Steve Jobs Has Died: Was He an Icon for American Exceptionalism?

by SodaHead News Posted 2011/10/06 00:06:51

Related Topics: Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs Dead, Steve Jobs Died, Apple, Apple Ceo, iPhone, Ipod, invention, Live, Expectations, iPad, CEO, Image, Better, 2004

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	Yes	1,417 votes	88%
	No	199 votes	12%

Apple confirmed Wednesday that Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former-CEO of the tech company, has died. He was 56.

A statement by Apple's board of directors reads: "We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today...Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve..."

Jobs was battling pancreatic cancer since 2004 and had just stepped down as CEO of Apple this past August, leaving the position to Tim Cook.

When stepping down from the position, Steve Jobs told the public "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know...Unfortunately, that day has come."

The key individual behind such inventions as the iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, Steve Jobs will always be remembered as a visionary and a symbol for American exceptionalism.

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Aurora 2011/10/06 00:35:58

Yes

+26
Saddened to hear....

“I want to put a ding in the universe.”- Steve Jobs

He did way more than that.....
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More polls by SodaHead News

Superman save us 2011/10/08 01:26:57

No

He was an icon for being able to steal an idea and get away with it.

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gmildy to Superma... 2011/10/08 04:11:23

Who did he steal pixar from??

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Superma... to gmildy 2011/10/08 05:45:16

Not pixar but the technology to make pixar.

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Unknown... to Superma... 2011/10/08 14:12:46

+1
What did he steal, your cookie out of your lunch box? lol What do you think businesses do E V E R Y day, they take someone's idea and put their spin on it, it's NOT stealing, it's called competitive marketing. How many "iPhone, iPad, iPod wanna be's are out there now. Are they all thieves. LOL Get real Dude.

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Superma... to Unknown... 2011/10/08 20:56:57

+1
Everybody here is just showing how little they knew about Jobs. When Gates and Jobs first started out working on how to make a personal computer they were just on the cusp and Jobs stole the information and made a name for himself instead sharing the glory. But Gates made more the could imagine, Karma is a bitch. Steve Jobs was an asshat that only want the rich to have merch where as Gates wants the whole world to be connected, he was a vile man that did nothing to help the world only make it snobbier. Shut unless you know what the hell you are talking about, "Dude".

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Brian P to Unknown... 2011/10/08 22:27:28

His company did practice "patent trolling" quite frequently. Maybe he didn't directly support it, but by letting his company troll, it causes people who value original ideas to lose respect for the man and his empire.

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Nancy Scott 2011/10/08 00:56:51 (edited)

Yes

+2
I had to look it up to be sure he fit the definition of the word. I would say he does, though that is not how i would define him particurally. He does represent an ideal that we can look up to. He certainly has been idolized. Visionary, intelligent, Buddhist, Vegetarian, animal rights advocate, environmentalist for the most part, humanist, artist; these are more the type of words that come to mind right away.

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rp 2011/10/07 23:57:03

Yes

+2
absolutely!

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private parts 2011/10/07 23:48:46

No

Of course he was exceptional, but I deeply resent the B.S. "Conservative" dogma being alluded to here that would have us believe that Steve Jobs did it all himself and shouldn't be expected to pay taxes toward the country that helped him succeed, and that doing so would somehow be "punishing" him for success. My iPod and the Mac I'm typing on now were created by legions of engineers, some of them well treated...some not....and built in a third world country under deplorable conditions because the prevailing "business climate" has determined that having Americans make things is a waste of potential shareholder profits. And "conservatives" have the audacity to call themselves "patriots"! Barf.

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Unknown... to private... 2011/10/08 14:16:04

+1
No one said he did it all by himself, only an idiot would think that, but someone has to start the ball rolling and that's what he did. I think if you poll his engineers and designers...you'll find far more positive than negative feedback. Stop guessing...go poll them and share that with us. Everyone has their own opinion, and perception...stop reading with an "all about me" mentality, and you may find the read is a completely different one. IMO

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gregory.ditzler 2011/10/07 22:26:41

No

he was an average student who managed to find a niche in society and made it big, he wasn't the best student ever in the history of the american education system.

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KnightO... to gregory... 2011/10/07 23:40:38

So now you have to be a good student to be an icon of success?

