Who - any where Actually said that this man Invented a thing??? You do understand the difference between the role of innovation and invention?? Of the vast majority of the companies in the world that have R&D - how many people focus on the patent holder when evaluating the success of the company in bringing out new products? How many really interesting and in some cases cutting edge products die in the garage because at the end of the day- They didn't get brought to market in a way that is both creative and visionary? And how many companies fail to harness the energy and synergies of their employees to ensure that not just one but a steady stream of industry leading products are developed and marketed in a way that is truly revolutionary. Innovative companies are that way because they have leaders that understand good ideas, devote the resources to make them better and understand how to get them out and broadly accepted.
To argue that Jobs was anything other than truly a remarkable leader and visionary businessman responsible for the rise of a remarkable company, just because somebody else did the technical grunt work (which he and countless others all acknowledge, and nobody posting here ever disputed. Both he and Wozniak acknowledge that the Mouse and the GUI were concepts that they glommed onto from Xerox.) is beyond petty. You apparently have a problem because I compared Jobs to Thomas Edison in his impact. Thomas Edison would be a footnote to history if he didn't actually get his products to market - He was a successful businessman and entrepreneur and his legacy is General Electric and Con Ed and all the other Edison Electric companies. Henry Ford invented nothing. He is remembered as a revolutionary businessman for his harnessing of already existing production concepts to bring out cost effective automobiles to satisfy and change an entire market. Sam Walton didn't invent squat- but who in the United States today would argue that he did anything other than revolutionize the consumer marketing and distribution world? If you can't recognize remarkable achievements because you think that Joe Schlobotnik who actually invented the user interface that made possible the MacIntosh operating system - well then you live in a constrained, crabbed little world and (as someone else said in an earlier post) are the equivalent of the person watching Ron Popeil and getting angry because you thought of the "Schwarma King" that is selling for $19.95.
Newsflash- All of us are insiders when it comes to evaluating the role of Apple Computers in the tech revolution of the last 25 years- because we buy and use those computers, Cell phones, Ipods, IPads, go watch Pixar animated movies etc... And those of us who don't buy them, work in places where we understand that what makes successful organizations is leadership, drive and vision. So if you don't recognize Steve Jobs for being a remarkable man- your call- Feel free to Keep laboring away in that garage waiting for the world to beat it's way to you with your better mousetrap. I would frankly think that someone posting on a web site that recognizes the importance of leadership would recognize the characteristics that made the man and the company such a phenomenal success, but of course I'm just an outsider who has made money betting on Apple and not Xerox (thankfully). But then again I also am a big believer in Bill Gates and what he has accomplished- I suppose that I should also rethink that since I'm not privileged to be "on the inside" by one definition.
This whole thread has become both laughable and sad. I'm finished with it.
" Three minutes later (while still looking at photos) the news informed us Jobs had just died. They blamed his death on me cause I jinxed him 