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Steve Jobs' Missing License Plate
An anonymous reader writes "One of the famous stories about Steve Jobs is that he used to drive around in a Mercedez Benz sports car with no license plates, and that he would sometimes park in Handicapped spots on Apple's Cupertino campus. Jon Callas, who used to work on OS security at Apple, explains how Jobs was able to do this legally."
He's okay with exploiting legal loopholes but when people want to jailbreak their phones, it's all of the sudden "let's get litigious and sue anyone that does this!"
We don't live in Shouldland.
The tinfoil hat crowd, "government out of my life" - unless they are talking about big companies they don't like, then it's, "rain down the wrath of Big Government on them!"
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
You know this economic system is broken when 40M people cannot see a doctor when they need to, and guy celebrated as next prophet is changing AMG Mercedes every 6 months, so he can avoid having a damn license plate.
839*929
I find it a bit hard to believe that there wasn't a reserved parking space for the chairman right next to the doors. Or are you telling me that he would deliberately not park in a reserved space just so that he could clog up the handicap spaces? That would staggering.
The guy undeniably left his mark on the industry, and general consensus is that personally he was an ass. Nothing else new to see here, please move along.
According to the article, people did key his car for that
Park different!
He had cancer for 20 years?
Yeah it's a good thing he didn't let his fortune change him...
Swapping luxury vehicles every six months, parking scofflaw, ...
Keep in mind that Andy Hertzfeld is recounting a story about Jobs from the 1980's. Jobs' taste in expensive cars apparently changed from big and expensive to small and expensive.
I think the key thing to keep in mind here is that being a visionary and being a douchebag are not mutually exclusive.
You are making the assumption his ego wasn't this big before he made his money. From all indications, it was. His fortune didn't change him. It just let him act on some of his impulses.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Yeah it's a good thing he didn't let his fortune change him...
Swapping luxury vehicles every six months, parking scofflaw, ...
He did the illegal parking and tagless thing beforehe had his fortune. Getting his fortune just enabled him to use a legal loophole to keep doing what he always did in a legal fashion.
If you RTFA you'd know that he's done it since the early 80s.
I suspect the AC confused "flaunt" with "flout". Not too surprising, as it's a rarely used word these days.
Slashdot libertarians compulsively speak up constantly about their little pet ideology, so you're probably wrong on that.
I haven't read the biography but I'm pretty sure Jobs was an asshole and I don't need a story like this to confirm it. He also did good things but parking illegally wasn't one of them. From what I know, he's always done it. I don't know what belief system others have but my opinion is that dying from 9 years of cancer at 56 is karma. Now don't misunderstand that I wish anyone dead but I believe you have to answer what you've done in the end.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Actually, the prime parking spots are on the other side of the lot, enabling you to get a healthy walk before getting back in the car.
If the police don't have access to the property, then obviously they won't be writing tickets. A handicapped person who does have access to the lot might be able to sue Apple though because California allows private citizens to sue for ADA violations.
I believe ADA Title III has all the details.
BTW - your driveway scenario doesn't fit the parameters of Title III unless it's the driveway for a commercial facility.
Didn't you notice the "Kramer" at the beginning? It's a quote from a Seinfeld episode.
While it's television, I might point to the lead character of House, MD, who drives a motorcycle with a handicapped sticker on it. Well, make that drove, I think the show's producers traded it in for a car to crash into Cuddy's dining room.
It's not just private companies required to have gimp spots. I own a condo in Falls Church Virginia, aka The People's Republic of Falls Church. A few years back our HOA was told that a repaving permit for our parking lot would not be granted unless we added a couple of handicapped spots. We had to take the 3 closest spots to the condos and make them into 2 handicapped spots. We lost our visitor spots and we had some seriously pissed off owners who wanted to take the city to court on 5th amendment grounds. BTW, the gimp spots are used maybe once a month.
I have to admit, I thought he was an asshole before I read that...
Imagine if you weren't allowed to use roads because a bus company complained about your driving 3 times. --skunkpussy
We all know everyone in Cupertino down to the dog catcher was terrified of Steve Jobs getting pissed off and moving his giant filthy lucre machine. He could have shot a nun in the face inside Cupertino City Hall and there would have been no witnesses.
