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4743913

Cancelled
Aug 19, 2020
1,564
3,713
The thing is, the very name Palm Pilot was a palm held device. If you equate that size with a tablet, then every iPhone and smartphone in general are also tablets. That’s not what most people would consider a tablet - the name suggests something bigger than a handheld device, which is exactly what it is.

Yes, I owned a Treo, maybe two of them now that I think about it. The iPaq was finger or stylus input, or keyboard and it was definitely no tablet (even as it had a larger screen than the original Treo).

Size really has nothing to do with it..

"a flat slab of stone, clay, or wood, used especially for an inscription."

you write on a tablet. the palm pilot was way more tablet than an iPhone..
 

Funny Apple Man

macrumors 6502
May 1, 2022
426
970
Hamburger Land
Apple came out with the Newton (1993) before the Palm Pilot (1997)

( still have my Handspring PDA too )
The Newton was one of the devices where I wished Steve didn’t cut off when he returned to Apple. It’s like if the iPad came out 20 years ago.

It’d be nice to see them bring it back considering that is a demand for those that want e-ink display tablet.
 

JKAussieSkater

macrumors 6502
Mar 13, 2009
263
392
Tokyo, Japan
Top 10 Steve Jobs Achievements
  • 1. Igniting the personal computer revolution - With the Apple II and the Macintosh, Jobs and the then-named Apple Computer (AAPL) helped to launch the PC revolution. The Apple II, released in 1977, was one of the first highly successful mass-produced personal computers. The Macintosh, introduced in 1984, was the first commercially successful PC to use a mouse and graphical user interface.
  • 2. Introducing the mouse and graphical user interface. - Jobs changed how people interact with personal computers by replacing the text-based command-line interface with a mouse-driven graphical user interface. Instead of typing in commands with a keyboard, users could click on on-screen icons using a mouse controller. Jobs borrowed the idea for the new interface from Xerox 's (XRX) Palo Alto Research Center, which failed to see its potential.
  • 3. Bringing portable music players to the masses. - Others had come out with portable digital music players before Apple debuted the iPod in 2001. But Apple made the device a fun, simple and fashionable way to store thousands of songs. Jobs' creation soon dominated the market.
  • 4. Revolutionizing the sale of music. - Jobs turned music distribution on its head with the iTunes store by offering consumers an easy and affordable way to download songs to their computers and iPods. The iTunes store offered people an alternative to buying music CDs or illegally downloading songs from online sharing services.

Well, those are entrepreneurial achievements… If not Steve/Apple, it's probable somebody else would have done those eventually. I wouldn't use entrepreneurial achievements as simple as these as deserving of a "presidential award"; the financial profits are reward enough.

  • 5. Shepherding the age of computer animation. - Jobs ushered in the age of feature-length computer-animated movies by funding and leading Pixar Animation Studios. Jobs bought an unproven animation studio from George Lucas in 1986 and turned it into a maker of blockbuster films, starting with "Toy Story" in 1995. Walt Disney(DIS) purchased Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion
The reward of being an investor is dividends, so I wouldn't say that's deserving of national recognition either… Although this could be the most valid achievement in your list, if it could be argued that Pixar created inspiring, emotionally moving films that motivate humanity and progress, and that Steve Jobs was fundamental to this. But I feel like that would be a disservice to credit one person with the efforts of many unless there was clear leadership.

  • 6. Opening Apple stores. - proved to be a huge success, not only in selling products but also extending the Apple brand and cachet worldwide. Apple now operates more than 350 stores.
  • 7. Making personal computers stylish. - From the start, Apple computers have stood out as stylish. From the candy-colored original iMacs to the superthin MacBook Air, Apple has made products that consumers crave. When it came to Apple's products, Jobs sweated the details of fit and finish.
  • 8. Launching the smartphone revolution. - When Jobs got Apple into the mobile phone business with the iPhone in 2007, he didn't just add cellular phone capabilities to an iPod or vice versa, as some expected. He came out with a landmark device that merged an iPod, full Internet browser and mobile phone into a beautiful gadget with a multitouch-screen interface. The iPhone was an instant hit and begat a thousand copycats.
  • 9. Changing how software applications are distributed. - Jobs changed how software applications are distributed when he opened the App Store for downloading applications to the iPhone and iPod Touch in 2008. He gave developers a way to write and sell mobile programs to consumers online. Its success created a vibrant ecosystem that has boosted demand for Apple's mobile devices.
  • 10. Kicking off the tablet trend. - Apple faced a lot of doubters when Jobs debuted the iPad tablet in April 2010. But the media tablet soon became another hit product.
My first opinion above applies here too. The reward of being an entrepreneur is profits, no further acknowledgement is necessary.

