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Steve Jobs' Grand Vision
ejungle writes "The Toronto Star has an excellent article on Steve Jobs and his increasingly interesting role as head of both Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios. The article goes into the market pressures surrounding both companies, and goes a long way to explain their recent moves."
but I kind of wanted to stop reading after this:
"The late Walt Disney built his empire with a mouse. The same can be said about Steve Jobs"
Dial a cliche...
An idle question: Has anyone ever seen Steve Jobs make any significant public statement about the fact that the Pixar render farm uses Linux computers? I'm sure he has an opinion on the benefits of Linux, but I don't know if he's ever expressed it near a reporter.
It's up to the reader to decide which is which.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Jobs, who is worth $1.7 billion (U.S.), according to Forbes magazine last year, routinely declines interview requests and could not be reached for comment for this story.
What does Steve Jobs not wanting to do an interview for the San Francisco Chronicle have to do with how much money he is worth?
Portland, North Dakota Puppies
While I firmly agree with Pixar breaking off from Disney, the statement
Jobs went so far as to declare that Pixar had surpassed Disney as "the most powerful and trusted brand in animation."
seems a little fishy to me. While Pixar is amazing at what it does, it's no Disney. Nobody wants to take thier kids to Pixarland, and you don't get the Pixar channel at home, and I'd say it'll be quite a while before either of those happens. They are by no means trusted to the level of Disney in a family atmosphere.
They have a good thing going, but IMHO they are far from the top still.
Jobs is a rebel because he is successful and innovative and they will close him down? No wonder the entertainment industries don't seem to get things right if thats the definition of a rebel.
Jonathanjk.com
Judge: Let me get this straight Mickey, you want a divorce from Minnie because you say she is crazy.
Mickey: No, I never said Minnie was crazy, I said she was fucking Goofy!
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
Steve Jobs DOES have vision, and a profound understanding of the principles of technological innovation, no matter what some people might think. For example, he wrote that famous text himself: http://www.apple.com/thinkdifferent/
Best Buy can have you arrested
Jobs is a hypocrite.
From a google search: "The exercise will be lost on the children of Apple founder Steve Jobs, however. He wisely doesn't allow his kids to watch TV, or drink sickly sodas, advocating Odwalla's excellent fruit juices instead. Do as he does, not as he says, we suggest"
Steve Jobs refuses an interview? That's his right. And stop talking about his money.
See the problem?
The article fails to mention that Jobs can also play an increasingly large role in the proposed Disney/Comcast merger. Comcast's CEO, Brian Roberts, is trying to pursuade Steve Jobs to join ranks with Comcast. Since Pixar has been directly responsible for a very large portion of Disney's recent success, and since Pixar will be severing ties with Disney, if Steve Jobs endorses the merger and decides to renew the contract with Disney (because of the Comcast deal), stockholders will be significantly more inclined to approve the merger.
Yes... and cold.
Jonathanjk.com
What really bad ones? You say there were a lot...
And NeXT was fucking fantastic, it amazed me that even in '99 the rest of the computing world hadn't caught up to how far along NeXTSTEP was when it came to providing a useful, coherent, sane computing environment.
Installed base is a much more useful number than market share, unless you really think real computing advancement comes from the hundreds of mid to low end machines typically deployed in corporations (hint: it doesn't). Emacs don't cost near 2k, iMacs do and they are poor sellers because of it. The G5 machines are priced well if you do a serious comparison of what you get for the money... and more importantly they are priced great since Apple sells them as fast they make them (the single 1.6 excluded).
I realize you are doing the anti-popular opinion troll for mod points but unfortunately for me I can't help but reply.
--- I do not moderate.
I agree. Everytime someone bashes a mac their Karma goes down faster than Pamela Lee Anderson. (notice I'm posting as Anon, I like my Karma where it is) Even if it's true. And your post IS true.
the market share thing is really strange... I keep seeing more and more and more macs out there (especially powerbooks).. most of the linux market share has to be in servers. I'm at RIT and I think about half the people I see now have apple laptops, its really insane. even the members of the Computer Science House (special interest housing) about half have mac laptops, despite most also having desktops running windows or linux or windows and linux.. Apple's market share definitely is not decreasing at least.
Your above statements only hold true if you assume Pixar can't create any other market-winning content. Obviously they believe they can and to their credit, Nemo, etc... were very successful market creations, much more so than anything Disney has created in a while.
--- I do not moderate.
he didnt invent the Mac, Steve Wozniak did, Jobs marketed it, so yes he is innovative at selling computers branded as premium product$
While I'm sure "jobs" give you a raise, I think 15" is a result of a 10" parralax error.
"He might be surprised to find that Hollywood closes it ranks to rebels," said Kay, the IDC analyst. "By aspiring too high, too quickly, that could be his downfall. But that story's not told yet.''
Certainly not. People want to see Pixar movies and that is guaranteed money. I can see Hollywood closing its rank to rebels when it comes to cash. Right.
the most interesting bit from the article--"Jobs bought Pixar from LucasFilm in 1986, during his exile from Apple...
[Lucas] sold [Pixar] to Jobs for a bargain because Lucas needed cash for a divorce settlement."
is that really true?
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Apples marketshare is calculated against an enire computer industry and people expect Apple to gain marketshare? that means that have to sell more computers THAN the industry to have that figure climbing back up again. As long as they make a profit who cares, other than know nothing tech reporters?
Jonathanjk.com
Still bitter, Mr. Gates?
Well,
:) I will tell you why I (a 10+ year vet of the computer field) went to it, and why I like Steve Jobs.
.Apps. Seriously. These things rock. I like the whole framework. I can drag them around to install them, delete them to uninstall them, launch them from the CLI, copy them, back them up, etc. It is great.
Since you asked so nice, and aren't AC
1) Apple makes systems with a tight verticle integration. The same reasoning behind AIX, RS/6000 and Shark storage holds for a G4/G5. It is designed and optimized like a console, but allows for upgrades. (The whitebox upgrades are even supported by the warranty. I can add RAM or vid myself under warranty. Can I do that with a Dell?)
2) Apple really understands the customers. It has a really good idea of what people expect from Apple Computers, and usually does a pretty good job of delivering that.
3) Apple has a three year warranty that is only the price of a low-end vid card. It is around 150, if I remember correctly.
4) Apple support is composed of some of the nicest people I have ever talked to, and I even have some friends now who work there. They are willing to patiently explain that something a user did was dumb, and explain how to fix it. Without making even a grandmother (who WASHED her mac) feel stupid. My wife even likes talking to them.
5) Apple has really top-notch driver integration. I have only installed one driver on a Mac. Ever. Dozens of hardware add-ons and accessories, and I only had to install a driver for an ancient Wacom tablet. Everything else was perfect plug and play. It just doesn't happen with Windows. REALLY doesn't happen on Linux.
6) Full media ships with the computer. No crippled OS versions. It is the whole enchilada.
7) Safe system restore. Fix the problem in about 15 minutes, without losing a single byte of your data. It rocks! I've only had to use it once, but it was amazing.
8) Well-laid out keyboards. Personal preference.
9) Fantastic engineering. Again, personal preference. I happen to like a 6 lb 1" laptop with the power and battery life of something much larger. And a DVD burner. And the ability to run 2 external screens at the same time as the internal screen. I frequently use mine in dual screen mode at work.
10) iLife. A simple suite of cheap/free apps that really cover the bases. They work together nicely, too.
11) Safari. Really nice, fully integrated mostly STANDARDS COMPLIANT browser.
12)
13) Free dev environment. Full on IDE that is actually pretty nice. Works for Java, Perl, AppleScript, and C/C++/ObjC.
