opinions into the political arena? It's like "STFU and Go back to your tinkering, inventor" amirite?

I remember when Jobs' name was attached to a press release that spoke of the decision to restrict access to the the iTunes store for .pdf and adult content, where he used the phrase 'Freedom from pornography.'

Before that point I'd never really had an opinion on the guy, but the second he used the weaselly 'freedom from' prefix to justify limiting options, I filed him as a typical corporate cockbite who knew how use his words.

All the anecdotes about him that are meant to represent how glorious he was just seem to underscore that he was a successful businessmen and a bit of a dickbag and that neither of these things were necessarily related.

Nemo's Brother: OSW would not know how to take this. Being completey non-partisan and not owned by Ad Busters, they swear all loyalty to the Democrat Party.

Not sure if serious, not sure if sarcastic, not sure if coherent, certain if utterly gormless.

I really appreciated Steve Jobs' attitude towards computers pre-IOS when the computer was a tool to harness creativity rather than just a magical media consumption device. But at no time was I ever under the impression that he personally was anything other than the worlds greatest used car salesman.

If Steve Jobs had a soul, he sold in in 99 cent increments.

Steve Jobs was really cool until I found out he didn't agree 100% with President Obama and the supremacy of his policies.

Hear in the heartland of Applefanboy Liberalism (SF Bay Area), everybody knew he was a dick. A genius, but a dick.

HERE in the heartland of Applefanboy Liberalism (SF Bay Area), everybody knew he was a dick. A genius, but a dick.

Off to find coffee.

Bloody William: Um, do you do realize that all of Apple's hardware is built in China, right? By, among many other companies, Foxconn, which has such a horrible record that as a company it records record suicide rates and has nets on its buildings to stop jumpers.

Didn't it turn out that the mean suicide rate in China was actually much higher than that at Foxconn?

I've said it before; Apple is not "the little guy", Apple does not stand up for "the little guy". Apple is Microsoft in a Radiohead shirt.

Cythraul: indylaw: Oh my god. Steve Jobs had an opinion that some libs don't agree with. If they buy an iPad they're totes hypocrital.

They're what? What's 'totes hypocrital?' Is this 'young person speak?'

It means you carry a weapon with which you rarely roll 20s.

Wendy's Chili: Oh, we should totally bust up the teachers unions because Steve Jobs said so and Steve Jobs is always right.

One of the most damaging ideas in modern politics is that governments should be run like businesses and that businessmen should be considered authorities on government function.

Cythraul: Are his kids really young, or something? Or was he just a workaholic?

Not a workaholic just a business owner. Despite what a lot of people think, many of the wealthiest people sacrifice an awful lot to build that wealth. Unfortunately that often means you miss a lot of stuff at home.

I've never owned an Apple product but I respect the hell out of what Jobs created.

I work in the ad industry and Job was famous for screaming, threatening and basically driving people to brink of suicide at Apple's long-time agency of record.

He a horrible human being and no amount of pretty little devices will ever change that.