For me it's about design. From the start (well, mostly from the start) Apple make working with technology a different experience; it was more than a mere tool. It was pretty. As psychologists I wonder if we aren't minimizing the import of what it means to work with a beige box and bad graphics (if any graphics at all) versus working with an interesting interface in an elegant machine that's just, well, *pretty*.
I just think there's something that Apple (and Jobs) recognized from the start: people have a relationship to their tools, and a good-looking, slick tool is more fun to work with than something that looks like a packing crate. I know this is true of me and my cooking tools. I enjoy chopping vegetables because I have a fine set of knives: aside from the fact that they work exceedingly well, they're elegant and nice to look at, nice to hold. I have a different "relationship" with those knives than I do with, say, my flatware. I wonder if Jobs wasn't onto the idea that people can have more than working relationships with their tools, but rather can have an emotional connection to them. m PS That said, I'm a Linux guy and work now with black boxes that I make myself. PPS But I do have an iPhone. -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor of Psychology Chair, Department of Behavioral and Health Sciences College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: Leah Adams-Curtis [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 11:06 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: RE: [tips] Thank you Steve Jobs,but ........... > > My father gave my husband and me an Osbourne computer for a wedding > present in 1982. It ran straight out of the box, was self contained, > portable, (my husband took it to the law library on a regular basis), > was > a CPM system, ran word star, a spread sheet, and I don't recall what > else. > We used it until it ate my Master's thesis twice. My older brother > still > has it in his attic and if the floppies haven't completely fallen > apart, > my guess is that it would still run- although the tiny 6 inch or so > screen > would make us all crazy (or maybe not-bigger than an IPOD touch)! > > Leah > > Leah Adams-Curtis > Director of Assessment > Knox College > 2 East South Street > Galesburg, IL 61401-4999 > 309-341-7260 > > -----Original Message----- > From: Brandon, Paul K [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 9:44 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] Thank you Steve Jobs,but ........... > > Actually, M. Sylvester does have a point. > Steve Jobs was not a technical innovator -- he was a promoter. > I remember CPM and other microcomputer systems; my first computer was > an > AIM-65. > What was different about the Apple was that: > 1. It was not a kit; you unpacked it and fired it up. I got to the > point that I could unpack one and get it working in five minutes. > 2. It was marketed to homes, schools and businesses (the Apple III > was > ahead of its time here). > 3. Mass marketing (plus Woz's genius at using cheap off the shelf > parts) made it affordable. > Again, it was not that digital music was unique. > The internet in the 90's was a hobbyist thing, and downloading music > didn't become a threat to the record companies for another decade. > Again, > what Jobs did was take a hobbyist gimmick and turn it into a mass > market. > So yes, it is unlikely that Michael S. would have an affordable > consumer > technology without Steve Jobs. > > Arthur C. Clarke's dictum is relevant here: > 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' > Digital audio and video is now magic as far as consumers are concerned. > > On Oct 7, 2011, at 8:25 AM, Mike Palij wrote: > > > On Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:29:22 -0700. Michael Sylvester wrote: > >> As the only mobile DJ on Tips(now performing) at Marcos El Bistro in > Daytona > >> Beach,Steve has made my job easier.The old days of carrying boxes of > vinyl > >> records to play on the the beach during Spring break took a toll on > my > >> turntables and other equipment.Even when cds emerged,it became a > pain > to ensure > >> that there would be no skipping.But in this digital era,I can now > store > in > >> computer files,then click and play.As facilitative playing music has > become for > >> DJ. > > > > Professor Sylvester, I have no idea what you think Steve Jobs did > > in terms of actual contributions to information technology (however, > > for a glimpse of his bullying administrative style, see this NY Times > > article on his style as a "Boss"; see: > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/technology/steve-jobs-defended-his- > work- > with-a-barbed-tongue.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26 ). > > > > If you think that Jobs was somehow influential in the development of > > digitally recorded music, you should clear up such misperceptions by > > taking a look at the Wikipedia entry (yadda-yadda) on the development > > of the mp3 format; see: > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/technology/steve-jobs-defended-his- > work- > with-a-barbed-tongue.