1813 - Just One More Day

2011-10-06

By now everybody knows that Steve Jobs is dead. You know that I strongly disagreed with him, but nevertheless I feel deep respect for this great man. Only a genius like him could have created such a consistent collection of technical marvels, only a maniac like him could have had the power and the perseverance to do so, and his touch of authoritarianism must have been inevitable. A great work like his, a work that is so much defined by aesthetics and therefore by subjectivity can’t be the result of a democratic process. Great works are done by single, great minds, and his was one of the greatest of our time.

Unfortunately he built a jail. It’s the most beautiful jail ever built, but it is a jail nevertheless. That’s why I have an Android phone, and if I ever buy a tablet (the iPad for my father does not count, OK?), it will be an Android. Any Android is better than sitting in a jail. Any but the Amazon Kindle Fire that is. The Kindle Fire is based on Android, but it is a jail as well. Same jail, less beautiful.

Still, I admire Steve Jobs and I guess he must have had a fulfilled life, how ever short it was. May he rest in peace.

The Song of the Day is the Otis Redding classic “Just One More Day”, interpreted by Huey Lewis And The News on their 2010 album “Soulsville”. Hear it on vuighe.net.

Well, one day we all will wish for another day, just one more day, and then one day more, and for all of us there will be that day when our wish won’t be granted.

And while we are talking about last days, this day was the last day of summer. Tomorrow temperatures are supposed to plummet by 15 degrees Celsius, along with thunderstorms, heavy rains and snowfall down to 700 meters.

There are 6 comments

Ove   (2011-10-07)

Yes, I quite agree with you on their business model. I'm a mac user since 1990 and remember very well how much discussions there were those days, how they locked their software to their hardware and didn't let any third party hardware suppliers in. But, at least, third party vendors of application software were at least free to develop for that platform. They still are. It's the mobile platforms and the businesses around this. It's another world. Btw, we had our last Summer day last Sunday. It's surprising how similar weather has been all over Europe, this season.

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andreas   (2011-10-07)

Well, it came as announced. We had snow today 🙂

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Cedric   (2011-10-07)

Reading some of the stuff being said on Jobs it would seem that every Apple product was invented, designed, built and marketed by him. If that was true than one would think that Apple is doomed. Of course I'm sure it's not and perhaps now we might get to know a little more about some of the creative geniuses who live in Cupertino. Unless of course, it really was all him 🙂

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andreas   (2011-10-07)

Well, he was not the tech wizard, he was the enabler with a mighty vision and the ruthlessness and sheer power necessary to fight it through. I doubt we'll see anything like the iPad again. Oh, they'll produce good computers, phones, tablets, they'll use their patents against the competition, they may even produce some good software and their user interfaces will be always top notch, but they may never again create a new category of devices, just like Jobs did about once a decade or even more often 😄

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John   (2011-10-07)

I'm a Windows guy, and while I own zero Apple products, and like it that way, you have to give Steve Jobs credit. Because of him, Windows is a better operating system. Whether or not Apple can survive without him remains to be seen. It only took 12 years to bring Apple to the brink of disaster when Steve was "released" in '85. They had to bring him back to survive. Next few years could be interesting...

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andreas   (2011-10-07)

Well, being head to head with Exxon Mobile is quite a good position, but then, Digital Equipment Corporation was #2 before they went down, were bought by Compaq, which was bought by HP which at least was rumored to be bought by Oracle. There's nothing like a safe position.

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