14) Finder. Finder is a very smooth way to navigate a computer. It has some issues, and I will certainly bitch about them.
15) Unix based. I like this. I've been on Unix since the mid 80's, and I love it. I'm glad Apple went that way.
Now, as for what I like about Jobs? He's a really charismatic person who is willing to tell people to go fly a kite. He goes in really weird directions, does really weird things, and they even sometimes work. What I really like, though, is that Apple seems to suck without him.
There you have it. Feel free to complain or flame, but understand that I really couldn't care less. I love my Macs, and I am not a PC Gamer. I play NWN on them. I do not buy computers to be game consoles, so I couldn't care less if $game supports it. I probably wouldn't own that game for windows, if I owned it.
Of course, there is also no guarantee that my next 4 computers will be Macs like my last 4. It is highly likely, though.
-WS
An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
If I had to hadicap the animation industry, I'd bet on Dreamworks SKG before I even thought of Pixar. Why? Well aside from having a lot more cash, an ex-Disney Founder (Katzenberg), and more clout in the industry... Shrek. And soon, Shrek 2.
The mac was invented by a team of people. Steve Jobs was very active in the Mac project. While it appears he claimed a lot of other people's ideas as his own, he had the knack to always figure out which idea of all the ones out there was the one that should be used. So Jobs is an innovator. Read Andy Hertzfeld's siteFolklore for more information.
Jobs and the Reality Distortion Field
Jobs is basically a promoter. Nothing less, nothing more. A charismatic evangelist.
For my money the Woz is the man, but Apple is past the age of technology and into the age of promotion. Such is life I guess.
KFG
Moves, not movies
I didn't think there were/was any obscure philosophy, or particularly deep and meaningful messages in their recent movies that made explanations necessary, but then, I wondered if they'd just gone over my head. :-/
GENERAL PUBLIC SIGNATURE (GPS) Any replies (derivatives) of this post must also use the GPS
MOD HIM UP, this is a valid point and a topical discussion is coming from it!
Jonathanjk.com
> What really bad ones? You say there were a lot...
I don't want to start a flame war here. The worst thing he has done, is to stick that elitist reputation to the Mac. Where I live (Belgium, Europe), nobody gives a shit about Macs anymore. When tell people I prefer working on a Mac than on anything else, people look at me as if I were a perfect ass. Some of my friends don't speak of computers with me anymore, they just think I've become some kind of extremist who can't see how Macs are doomed.
In my book, that's bad.
> And NeXT was fucking fantastic
Agreed. Mac OS X still _is_ fucking fantastic.
> Emacs don't cost near 2k
Nope, 'only' 1k. For a all-in-one underpowered (1Ghz) machine. $300 for a complete walmart PC, including the screen. OK, Macs are better. Better hardware. Better software. But you have more than 3 low end expandable PC's for the price of an eMac. People care. Then again, I'm talking about us Europeans.
> Installed base is a much more useful number than market
> share, unless you really think real computing advancement
> comes from the hundreds of mid to low end machines typically
> deployed in corporations
So why are most of those corporation renewing their computer base with less expensive PC's? (hint: because they are cheaper).
> I realize you are doing the anti-popular opinion troll for mod points
Nope... I'm playing the betrayed lover.
Instant Karma's gonna get you, Gonna knock you right on the head (John Lennon, 1970)
I think there's a tiny bit of difference between "Pixar's render software" and, say, Final Cut Pro. You can't just shoot a DV of some fish, proicess it and make it Finding Nemo... It kind of takes a small army of animators.
No wonder his salary is only $1 dollar.
And I thought they out sourced the CEO position.
Well, oh Anonymously Cowardly one, this is actually a damn good idea and one that makes complete sense. Remember when it looked like Apple or Pixar or both were going to buy Universal Music? I remember mentioning that it made more sense for Apple and Pixar to buy Universal Pictures for a guaranteed advantageous home base to release Pixar movies. I believe that Jobs can marshal enough money to beat the Comcast offer, and would be looked upon very kindly as a "white knight" versus Comcast's hostile bid.
Apple, Pixar, Disney, ABC TV (USA) and Disney Cable Networks? A match made in heaven. Do it, Steve. Do it.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
but a lot of really bad ones.In the meantime, the Mac's marketshare fell below 2% and has been overtaken by Linux Desktop's share.
That's not Jobs' fault. That's Sculley's, and that's the dispute that caused Steve to leave Apple. Steve and Steve started Apple to make computers For the Rest of Us. Computers that people could use; not room-size boxes hidden away in an industrial building.
Sculley had a vision of using Apple's superior technology to make products with high margins and turn Apple into a billion dollar company. And he did. And he gave up marketshare for that.
Lots of people agree that the real reason of the Mac slow but sure descent into Hell is Job's elitist vision and its results, overpriced hardware, rumor cult(ure) at Apple, etc.
Lots of people are uninformed, but that doesn't make them right. Macs aren't overpriced; they're worth every penny you spend on them, the only problem is that you don't have the choice to spend less for things you don't want because Apple doesn't offer those products (like an iMac without the flat panel display and built-in Bluetooth but in an ATX case).
On the same token, Apple can't charge the same prices that Dell does in order to gain market share; they need to fund their R & D divisions. Dell makes money on volume (quanitity). People buy Macs for quality. Apple has to make higher priced units that will yeild larger profits due to the price, not because of a markup. The reason that Apple can't make money on quantity is Sculley's fault, not Jobs. Apple computers were affordable before Jobs left.
Steve's company brought the first personal computer (that could plug into a TV screen, with colour graphics and sound) to the masses. Also the first consumer floppy drive (tapes were the thing before that). The first computer with a GUI, and the first laser printers (along with Canon). And again, when Jobs came back, he brought the iMac, the iPod, and the entire iLife suite to the masses (iDVD, iMovie, etc). Those things wouldn't exist without Jobs; the PC industry was declared dead with no future until Jobs announced the iMac and the digital hub.
Why do so many people worship this one guy?
He's one of the very few people in the consumer-oriented computer industry that moves it forward. Enterprise computing has their own heros (Oracle and Sun come to mind).
Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
Though I agree that Disney still is a powerful media conglomerate and as a brand name it sure has appeal to mass from kids to retired, animation from Disney has lost a lot of momentum compared to its heyday. Animated feature is no longer dominated by Disney, as 3D animation is becoming the mainstream in the film biz. This has been proven by success of animated feature from other studios, like Dreamworks and Fox. Meanwhile, in 2D animation world, there are some indication that Disney might have lost touch in animation business. Boxoffice success of Disney animation is no longer guaranteed unlike old days. While Disney is apparently aware of this trend, they are yet to come up with viable alternative to their ex-partner, Pixer.
Is 2D animation dead? I think not, and neither some studios. But from what we have seen in success of Pixer/Dis films, it is undeniable that Pixer has a better ground to compete in animation after this separation.
They are by no means trusted to the level of Disney in a family atmosphere.
Sure, WE trust Disney for its purity. Disney is clean as long as it doesn't engrave their banner on top of crap they make under other brand name they own.
Cheers.
Why do so many people worship this one guy?
I think this statement is a tad off -- while Jobs has a fair chunk of admirers, he's not worshipped by the vast majority of geeks out there.
Still, it can't be denied that the guy has two strong points in his favor:
1. He is a charismatic speaker and promoter 2. He has a vision of where he wants technology to go, and how people use it.