Probably Steve Jobs was involved in Apple's decision to consistently donate to causes relating to HIV/AIDS. That's much more deserving for national recognition than the 10 achievements (which inherently reward Steve Jobs by default) than charity, which is a selfless act that benefits others. If I made a list, that one would have been on top. But even then, that was probably Apple's money rather than Steve's personal funds. What did Steve do outside of his work that deserves what would otherwise be unattained national (or global) recognition or appreciation?

Actually, America's not even my country, so it's pointless having me share my opinion on the matter… sorry folks!
 

zarmanto

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2014
560
484
Around the corner from the 7/11
I always wondered about what the purpose is in doing this posthumously. They certainly are past caring about it.
I would suggest that perhaps it's not actually about the award recipients at all... it's about wooing voters. Remember, we have midterms coming up on us fast, and Biden isn't too happy with the current projections for the Senate and the House; I expect he's looking for every scrap of goodwill he can find to try to sway people away from those GOP candidates. Putting the names of popular people on that list is one of the ways in which a sitting president can uniquely seek out such goodwill.
 
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T Coma

macrumors 6502a
Dec 3, 2015
659
1,247
Flyover Country, USA
President Biden has long said that America can be defined by one word: possibilities.

Article Link: Steve Jobs to Be Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Biden has also said America can be defined by another word: Asifuthimaehaefutibeh.


Any words from that utterly senile incompetent do the opposite of lending importance, credibility or meaningfulness to such an award.

And Rapinoe, lol. They’ve managed to reduce the value of this to another media award trinket.
 

Breaking Good

macrumors 65816
Sep 28, 2012
1,449
1,225
I mean it's an awesome device and changed the world. It has some good aspects, but overall modern tech, especially the 24/7 andwhere on the planet connection to the internet is a bad thing for society.

Did you ever try to write a term paper when all you had access to was a library with a card catalog and a set of World Book Encyclopedias? I did, believe me it sucked.

For those that don't know, life before the internet truly sucked.
 

zarmanto

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2014
560
484
Around the corner from the 7/11
... They’ve managed to reduce the value of this to another media award trinket.
I'm a big believer in credit (and blame) being appropriately attributed... and based upon the Wikipedia link to Medal of Freedom recipients offered up by efktd earlier in the thread, I think it's reasonable to say that US presidents have been using the Medal of Freedom as a bit of a "trinket", as you put it, since its inception. I mean seriously... the very first recipient noted on that page is an opera singer.
 
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axantas

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2015
828
1,136
Home
Medal of FREEDOM?? When we have all become SLAVES to the machines he helped create?! /s
I f you did become a slave too and do not want this, then it is up to you to reconsider that decision. No one will stop you. "Slaves" would not be allowed to quit...

He really deserves it. It is business too, but it is about developing ideas and following your path.
 

VulchR

macrumors 68040
Jun 8, 2009
3,419
14,314
Scotland
I feel ambivalent about this - it wasn't just Jobs. Still, Jobs was an icon and he did have a vision that others didn't commit to at the time.
 

Thebrochure

macrumors 6502
Aug 9, 2021
443
521
Looking at that photo made me realize how much I miss both Jobs and the products he created. If Apple released iPhone Retro, which was the size of the 4S and with an iOS similar to 6... I would sell almost anything I have to buy one. Can't stand the modern design (way too big) and OS (no longer feels like an iPhone).
 
