By all accounts, Edison himself was part of the scientific process that went into finding the carbon filament that would work properly. He knew the science involved. And the patent is in his name.
As far as I know, Jobs knew next to nothing about the specific scientific details of how his devices worked, nor did he sit and invent them.
In my book, scientific functional work is far more important that design work.
"Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Although Ford did not invent the automobile, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford to buy."
Good enough for me.
Making a smartphone look better (sorry, but that's most of what he did) doesn't fall in the same level of epicness.
Not relevant then is it? There's no indication that he wasn't the brains behind the light bulb filament and since the patent too was in his name in the absence of evidence to the contrary he was the inventor.
To my knowledge, none of Apple's patents are in Job's name.
Come on...Ford essentially invented mass assembly line production! As for Edison - he produced the first truly viable light bulb. Job...prettified the smartphone.
I don't see how you can have his name in the same sentence as inventors who changed our world.
I checked the history of the light bulb on Wikipedia - Tesla's name is not anywhere on the page. Do you have proof that Edison didn't develop the carbon filament?
If so, then unless Jobs himself invented and engineer all that, he doesn't hold a candle to real scientists and inventors who changed our world.
By the way, without Jobs, the smartphone would have come to be pretty much as it is. He gave the push no doubt, but I was using keyboardless big screen smartphones second hand way back in 2004.
*shrugs* DC is just an example. He was also the first to use a carbon filament in light bulbs that made them viable for lighting in homes. Comparing Jobs prettifieng the smartphone to that is pretty lame.
Smartphones were perfectly usable before. Making them pretty is not the same as making them useable. To be remembered 40 years later, you have to do a hell of a lot more than that. Ford was the first to use the Assembly line!
Ford developed assembly line mass production! That's something very real and concrete. Compared to that, prettifying a smartphone looks...well, you know how it looks.
I disagree. Both my wife and I used smartphones before the iPhone. She's not a techy person by any means. My uncle used one too. I used two of them - the Tungsten T and the O2. They were perfectly usable with Windows Mobile and had a thriving ecosystem. Anyone who could use windows could also use a Windows mobile smartphone. You just clicked the cross in the window on top just like in the desktop version.
We can debate about which is easier, but not about whether or not they were useable.
Again - true technical innovations like finding the first material that could be used in a light bulb is leagues ahead of allowing people to get back to a homescreen. It's a question of perspective.
No they weren't. Check out the history of the light bulb. The carbon filament pioneered by Edison was able to give out the correct amounts of light without melting it and he was able to create the necessary vacuum that enabled it to function. Before that, light bulbs were just not usable.
Edison's fight light bulb test lasted for 13.5 hrs - an immensely large amount of time (in those days) that only increased as he perfected his design.
Sorry, but there's no comparing this true functional achievement with prettifying smartphones.
Smartphones were able to do everything that the iPhone could do before it came out.
The quote doesn't prove that the iPhone came out and did something truly new. It prettified what already existed. If you can show me true functionality that the iPhone came up with, then we can talk.
Oh, and you also have to show that Jobs created that functionality personally to compare him to Turing and Edison. Not presided over a team of engineers who did the work.
But first, I'll settle for true functionality improvements the iPhone brought it. Give me that, then maybe we can move to the next step.
The difference is that Turing, Edison actually invented new stuff. Turing of course was a scientific genius. History doesn't remember those who merely refined an already perfectly usable device and made it pretty. Nothing more.
Will Jobs/Apple be remembered for his marketing prowess? Yes. Will probably be put into MBA textbooks. As an inventor at the scale of Turing? No.
Edison perfected the functionality of the light bulb. The right material to use that gives off the correct amount of light without melting and is durable etc etc.
Jobs perfected the design of smartphones. He didn't even make them usable. They were already usable before. He made them pretty.
Sorry - you can't compare true functionality improvements and refinements with refining eye candy. One is better than the other. History will remember one and not the other.
Slight problem with your analysis - I was using touchscreen smartphones and installing applications on them long before the iPhone. My first was a second hand Palm Tungsten T in 2004 when I was in college. My second was two years later - an O2 with Windows Mobile.
If you want to count Apple/Jobs marketing abilities as legendary, I have no problem with that since if another company had come out with an exact copy of the iPhone it would definitely not have gotten the same media coverage and overwhelming response.
Jobs refined the design of smartphones and made them popular. I've stated that in my first comment. I just don't think it compares to the the inventors the summary was mentioning.
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By all accounts, Edison himself was part of the scientific process that went into finding the carbon filament that would work properly. He knew the science involved. And the patent is in his name.
As far as I know, Jobs knew next to nothing about the specific scientific details of how his devices worked, nor did he sit and invent them.
In my book, scientific functional work is far more important that design work.