Say what you want about Jobs, he's not a guy whose only goal is to sell you a shiny new box, like Mike Dell does. Beneath the short-term announcements and plans is a long-term vision for making technology accessible to people, so they can accomplish things with it. Take a look at how Apple's spent the last few years building up their iLife software suite, for instance -- it's not just "here are a bunch of programs we're throwing into a box," it's "here's how we've integrated these things to organize your stuff."
And besides, doesn't your current computer use windows and a mouse and icons? That's Job's vision, right there -- he took one look at that Xerox Star GUI, said "This is so fucking cool, everybody should be using this" ... and made it so that everyone is using it.
--R.J.
Electric-Escape.net
Just as script kiddies have no innate intelligence and have no clue how all those scripts work, this writer has learned from some rule book somewhere that clauses in a sentence are the preferred way to spiff up boring writing. Rather than try to understand why, he has applied this rule indiscriminately and come up with nonsense.
It has been ages since I worried about this stuff (6th grade, I think). I think these are called subordinate clauses, and are supposed to clarify the rest of the sentence. Thus if he had said "Jobs, who made his money interviewing famous people, routinely declines interviews requests" or "Jobs, who is worth $1.7 billion, said he cannot afford to finance movies himself" -- either one would have been legitimate.
Now I hope I've cleared up SOMETHING, for Ifni's sake!
Infuriate left and right
Given the failed discussions that Disney had with Comcast, and the subsequent hostile takeover offer, dropping Pixar through being unable to reach agreement, may make a lot of sense.
If the big bad cable company trying to take you over wants content, killing value by dropping an agreement with a major content provider (Pixar) might just be the way to go.
Anyone else think Eisner would do that to fend off Comcast and keep the keys to the Kingdom to himself?
Hmmm, I don't worship Steve Jobs by any stretch, but I do appreciate his vision and his company's products. The world needs more like him. Great designs rarely come from committees - in fact, can you name one? Concorde, maybe. Most "classics" are usually one person's vision.
As for the drop in market share, that is not SJ's fault, it was John Sculley's, and the cluless mob that followed after him. Apple was about to go tits up when SJ returned and used his vision to put the company back on track. In fact, SJ's biggest error was bringing Sculley over, then making an enemy of him. One can only wonder at the shape of the industry today if that had not happened. I'm sure one Bill Gates would have far less influence, power and money, that's for sure.
Instant Karma's gonna get you, Gonna knock you right on the head (John Lennon, 1970)
and
Lots of people agree that the real reason of the Mac slow but sure descent into Hell is Job's elitist vision and its results, overpriced hardware, rumor cult(ure) at Apple, etc.
Why do people still claim Mac is on the verge of bankruptcy? According to some, they've been "on the verge of hell" since the late 80's. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they're doing much better now than they were in 1996...
If any of you are still wondering, just sit down and watch Lion King 1 1/2. Then compare it to Finding Nemo. Ask yourself: which is the better movie? Then ask yourself: How would Walt have felt about the character Poomba in the Lion King, whose defining characteristic is that he passes gas? (A LOT of gas). Methinks old Walt would not have approved of fart jokes, and furthermore that when you have to resort to scatalogical humor to intertain kids, it's a symptom that you've completely run out of good ideas. Shrek and Lilo and Stitch weren't as bad, but they too seemed to need to resort to scatalogical humor. The closest Pixar ever comes to scatalogical is in Monsters Inc, where I really cannot figure out where in the middle of the Himalayas the Abominable Snowman is getting lemon juice with which to make yellow snowcones...
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
My major concern with this deal is that Disney just might be enough of a 600 lb gorilla[0] to fight really dirty on this. Can they leverage Pixar out of the screens when Pixar wants to release a movie? Exactly how much power does Disney have?
[0] - Where does a 600 lb gorilla sleep? Wherever it !@#$ing wants to.
Hardware [check]
Software [check]
Content [check]
Mindshare [check]
Market [check$]
In the great race to revolutionize previous services, CableTV, Telephone and Audio are all taking new forms. Seems to me that the Pixar acquisition after iTunes means Job's only needs a portable device with a large enough screen to make the portable, secure, wireless future happen.
Pixar will produce its own content, and those who seek to distribute their movies through that 'channel' will join in the success. Filling out the market footprint for Jobs' in 2005.
M$ may suffer from being more than we need with their next release.
If at the same time indie Musicians and Filmakers could get the gear they could offer great alternatives, but Apple and Pixar are a collossus.
Stuff that matters.
Why can't Comcast try and scoop up Pixar all to itself if that's what it really wants?
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Why?
1) He helped popularize the personal computer;
2) He helped popularize the user interface that the majority of those computers now use;
3) He helped revolutionize the computer, industrial and product design industries with the iMac (and made USB truly "universal");
4) He helped revolutionize the way people acquire, manipulate and experience music (and stopped Microsoft's bid for domination dead in its tracks);
5) He heads an animation studio that is the undisputed leader of what is becoming a new "Golden Age" in animation;
6) He financed the most successful television commercial ever produced;
7) He brought Apple back from the brink of extinction...
And each of the organizations he heads is obsessed with producing the best quality products possible. There's a lot of crowing here in Slashdot and elsewhere when Apple slips, but the people there put more time, effort, intelligence and care into what they do than just about any organization you could name.
And, yes, I worked there.
The vision can be grand even if the results are not, no?
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
it'd cost you several hundred dollars to get in, everything would be stark white with accents of brushed steel and a few aqua bubbles. There would only be 3 rides, and they'd be the really old ones "ported" from Magic Mountain, and before you entered the park, there'd be a little tutorial demonstrating how powerful and intuitive everything is.
So you've been to Epcot?
The Innovation buildings are SO EXCITING. Their "future" of computer hardware is stuff most Slashdotters already have.
---
Given Steve Job's ability to create great usable interfaces, Pixarland may be the first themepark that would not require a map to find your way. It would keep the lines down to 10 minutes even on weekends. It might cost "several hundred dollars", but you would spend all the times on rides rather than waiting in line. At that price, your fast-food concessions can be buffet-style, eliminating the overhead of cashiers inside the park. The justification is that if you are eating, you are not making the lines for rides longer.
Would you pay twice the ticket price for the Magic Kingdom if the lines were half as long? You could see every attraction in fewer days so you could keep the trip shorter and save on hotel nights. And remove the boredom of standing on line for an hour for a 2-minute ride.
---
Pixarland will not happen soon. Since all the past and current movie releases were for Disney, Pixar will have to wait untill it has a few hits on its own. Then buy land. Design rides to fit the land and the movies. Build the rides. Hire people to run everything. Safety tests. Usability testing. Fix anything confusing. Repeat until anybody from 5 to 95 can understand the layout. Finally we mortals are allowed to enter.
I guess they need 5 great movies (at one movie per year) before even starting. Another 5 years to design, build and test the first 10 rides. (I am assuming one adult and one child per movie.) So Pixarland opens in 2015. The grand opening will do well, and adding a few rides each year to match the latest movies would keep people going back.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
That's Job's vision, right there -- he took one look at that Xerox Star GUI, said "This is so fucking cool, everybody should be using this" ... and made it so that everyone is using it. ...by making Macs so overpriced that Microsoft came in and stole his lunch...
I wonder who he has in mind to take his newest grand vision to market?
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
I don't really *worship* Steve Jobs in any sense of the word, for anything he did, past or present. I do admire him for certain things, Apple and Pixar among them.
I'm no Mac zealot -- I prefer PCs for desktop work, and the amount of lockdown in OS X annoys me. At the same time, I own an iPod and am considering getting an iBook because I can't find a well-made sub-$1500 laptop with the features I want. (My next desktop will be an AMD64 box, however.) Even in desktop systems, Apple is reasonably competitive -- still pricier than a $500 white-box PC, but not as bad as you seem to think it is. Witness Sub-$2000 iMacs. For that matter, Apple still does quite well in the high-end graphics markets.
