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“How does somebody know what they want if they’ve never even seen it?”
Steve Jobs changed the world forever with his innovative products, released as if they were all continuously moving along an assembly line for him to pick up at his leisure. His business savvy has also been celebrated and assuredly studied by aspiring businessmen, businesswomen and big thinking dreamers in their basements and even parent’s garages. The iMac computer is not owned solely by Americans, but by adults and children all around the world. And not just this Apple product either. Terms like iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac and Macbook Pro are household names. Techies and millions of fawning fans alike listened to his every word whenever he casually strolled onto that plain stage in northern California with a wall-sized projection screen behind, clothed in his trademarked look: blue jeans, New Balance sneakers and his low-key black turtleneck. In hand was his next big device to make its grand premiere, ready for an exhilarating public test run.
Rightly so, he is admired. In this age of increasing globalization, it was nice to say when he was alive that, ‘he’s one of ours….he’s an American innovator.’ It’s still nice to say. Walter Isaacson’s Behemoth of a book, “Steve Jobs,” details his life and includes just about any bit of information anyone would like to know about the man and technological icon. A movie is set to be adapted from this book by famed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin for a movie called, “Steve Jobs.” For those who are drawn to Jobs’ life and career, love dramatic stories as portrayed in cinema but can’t wait for this film to be released sometime down the road, they are in luck.
Lights. Camera. Genius.
“That ’70s Show,” “My Boss’s Daughter” and the cult classic “Dude, Where’s My Car?” offer a snapshot of the portfolio of the man chosen to fill the soles of some of the most famous New Balance shoes in history. Ashton Kutcher, the director, writers and cast are preparing to premiere the major motion picture, “jOBS” at the Sundance Film Festival tonight (Nationwide April 19th on Apple’s 37th Anniversary). Many may scoff at the idea of Michael Kelso portraying such a serious and beloved figure. However, before passing judgement, first take a look at a side-by-side comparison:
(www.sellcell.com)
Now come the vital questions that will surely be asked before and after the premiere: did director Joshua Michael Stern present the right details, milestones and key decisions to appropriately define the gigantic life of Steve Jobs through his multiple decades of leading Apple onto the top-shelf of the technological world? What overall theme and events did they decide to drive the story with? Is it accurate?
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (“The Woz”) recently shared his reaction of the first released clip of “jOBS” as seen below to the website Gizmodo. “Not close…we never had such interaction and roles…I’m not even sure what it’s getting at…personalities are very wrong although mine is closer…don’t forget that my purpose was inspired by the values of the Homebrew Computer Club along with ideas of the value of such machines and Steve J. wasn’t around and didn’t attend the club so he was the one learning about such social impact of the future,” Wozniak said.
Here is the aforementioned clip:
One thing that can be agreed upon is that the final retort from Kutcher/Jobs excitedly foreshadows the empire the two of them would soon begin to build. It’s probably safe to say that this clip alone will generate a significant buzz of curiosity about the movie.
Interestingly, Alexis Kleinman of The Huffington Post recently noted something very insightful about the clip. “With the premiere of the Steve Jobs biopic “jOBS” quickly approaching this month, its creators are doing something Apple never would: Pumping up excitement by offering a sneak-peak.” It’s certainly something to ponder…
Without seeing this movie in its entirety, it’s impossible to declare whether or not the script is misleading throughout or simply taking a little bit of artistic licensing, which does happen in Hollywood, for better and for worse. This could be the only hiccup or it could be first drip in a waterfall of inaccuracies. Until the lights go down and the movie is premiered, no fan/critic will know. The question is with his true life so fascinating and inspiring, why has such a step been taken for this important one minute scene? A few fortunate people will likely discover that truth tonight.
I suppose that like any Apple product though, there will be the occasional bug. Maybe “jOBS” is just life imitating art?
Come April 19th, will you give it a Friday night?
“Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!”
Late morning inside a second story lounge at a printing company in Pittsburgh, three businessmen were spread out comfortably on separate couches. The older gentlemen were each playing with one of their favorite toys: an iPad. The younger fellow was slightly more formal with a Macbook Pro laptop.