People who get busted for parking in handicapped stalls should be forced to use a wheelchair for a week instead of a ticket. It's inconsiderate, lazy and just plain douchebaggery. Don't care who you are.
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Steve Jobs was an ass. I know people like him that don't think they should have to obey the rules they don't like, but don't have the money to get away with most of it. Steve Jobs did and believed he knew better than anyone else, so he did what he wanted when he wanted regardless of the impact it had on others.
Makes no sense to me why people worship this guy. No one who ever worked with or for him really liked him. He treated people like shit. Thought the rules that we all have to follow don't apply to him. Thought he could cure cancer with herbs and diet. Yea... he was a good businessman, I will give him that. Every apple product I have ever bought has broken within a year or two, honestly i think the zune is a better product that the ipod. Speaking of Zune. Poor freaking Bill Gates. This guy is a brilliant programmer (which Steve Jobs could never do) and a businessman. And if he dies no one is going to be crying outside of best buy and putting post it notes on windows. In addition Steve Jobs ignored and denied one of his own children for the first 10 years of her life, and also never gave a cent to any charities. Bill Gates is giving away basically his entire fortune to help the less fortunate. Gates has done more for the world that Apple ever will. Yea sucks that he died, we all will die, move on.
Ha! That would be awesome! I'd love to hear a lawyer try to explain why
"nor be deprived of... property, without due process of law"
applies to situations governed by the process of law. That would be hilarious!
Go back. There's a few dozen comments on that page now, and most of them don't know it's a Seinfeld quote/joke.
But this brought up an interesting question. I know that California state law requires a certain number of handicapped spaces for all public parking lots and structures (public including lots intended for customers and employees), but I haven't been able to find anything about enforcing handicapped parking in private lots. Presumably, the city parking police wouldn't be cruising through a privately-owned campus like Apple's. Could an employee (or passerby) call to report such a violation? Or would the entity that owns the lot have to invite the police to enforce the handicapped parking space?
Absolutely an asshole move to do this, I'm just wondering, legally, how it works to enforce handicapped parking in private lots. Presumably one of those who keyed the car might have considered calling to report the parking violation, so I'm thinking that the municipality's parking police aren't allowed to do anything unless the owner of the property invites them to do so (which most shopping centers etc. would likely do).
My dad had a brain aneurysm and stroke, leaving his left side almost entirely paralyzed, and I'm his primary caretaker. You'll see my pickup (not a big work truck, but it could just as easily be - not everyone can afford multiple vehicles) parked in those handicapped spots. Frankly we need a few feet between cars to make room for his wheelchair even without a lift (I keep it in the bed of the truck and lift it in and out myself). We've been stuck in parking lots without handicap spaces, where I have to stop where people drive through, get him out of the truck, move him over to the side, pull into a tight parking space and then go fetch him, reversing the process to get back out. While doing that, he's also had one impatient person sideswipe him in his wheelchair because they just couldn't bear to wait the couple minutes that it takes to complete the process.
You may also see me parked in the handicapped space, get out of the truck all by myself and walk in somewhere. I never abuse the sticker, in that case, my dad is already inside and I parked there for when I bring him back out. Same thing if you see me walking to my truck by myself, chances are I was either dropping him off or I had to run back to my truck to get some paperwork we forgot or something.
My sister has brain problems too... looks perfectly normal but goes into seizures randomly throughout the day. She has a sticker because a parking lot is a dangerous place to fall and seize in (see my dad getting hit in the wheelchair). No, she can't drive. Don't be so quick to judge people when you don't know their circumstances. Yes, there are plenty of people that abuse them (and yes, they are very easy to get), but there are a lot of legitimate people that do need those spots even if you can't tell from watching them for the 30-60 seconds it takes for them to walk inside.
Don't leave your mind so open that your brain falls out. Don't close it so much that you cut off the blood.
When you make modifications you have to bring things up to code... zomg they hate freedom in Falls Church!!!1
Why? Because there are always too many or too few. Just like the fact that a stopped clock is right twice a day, you can almost never have just the right number of handicapped spots. So cities usually force businesses to err on the side of having too many, and that violates the Zero One Infinity rule and represents a waste of land and money.
