this post was submitted on 29 May 2024
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Jobs was an asshole.
Also, he got shit done. He wasn't a technical genius, but he and the team he built could pitch the shit out of products. Apple's value has rarely been in its technical superiority, but in branding.
"Asshole" is the word for a guy who likes to cut people off in traffic. I think there's probably a more appropriate word for someone who emotionally manipulates you over the course of years so you're continually a nervous wreck and can be destroyed any time it's convenient for him. Seriously if you haven't watched the interview I linked at least look at the first couple of minutes.
And at the end of the day, who did this behavior actually benefit? Steve helped make Apple a lot of money, sure, but where did most of that money go? It didn't go to the employees he abused, that's for sure. But maybe Apple products ended up benefitting society as a whole, and without Steve we wouldn't have had that? Well you already said that more often than not Apple's success didn't have anything to do with technical superiority.
The fact that people like this (Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, etc) often head successful companies isn't an example of how beneficial they are, it's an example of how broken our system is.
It shows how important having a charismatic person is to make any venture a success. We're all humans with limited time on the earth. We can't possibly experience everything. All we see and do is filtered out of necessity. A charismatic advocate of a product/movement/idea can get people to pay attention.
The best musician in history is probably unknown because they didn't have a good manager/agent.
The greatest painting ever made was probably thrown away because nobody ever knew about it.
Hype men are necessary.
In my personal experience I've had to go out of my way to find every quality product I've ever purchased, from dishwasher detergent to heat pumps, and none of them were the ones with the highest advertising budgets. You're right that we all have limited time and can't possibly evaluate every single thing that exists, but hype men don't help with that. The professional liars and manipulators that work in advertising only add to the noise and make it take longer to arrive at a conclusion. For example the fact that there are the 12 different brands of space heaters that come in different sizes and shapes and at different price points despite all performing the exact same way. It's like that with literally everything, from bar soap, to maple syrup, to sunscreen.
I think this way because I am autistic. I honestly cannot imagine feeling the need for hype men. The phrase "you need hype men" sounds to me like "you need your abuser, you cannot live without them".
Something like 35% of autistic people attempt suicide because of what the original post describes (and not just in science, but in every aspect of the world). And yeah, I think if I had to work for someone like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk I would as well.
I'm very much the same way. Sales people are just give me hints of what not to trust and usually fold under any sustained inquiry about their product. Skilled sales people know when to turn me over to their subject matter expert. We get to geek and I actually learn a thing or two about their product and, often times, the state of the industry.
One of the things the above post doesn't include are the people who championed her. Between Elliot Barnathan, the cardiologist whose lab she was initially hired into, to David Langer, the resident who was able to get her a job in neurosurgery department, she was lucky enough to have someone who could do the hype while she did her work brilliantly.
In the publishing world, a great editor can recognize the genius of a writer, give quality feedback, and protect them from the moneyed interests.
I don't know if I'd call these people hype men, as they were so much more than hype, but they definitely hype the genius of the patronee.
You "need" them because the society we live in is built around them. It's the same reason you are forced to learn how to mask - you "need" to mask to survive, to put food on the table, to have a home and a bed to sleep in. This world is commanded by the manipulators, shaped and molded by the manipulators, and if you don't have the skills to swindle your drop of money in the form of a grant in research or investment into your company, your project just dies. Everyone hates it (except the manipulators), but that's just how things are at the moment.
Agreed. I'm not going to pretend it's a good thing though.
I've noticed that everywhere I've worked I have connected with a person like that, for better or worse. I'm really bad at the people part of things but great at technical stuff. Unfortunately for the non people savvy it's hard to distinguish who is trying to use you vs who really wants to team up with you and help you as well as themselves... Yes Apple needed a Jobs to sell themselves, but it seems Jobs viewed Woz as an end to a goal, and not the partner/ human being who helped him get there.
ok, everyone has hype men now. Everyone is charismatic now. Now what, will the greatest be found? We're just back to square one.