Three people, wired-in to the wide world of seemingly everything, were content. Also know that the movie “21” was playing in the foreground and was thoroughly enjoyed.
The surfing of the web occurred during commercial breaks (& without the potential presence of a Great White Shark lurking nearby). Three and a half to four minutes does not seem like an ample amount of time to finish any kind of meaningful task, but aren’t we all just a little humbled to know it actually can be more than enough time.
One of the discussions between the three men was imagining what is going to come next after the iPad? The youngest declared with a high degree of supposed certainty about a much more grand ‘product’ for the future. This will remain confidential for now, but it correlates with the modern innovator’s mindset of believing in the notion, “why not?”
While the notion above is the mentality, the following is the subsequent process: When one domino falls, the rest will follow.
This thought rings true for children as much as it does for adults. The only differences are what the dominoes represent and how slowly or quickly they fall relative to time and perspective.
Technology is a permanently forward-looking concept. Humans have progressed from traveling by means of walking to riding horses to sitting in horse drawn carriages to relaxing on trains to driving automobiles to flying on airplanes. Yet this is only a brief history of transportation’s evolution within the last two hundred fifty years or so. Once person A figured out an easier way for people to travel, person B discovered a better way. Then persons C & D had new ideas and so on and so forth. It continues today and will continue evermore.
Want proof? Richard Branson is currently working on offering commercial flights to space…to space!
It was only about twenty years ago that someone figured out how to put lights in the heels of sneakers.
Convenience comes with costs though, with money and privacy as only two examples. This speed and access to information creates necessity to be up-to-date by the second. Not hours or minutes, but seconds.
Briefly reflect upon our own expectations for expectant e-mails and how quickly we demand it arrive in our inbox and how upset we become to be forced to wait even five-Mississippi’s. “What’s taking so long!”
The 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show took place in Las Vegas last week. This has become a premier showcase of what some of the brightest minds are willing to display to the public as the next great product. This year it included a new brand of high definition televisions known as “4K.” David Pogue of the New York Times wrote about its resolution: “It means more pixels — four times as many as HDTV.”
The cost is not even remotely serious when it comes to intrigued consumers and as Pogue noted, “There’s not a single cable TV show broadcast in 4K, and not a single movie available on disc in 4K.” While the world is literally not ready for “4K,” that has not prevented curious minds from innovating for the future. Just as Steve Jobs proved, it’s not always about the device you have right now, but it’s actually what comes after it that generates the real allure.
Currently, people can sit in a room and search an infinite number of websites, play games, watch videos and listen to music to their hearts delight on their computers, laptops, iPads, tablets and cell phones.
This is where we are right now, this second. But what’s coming in the next wave just on the horizon?
As individuals proved at CES 2013, the future of television will soon project unprecedented clarity. It’s a safe bet that an innovator or group of aspiring innovators have examined “4K’ and are already brainstorming about “5K” or a resolution even better, well before “4K’ has been formatted for the public.
There is a scene in “21” when newcomer Ben is playing his first round of team blackjack. It took him only a matter of minutes before he earned thousands of dollars with his disguised partner at a table in the Hard Rock Hotel’s casino in Las Vegas by using an encrypted system of counting cards with hand signals and code words.
Later in the movie, Ben foolishly charges full steam ahead with enormous bets while blinded by his own arrogance of entitled invincibility.
Incredibly, within minutes, tens of thousands of dollars were lost.
Afterwards, their professorial leader informed Ben that he was no longer counting, but instead gambling. This difference literally distinguished between winning and losing.
Every decision has weight and consequence. Speed and access of information comes with benefits and prices of various forms. It is dependent upon ourselves to be cognizant of this and prepare so that the right decisions are made at the right moments. Technology, society and business will continue to evolve in a myriad of ways and we need to be ready to adapt and react in this fast paced and ever-changing era of decision-making.
Otherwise, aren’t we just gambling?
Jimmy's Daily Planet 