So far as I can tell, Jobs doesn't care about selling computers to *everyone* -- if he did, Apple would be like Dell. He wants to do the "computing experience," and do it well. Myself, I applaud that.
Here is a page, from Pixar, describing their tools. Apparently it runs on Linux, Windows and Macintosh. You can even buy the software for use in your own films.
Ever wonder if there's a valid reason WHY someone's karma might drop with Mac-bashing? Doesn't that say something about the /. community?
At any rate, that article is seriously out of date... referring to "1.5 GHz processors" shows that it obviously hasn't been updated since the PPC970/G5 came out eight or nine months ago.
Second back when I had my NeXT it came with Renderman which was I beleive the Pixar developed shader for 3-d rendering. It was very slick and blow-your-socks off fast on a 486 computer.
NeXT also came with Zilla, the predecessor to all grid computing that let the Zilla project steal unused cycles on all volunteer NeXT computers in the world. Among its feats was part of the four-color-map theorem proof (an exhaustive proof), and the early CGI movie rendering.
So the convergence of Jobs computer platforms and Pixar in not a new thing. The fact that its running on Intel hardware is also no suprise since NeXTstep and Renderman ran on INTEL hardware.
but it seems that with pixlet, Xgrid, Xraid, and the new rackmount G5 all the peices are in place to go back to an all apple platform if he chooses too. But circumstantially they probably will wait till their next movie is done. But presumably with Pixlet, and finalcut pro they can do all the desktop work on apples now.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
16) Apple made a computer that doesn't crash, one that I can use, and I'm just some guy.
17) Apple gets that while functional is good, functional and stylish is better.
18) Apple made a computer that I'm proud to bring with me.
Example: The other night I was at a screening of a foreign movie on some sort of esoteric VCD format that the language lab computer (running XP pro) couldn't play under RealOne, WMP9 or the other DVD software installed. Soooo, just as the professor was about to send everyone home, I offered to try it out on my ibook.
I put in the disc, "DVD Player" started up, the movie started, I plugged in the projector cable, the controller faded away subtly and seemlessly and we watched the movie. I sat back with a grin, as if it was me who did something right... As if I was the one who fixed the movie player with my Apple.
So what's my point again?
Apple is great because it makes my life easier, my computer does the work I want it to when I want it to and I'm proud when it does so.
If you read, I wrote:
Apple's no longer in a position to afford profiting by quantity. The first step is to make the public want Macs. In 1997, the public didn't care. In 2004, finally, Apple is associated with Cool. The public wants Macs.
The thing I find is, whenever I tell someone how much an entry level iMac costs, they're always shocked because it's less than they expected. Step 2 is to make the public decide to buy Macs. That's what the Apple stores and the iPods are for.
Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
Consumer's aren't choosing Linux, enterprises are choosing Linux for desktops. Mom and Pop aren't formatting their hard drives and installing Linux distros on their 'box' at home. If anything, Microsoft has to worry about the loss of enterprise desktop share, not Apple, who's not in enterprise.
Enterprise takes what's cheap and what works. That's why they buy thousands of identical, feature-less Dell boxes. And that's why they'll install Linux on those boxes instead of Windows XP Pro if Linux does what they need it to do. I mean seriously, why would you install XP in the enterprise? The reasons keep diminishing.
Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
Pixlet, the first studio-grade codec for filmmakers that was developed in conjunction with Pixar to deliver breathtaking HD-quality video on the Mac that is free from visual artifacts.
"High-end Video Codec
Pixlet is the first studio-grade codec for filmmakers. Pixlet provides 20-25:1 compression, allowing a 75MB/sec series of frames to be delivered in a 3MB/sec movie, similar to DV data rates. Or a series of frames that are over 6GB in size can be contained within a 250MB movie. Pixlet lets high-end digital film frames play in real time with any 1GHz G4 or faster Panther Mac, without investing in costly, proprietary hardware."
You may recall Jobs demoed it in october. He showed in particular how you could use the scrubber to move through the film in faster than real time to any place and the codec kept up with the presentation. And the quality was near DVD. very impressive.
So where is it? it vanished off Apple's main web pages though you can find it in their archives. It vanished about the same time as "home-on-ipod" vanished. I assume panther, ilife and ipod ate its brain share. Perhaps its going to be held back as a premium product to differentiate final cut pro. any guesses
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Do you really think Jobs would change Pixars Hardware/Software setup to please his Apple side?
;-)
And why should he have to explain it? The fact that most of that software comes straight from the NeXT days should be "explanation" enough on the techie front. But go ahead and raise your fist for Linux dominance
It's only very recent that Apple's making serious servers and raid solutions, and while they're very cool and cost effective, an established business will wait just a bit longer and see where it goes before switching the most processor-intensive part of their work to G5's.
OTOH, when there's a proven advantage and a clear cut in cost, you'll see them switch in no time, especially now that Linux and Windows Server have been certified to run on the Xservers.
I'd never expect a serious CEO to have to think about that in other terms than cost-reduction, productivity and quality.
I think, therefore I am...I think.
I know that about 6 months ago Pixar was migrating to OS X in house and were hiring techs to install and admin the new gear.
I'm assuming (yeah, I know) from comments here, that the mass migration to OS X didn't include the render farm, but just development boxes, artists computers, secretary's solitaire box, etc...
I'm sure that in a year when it's time to upgrade their farm, they'll be installing 4GHz Dual G5 XServes or whatever similar configuration Apple is shipping then.
While cost per box is a factor, time is a factor in CGI movie development as well. Virginia Univ. proved that 1100 G5s can make an exceptionally cost effective super computer that is #3 in the world. The #1 and #2 systems cost far more and neither of them use Intel processors (NEC and I think HP PA/RISC).
Pixar has migrated machines and OS use a few times in the past and I'm sure they'll continue to use what works best for thier business as the computing market evolves. Right now OS X and G5s are excellent choices for them and if Steve has his way, I'm sure it'll stay that way for a while.
Before Steve Jobs saved Apple, he almost killed them. Sculley was only able to shove Jobs out the door because the company was on the rocks. Sculley turned it around by following the PC model: lowering costs by building higher performance machines with cheaper parts and simpler designs.
.com era with the size of the market he found.
In the end he went too far in that direction for Apple's niche market, but not far enough to break into the mainstream. That nearly led to Apple's demise, and opened the door for Jobs' eventual return. Jobs has done pretty well since then, but he hasn't always.
The problem with Jobs is clearly illustrated by his venture after Apple (or between Apple, as you like): Next. Everyone I know who touched one loved them. The problem was that it was a high priced wonder-computer targetted at academia. Like a tank for ghetto dwellers, it solved all the right problems in the right ways, but was not practical at all. He was obviously looking forward to the
Steve Jobs has done a lot of things right, and he's probably good for Apple right now. But deserving of hero worship he sure isn't.
if you actually think that home computer users are buying linux and installing it on their HOME COMPUTERS, you are the biggest fucking tard on /.
I dont even think the true linux zealots believe that. You are on another planet. MARS, MAYBE? Will I see your face on the camera?
When tell people I prefer working on a Mac than on anything else, people look at me as if I were a perfect ass. Some of my friends don't speak of computers with me anymore, they just think I've become some kind of extremist who can't see how Macs are doomed.
Sounds to me like your friends are the extremists if the simple mention of a Mac makes them stop talking to you. Jobs has done a bunch of dumb things, sure. To hold him responsible for your friends not talking computers with you is kinda silly though.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine...