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gregory... to KnightO... 2011/10/08 01:18:04

no I was saying he was too good to be a symbol of american exceptionalism because he wasn't from the best of the best from birth, he was clever enough to find a way of making something that benefits everyone. He is a good example of an american everyman that made himself exceptional.

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jerry.a... to gregory... 2011/10/08 02:56:58

+1
he also wasn't the first person like that to acheive the American dream. This happens all the time.

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Unknown... to gregory... 2011/10/08 14:17:02

+2
It's not how you start out, but how you finish. Period.

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AntonioVásquezCárdenas 2011/10/07 22:25:57

Yes

+1
Era un hombre excepcional por lo que será recordado siempre.

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us 2011/10/07 21:44:44

Yes

+1
IT shows what people can do, without government, Individual can invent and grow a big
business, There are allot throught history who have improve the way we live.

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J.E to us 2011/10/07 21:49:43

+1
The problem is that government is stifling those individuals from inventing the products that consumers want and need.The more regulations that are put in place the less people will strive to succeed. Their is no reason to work hard and achieve success if people are going to be punished and see their wealth redistributed to those who are failures.

Great Post!

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Michaela 2011/10/07 21:42:14

Yes

+2
Brilliant guy, no doubt, such a shame.

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alexander 2011/10/07 21:32:57
Abubakar Muhammad 2011/10/07 20:52:54

Yes

His inventions makes an epoch to many people mental development

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Sorting... to Abubaka... 2011/10/07 21:23:09

+1

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Jimbo 2011/10/07 20:42:45

Yes

+1
He was a modern day Edison!

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Cleaver62 2011/10/07 20:01:59

No

+1
He took other people's ideas and improved them. He outsourced jobs to China where workers lived in the factories and worked more than 60 hours a week. He was strongly anti union. He may have made life easier for people who could afford his products but he could have helped the US economy by using US workers to produce his computers.

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us to Cleaver62 2011/10/07 21:36:36

+2
If he would have done that and they where union workers, the everyday person could never afford it. Just like the new Electric cars starts at $40,000 and up.

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Cleaver62 to us 2011/10/08 01:05:04

+1
It would have added a few dollars to the cost. A 250 dollar iPod or a 260 dollar iPod with the knowledge that it was built by an American who was paid a fair wage and had benifits. Or they could have charged the same ammount and only pocketed 200 dollars in profit instead of 210.

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Ron in ... to us 2011/10/08 20:24:20

The Tesla auto company has received money from Obama.....but I think they may have stopped taking it now.

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Unknown... to Cleaver62 2011/10/08 14:19:29

You're pro union...how's it feel to be a dumocrat. Get real...unions are manipulative tools of government and the big execs at the top of the feeding chain, and the union workers are their "tools".

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Cleaver62 to Unknown... 2011/10/08 20:11:50

+1
If I am a "dumocrat" you must just be plain stupid. Do you have any clue what unions have achieved? Shorter working hours: before unions, people worked 12-16 hours a day 6 days a week. Thanks to unions, 38 hours is the standard for full time work today. There is a fair pay rate for every job thanks to unions. Overtime, penalty rates, meal allowances or holiday pay are all examples of improvements won by unions. Unions have rallied and worked hard to ensure that all full-time workers receive four weeks paid annual leave. It is because of unions that we also receive sick leave and many receive paid parental leave. Unions have contributed to women being gradually granted equal privileges to men; that is, they are paid an equal pay for an equal amount work. Unions and union members are a big part of making work safer. Over the years they have won many changes that keep workers safe and healthy. Unions have spearheaded moves to fairly compensate people who are hurt at work or damaged by unhealthy things like asbestos. Workers should have some say in the workplace. This is a democratic republic everywhere except at a corporation where it is set up like a kingdom. A business is always going to pay its workers as little as it can. Unions have gotten people a fair wage for a fair days ...

