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Steve Jobs And Jeff Bezos Meet The Segway
deadwood writes "Ever wanted to know what Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos really thought about the Segway the first time he saw it? At the Harvard Business School site, there's an excerpt from the new book 'Code Name Ginger', giving a recounting of the Apple and Amazon bosses' first impressions of the device. Steve Jobs' gut reaction, quoted in the article: 'I think it sucks!'"
I won't argue the above remark. Without a doubt it is the truth.
<rant>
But man can he act like an arrogant prick!
I love the products his company makes, and I respect his opinions, but the man needs some serious lessons in humility and respect for others. Servant leadership, lead by serving and showing others, not just by blasting them for being wrong.
</rant>
Okay then.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
They think something about an object, great for them. What's next? Uproar in the slashdot community because Steve Jobs farted? This is supposed to be a new site (or at least that's what I keep telling myself), not some sort of weird online tabloid for the geek culture.
Hate me!
saying "Yeah it sucks man!!!"
/. Personnaly, I am excited, but as an AC will undoubtedly tell me soon, who cares what I think.
Maybe its not the greatest thing ever (I don't know, never seen one in person), but for a brand new product that is not a ripoff I think its doing pretty well. How great was MacOs 1.0 compared to OSX? Not very good at all, but its a starting point, the initial idea is out there, and basically it works. Now its time to expand and make it better.
Everyone is always ranting on here about how nothing is innovative anymore, and that all of these laws stifle innovation, and when something that is actually innovative finally comes out, here come the naysayers. I guess I should expect this from
Great Linux Site
he didn't turn it on, that's all.
the segway without being powered on it much like standing on a log with platform stuck to it. the prez needed to step off of it. we've all fallen off bikes, tripped, etc...usually we don't have people taking our pictures.
IT SUCKS. Someone needs to shoot the person who made those pieces of crap. First off, they don't have anything to make them visible in the evening hours (reflectors/lights). Combine that with being totally quiet and you have an accident waiting to happen. I almost got run over by one of them on the way to the bar the other day. I went to step out from the sidewalk on to the street and one comes zooming out in front of me. It's large footprint made every car that had to pass it move into the oncoming lane of traffic (totally in the oncoming lane if the segway had to pass a parked car). I understand that it has some cool technology, but they are an annoyance to the drivers and pedestrians that have to deal with them.
when all is said and done, weren't the problems actually legitimate stumbling blocks for Ginger?
people haven't bought them, they were overpriced, and they don't look that impressive.
it's a $X,000 scooter, at least that's what it looks like.
a Viper is just another really big engine, but put it in the right body....
Steve Jobs is referring to the appearance of the Segway. The article summary misquotes this quite deceptively.
What has *science* done?!? -- Dr. Weird (ATHF)
> weirdly compelled to incesstantly advertise the Segway on your own
Why is everyone jumping on this guy? Wierdly compelled? In that case, stop incessantly advertising [Linux|Macs|Windows|Whatever], since you obviously have an ulterior motive.
He's entitled to his opinion and this is called word-of-mouth advertising. Guess what IT'S EVERYWHERE, but just because he's one out of maybe 10 people on here who owns one, he's a corporate lackey? WTF. I don't own one, don't want one, but I don't care if he posts suggesting people try it. Maybe, someday, I'll see one & get to try it out. If I think it's cool enough, I'll be a dork and tell everyone to get one too.
We all stand on the shoulders of giants. Anyone who owns a business not built on other people's innovations isn't likely to be selling anything of worth...
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
When I read the account of the meeting, my impression of Steve Jobs was similar to that of what I have received of other effective senior executives of large companies.
1. He is a very quick study and he came in prepared. It was a bit strange that he had notes written on his hand but he knew what he wanted to say.
2. He had an agenda. He clearly didn't like the design and had issues with the lack of an introduction plan and the idea to manufacture on their own.
3. He's been around the block and part of his questions and statements are really tests to see how well everybody is prepared. I'm sure if anybody knows how quickly something could be copied, it would be Jobs.
4. It's interesting to me to hear that people think that he is an arrogant prick - I guess I've worked with a lot of them over the years.
From my experience with this type of executive (as well as my own experiences over the years), what I walked away from this article is that Kamen and the company that he produced aren't in the league they need to be for the product to be a success. They clearly weren't prepared for businessmen of the calibre Bezos and Jobs.
This article probably explains to me why the Segway hasn't been a great success - instead of Kamen, who's a great product idea man, they needed some kind of arrogant prick like Jobs to control the project.
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Seeing as how I am the only apple user, and one of three programmers, for a company that writes software for use under .NET, I'd have to say that everything you said in your conceit is absolutely untrue. I am able to access everything on the networks and use every program I need to use. My PC is not twice as fast as the laptop nor is it twice as expensive...the laptop is slower, but only when you don't take into account my workflow, which is significantly faster on the laptop. And because my mac apps don't crash, I never lose time RETYPING things like that hottie Ellen Feiss.
And your conceit fails to account for the fact that the auto world DOES exactly what you said it does. The Ford F-150 is twice the price and slower than the Focus ZX. "But you can't compare the two...they're used for different things!" Aha. Now you're getting it, my little troll.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
Job's comments were spot-on. He was blunt and rude so that they would listen to his points and they were really lucky to get advice from someone with Job's experience, and they should have listened instead of getting irritated and trying to get back to their meeting agenda. Agendas should be used to help start a discussion, not to stop it!
The account made the Segway people sound like amateurs who suddenly found themselves playing in the major leagues. Jobs was doing them a favor by playing the role of a grizzled old coach and being very blunt in trying to talk them out of doing some stupid things.
I wish I could get Steve Jobs to stay up all night thinking about my new product! They should've listened more to what he had to say.
There are 10 types of people in this world, those who can count in binary and those who can't.
What I love about the way brandido wrote it was:
But that isn't true. He had seen Ginger a day earlier and had time to reflect on the whole thing. He thought it was solid, but lacked a look that people would be drawn to. The quote should have had this additional thought added to it But instead he wanted to go for the shock value. Somehow this appearing on
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.