Customers are still choosing Windoze over Linux and MacOS.
Is everyone stupid? Yes.
What if it resulted in a 35% marketshare?
Can you say iPod?
AC Sorry..
19) Don't deny that Apple is just damn sexy. Chicks dig it and most of us can use all the help we can get.
20) Digital integration. Parent of the parent spoke of this, but a Sundance film this year was made with iMovie. That is quality.
21) resale value. I throw my old PCs away. I sell my Macs for some nice cash. That is what high quality and tight integration also earns you.
22) Steve Jobs would totally kick the shit out of Bill Gates in a fight.
I just hope disney has enough spirit left to make the TRON sequel, and not wreck it, like Lawnmower man 2.
And of course you made a lot of products more successful than that and your company leads the tech market for 20 years, so you know what you're talking about.
wasnt the original mac $2495 in 1984?
Could someone tell me why everyone puts "Mr. Jobs" up on a pedistal, but everyone wants to bash
Bill Gates? BOTH have "borrowed" technology from
other places, both have used marketing to their
advantage. Both have given huge sums of money to
worthy causes. The only difference is that Jobs
builds Macs, Gates builds windows, and that Jobs
wanted to keep the entire process of a Mac to himself and not make it like the "PC" process where common components could be used. Therefore, there were tons more uses for lower priced PC's than propriatary Macs. Nothing against macs, but
for what I can buy in a PC to do the exact same thing in a Mac would cost me a bunch more money just to be "stylish" and arrogant.
I'm not into trends, I want something that works, and dosen't cost an arm and a leg, so I go with a PC.
Jobs isn't the "visionary" that everyone makes him out to be. It's just "stylish and trendy" to kiss his butt.
If Steve Jobs is so great, why does AOL suck so much?
Not to start a flamewar, but I believe that not sucking and appealing to the general public in terms of features, usuability, etc are not necessarily mutually exclusive....
As opposed to:
1. A whole cult surrounding Linus Torvalds, RMS, and the GPL.
2. Since when does a 1968 vision of 2001 have to be updated when we're actually in 2001? I dont see any flying cars, but that doesn't mean they aren't still visionary.
3. Good to know you're aware of the irony. Thanks for refuting this for me.
4. Gentoo. 'Nuf said.
MS sold that stock years ago.
And they were non-voting shares.
This is an old and tired argument.
Your cut & paste skills are very elite.
I believe the explanation is that Apple's are only used in a small (and shrinking) number of places, but you happen to be in one of those places.
They are used primarily in the US and in Japan. You won't find a Mac in a developing market.
They are used in education, design, and the consumer market. I think they've given up on most business markets. I don't think they are really fighting their shrinking market share. If you can maintain high margins you can make good money even from a small market. But you better invest some of that money in finding new sources of income (which they are).
But I'm not an expert on Apple or their markets, so maybe somebody else could give us some numbers.
less expensive hardware prices.
If you mean that a movie production unit that has produced films that have earned nearly 1.2 billion dollars (and that's just in the top 100) isn't "grand" ... I don't know what grand is.
As someone who uses PCs and Linux, but really respects Macs and OSX, I'll trying to explain briefly why I think Jobs is doing as well as the head of Apple and Pixar.
What's the focus of Macs: Usability.
What makes Pixas films great: The story.
Notice how technology is used as a means to end in each case? While yes the technology behind Pixar films is amazing, it's the story that makes the films so entertaining. And while Macs aren't any more powerful than PCs (I know this is arguable either way) it's the ease of use that makes Macs popular. I think Jobs understands this, and there's probably a reason the man makes enough money to pay for my college tuition in the time it takes him to drink his coffee in the morning.
ce n'est pas un Sig.
Congratulations. That made zero sense.
It seems to me that Apple is greatly expanding. The X Serves are actualy selling fairly well (and those can't all be going to schools) and many of the markets that started to drop Apple have started moving back, for example, 2 years ago, my highschool decided it was going all Dell. They had given us a great deal and they were cheap computers, so we started pulling machines for Dells. Now the school is probably about 90% Dell, and we're rapidly back pedling and trying to get new macs. The teachers want them because they were less of a hassle, the sys admins want them because the dell rackmounts have been nightmares (and they want something that will play nice with the linux boxes and the old macs that are still being used) and the repair techs want them so that they can sit down for longer than 5 minutes at a time. Similarly my college was considering a year ago to standardize all computers across the campus as x86 windows machines. Just 2 weeks ago, the IT department sent out a campus wide email to all staff that the school had just negotiated a bulk order from apple, and anyone who wanted a machine should order now. To top it off, they just recently opened a mac tech position to support the influx of new macs into the campus.
I realize these are anecedotes, but going on what I've seen, I think Apple is slowly creeping back.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Now, as for what I like about Jobs? He's a really charismatic person who is willing to tell people to go fly a kite.
I just spent all day reading the Mac Folklore site, and these 2 anecdotes show what an insane bastard Jobs is. Check it out:
A Message for Adam
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble
1) Woz was a genius yes, but Woz was the Apple. Steve and his team was the Mac.
2) And yet for all of that, no one did anything like it until Apple did it.
3) No matter where you go, there will be fan boys
4) It's not that the single button itself is better, it's the philosophy that you should be able to do everything with a single mouse button. Just for fun, try to create a new folder on your desktop of your windows machine with only the left click.
That and when you really think about it. If you're hard set in teh 2 button ways, you already own a 2 button mouse, so just plug it into your mac and be done with it.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Yikes! Confuse, but don't offend!
Virginia Tech != UVA
Pixar is run by some very bright computer graphics legends. They make Renderman, the best and basically only production renderer in the movie industry.
They don't tell Jobs how to do his job, he doesn't tell them how to do theirs.
1. the whole personality cult surrounding Steve Jobs (face it - Steve Wozniak is the real genius)
I would agree that Wozniac is the greater technical genius. I have not been that impressed with Jobs in the past, but to discount what he has done over the last few years is to fail to recognize real talent. You cannot deny he has brought Apple a huge amount of mindshare and given them a great technical direction over the last few years
2. a futuristic vision that only about 40 years out of date. Take the ipod - it looks like it came straight out of the movie '2001', which was released in 1968
Related to the aforementioned skill of product design above is knowing when retro will sell, and when to move away from it. You'll note that they don't sell candy-colored computers anymore (though they are starting to sell colored iPods).
3. rabid myopic fanboys. Yes, I am aware of the irony of posting this on Slashdot.
They exist for any platform.
4. product deficiencies that are actually features. For a great example of this, bring up the single mouse button thing to a bunch on Mac fanatics. You will be informed that a single button is better, that you can compensate by doing this and that and this, and that you don't really need more than a single button anyway.
I've never heard anyone argue that. I use a three (or more) button mouse for an external mouse, but I do have to say that I personally prefer a single button on a laptop as I am always accidentally hitting the right one on most PC laptops. Since my hands are on the keys all the time anyway I find chording to work better on laptops and two buttons to be very inefficient.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The "Gobble, Gobble, Gobble" story was paraphrased in the movie, "Pirates of Silicon Valley" -- a great movie about the history of Gates vs. Jobs. Unfortunately the movie was made right around when Microsoft made their $150M (+ an undisclosed sum) payment to Apple, so that is where it ended. There are so many other good snippets in the film though, it's hard to pass up.
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
Do these numbers make any difference? Are they in any general way meaningful. *nix boxes are sprouting up everywhere. Windows boxes are bought by the dozen, used for a year, then put in a corner. I have three unused windows boxes myself.
