World Cup Memo Written By Steve Jobs Going Up For Auction 206
New submitter Dega704 writes with an excerpt from El Reg: "Before Steve Jobs came up with the iPhone or even the Apple II, he designed paddles for ball-flipping games at Atari where the scruffy 19-year-old was employed to improve game design. Sotheby's New York will auction off a document dating from Jobs's time there: a 1974 report that Jobs wrote for his boss suggesting ways to improve arcade game World Cup. According to Jobs' biography, his Atari days are most notable for his clashes with colleagues, who he considered to be 'dumb shits'. He was made to work night shifts there partly because he was in a phase of refusing to wash and so he apparently smelt bad, causing complaints from his co-workers. But Jobs obviously did some work at Atari too, with the document laying out his ideas for improving player experience. The typed four-page document includes three circuit designs in pencil and additional designs for the paddles and alignment of players defending a soccer goal."
Steve WHO? (Score:4, Insightful)
Steve JOBS came up with the Apple II? I don't think so.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Speaking of The Woz, I kind of wish he would install his office web cam again... One wonders if he took it down because it caught him surfing porn one too many times...
Re:Steve WHO? (Score:5, Funny)
I was working as a sales rep in a Silicon Valley computer store in the early 80's. I knew the Woz and many other notables (I sold 3com their first 100 PC's). One day Woz's mother came into our store, looking for a joke present for the computer geek son who had everything geeky he could want. I sold her a bottle of "Bug Off" - anti-static spay for his monitor! ... :-)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
I sold her a bottle of "Bug Off" - anti-static spay for his monitor! ... :-)
Was his monitor at risk of getting pregnant?
Industrial designer (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
The Apple I and Apple ][ were Woz's design. All Jobs did was the marketing- the boxes, the rainbow Apple sticker, and the brochures.
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah? Maybe? Your point is? Every person who achieves success, is sure to fail a few times along the way.
Re: (Score:3)
Jobs came back right around the time that thing was killed.. as for who ok'd it.. Spindler or Amelio.. and Apple was only in it for the licensing. Bandai actually built and shipped.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Bandai_Pippin [wikipedia.org]
Apple never intended to release Pippin on its own. Instead, it intended to license the technology to third parties; Bandai was looking at entering the console video game market, and chose the Pippin as its platform. Much later Katz Media also entered production, planning to use the
Re: (Score:2)
You can't probably get any closer to some "hands on" industrial design then that.
Re: (Score:2)
Then it defiantly wouldn't of sold.
Defiantly not, ya blimey bloke!
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Steve WHO? (Score:5, Insightful)
Kind of shocking the guys at Slashdot would miss something as big as this. Wonder if they're just too young and inexperienced to know about Woz.
(Yeah, I know they're not -- which means only temporary idiocy could explain them making that mistake!)
Re: (Score:3)
temporary idiocy
Temporary? - Don't be such a tease.
Re: (Score:2)
Temporary? More like a chronic unwillingness to edit stories before they hit the front page.
Re: (Score:2)
Dega704 is a "New Submitter", whatever that means now. Perhaps this is an echo of something taking place in the Slashdot backrooms?
Re: (Score:2)
Kind of shocking the guys at Slashdot would miss something as big as this. Wonder if they're just too young and inexperienced to know about Woz.
(Yeah, I know they're not -- which means only temporary idiocy could explain them making that mistake!)
Revisionism, yo.
Re:Steve WHO? (Score:5, Informative)
Putting the thing into a plastic case and embedding the keyboard was Steve's idea. Trying to keep it simple and not suck is still kind of a revolutionary concept.
We're all so willing to live with things that suck. I mean, even OSX sucks in many ways(I prefer it because it sucks less than Windows, and while Linux is great for stability, living with the OS is a kind of suck I can't deal with; even if it sucks less overall).
Re:Steve WHO? (Score:4, Funny)
Bah.
Including a keyboard, case, and power supply.
computers for sissies that can't handle a soldering iron.
What's next--put a program in rom so you don't hae to key it in???
humbug
Hawk
Re: (Score:2)
Key it in? Your bootstrap loader brings up a terminal? Everybody else has to toggle it in on the front panel.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Steve WHO? (Score:5, Interesting)
Steve JOBS came up with the Apple II? I don't think so.