A better design would be more dynamic and responsive to current occupancy rates. Rather than setting some arbitrary number of parking spaces close to the entrance as handicapped spaces, designate zero handicapped spaces, but make sure the spaces close to the entrance never completely fill up. Then there will always be a parking space near the entrance available for any handicapped person who needs to park there.
Perhaps Steve was simply annoyed at having to live with the poor design.
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
He did steal a liver, which kind of offsets the dying thing IMO, and it appears that he did this before he got cancer.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
The laws only apply to the 99%.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
If they borrowed the car that doesn't magically give them the privilege of using the handicapped spaces.. they're still assholes.
It drives his wife crazy, and he acknowledges that it is sort of asshole behavior, but he just can't help it.
He's a sociopath.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
If you even have to ask, you're not rich enough.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Steve Jobs net worth was 8.3 billion. Let's go ahead and spread that one out so everyone can afford healthcare. Hell, that puts an extra $24.41 in everyones pocket. That's enough for one year of tuition. Granted, your only talking about the 40 million uninsured they would each get a big ole fat check for $207.50.
Probably, like so many laws, license plate laws mainly cause issues for the law abiding. Expired tags? Get a fine. No tags at all? Cop probably assumes you just bought the vehicle and moves on.
Atleast the little prick died the way he deserved. Withering away a slow painful death. Good riddance Jobs.
--- If the bible proves the existence of God, then Superman comics prove the existence of Superman.
TRANSLATION: I don't want to read first hand information so I'll just believe what I want to say is true.
Jonathanjk.com
Take the bus, then, if you're mad about being stuck in traffic.
Eat the rich.
I'm pretty sure he was on the public organ network. He got a liver from a Tennessee donor, which he shouldn't have been eligible for as a California resident. However, he had the resources to get on multiple donor lists, and gamed the system.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Karma can be a bitch sometimes.
I can see, by your choice of words, that you are obviously a compassionate and well educated individual.
Cheap storage VM.
In my experience a lot of the morbidly obese peoples' problems are caused by being morbidly obese. My mother and step father's family are all obese to morbidly obese and none of them do any physical activity, eat lots of crap (my mom and step dad eat out every night), and in general don't take care of themselves. They all have joint, heart, breathing problems, along with all being type II diabetics. My fathers side are all very fit, don't over eat, eat good food, and are active. The only health issue there is that one of my aunts got breast cancer and she is one of the biggest fitness/health nuts there are and runs marathons and does triathlons still at age 54, she use to race bicycles professionally when she was younger. I am by far the heaviest (255lbs) when compared to that side of the family, but then I do lots of weight lifting and am by far the strongest, even though I am much shorter (5 feet 9 inches). My doctor likes to joke each year when I go in for my physical by saying "Congratulations you are still severely obese" when I get weighed as I am a very fit person who happens to have a BMI well over 35 (30 is considered obese)
As further evidence I will offer up one of my friends from college he was a big fat guy in his mid 30's (grad student for life) who would be out of breath walking from his car to the dorm lobby. His whole family was obese and he would always blame it on genetics and was starting to have joint problems because of his weight. He never wanted to go to the gym or pool because he was worried about what people would think and thought that going would make his problems worse. The last year and a half while I was in college I managed to get him to go to the gym or pool each day with me. At first he struggled (the first 2 weeks are always brutal) and at first he didn't see a change and could barely do anything. After about 3-4 months he was still fat but was getting fit, he would actually be going at a good jogging clip on the elliptical machine for a good 45-60 minutes (instead of a walking pace for 5), was building strength when lifting and able to swim laps without stopping for 30 minutes. Now go forward several years and he is now fit and staying active, his health problems have gone away and is doing well.
Time to offend someone
Man.
How frickin' cool would it be to know you were one of the people who keyed Steve Jobs' 500 SL?
I'd take a picture of it and use it as my logo.