Market share in this sense says nothing about suitability. It merely states that the number of *nix boxes are growing, and the Mac is not a commodity machine. It does not say that they Mac is not a good machine. It does not say that many people would like to own a mac. When i was into bicycles everyone wondered why i wanted campy instead of shimano. Everyone had shimano, so, no matter what quality problem shimano had in the range I wanted, i should buy it just because everyone else did.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
NeXT also came with Zilla, the predecessor to all grid computing that let the Zilla project steal unused cycles on all volunteer NeXT computers in the world.
Rather apropos GNUstep plug: Zillion.
...but http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=sgi.com
"1. the whole personality cult surrounding Steve Jobs (face it - Steve Wozniak is the real genius)"
What, exactly, do you mean by "Real?"
There is more than one kind of genius, and all kinds are very real. There is genius in mathemeticians who focus only on esoteric theories, there is genius in engineers who only solve real problems they can feel, and there is genius in Ella Fitzgerald's singing.
The genius of Dali's art is very different in kind from the genius of a certain Finnish student coming up with the right code for the world, but who would say that Linus Torvalds is no genius?
Not all genius is necessarily what you might consider to be good. There is a genius in Bill Gates' domination of markets, in George W. Bush's political mastery, in Osama Bin Laden's sheer survival skills and leadership abilities.
Both Wozniak and Jobs are geniuses, in their own way. Wozniak is the engineering genius, and Jobs is the marketing and management genius.
And neither one is really less of a genius than the other.
Consumers who are choosing Linux aren't choosing it over OS X, they're choosing it over Windows. Most aren't even considering OS X because it's too pricey for them at this point in their lives. But abandoning Windows primes them to become OS X users down the road, when they become successful enough to see value in trading money for features, ease of use, and status. In essence, Linux creates a feeder program for future OS X users.
I see Linux growing tremendously in the future, as it replaces Windows as the dominant desktop OS. And I see OS X growing significantly in the future, as mature Linux users migrate to it. In between the two, I see Windows slowly being squeezed out of existence, too expensive to compete with Linux, too buggy, insecure, and inelegant to compete with OS X.
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
Although I agree with the article's point of view, you're dead-on about the submitter's bias. Of course, the submitter's bias is probably why the submitter noticed the article in the first place, and if the submitter didn't like the article, he/she probably wouldn't have submitted it.
This is clearly an opinion piece, not so much a report.
Why do so many people worship this one guy? Is this because he is such an egomaniacal elitist control freak?
Yes! He has the balls to do what some people dream of. He's a guy who will go ALL IN on a 4-5 off-suit because he KNOWS that he'll make a straight on the flop. (Yes, i'm a Hold-em fan). He can push USB and FireWire and make it mainstream. He can push a UNIX-based OS and have people use it.
Since 1984 he has done some good things (NeXT, the first iMac, OS X), but a lot of really bad ones.
Thanks for making my job easier and naming the good things, but you failed to mention the bad things! Like what, killing the Newton? The Cube was a technological marvel, but was overpriced... Name a few more! C'mon!
In the meantime, the Mac's marketshare fell below 2% and has been overtaken by Linux Desktop's share.
MARKET SHARE is not the same as INSTALLED BASE. Market Share is a percentage of computers sold in a quarter / year. i.e. of every 100 computers sold, 2 are Macs. Installed Base is just that, how many computers are Macs? The numbers float around 11-13 percent.
As for Linux overtaking the Mac, you word it in such a way that Linux users are switching from Mac, whereas Linux and the Mac are about even when it comes to market share. The word "overtaking" is deceptive. Just because I "overtake" you in traffic doesn't mean you're driving slower than you already were. It just means i'm driving faster. Just because Linux has a larger market share, it doesn't mean the Mac is losing ground to Linux.
Lots of people agree that the real reason of the Mac slow but sure descent into Hell is Job's elitist vision and its results, overpriced hardware, rumor cult(ure) at Apple, etc.
Let me take a minute and digest what you said....wait..not done...okay.
What people? If anything Jobs' vision has made the Mac what it is today (compared to 3, 5, even 7 years ago). Think of it this way. You're not paying for overpriced hardware. You're paying up-front for some incredible software that is already pre-loaded onto the Mac (Simple, junk-filtering threaded eMail, pop-up blocking Safari, vCal-reading iCal, System-wide Address Book, iLife++)
Today the guy seems more interested in selling online muzak than selling less-than-$2000 computers. iMac's and eMac 's used to be nice
He's selling music to sell iPods! There's no money in selling music online.
As for your comment about $2000 computers, Apple currently has 5 product lines, and a total of 16 "stock" machines within those lines. Of those 16, *5* are over $2,000 (7 if you count the ones at $1,999).
Only ONE consumer-based product is over $2,000: the 20" iMac. ALL iBooks and eMacs are under $1,500. Hell the eMacs START AT $800.
Wow. That was fun. My first troll-rebuttal!
Don't you just love our capitalist world. The poor whine and complain to the goverment for them to provide services that they fail to provide for themselves. Then the rich gets taxed. Then the goverment then finds a way to spend more money than it has, and has an excuse to tax the poor and middle class as well.
Now with a recession, a tax break on dividends and capital gains are given to "stimulate economic growth". So now the rich can just transfer their entire income into dividends and capital gains and say, "Ha ha, the middle class are such suckers."
When I get to the top, I'll probably do the same and start the whole cycle of abuse again. =)
i would go to that theme park in a second! youd get to play with all the stuff and build your own coasters... nevermind riding them, building them is the fun part jobs might be going overboard, but at least his intentions arent shady and ethicically morbid, like some (at the top) buisnessmen out there. It seems like his ambition is just to be the head of a high quality empire, not money - and thats a nice change!
Good point, except that history tells a different story. Promoter does not participate closely in the design process, by definition. Jobs does.
6) Full media ships with the computer. No crippled OS versions. It is the whole enchilada.
What about that crippled Quicktime version shipping with OS X?
Someone that has done "some good things (NeXT, the first iMac, OS X)" in their career gets my respect.
Most of the negative tales about Jobs probably have some grounding in truth -- it was almost amusing watching him berate the stage people before a show for glitches in the prop moving systems: "What the hell is this??? Did you guys pick up these parts at Home Depot???". However, he did always listen when I was talking about a technical issue, even when I was saying something that didn't sit with his current understanding of graphics cards / APIs / gaming.
When I was considering setting up to demo Doom 3 at macworld, all of the Apple people were going on about how we needed to sanitize it because "Steve won't let there be any blood or killing". I finally went to him directly, and he replied "If you think you can make it great, then let's do it. I trust you, so you'll have to decide." Not quite the overbearing micromanager he is sometimes portrayed as.
I'm not a regular mac user, but I'm glad Steve Jobs is still around.
John Carmack
if you actually think that home computer users are buying linux and installing it on their HOME COMPUTERS,
Yet another Mac zealot putting words into my mouth. Did you read the entire sentence that I wrote? Maybe in your zeal to defend, you glossed over it? Try reading it again, slowly. Use a dictionary if you have to and you'll see that there was NO MENTION of a home market in MY statement.
What I believe is inconsequential. Those who measure the market share of desktop machines cite Linux's growing use on the desktop, and predict that it will overtake Mac on the desktop soon, and will begin making significant inroads on formerly Windows-dominated places within the next 5 years. Deny it all you want.
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Wasn't it the name of a studio that was founded relatively recently and became successful? So, Pixar has a name and cash now; they can easily go independent. If anything, they can always release their movies through different studio such as WB, Columbia et al.
IMHO Disney can't harm Pixar in any possible way; trying to exclude Pixar's movies from the theatres chains will be highly illegal on one hand and stupid on the other because Disney is not the only player, it is just one of many studios.
