2024年7月10日发(作者：从静雅)
Steve Jobs
A genius departs
The astonishing career of the world’s most revered chief executive
Oct 8th 2011 | LONDON AND SAN FRANCISCO | from the print edition
IT WAS always going to be a hard act to follow. On October 4th Apple staged a
press conference to launch its latest iPhone and other gadgets. Tim Cook, the
computing giant’s new chief executive, and his colleagues did a perfectly
competent job of presenting its latest wares. But it was inevitable that
comparisons would be drawn between Mr Cook’s understated approach on
stage and that of Steve Jobs, his predecessor, whose sense of showmanship had
turned so many Apple product launches into quasi-religious experiences. The
news the following day that Mr Jobs had finally died following a long battle with
cancer turned the feeling of disappointment into one of deep sadness.
Many technologists have been hailed as visionaries. If anyone deserves that
title it was Mr Jobs. Back in the 1970s, the notion that computers might soon
become ubiquitous seemed fanciful. In those days of green-on-black displays,
when floppy discs were still floppy, he was among the first to appreciate the
potential that lay in the idea of selling computers to ordinary people. More
recently, under his guidance, Apple went from being a company on the brink of
bankruptcy to a firm that has reshaped entire industries and brought rivals to their
knees. Rarely in corporate history has a transformation been so swift. Along the
way Mr Jobs also co-founded Pixar, an animation company, and became Disney’s
biggest shareholder.
Few corporate leaders in modern times have been as dominant—or, at
times, as dictatorial—as Mr Jobs. His success was the result of his unusual
combination of technical smarts, strategic vision, flair for design and sheer force of
character. But it was also because in an industry dominated by engineers and
marketing people who often seem to come from different planets, he had a
different and much broader perspective. Mr Jobs had an unusual knack for looking
at technology from the outside, as a user, not just from the inside, as an
engineer—something he attributed to the experiences of his wayward youth.
2024年7月10日发(作者：从静雅)
Steve Jobs
A genius departs
The astonishing career of the world’s most revered chief executive
Oct 8th 2011 | LONDON AND SAN FRANCISCO | from the print edition
IT WAS always going to be a hard act to follow. On October 4th Apple staged a
press conference to launch its latest iPhone and other gadgets. Tim Cook, the
computing giant’s new chief executive, and his colleagues did a perfectly
competent job of presenting its latest wares. But it was inevitable that
comparisons would be drawn between Mr Cook’s understated approach on
stage and that of Steve Jobs, his predecessor, whose sense of showmanship had
turned so many Apple product launches into quasi-religious experiences. The
news the following day that Mr Jobs had finally died following a long battle with
cancer turned the feeling of disappointment into one of deep sadness.
Many technologists have been hailed as visionaries. If anyone deserves that
title it was Mr Jobs. Back in the 1970s, the notion that computers might soon
become ubiquitous seemed fanciful. In those days of green-on-black displays,
when floppy discs were still floppy, he was among the first to appreciate the
potential that lay in the idea of selling computers to ordinary people. More
recently, under his guidance, Apple went from being a company on the brink of
bankruptcy to a firm that has reshaped entire industries and brought rivals to their
knees. Rarely in corporate history has a transformation been so swift. Along the
way Mr Jobs also co-founded Pixar, an animation company, and became Disney’s
biggest shareholder.
Few corporate leaders in modern times have been as dominant—or, at
times, as dictatorial—as Mr Jobs. His success was the result of his unusual
combination of technical smarts, strategic vision, flair for design and sheer force of
character. But it was also because in an industry dominated by engineers and
marketing people who often seem to come from different planets, he had a
different and much broader perspective. Mr Jobs had an unusual knack for looking
at technology from the outside, as a user, not just from the inside, as an
engineer—something he attributed to the experiences of his wayward youth.