If I am a "dumocrat" you must just be plain stupid. Do you have any clue what unions have achieved? Shorter working hours: before unions, people worked 12-16 hours a day 6 days a week. Thanks to unions, 38 hours is the standard for full time work today. There is a fair pay rate for every job thanks to unions. Overtime, penalty rates, meal allowances or holiday pay are all examples of improvements won by unions. Unions have rallied and worked hard to ensure that all full-time workers receive four weeks paid annual leave. It is because of unions that we also receive sick leave and many receive paid parental leave. Unions have contributed to women being gradually granted equal privileges to men; that is, they are paid an equal pay for an equal amount work. Unions and union members are a big part of making work safer. Over the years they have won many changes that keep workers safe and healthy. Unions have spearheaded moves to fairly compensate people who are hurt at work or damaged by unhealthy things like asbestos. Workers should have some say in the workplace. This is a democratic republic everywhere except at a corporation where it is set up like a kingdom. A business is always going to pay its workers as little as it can. Unions have gotten people a fair wage for a fair days work. It is because unions have lost so much power that wages are going down, that sick days and vacation are slowly being whittled away. If you don't support unions and what they stand for, you deserve the no benifit low paying job you must have. Unless of course you are unemployed they you are just living off the government.
(more)

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Ron in ... to Cleaver62 2011/10/08 20:25:47

I am sure that you are aware that it was Henry Ford who instituted the 40 hour week.....not the unions.

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Critter to Ron in ... 2011/10/09 17:16:23

More idiotic BS!

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Critter to Cleaver62 2011/10/09 17:16:02

Most people don't know the truth about the important role unions have played in shaping the American workers lives with better work place safety,pay and other important benifits. The American worker would still be working long hours with low pay and no benifits, just like workers in 3rd world countries at the present, if it hadn't been for the American Trade Unions. Most people only hear the negative comments(mostly lies or just plain old BS) about unions so it's good to read a comment that tells the truth about unions and their importance to the American worker and the work place. Most union members in the private sector are hard working Americans that are trying to make a better life for them and their families,period. By the way I'm not a Dumocrat or a Democrat but I do know the truth about unions.

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Critter to Unknown... 2011/10/09 16:48:46

Are you referring to government unions like firemen,cops,teachers,prison guards and etc. or private sector unions? On the other hand, do you have any idea what you're commenting about?

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Boblawbla 2011/10/07 19:58:50

Yes

+1
I wouldn't be a bit surprised at those who see Jobs as anything but exceptional as wing-nuts!

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Boblawbla to Boblawbla 2011/10/07 19:59:59

Hey, I just looked at the demographics.... I'm correct! LOL

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Star 2011/10/07 19:56:58 (edited)

Yes

+1
I'm so sad about him leaving this place. Death is so awful, and seem so final. However, there is hope in Yeshua(Jesus), that we will be with our absent love ones again., in the New Jerusalem.

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Anon 2011/10/07 19:46:29

No

+1

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Delta to Anon 2011/10/07 20:05:16

+1
Ya know we all have our faults and stuff happens to all of us, both men have contributed to the world and it shouldn't be recognized as to who didn't get as much credit for his introduction of this or that but that they were great inventors and both had great minds. I don't imagine Bill Gates would appreciate you demeaning the works of this man upon his death. Surely you can do better than this. Did you have some kind of vendetta against Jobs or are you just angry at the world for not recognizing Gates as an equal to Jobs? Just let it go.

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Anon to Delta 2011/10/07 20:39:09

+1
No actually, I think you have misunderstood the point I was trying to make. I don't nor have I ever really cared about either Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. I was merely making a point about how fickle people are.

I should point out that whereas Bill Gates is the inventor, Steve Jobs is not. Both are very good businessmen. I would hope that Americans are not so shallow that to be hailed as an example of 'American Exceptionalism' all one has do is make something old look new and call it a new invention or merely be rich and famous. I would be just as disgusted if people were trying to make Bill Gates out to be an example of exceptionalism, or some sort of messiah. I would hope that to be hailed as an example of 'American Exceptionalism' a person would have to give more to the world than they take from it. I think Steve Jobs should be remebered for what he was - an exceptional businessman and public relations enthusiast. It is incredibly sad and unfortunate that he has died, however, hailing him as some demi-God is rather pathetic. There are and have been far better people in the world, who have had a far more positive impact, who do not get this much attention and recognition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

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Ron in ... to Anon 2011/10/08 20:29:02

There are five in the next generation of Jobs, I hope they do as well.

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