Tigers respect lions, elephants and hippos. Maggots respect no one. (C) S. Dovlatov
2:2001 A Space Odyssey is a phenomenal movie. The fact that bits of it show up in today's pop culture is more of a testament to Stanley Kubrick than a knock to Steve Jobs
3:Rabid fanboys exist for many things most aren't even computer related
4:Surely you can come up with a better example of product deficiencies than the mouse! My secretary has been working with a two button mouse on Windows for years and has never used the other mouse button. Apple's target audience doesn't need it.How about the fact that their CPU (G4) has been an embarrassment and is just now showing some promise (PPC 970fx).
Some points that you didn't mention that I feel could more relevant:
Bizarre and alienating marketing decisions
Lack of game titles (Not that I game)
Not as much support for odd hardware, although my GPIB board recently has become supported
Is not the best dollar for performance platform available (which I suspect drives many purchases for the /. crowd!).
We are willing to spend the time and effort to build a PC and install the OS (I am installing Gentoo right now) so having it Just Work (TM) isn't such of a value to you as it is to the general public
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
In the article the analyst sleaze peddler whores, IDC and Gartner, talk as if they expect Apple, Jobs and Pixar to collapse any day now, and as if they are still dumb fucking struck that Apple hasn't gone under in the face of Bill G's $$$$.
I AM a Mac fan, I admit it without any hesitation, but I don't cut Apple any slack. But what drives me to rage is that these fucking dick sucking marketing whore sluts from these so called analyst companies still get quoted as if any piece of the shit they had to say had any relevance in the real fucking world.
"Apple's ipod will feel heat from Dell, MS etc in the future", "Pixar will anger Hollywood". Jesus, what do these stupids fucks have against Apple anyway? They were prophecising Apple's death back in 1997, and they are so fucking greedy for Bill G's $$$ and so fucking lazy to do some actual marketing research that they're still doing it today.
Stupid fucks were also as responsible as anyone for the crash of the dotcom fuckout, still praising dead dotbombs after the companies had already gone tits up.
I really have it in for those fucks today: Was it a part of their company rationalisation and down sizing to cut out the actual research in their companies or have they never fucking bothered anyway.
FUCK THEM!
4) It's not that the single button itself is better, it's the philosophy that you should be able to do everything with a single mouse button. Just for fun, try to create a new folder on your desktop of your windows machine with only the left click.
I just did it with 5 clicks - do I win a prize?
(double click on my computer, click on up to go back to the desktop, click on file, click on new->folder)
Pixar, like Apple, has some surprises in store for all of us. Let's take a little "thought exploration"...
(1) Pixar was restricted in the type of content they could produce while associated with the Disney brand - after all, their brand must stay "disney" clean (or more than that, because all rich, large corporations are a bit hypocritical with their vendors)
(2) Pixar has been experimenting with very advanced rendering techniques since the beginning. The stuff that they have been experimenting with is not so useful for goofy animations of the type that they make for Disney. But imagine what realistic, dirty pores on skin, perfect rendering of hair and cloth, the application and control over viscosity of fluids, etc.., can do when set free of the boundaries of kids movies...
(3) Jobs has made interesting statements over the years regarding creativity and the disproportional distribution of media wealth (most going to the elite actors and media moguls rather than the creative talent).
(4) Jobs owns the company that stands to make the most cash from a revolution in digital content creation.
One simple *guess* of where he might be going, given these observations, is:
Jobs is planning a movie-making and distribution coup de'ta; (A) The introduction of digital stars to replace the venerable movie-star in every conceivable genre - Pixar to become not just an animation studio, but a full fledged movie studio capable of competing with any other on any script, using no real actors or sets. (B) Digital distribution of movies ala iTunes music store. (C) Publishing of independent content into the media store, both from GarageBand (music) and FinalCut Pro (movies). (D) Some new video appliance to replace the DVD to distribute the media to.
The rewards? (A) HUGE PROFIT MARGINS on Pixar movies, (B) HUGE INCREASE IN MAC SALES and content creation software, (C) Personal satisfaction at redirecting profits from the elite to the creative talent.
How could this happen? Simpler than you think. With the advent of HDTV, DVDs are obsolete. With high-bandwidth, DVDs will go the way of the CDROM. The time is now for a redistribution play. The technology is probably ready now (or very close). Pixar is now in a position to release more adult oriented films and drop the kiddy-cartoon image that it had as a lap-dog of Disney. Apple's engines are firing on all cylinders and the content-creation stack is pretty full...
A few hits in the new area of animated supra-realism could set the coup de'ta in motion. Think different... Break the backs of the establishment... These are the mantras of Steve Jobs...
The reason that it can be true that 1+1 > 2 is that very peculiar nonzero value of the + operator
> I just did it with 5 clicks - do I win a prize?
> (double click on my computer, click on up to go back to the desktop, click on file, click on new->folder)
It's actually 4, as Mac users count selecting a menu item as one click. The traditionally Mac way is to press and hold the button over a menu, select the item and release the button. Until MacOS 8, this was the only way (unless you got an extention). Mac advocates use this routinely to lower their button count, but it works in Windows as well.
...you absolute, total and complete DUMBASS!
1. There is no cult. No more than any other public figure people love or hate. 2. Whatever. It's an very popular product, so you opinion of its looks is worth nil. 3. Irrelevent bashing. 4. No, you'll be informed that you can plug any omni-button mouse in that you care to. OS X even has built in support for multibutton mice. What you get is Mac fans who are sick and tired of FUD from dumbasses like you, especially after the irrelevant bashing you spewed in #3.
Can you actually run two external monitors from a Mac laptop? If so, how do you do this?
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Huge? Try $150 million. When Apple had about $3 billion in cash. But don't let the facts get in your way. It was a payoff for their ripoff, idiot.
I hope to god you don't design user interfaces for a living...
My English teacher once told me that two positives don't make a negative. Two words for her: Yeah, right.
The cult abuses the moderation system. They mod their own up, and silence the nonbelievers. The Apple section is nothing but a place for them to build karma. I metamoderate to try to keep things under control, but it doesn't seem to help.
And that's an overly roundabout way to do things, and bad design. Too many steps to do what should be a simple process. And it's because windows is designed with the idea that a user has and uses 2 buttons, where as the mac OS is designed assuming the absolute minimum of one button, with support for more.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Well, from what I've seen/heard of Jobs, I don't think he's the type of guy who wants to get into Hollywood. More like beat them at their own game.
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
Lilo & Stitch
This IS Steve Jobs grand vision! Original is here.
Ebert's First Law: "A movie is not about what it is about, but how it is about it."
In other words, ya damn right! If you can't tell a good story, don't expect Final Cut Pro to make your movie stellar.
fs
Ummm, dude. Maybe you should look at it this way:
Are users who currently HAVE macs buying an x86 box and installing LINUX?
Nope.
Are users who currently HAVE an x86 box installing LINUX?
Yup.
Are users buying NEW machine buying it to install LINUX?
Maybe.
We'll see. I suspect Linux will only be replacing x86 operating systems, and other Unixes.
What crippled Quicktime version? It plays multimedia stuff, it implements the entire range of Quicktime sprite/subtitle/video/effects functionality, it lets applications read and write in a variety of formats as per spec.
Just because there are extra features available -- which you don't have to pay for -- doesn't mean it's "crippled." It just means you're a cheap idiot.
--R.J.
