Steve Jobs Was No Innovator — He Was Better

By Devin Leary-Hanebrink

 

 Over the past few months since his unfortunate passing, the media has consistently praised Steve Jobs for his many talents. Frequently, he has been described as one of history's greatest innovators, standing shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Einstein, Da Vinci, and the Wright brothers. While such statements about Jobs's talents are not false, they certainly miss the point.

 

To "innovate" is to "introduce or make new." Jobs rarely accomplished this feat. In fact, Jobs was notorious for plagiarizing great ideas. He poached the concept of a graphical user interface (GUI) from Xerox. He bought Pixar from George Lucas. He copied Sony's Walkman. He was even a poor programmer, relying heavily on Steve Wozniak's talent during Apple's formative years. Furthermore, in a 1996 interview for the PBS series Triumph of the Nerds, Jobs himself admitted, "We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."

 

But back in the 1970s, while his computer club was happy meeting once a week, IBM was content selling mainframes, and Microsoft was a small startup in New Mexico, Jobs already recognized the power of this new technology and envisioned personal computers in every home in the world.

 

Jobs the Entrepreneur… (Read more)

 

Source: Mises.org

Steve Jobs and the Beautification of Capitalism

By Jeffrey Tucker

The day that Steve Jobs resigned from Apple, hosannas for his life's work and accomplishments erupted from every corner of the earth (or the blogosphere, in any case). He was universally hailed as a genius. He was praised for changing and upgrading our lives in so many ways. He was treated as an innovator who dedicated himself to the well-being of society, and accomplished miracles none of us mere mortals could have imagined. He did more than dream; he acted and created one of the great companies on the planet, a company that has enabled us to live out our own dreams.

It's all true. This kind of language is not just welcome; it is magnificent. The same could be said of millions of great entrepreneurs both inside and outside the hardware and software sectors. Every time I slip on a pair of shoes, I think of the marvels of entrepreneurship and the division of labor that make my foot comfort possible. I have the same sense for those who make my refrigerator, provide lettuce for my salad, create alarm systems for my home and car, own and run chain stores that sell everything from pet food to paper clips, sell me insurance, build our homes and offices, and make it possible for me to buy a plane ticket with a few clicks on a computer — or finger swipes on a smartphone.

Every entrepreneur in society deserves such praise, and it is also correct to single out Steve Jobs, because his company seemed to push civilization a bit further down the road to progress with mind-blowing… (Read the full article)

Source: Mises.org