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CarAnalogy

macrumors 601
Jun 9, 2021
4,344
7,954
Looking at that photo made me realize how much I miss both Jobs and the products he created. If Apple released iPhone Retro, which was the size of the 4S and with an iOS similar to 6... I would sell almost anything I have to buy one. Can't stand the modern design (way too big) and OS (no longer feels like an iPhone).
iPhone SE is too big? I agree with some of your sentiment but the iPhone had to evolve. I switched to Android from about the 6 era until I came back to an 11 Pro Max and it felt like coming home. iOS is in some ways still too similar to how it has always been.
 

neliason

macrumors 6502a
Oct 1, 2015
503
1,243
Awards like this are meaningless, even when I like the people getting the award. They typically are just rich and famous people giving other rich and famous people even more publicity. Or they are an opportunity for the rich and famous to engage in some virtue signaling. Regardless, Jobs certainly did have a big impact on our culture and economy.
 

mi7chy

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2014
10,495
11,155
I’m sure they would have both made contributions to society, but the magic we know started because the two complimented each other. Absent that, everything Apple we take for granted wouldn’t have existed.

Nah, Steve Jobs f'd up a lot of products for not listening to Woz. Against Woz's advice Jobs wanted early Apple II to be ventless for aesthetics and it overheated so they had to go back to Woz's vented design. Jobs did the same to Apple III and turned it into a complete flop.
 

BWhaler

macrumors 68040
Jan 8, 2003
3,788
6,244
Two thoughts:

1. I would be a lot of money, if alive, Steve would decline this.
2. Seriously Democrats? Read the room. This is not where you should be spending your time. (Although maybe it’s slightly better than reading poetry and singing ‘God Bless America’ on the Capitol steps.
 
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SoldOnApple

macrumors 65816
Jul 20, 2011
1,109
1,854
didn't he steal money from Woz? If not, his leaving Tim Cook in charge should disqualify him.
He also made Woz a millionaire. If Woz never sold any of his initial Apple shares then they would be worth over 700 billion dollars today, making Woz the richest man in the world.

Actually maybe not 700 billion. Woz owned 34.6% of Apple initially (before IPO), which today would be over 700 billion, but Apple shares might have been diluted since the IPO. I know Apple shares have split a few times, which wouldn't dilute ownership, but Apple may have created new shares since then and I don't know enough about how company shares work or Apple's share history to know for sure. I found a source that at IPO Woz held 4,011,934 shares, his ex wife held 1,355,383 shares, gave 128,000 shares to friends and family, and gave 450,000 to Apple employees.

That totals 5,945,317 shares, which at present value would be worth $825,982,890. But Apple shares have split a number of times since then. In 1987, 2000 and 2005 the stock was split on a 2-for-1 basis, which would have given Woz 47,562,536 shares. In June 2014 it was split on a 7-to-1 basis, which would have given Woz 332,937,752 shares. In 2020 it was split again on a 4-for-1 basis, which would have given Woz 1,331,751,008 shares all up.

Meaning if Woz never sold any of his shares, never gave any away, never let his ex wife have any, and still held onto them all today then those shares would be worth $185,020,167,541, or 185 billion. Maybe Woz sold some of his share of Apple before the IPO or Apple shares were diluted some since the IPO, because 185 billion is quite a bit less than 700 billion. Or maybe my math was wrong along the way here...
 
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w5jck

Suspended
Nov 9, 2013
1,517
1,935
I guess if insisting on “form over function” and overcharging for devices while purchasing a billion dollar yacht is what you consider as a person who has helped out his country, then yes. However, they should just give him the old Flying Fickle Finger of Fate award instead. (That was the TV show “Laugh In’s” way of giving jerks the finger.)
 
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44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,492
I'm more confused that John McCain is on the list, for several reasons.
You’re confused, because you likely didn’t do any research of his contributions/deeds. I’d say he definitely qualifies to be on that list, for several reasons.
 

M5RahuL

macrumors 68040
Aug 1, 2009
3,418
2,060
TeXaS
So you also feel that soldiers who die in the process of saving dozens of their fellow should not be recognized by being awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously? Those should only be given to soldiers that make it out alive?
That is such a ridiculous analogy! wow!
 

dapa0s

macrumors 6502a
Jan 2, 2019
522
1,033
I'm sorry but does he really deserve this? I feel like we've learned from the various books and movies that he was a visionary, sure, but he wasn't actually the best person...
After reading stupid comments like these, I honestly wonder whether the internet was a mistake.
 
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