Steve Wozniak is on record stating that Steve designed the layout of everything on the Apple II down to how to layout the ICs. Wozniak could have cared less but saw the merit in Steve's constant design critique to make things organized, minimalistic and right down to the look of the inside of cases not to be nothing but some piece of crap sheet metal cover, ala today's typical PC Clone shell.
Re:Steve WHO? (Score:5, Informative)
I think you mean he COULDN'T have cared less.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
I think you mean he COULDN'T have cared less.
No. It's part of a quote and has become mainstream because of frequent use.
The quote is "I could care less but I honestly don't know how" - with a few variations.
Since we are are becoming increasingly allergic to writing long sentences this one
is used so often the original has been all but lost.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
This is a second/third degree thing, and because of that, it does not go well in written form
The idea is to say "well, I could care less" ("now that I think about it" heavily implied by a breathing pause and a funny 'I am really thinking about it" stance)
If you just say "this is so stupid, so irrelevant, there is absoluteley no way I could care less about it"
Well, you made your point, but it was a cheap one, because it
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"Better off hearing this than being deaf"
This works on exactly the same angle, if you said "i'd preffer to be deaf than to hear that" of course it is "stronger" in you pretending that piece of music or whatever is the worst thing you have ever heard, but it is also a silly cheap absolute, while the other way to say it conveys the idea that you had to think about it and had to go very low in your qualifications standards if you see wha
Re: (Score:2)
The original Apple II used a good-sized board with a lot of chips. If Jobs actually did the layout by himself, I'm surprised, and a bit more respectful of him. I'm not sure why Wozniak would have delegated it to him.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
According to iHistory 2.0, Jobs did.
Apple is working on remotely deleting iHistory 1.0 to improve your history experience.
Re: (Score:3)
Also according to Steve Wozniak.. Seriously some of you Jobs haters need to get out of the house more.
Re: (Score:3)
No, but Jobs was quite competent technically. When he referred to himself as being "not that technical" he was comparing himself to people like Woz. The two met precisely because they were building the same sort of electronics at home.
Jobs was better at electronics than most of us here on /.
Woz was a good amongst men when it came to electronics..
"refusing to wash.." (Score:2, Funny)
Re:"refusing to wash.." (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:"refusing to wash.." (Score:5, Funny)
He employs them in his apple stores
Re:"refusing to wash.." (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:"refusing to wash.." (Score:5, Insightful)
You may want to look up the definition [merriam-webster.com] of the word. It probably has many more meanings than you suspect.
P.S. - why are some people never happy unless they're ripping down someone else?
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not about deriving pleasure from ripping people down. It's about treating pond scum like Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs like they did something good for society.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That said, Edison and Jobs being total cunts says nothing about whether or not they were actually geniuses.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And then we're stupid enough to give 'em drivers licenses.
Re:"refusing to wash.." (Score:5, Insightful)
He was a user-interaction genius, not necessarily a technical genius. He knew what people would want without them first knowing they wanted it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:"refusing to wash.." (Score:5, Insightful)
To see the same phenomena in a scientific genius just pick up any bio of Issac Newton, he was widely recognised in his own lifetime as genius of the highest caliber by the public, and a common arsehole by his collegues and relatives. "American idol" style fawning over an arsehole who happens to also be a genius is definitely not something new.
Like him or not
I don't go out of my way to read about Jobs, Woz, BillG, et al, but I I like Woz as a person from what I've seen of him, Jobs I'm still undecided. None of that detracts from their status as modern day geniuses.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't particularly like the person I've read about, and don't think I would have liked him in person, but he was quite clever in his own right, and a genius in figuring out what was needed and assembling the right team to do it. That's possibly even rarer than technical genius..
Re: (Score:2)
He didn't design the iDevices himself; he hired well-known designers.
He did exactly what a good business man should do; hire the right people.
If there's any genius to Jobs, it would be to understand what the market wants.
I refuse too wash too! (Score:5, Funny)
I'm going to be a billionaire!
Re: (Score:3)
Or die of cancer?
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It's been done. Think different.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm going to be a billionaire!
Definitely not a writer.
Suitable for framing! (Score:1, Insightful)
One of a kind! Snot rag that Steve Jobs blew his nose into at an organic food restaurant in 1979! Yours for only $200K! Suitable for framing!
