Steve Jobs has always been an inspiration to me. He started from scratch and turned himself into an iconic image that everyone knows. While reading this autobiography I learned so many ideas that Jobs perfected and his journey on the way to the pinnacle of his life. Most people just discuss what he has accomplished, but what most people don't understand is all of the struggles that was upon him.
His life wasn't easy. To grow up in an adopted family that live from paycheck to paycheck is something to remember. Steve was very bright, but he often turned that into arrogance and mischief during his childhood. It wasn't until a special teacher turned his life around by offering him challenges that he took with pleasure. When college presented itself, Steve seemed to only want to go to one college, and he was very stern about it. With the help of his family, he got to attend Reed College.
Throughout college he was only interested in what he seemed was worth it. He was aggravated that he had to take other classes that he didn't want to do, and it reflected in his grades; however, he did stellar work in the classes that interested him. This work ethic led him and another friend to finally commit themselves into a technological company after years of meddling around with comical gadgets and working part time jobs at Atari and H.P. The technological industry was on the rise, and it was decided that the company was to be named Apple because it would be first alphabetically and give them a keen advantage.
Jobs proved to be a manager that was completely insane. Everything had to be perfect with his products. I still remember one story that Jobs was told by his father, "If you're making a perfect cabinet and you put an improper board at the very back where no one will see it, then it's not a perfect cabinet. You need to have every single detail perfect in order for it to be a perfect cabinet, even if the consumer will never notice this." With this in mind, Jobs made his employees want to rip their hair out everyday with his precise expectations that were rarely ever met, but when the finished products were complete they were works of art.
Apple was a complete success, and just as everything seemed to be going well, Jobs was fired after people were fed up with his insanity when the Macintosh didn't live up to the expectations that Jobs and the consumers had. Jobs sees this moment as one of the best moments in his life because of what happens after. It gives him the opportunity to set up investments in his new company NeXT and Pixar as well as patch up family struggles that affected him before. It made him realize what was really important.
NeXT turned out to be a slumping business and was later sold to Apple after Pixar astounded the world by, with the help of Jobs, creating Toy Story. Jobs then moved back to Apple where he learned not to be as picky and as anxious of a manager and more got done than ever. Jobs was only paid 1 dollar a year because he didn't want the money, only the health benefits. A lot has changed.
As more and more Apple products began to soar, it seemed Jobs was getting weaker. It seemed like a very weary time until he finally past away and the Jobs era was extinct. It will be an era that will never be forgotten.
This book made me realize a lot of very important ideas. First, you need to do what makes you happy. Jobs spent years on trips and doing different things until he finally realized what he wanted to do. Also, you need to make everything you do the best you can do. Why go through life only doing half of what you got? Lastly, you need to think different. Just like one of Apple's mottos "Think Different," this is what every individual needs to possess. Usually the ones that think crazy and want to change the world are the people that ACTUALLY change the world.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Excerpts and "If Men Could Menstruate"
Before I get into any specific detail, I would just like to say that the excerpts that I read were extremely difficult to follow. I found that after the first sentence I had already circled three words that I didn't know. Also, by the end of that page it had accumulated to nine words. I found myself just losing interest because of how complicated they had structured each sentence. I will; however, try to explain and react to these articles to the best of my ability.
"If Men Could Menstruate" was a very well written article. It was easy to read and comprehend and I enjoyed a good laugh out of it. I find it very interesting how Gloria Steinem turned menstruation into a male thing. It was very funny how she thought men would start to brag about their own menstruation periods and how the army would need women to donate/lose blood because they weren't menstruating. She was really trying to show us that if men were menstruating, it would be a big deal and a time for celebrating. Since women are doing it, menstruating seems like something to be looked down upon. It seemed like she was trying to play on the fact that since a man does it, it's something very honorable because society makes it that way. I completely agree with her. This is exactly the same as women sports. Everyone watches football, soccer, basketball, and golf on television, but when they put on women's soccer or basketball most people just change the channel. It's just what society does and it is very idiotic. Men aren't superior to women and women aren't superior to men even though history has made it seem that way. Steinem has made an excellent point with this article: Just because it's a guy/girl thing doesn't make it good/bad, and it's funny that society is still working like this after so many years.