Fair enough. Now you just need to show me which of those patents were of the same caliber as making the light bulb work.
And we're done!
From Wikipedia:
"Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Although Ford did not invent the automobile, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford to buy."
Good enough for me.
Making a smartphone look better (sorry, but that's most of what he did) doesn't fall in the same level of epicness.
Not relevant then is it? There's no indication that he wasn't the brains behind the light bulb filament and since the patent too was in his name in the absence of evidence to the contrary he was the inventor.
To my knowledge, none of Apple's patents are in Job's name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_ford
Why are we having these discussion?
Come on...Ford essentially invented mass assembly line production! As for Edison - he produced the first truly viable light bulb. Job...prettified the smartphone.
I don't see how you can have his name in the same sentence as inventors who changed our world.
What new functionality did the iPhone bring?
I checked the history of the light bulb on Wikipedia - Tesla's name is not anywhere on the page. Do you have proof that Edison didn't develop the carbon filament?
What?
My claim was just that smartphones were perfectly usable by anyone who had used Windows.
If so, then unless Jobs himself invented and engineer all that, he doesn't hold a candle to real scientists and inventors who changed our world.
By the way, without Jobs, the smartphone would have come to be pretty much as it is. He gave the push no doubt, but I was using keyboardless big screen smartphones second hand way back in 2004.
*shrugs* DC is just an example. He was also the first to use a carbon filament in light bulbs that made them viable for lighting in homes. Comparing Jobs prettifieng the smartphone to that is pretty lame.
Smartphones were perfectly usable before. Making them pretty is not the same as making them useable. To be remembered 40 years later, you have to do a hell of a lot more than that. Ford was the first to use the Assembly line!
Ford developed assembly line mass production! That's something very real and concrete. Compared to that, prettifying a smartphone looks...well, you know how it looks.
True - but that doesn't change the fact that he had something important to do with its development. Something truly technological and scientific.
I disagree. Both my wife and I used smartphones before the iPhone. She's not a techy person by any means. My uncle used one too. I used two of them - the Tungsten T and the O2. They were perfectly usable with Windows Mobile and had a thriving ecosystem. Anyone who could use windows could also use a Windows mobile smartphone. You just clicked the cross in the window on top just like in the desktop version.
We can debate about which is easier, but not about whether or not they were useable.
Again - true technical innovations like finding the first material that could be used in a light bulb is leagues ahead of allowing people to get back to a homescreen. It's a question of perspective.
Edison was instrumental in making DC current viable with the first commercial electric power transmission.
No they weren't. Check out the history of the light bulb. The carbon filament pioneered by Edison was able to give out the correct amounts of light without melting it and he was able to create the necessary vacuum that enabled it to function. Before that, light bulbs were just not usable.
Edison's fight light bulb test lasted for 13.5 hrs - an immensely large amount of time (in those days) that only increased as he perfected his design.
Sorry, but there's no comparing this true functional achievement with prettifying smartphones.
:)
Smartphones were able to do everything that the iPhone could do before it came out.
The quote doesn't prove that the iPhone came out and did something truly new. It prettified what already existed. If you can show me true functionality that the iPhone came up with, then we can talk.
Oh, and you also have to show that Jobs created that functionality personally to compare him to Turing and Edison. Not presided over a team of engineers who did the work.
But first, I'll settle for true functionality improvements the iPhone brought it. Give me that, then maybe we can move to the next step.
The difference is that Turing, Edison actually invented new stuff. Turing of course was a scientific genius. History doesn't remember those who merely refined an already perfectly usable device and made it pretty. Nothing more.
Will Jobs/Apple be remembered for his marketing prowess? Yes. Will probably be put into MBA textbooks. As an inventor at the scale of Turing? No.
Edison perfected the functionality of the light bulb. The right material to use that gives off the correct amount of light without melting and is durable etc etc.
Jobs perfected the design of smartphones. He didn't even make them usable. They were already usable before. He made them pretty.
Sorry - you can't compare true functionality improvements and refinements with refining eye candy. One is better than the other. History will remember one and not the other.
See above comment.
Ediston refined the design of the lightbulb? He perfected the functionality. It wasn't a design aesthetic.
Slight problem with your analysis - I was using touchscreen smartphones and installing applications on them long before the iPhone. My first was a second hand Palm Tungsten T in 2004 when I was in college. My second was two years later - an O2 with Windows Mobile.
If you want to count Apple/Jobs marketing abilities as legendary, I have no problem with that since if another company had come out with an exact copy of the iPhone it would definitely not have gotten the same media coverage and overwhelming response.
Jobs refined the design of smartphones and made them popular. I've stated that in my first comment. I just don't think it compares to the the inventors the summary was mentioning.
Didn't say he did. Strawman much?