Venerated as a demi-god (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry Steve.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Basically the bully that got to boss around and fuck over all the nerds, but doesn't actually possess much along the lines of ability, at least i had some respect for bill gates and his skills.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Steve Ballmer with better fashion sense.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, I guess that explains why Ballmer followed Jobs around like a bipolar chimpanzee, repeatedly insulting and dismissing Apple products on Monday and paying legions of engineers to try their best to copy them on Tuesday.
Yeah, Jobs and Ballmer, two peas in a pod.
Just one question: were you dropped on your head as a child?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Bill Gates with better design sense.
Fixed that for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, he was building and designing his own electronics by the age of ten (before he met Woz. This is the reason he and Woz met) so I wouldn't say that he had no ability (in the realm of tech). As a design chief and a business manager he was a genius (otherwise all the other companies would be as successful as Apple)
Re:Venerated as a demi-god (Score:5, Insightful)
As a previous poster has observed, Jobs was probably a better computer technician in the pure "here's a bucket of ICs and a board and a soldering iron, build a computer" sense than most people here. It's just that his partner was Steve Wozniak, who took that shit to a whole different level.
Re: (Score:3)
I think you overestimate his limit - I suspect he hits his limit all the time.
Re:Venerated as a demi-god (Score:5, Funny)
Yep, would you rather be (a) uber successful but smelly, nasty, humourless and loveless, or (b) less successful but regularly bathed, kind, funny and loved?
Of course this is slashdot so I should offer option (c), unsuccessful, smelly, nasty, humourless and loveless.
Re:Venerated as a demi-god (Score:5, Funny)
Of course this is slashdot so I should offer option (c), unsuccessful, smelly, nasty, humourless and loveless.
I have a perfectly good sense of humor, thank you very much.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Fact is, most people are pricks. So what?
Re:Venerated as a demi-god (Score:5, Insightful)
Thing is, if you take all those people who are pricks, and consider them "normal", Jobs is still a prick.
Re: (Score:2)
It's ok, look around, most of the people you work with are pricks, your boss is....so are the people at the gym, in the super-market, and everywhere. So am I, and so are you, most likely. Fact is, most people are pricks. So what?
Right, because it's a boolean attribute. Frequency and degree aren't relevant.
Re: (Score:2)
This is slashdot - what's a gym?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
It's where your lunch money went . .v. :)
hawk
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
None of them are as smart as I am either.
Re: (Score:2)
ironic? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
I find it odd that, with his background is video games, the mac is not a more successful gaming platform.
The Mac entered the market in 1984 with a nine inch 512x342 black and white screen, 128 KB RAM and a $5200 price tag, adjusted for inflation. It would be three years before the Mac supported color with the introduction of the Mac II. MacIntosh [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
what was the graphical resolution of MDA?
thats right jack fucking shit, it couldn't do graphics
what about CGA?
320×200 color 640×200 mono
still lower than mac, and yet many many more games ..
Re: (Score:2)
Nintendo reports first-ever operating loss in 2011
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/26/nintendo-annual-financials-2011/ [engadget.com]
Sony reports record loss in 2011
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/10/3011264/sony-record-loss-5-7-billion-fy-2011 [theverge.com]
Apple reports record revenue, record sales of iPad and iPhone in 2011
http://www.macworld.com/article/1164973/apple_reports_record_revenue_profit_for_fiscal_first_quarter.html [macworld.com]
But I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, Steve Jobs HATED games. If he had his way he wouldn't have it on his Mac platform (he wanted people to think of the Mac as a tool, not a toy).
Of course, over the years he softened his stance which basically led to iOS being one of the top portable gaming consoles around. (And yes, an iDevice IS a console - completely with console-like development mentality and approvals. The only thing it lacks
It always breaks my heart... (Score:5, Insightful)
To hear about a young man on a path to providing joy and happiness to millions, only to lose his way and become a business executive. Where did we fail you Steve. You clearly had the potential. Antisocial, poor hygiene, you had all the traits of a budding young geek. Then somewhere a terrible turn south. Perhaps we'll never know.
Re: (Score:3)
To hear about a young man on a path to providing joy and happiness to millions, only to lose his way and become a business executive. Where did we fail you Steve. You clearly had the potential. Antisocial, poor hygiene, you had all the traits of a budding young geek. Then somewhere a terrible turn south. Perhaps we'll never know.