The Mary Wollstonecraft reading proved to be a challenge. One of the most clinical ideas I got after reading this essay was showing how much things have changed for women. An example would be that we now have schools that are co-ed. Wollstonecraft describes having society as a split between boy schools and girl schools. Even though this still exists, it's good to see that society is changing for women. Another example would be how she was saying that women need men for strength and affection. In todays society this still happens, but it's not expected as it once was.
Margaret Fuller's excerpt made me feel very confused at what she was trying to get at. I felt she made assumptions that weren't true such as that all men are privately influenced by women. After reading this at the begin of the essay I felt a little biased on what she said. This made me question her; regardless, I still feel like she was trying to prove exactly what Wollstonecraft was proving. She was explaining how the norm was "woman was made for man," and now the norm is how men and women are equal. It was also explained how if they were to change women's wishes on having a different role in society, things would be drastically changed socially by an attempt to introduce them. I find this true because if women wanted to do what men did, then there would be an empty spot in society that would involve taking care of the children, and who would fill that role?
"If Men Could Menstruate" was a very well written article. It was easy to read and comprehend and I enjoyed a good laugh out of it. I find it very interesting how Gloria Steinem turned menstruation into a male thing. It was very funny how she thought men would start to brag about their own menstruation periods and how the army would need women to donate/lose blood because they weren't menstruating. She was really trying to show us that if men were menstruating, it would be a big deal and a time for celebrating. Since women are doing it, menstruating seems like something to be looked down upon. It seemed like she was trying to play on the fact that since a man does it, it's something very honorable because society makes it that way. I completely agree with her. This is exactly the same as women sports. Everyone watches football, soccer, basketball, and golf on television, but when they put on women's soccer or basketball most people just change the channel. It's just what society does and it is very idiotic. Men aren't superior to women and women aren't superior to men even though history has made it seem that way. Steinem has made an excellent point with this article: Just because it's a guy/girl thing doesn't make it good/bad, and it's funny that society is still working like this after so many years.
The Mary Wollstonecraft reading proved to be a challenge. One of the most clinical ideas I got after reading this essay was showing how much things have changed for women. An example would be that we now have schools that are co-ed. Wollstonecraft describes having society as a split between boy schools and girl schools. Even though this still exists, it's good to see that society is changing for women. Another example would be how she was saying that women need men for strength and affection. In todays society this still happens, but it's not expected as it once was.
Margaret Fuller's excerpt made me feel very confused at what she was trying to get at. I felt she made assumptions that weren't true such as that all men are privately influenced by women. After reading this at the begin of the essay I felt a little biased on what she said. This made me question her; regardless, I still feel like she was trying to prove exactly what Wollstonecraft was proving. She was explaining how the norm was "woman was made for man," and now the norm is how men and women are equal. It was also explained how if they were to change women's wishes on having a different role in society, things would be drastically changed socially by an attempt to introduce them. I find this true because if women wanted to do what men did, then there would be an empty spot in society that would involve taking care of the children, and who would fill that role?
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Is Google Making Us Stupid?
Over the past 20 years, technology has been making ground-breaking strides. We have developed computers that can process thousands of bits of information in a matter of seconds and can save vast amounts of created ideas. Computers can also help us search for historic ideas and aid us in creating beautiful presentations to share with everyone around the world. I can assure you that the world is available with one click of a button, but is this what we need?
After reading Nicholas Carr's work, I feel rather intrigued. Carr explained how he (as well as many other people) have lost concentration and ability to read for an extended period of time, and that the internet is to blame. I agree that the internet has helped us find precise information quickly, but we cannot blame the internet for lack of concentration when there is no neurological proof that the internet is promoting this. Although this seems like something to frown upon, if this is true I see this as an opportunity. This century is an environment where everything occurs rapidly. It seems right when we start something new in school we are switching tasks.
