[PLUG-TALK] Dennis Ritchie vs. Steve Jobs

[MJang]

On Mon, 2011-10-24 at 17:14 -0700, Ronald Chmara wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 10:51 AM, Patrick "Finn" Robins
> <13.finn at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 12:15, MJang <mike at linuxexam.com> wrote:
> >> <snip>
> >> Nevertheless, as much as I celebrate Ritchie's life, I
> >> think without Jobs, we as geeks would still be "uncool," and have to
> >> effectively live on the periphery of society.
> >>
> > I have seen this sentiment a lot as of late, I have to finally ask  in what
> > way has Jobs or Apple ever made cooler to be a geek? I wonder if I am
> > operating from a different definition of geek or am simply not seeing
> > someting that Jobs did.
> 
> My take:
> He/they married art, and computing, and consumer electronics. An
> interesting interview on the topic (among others):
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20124778-248/isaacson-jobs-was-eager-to-talk-exercise-no-control-q-a/
> 
> In short, they made computers and geekiness cool in the same way that
> flashy sports cars made driving (and drivers) cool... sure "it's just
> a car", but it's also a thing a beauty, a status symbol, a form of
> entertainment, a fashion item, and the people who have mastery over
> them have social value because of it. 

Bingo. People like us who can explain all of these toys are now cool too
because of it. In addition, the geeks who now help rule the world are
the object of admiration and mimicry. (a.k.a., because of Jobs, geeks
are the new "Jones's" who everyone wants to keep up with.)

Thanks,
Mike