Electric-Escape.net
In my observation, Steve Jobs will jump on people who are doing (what he thinks is) sub-par work in an attempt to push them to do better. It's almost like a Japanese zen swordsmith thing; he keeps pounding and pounding and pounding because it's the only way to knock the impurities out of your work and make it the best it can be. That's why there are all those stories about (1) Jobs being a loudmouthed bastard, and (2) Jobs heaping praise on folks who deliver killer stuff. Not the kind of leadership technique I'd use, but I can understand the reasoning behind it. Since you've already made your mark on history and shown that you know your shit, Jobs obviously didn't see any need to pound on you. :-)
--R.J.
Electric-Escape.net
This is neither here nor there to this discussion, but my first impression of this is that you were a strategic business partner, and the stagehands were inferiors. I dunno if this is the case, I've never met him personally. I'd like to actually, I've loved Macintosh since OS X, so I have a lot of respect for the man myself.
most notable is the last bullet under "Helpful Qualifications":
Experience navigating and controlling real-time 3D environments such as Quake and Unreal.
I read a time magazine article recently about Pixar/Dsney. They had a chart showing profits of last 5 films for each company. The long and the short of it is that finding nemo made as much as the last five Disney combined. Only Lilo and Stitch was even close to making the amount of the average Pixat flick, so yeah, I think this is a smart move by Jobs.
"He who laughs last, didn't get the joke."-Cap
Hmm, see I've had just the opposite experience. Once you teache someone how to click (and not hold the button down) it's then just a matter of telling them to click twice to open something. And usualy they do it fine. But try telling someone new "click on document X" and they almost invariably ask "which button"
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Just for fun, try to create a new folder on your desktop of your windows machine with only the left click.
Thats easy. Go to the desktop, press the contextual menu key (next to the right windows key), new, folder.
Mouse only? Double click on My Computer, press the "Parent folder button". File, new, folder.
Windows users needs two or more buttons on the mouse. Macs needs one. Linux/*NIXes needs none.
"...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
Some good movies use them, but a whole lot of bad movies depend upon them. Plus, the more you use something, the less effective it is. Would you sit up and take notice if a rapper is cussing a blue streak throughout a song? Probably not. But if your grandma were to drop an f-bomb out of the blue, you probably would.
SeaWorld in Orlando has implemented this idea. They have a second park (can't remember the name offhand) with limited visitors and virtually no lines. But the admission is more like 4 times as much.
I was at the Orlando SeaWorld last year, but we skipped Discovery Cove. (We were there for the Disney attractions. SeaWorld was an accident.)
A full price ticket to Seaworld is ~$50. I doubt anybody pays that much. We went with heavily discounted passes that we accidentally received from a fast food restaurant or something.
Discovery Cove is >$130 per day, plus $100 to swim with dolphins for 30 minutes. The dophin swim is limited to 8 visitors per session. The park is limited to 1000 visitors per day. The rest of the park is for swimming "in paradise" = very beautiful settings. Every ticket comes with 7 days at SeaWorld or Busch Gardens (which lowers the average ticket price for those parks.)
There are no lines at Discovery Cove, but there are no rides there.
- SeaWorld had lines, definitely for the few good rides, but there were even difficulties getting seats at some of the shows.
- Magic Kingdom had lines for everything. The rides had very long lines, most over 30 minutes. The line to buy water from a concession stand was usually about 5 deep.
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That's what the economic realities are for a park like this. The higher price drives away much of the customer base, necessitating an even higher price.
There are two methods for determining the "best" price for an amusement park.
1. Maximize revenues. Multiply number of tickets sold at a given price by the price. Repeat for many prices. Choose the price that returns the highest total.
- It would be very difficult to find a good estimate. Park pricing is almost as bad as airline pricing, for about the same reasons. They have a nonrenewable resource (time in the park) that can only be sold when people want it. Disney makes it harder to judge because normal tickets never expire, so if it is raining, just save the ticket for your next visit. [Our trip to SeaWorld means I still have one day left on a Disney ParkHopper. We really had not planned to go to SeaWorld.] Most people are on packages that halve the daily price. Season passes make the daily price almost $0, although they do expire.
2. Maximize the experience. Do the analysis from the first method, but then choose the highest price that covers expenses, including profit and risks such as it raining every day during the prime season. Each visitor would have a better experience.
- Again this would be difficult to judge. Weekends and holidays would be even more popular because more of the park could be enjoyed in less time. Less people would require a week off before considering it a valid destination, but Saturday tickets might cost 10 times what a Tuesday ticket costs. This is completely impractical with current Disney policies.
I believe that all amusement parks have set their daily price around $50 and just hope people buy them. The price seems to be based on "Let's have the same price as everybody else" rather than "Let's do an economic analysis." I would be very interested in seeing if PixarLand (or any amusement park) was able to succeed with making the experience the top priority. How far from the "normal" price could they go before the experience loses to the cost? The normal American does not seem to be able to make the decision that $300 for a day of instant gratification is better than $50 for 7 hours of waiting to have 1 hour of fun.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
You are completely correct with your analysis of the situation. Apple as well as Steve Jobs & Pixar have provided concrete products in a world full of doubters and cynics. They drive the market up with hype, and down with fear. They provide no new concrete products... just crap analysis on the way "things should be". Kudos for saying exactly what I feel! Thanks....
I think that a court can quickly rule to halt a highly controversial practice until the trial is complete.
Also, as I said, Disney is not a monopoly Micro$oft is, and does not have such a clout over the distributors (theatres) in a highly competitive market.
Tigers respect lions, elephants and hippos. Maggots respect no one. (C) S. Dovlatov
"Then again, I'm talking about us Europeans."
No. No you're not. You are talking about your own attitudes, perhaps reinforced by your immediate circle of friends.
I'm European, UK, and you are defiantly not talking for me, thanks.
"5) Apple has really top-notch driver integration ... Everything else was perfect plug and play. It just doesn't happen with Windows. REALLY doesn't happen on Linux."
I'm a flag waving Mac fan, that said I use XP Pro also, in both home and work life. XP has been just as good as any Mac I've used for Plug and Play. (Ignore the other XP flaws, hard I know, but this is about PnP)
An example is the new external DVD-R+- I just bought, plugged it into both no problems, no drivers.
Linux is improving but, as so often is the case, it's not quite there yet.
Pixar's RenderMan(R) was used in 35 of the last 39 films nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar(R)
Go there: https://renderman.pixar.com/
and see the full list yourself.
2003
Bad Boys 2
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Finding Nemo
The Hulk
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
The Matrix Reloaded
Peter Pan
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Seabiscuit
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
X2
2002
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Men in Black II
Minority Report
The Scorpion King
Spider Man
Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones...
etc. etc.
Pixar plans on continuing to make quality movies. They didn't want to sacrifice half their revenues from those movies to Disney, which was handling distribution and providing its "brand." Pixar still gets its cut of revenues from past ones. They've built their own name enough -- witness the recognition level on slashdot -- that they think they can release movies and get the distribution they need independent of the Disney machine. They grew enough to go independent, is their idea.
Nobody stays on top forever in this business.
To wit: Disney's fallen hard, since Beauty and the Beast and Lion King, by making exactly the sorts of conservative, risk-averse decisions you're lauding here. They let Pixar take the risks.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I have QT Pro, and I'm doing what you say. I see no "Pixlet" codec listed. Hints?
Since the post begins by falsly claiming otherwise, everything that follows in his comment can be taken as either completely uninformed opinions or deliberate lies.
... is to use his reality distortion field to bend all reality to his will until everything looks, acts, smells and otherwise behaves...
THE WAY HE WANTS IT TO.
Then he doesn't have to make real changes. They're all implemented virtually.
Well, as I have an iMac I'll be on the right side when his people come to take control of Earth.