Maryanne Wolf brought something very interesting to my attention. In Carr's essay she explained how "we are how we read." I can observe and apply this to my life very swiftly. I'm not an avid reader, but one of my friends is and he can focus on tasks for longer than me without getting irritated. I also see this at school with students who spend most of their time reading. They don't seem to be getting as annoyed with the same task day in and day out, and that's a good quality to possess. Wolf also explained how the Chinese language will make the people who read it interpret situations differently than those who read the language with an alphabet. This will then help to explain different culture differences other than the environment and the people in it.
With this being said, the brain behaves differently because of a lot of different behaviors, and that technology could be a cause, but can't be proved. Carr brought up how with the invention of the clock, people started to ignore their senses of thirst, hunger, and sleep and started to look to the time of when they should do these tasks. This could be true for some people, I find that I still do all these things when my senses tell me the time is right. If it's midnight and I'm hungry, I'm going to eat. Most people would do the same instead of waiting until it's morning until it would be "appropriate" to eat.
Technology can affect our lives. The clock proved it, but to prove if it affects our mental capabilities will be very difficult and won't get a lot of support. The internet has the most controversy to whether this conspiracy actual exists. Google has created the ultimate search engine that everyone knows how to use. You just have to type in what you would like to know and 99 times out of 100 you will find what you were looking for in a matter of clicks. This is perfect for research, but now people are using it for things that they should know. Some people have stopped thinking for themselves and rely on technology for all of the information. With technology still advancing, it will only get worse. People will be getting more busy in this fast-paced world and won't bother to want to look in a book when their answer is a few clicks away. It's a scary thought if technology started to control the world, but I feel if we can create all of these monumental ideas and constructions, we will know how to control them and always keep ourselves in control.
After reading Nicholas Carr's work, I feel rather intrigued. Carr explained how he (as well as many other people) have lost concentration and ability to read for an extended period of time, and that the internet is to blame. I agree that the internet has helped us find precise information quickly, but we cannot blame the internet for lack of concentration when there is no neurological proof that the internet is promoting this. Although this seems like something to frown upon, if this is true I see this as an opportunity. This century is an environment where everything occurs rapidly. It seems right when we start something new in school we are switching tasks.
Maryanne Wolf brought something very interesting to my attention. In Carr's essay she explained how "we are how we read." I can observe and apply this to my life very swiftly. I'm not an avid reader, but one of my friends is and he can focus on tasks for longer than me without getting irritated. I also see this at school with students who spend most of their time reading. They don't seem to be getting as annoyed with the same task day in and day out, and that's a good quality to possess. Wolf also explained how the Chinese language will make the people who read it interpret situations differently than those who read the language with an alphabet. This will then help to explain different culture differences other than the environment and the people in it.
With this being said, the brain behaves differently because of a lot of different behaviors, and that technology could be a cause, but can't be proved. Carr brought up how with the invention of the clock, people started to ignore their senses of thirst, hunger, and sleep and started to look to the time of when they should do these tasks. This could be true for some people, I find that I still do all these things when my senses tell me the time is right. If it's midnight and I'm hungry, I'm going to eat. Most people would do the same instead of waiting until it's morning until it would be "appropriate" to eat.
Technology can affect our lives. The clock proved it, but to prove if it affects our mental capabilities will be very difficult and won't get a lot of support. The internet has the most controversy to whether this conspiracy actual exists. Google has created the ultimate search engine that everyone knows how to use. You just have to type in what you would like to know and 99 times out of 100 you will find what you were looking for in a matter of clicks. This is perfect for research, but now people are using it for things that they should know. Some people have stopped thinking for themselves and rely on technology for all of the information. With technology still advancing, it will only get worse. People will be getting more busy in this fast-paced world and won't bother to want to look in a book when their answer is a few clicks away. It's a scary thought if technology started to control the world, but I feel if we can create all of these monumental ideas and constructions, we will know how to control them and always keep ourselves in control.
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