Yesterday was the 10th birthday of the iPod, and today is the launch of the official biography of the late Steve Jobs.
The story of the iPod and how it's allegedly killed the music industry is a well told and worn one - in my opinion it's just changed the music industry, not killed it, but what do I know? The story of it's creator (and I use that term in a fairly loose way on this occasion) is far less well known. He was renowned for being a very private and secretive man which is seemingly at odds with his presence and "fame" - for want of a better word - as a company director. There aren't many - if any CEO's (with the possible exception of Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook) - that are as well know as he was. I've heard loads of theories about the reasons for his popularity since his death, but I'm not sure I click with any of them.
He was, after all, just a man, like any other who happened to be in the right place at the right time and had a drive and passion for his business. I think he was more "well known", than popular although I think that his perceived "popularity" has a lot to do with his peer group. Bill Gates might have owned the PC - via the Microsoft behemoth, but I'm not sure he'd be a barrel of laughs at a party. Steve beat Bill by being a "cool geek" and you can see why other geeks would want to emulate him for that reason.
I don't really read biography's - some people swear by them - but in this case I might be tempted to make an exception. I suppose I'm following the heard of wannabe cool geeks, but equally I'd quite like to know what went on in his head. Even if it is from another person's perspective and not his own.
I'll leave the subject of Steve with two points - one, and most interestingly for me, the talk in the book of an Apple Television. Not Apple TV, which he claimed was just a hobby, but an actual Apple Television. Some people have said this already exists in the form of the iMac, but I think we all know what Steve's really getting at and I think it's probably the the last piece of his grand plan. The ownership of the living room would be complete - whether it'll ever see the light of day now that he's passed, only time will tell.
The second Steve story is my favourite - and is all about the shenanigans around the release of the iPhone 4. Some of you will probably recall that Gizmodo managed to acquire an iPhone 4 that an Apple sales rep left in a bar by mistake. Brian Lam tells of his take on Steve Jobs in this article (Steve Jobs was always kind to me (or, regrets of an asshole)), and what makes it for me is the line "Before he hung up, he asked me, "What do you think of it?"". Judge for yourself.
On the work front, IIWII and WAWWA, which for the regular readers means it's not great, but that's life. I am starting to get rather swamped though. The work I'm doing with pooh obviously takes priority, but I'm covering for one of our number who is on vacation, pooh is going to take some time out to have his honey-covered paws cleaned up and there's more work on the horizon. I'm perceiving a pressure that doesn't yet exist - not a good place for my brain to be.
Daughter's in court today. Not for something she did (thank heavens) but for something she saw. This is what happens when you patrol the mean streets in your spare time. She was a little nervous before she set off - but she'd never say so. I'm sure it'll be fine and they'll lock up the bad guys and let the good guys go.
Her companies attitude towards her having time off to attend court has been less than satisfactory though. She's performing a service for her local community, free, gratis and at no charge. This translates into not only a safer, happier place for all those that live on her patch - many of them work in the same company - but also a direct saving in each of their pockets by way of a lower level of council tax.
Clearly a forward thinking company would recognise that safe and happy staff are more hardworking and reliable staff and as such be supportive of her venture. Attending court as a witness / arresting officer isn't something you can choose not to do - it's a legal requirement. So, a day off without pay - rather than taking holiday (which let's face it, is supposed to be for your holidays) would seem to be the correct thing to do when these circumstances arise. Not a bit of it.
However... the police have been called, HR will be summonsed - they're surrounded and there's no escape.
There's also currently no documented policy within the business to deal with it - and so hopefully it will be resolved in a speedy and logical manner.
It seems the business just needs some edumacation in the way their community works.
This post originally appeared here: Posterous
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