Every one of those bohemians from his early days all became wealthy, yet he was one of the only ones who actually lived as minimal a lifestyle as possible with all of his wealth. Steve was all about cutting edge style even when he was managing an Apple orchard for a hedonist later turned Copper Mogul and Conservative dick head, while up in Oregon.
Re: (Score:2)
Every one of those bohemians from his early days all became wealthy, yet he was one of the only ones who actually lived as minimal a lifestyle as possible with all of his wealth.
Yeah, as minimal as possible. [rushlane.com]
Note the minimal, bohemian lifestyle demonstrated in the linked picture.
He also purchased 20,000+ square feet of house in what I assume must have been a demonstration against the evils of capitalism, right?
Re: (Score:2)
It always breaks my heart... To hear about a young man on a path to providing joy and happiness to millions, only to lose his way and become a business executive.
2013, Year of the Linux Desktop!
"refusing to wash and smelt bad" (Score:2)
"because he was in a phase of refusing to wash and so he apparently smelt bad"
Hmmm... Somehow that lessens my previous critique of his persona.
Still, he was greedy smelly. So he wasn't all good after all!
Typical Jobs (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
Damn, it's only a memo about improving a video game? I thought it was going to be a memo about how to improve the snoozefest that is soccer/futbol. (Yeah, and here come all the non-Americans to talk about how superior it is to basketball/baseball/football. I don't care. Any game that ends in a 0-0 tie is not entertaining to watch.)
You mean, the majority of the world's population?
Re:Only a video game? (Score:4, Insightful)
Not always, but it often is. It's not always about the score, or winners and losers but how the game is played.
No doubt though, you also only watch car racing for the crashes.
Re: (Score:2)
No it's not, not ever. Nothing happened.
Re: (Score:2)
Tactically, both managers stopped the other team playing. I'm not fond of this tactic, but I respect the reason it's used.
There may have been 20 shots on goal by each team. Some were on target, which the goalkeeper saved. Some were nearly on target forcing the crowd to go "Ooooooooooooh". Some were wide of the target and eve
Re: (Score:2)
Crowd precipitation. It's the reason I go.
It's rainin' men... Halleluja!!
:^)
Methinks perhaps you meant 'participation'.
Re:Only a video game? (Score:5, Funny)
I thought it was going to be a memo about how to improve the snoozefest that is soccer/futbol.
Let's see...
Nope, still not worth watching.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not the most action packed sport for sure ... but it is accessible. You only need one ball and some empty space. Of course baseball's a bit dull to watch as well, though I do enjoy playing it.
Re: (Score:2)
Damn, it's only a memo about improving a video game? I thought it was going to be a memo about how to improve the snoozefest that is soccer/futbol. (Yeah, and here come all the non-Americans to talk about how superior it is to basketball/baseball/football. I don't care. Any game that ends in a 0-0 tie is not entertaining to watch.)
Hmmm
So it is the act of scoring that makes a game exciting? Personally I don't think so, certainly not in regards to basketball, where I believe the opposite is true... As a Brit I have seen many scoreless football matches, yes, quite a few of them have been dire, however a fair number of them have been very tense and exciting. The best have been those matches where one side has dominated the match but have been denied victory by a perfect performance from the other team's goalkeeper.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course, your mileage will vary. The one nice thing about a game that scores is that it usually means that very good plays are rewarded with a score at the end of them, so it is easier to follow who is making good plays and when they are doing it.
In soccer it also means that a 1-0 score is a much larger deficit to overcome than the goal would lead watchers of other games to believe. If the game ends on a 1-0, that zero can mean anything from no offense on the loser's side to good, but not quite good eno
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
Be real. If you have seen 100 0-0 matches, only two of them were remotely interesting. Only one of them would be interesting to someone who is not a fanatic.
Re: (Score:2)
how much can i get for a magazine he farted on once
A breath mint and some hand sanitizer. Ewwww.
Re: (Score:2)
Hey Beavis... he said Wang... Huh,huh,huh,huhuhuhuh.
Re: (Score:2)
Is that really the only plausible explanation that you can come up with?
Re: (Score:3)
Generally only people who other people care about end up on magazine covers. Magazines don't make these people up. That's what Reality TV is for.
Seriously, though, unless you're reading the Entertainment/Tabloid rags, you're reading about people who attained notoriety independently of being on some cover because magazines are not going to be bought if there is a Nobody on the cover. Perhaps their achievements get blown out of proportion or amplified by later coverage, but in general there's a reason they