Actually you can't really judge by how they look. I use those spots all the time when I drive my mom and at first glance it would look like she is just fine, but if anyone followed her they would notice she goes straight to the carts which she then uses almost like a walker. she had a bad flu two years ago that ended up causing blood clots that killed portions of her lung so she needs the extra assistance of the cart and if she had to walk any real distance to get TO the cart she'd probably face plant. also long walks put too much strain on her and she'll be so winded you'd think she had been running a race, not walking through a parking lot. Now if there isn't a handicapped spot I'll let her out right in front of the door and then go find a parking spot and meet her inside, large lots are just too much for her.
So don't judge a book by its cover friend, there are plenty of diseases like heart and lung that don't make you look crippled on the outside but can cause serious enough problems that those parking spots are required for safety reasons.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Yes, that's almost a certainty. The number of patients needing organs pretty much always outweighs the number of organs available.
The urgency for the organ and the viability of the patient are two factors that go into the list. He did have a pretty urgent need, but he also had low viability, so the organ was wasted on him. They also tend to look down on behavior that results in the need for an organ, like for example alcoholics. Jobs' need for a liver transplant can be largely attributed to his choice to use 'alternative' treatments instead of surgery. it's probably not looked down on as much as drinking or drug abuse, but I doubt it's favored.
Yes, "no specific rules against" and "gaming the system" tend to go together. Practically speaking, the multiple listings isn't an issue outside of millionaires since it's impractical for anyone else to get multiple listings. His specific gaming of the system resulting in him getting a liver at the expense of someone else.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I'm guessing they would focus more on the next clause:
"; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
But what do I know, I'm just a simple unfrozen caveman lawyer.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
Say I dropped my dad off at physical therapy... I'll pull into a handicapped spot, take him out of the truck, and wheel him into the building. He's in there for an hour, so maybe I go run a few errands and then come back to pick him up, again parking in a handicap space when I get back. In both incidents, I used the handicap space for unloading or loading a handicapped patient during that parking time - something that definitely isn't abuse. I almost never drop him curbside since he needs me to get wherever anyway (he's too dangerous with left-field neglect (doesn't see the left side of his field of vision) for a powered chair in public, though he has a scooter for around out yard). My complaint was having to park in the part of the parking lot you drive through to transfer him because the non-handicap spaces are too narrow for the wheelchair then having to leave him while I finish parking in a proper space.
One thing that DOES really irk the hell out of me... is when people park in a handicapped space an the handicapped person stays in the car while an able-bodied person runs into a store or whatever. THAT is abusing the sticker unless the disabled person is going to come into the store themselves at some point (maybe they were finishing eating because they have to be careful how they swallow, maybe they had to deal with a colostomy/incontinence issue or something, maybe they need to adjust their brace(s), etc).
I'm also not sure where all these open handicapped spots are that people complain about. It can often be difficult to find spots in the place where you need them the most - namely hospitals (40 or so total in a 6 floor parking garage at our main local hospital) and small doctors offices (3 at his primary care doctor, 2 at his podiatrist, etc). Even the Walmarts, malls, home improvement stores, etc here are often full. Then again, according to the census, 38% of the regional population is considered "disabled," which I just find to be insane (census currently provides an (X) but last time I checked and the data was available, it was 38 or 39, which I only remember because it floored me then).
Don't leave your mind so open that your brain falls out. Don't close it so much that you cut off the blood.
How does that make bus lanes not a stupid idea?
You might as well just block off another lane in the highway and then say "if you don't like it take the subway." Never mind that the closest mass transit stop is a mile from where you're going, we want to increase mass transit usage by artificially promoting highly inefficient use of public resources.
No it is not as bad as using the handicapped toilet because it is free. I am under no legal obligation to not use the handicapped toilet.
But they are decidedly not about liberty.
You can't maximize a society's liberties by allowing all individuals to do whatever they want. B/c there are assholes in the world that want to restrict other people's liberties and inevitably will if we let them. This applies to economics just as much as physical violence, speech and pooping. I can see no compelling reason for me to trade off protecting my various non-economic rights in order to allow complete economic freedom. Of course, I also have relatively little economic power and would be subject to economic coercion if it were allowed.
...sometimes, in order to hurt someone very badly, you have to tell that person terrible lies. - PA