While those Tipsters who care can puzzle out the koan "what was Steve Jobs original contribution" (something that Jobs, the Zen Buddhist might have appreciated; for Jobs' Buddhism see: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lama-surya-das/the-zen-of-steve-jobs-rig_b_1100107.html But I have to say that Jobs probably could have written a book titled "Zen and the Art of Marketing" and not appreciate the irony), it is useful to keep in mind where Jobs and Apple fall in the history of personal computing. Wikipedia has a nice little entry on the long history of personal computer (yadda-yadda) and it might be useful to remember that Apple was just one part of the Trinity of the late 1970s, no matter how much others might try to make Jobs out to be JC; see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers
It is somewhat surprising to find out that the first personal computer was available in 1950 and that other personal computers were subsequently available, both in kit form and complete products such as Olivetti's Programma 101 (which was shown in the 1965 World's Fair in NYC); see: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/wsj/access/168968782.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Oct+15%2C+1965&author=By+a+WALL+STREET+JOURNAL+Staff+Reporter&pub=Wall+Street+Journal+%281923+-+Current+file%29&edition=&startpage=3&type=historic&desc=Desk-Top+Size+Computer+Is+Being+Sold+by+Olivetti+For+First+Time+in+U.S. or http://tinyurl.com/olivettiPC -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] P.S. Consider the Jobs koan to be a variation of an older one as illustrated in the following quote: |The realization of the true nature of mind might result from the Chan |practice of the "encounter dialogue," or gongan (Japanese, koan) study. |Two men came to be known as famous practitioners of this technique: |Shitou Xiqian (710-790) and Mazu Daoyi (709-788), and they would |later be recognized as the founders of two schools of Chan, Linji |(Rinzai in Japan) and Caodong (Japanese, Soto). The best known of |all encounter teachers is Linji Yixuan (d. 867), whose phrase, |"If you meet the Buddha, kill him!" is a familiar Chan saying. Some of |the gongan include short questions, such as, "What is the sound of one |hand clapping?" "What was your original face before you were born?" |or "Does a dog have Buddha-nature?" http://www.patheos.com/Library/Zen/Origins/Scriptures.html --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=14630 or send a blank email to leave-14630-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