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26 > > Jobs and Apple are conspicuous by their absence. > > Note that digital music in form of mp3 and other formats were widely > available > > on the internet during the 1990s, often "free" (i.e., no royalties > were > paid > > to the artists or copyright holders) and Jobs just developed systems > that > > would "monetize" this situation and simplify the collection of > royalties > as > > well as limit the use of the music (through the use of "digital > rights > management" > > or DRM). For more on the history of the iPod see the Wiki entry: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod > > And for DRM, see: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management > > > > Again, I don't think that Jobs did not do anything technically to > earn > > respect, he was just an overseer and marketer. Although people > > make a lot of noise about the Apple II, few appear to remember that > > that there were other systems available before Apple, notably > computers > > running the CP/M operating system -- for those unfamiliar with CP/M, > see: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cp/mhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cp/m > > Bill Gates & Co would use ideas present in CP/M in their development > > of MS-DOS. > > > > CP/M allowed the use of serious software such as the wordprocessing > > program Wordstar, the spreadsheet Muliplan, Turbo Pascal, dbase II > > and so on. To get the Apple II to do serious work, one had to get a > > special processing card for it that would allow one to run CP/M on > > the Apple in order to use Wordstar, Multiplan, dbase II, etc. > > Other computers and systems at the time included the Commodore > > system, the Radio Shack TRS-Dos, etc. My first personal computer > > was a KayPro with a full software package (Wordstar, dbase, etc.) > > which made it a much better value than the Apple computers or > > even the early MS-DOS machines. > > > > As for the "remarkable" Macintosh, all one had to do was compare it > > next to an IBM PS/2 running the operating system OS/2 which was a > > powerful windowing system which even ran a windows version of > > SPSS that had all of the capabilities of mainframe versions (such as > > that on the VAX and Wylbur -- the MS-DOS SPSS-PC was a joke > > in comparison to OS/2 SPSS). For more background on OS/2 see > > Wikipedia: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/2 > > OS/2 is still around but in specialized application like ATM > machines. > > Like Betamax in videotape, OS/2 did not catch on in popularity. > > > >> Dr.Mike,I think though, that Steve has killed Classic rock.In fact > he > >> probably killed other music too.I do not think that there is any > substitute for > >> the old vinyl versions of classic rock-the art work on the album > covers,the > >> musicians contributing to the songs,and reading a short bio of > theartist and > >> songs. I doubt that these young kids downloading today the > Eagles,the > London > >> sessions of Led Zepellin, or Traffic (Live at the canteen) or Jimi > Hendrix can > >> read about the historical background when downloading to iTunes.Some > kids > >> still believe that Woodstock was a dope and for unlawful carnal > knowledge party. > > > > I really have no idea what you're talking about here. All the kool > kids > can > > get their tunes from a variety of sources, especially after the > hackers > and the > > crackers break the DRM. > > > > I may be wrong but I don't think Jobs contributed much in the way of > new > > technology, theory, or equipment. I do believe he was an expert > marketer > > who, like his "The Big Chill" (it's a movie, rent it) contemporaries, > sold out > > his ideals for a little bit of heaven on earth for him and his own. > I > think he > > accomplished this by making products for people who have too much > discretionary > > income and felt the need to buy "toys" that they really didn't need. > For > these > > reasons, when I think of Jobs and "Apple Culture" I am reminded of > Neil > > Postman's book "Amusing Ourselves To Death". For those unfamiliar > with > > Postman, see the Wiki entry on him: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Postman > > > >> Thanks anyway Steve.Looking forward to iHeavenly tunes and and an > >> iStairway to heaven version 2. > >> Feedback requested. > > > > Whatever. > > > > -Mike Palij > > New York University > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13438.3b5166ef147b143fedd04b1c4a64900 > b&n > =T&l=tips&o=13201 > > or send a blank email to > leave-13201- > [email protected] > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13346.fd4eeaf6abdc74d8c3a37fbfbb055cd > 9&n > =T&l=tips&o=13207 > or send a blank email to > leave-13207- > [email protected] > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72a2d17c90e > 1&n=T&l=tips&o=13210 > or send a blank email to leave-13210- > [email protected] The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. 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