Steve Jobs left a challenge for Russia

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal:


Most Russians will likely remember Steve Jobs in that moment he presented an iphone4 to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The Russians had invaded California so to speak, and Steve Jobs was one of the gracious hosts for the Russian visit to Silicon Valley in June 2010.

Steve Jobs and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at Apple, Silicon Valley, USA in June 2010.

Young Russian consumers love American technology and they admire bold pioneers. Make no mistake, Jobs was a pioneer, creating a technology company unequaled in modern history.


Steven Paul Jobs, the founder and former CEO of Apple computers, died Wednesday evening at age 56. He had been battling pancreatic cancer for eight years.


Just a month ago Jobs resigned from his position at Apple to pass it on to Tim Cook and it was Cook who took to the stage at Apple headquarters just this Tuesday to unveil details on the iPhone 4S. You may remember that it was Jobs who had unveiled the original iPhone back in 2007.


As to that iphone Jobs presented to Mr. Medvedev, well it worked fine in the USA but was quite useless back in Russia, as Jobs had given Medvedev one that was locked to AT&T. We can only imagine that some young Russian technician had it unlocked in no time at all because Russians are good at copying technology, and they love a challenge.


Apple released a statement to the media at around 7:30 pm ET Wednesday evening that reads, “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.”

[2tallbill]

Yes, Steve Jobs was somebody who will be missed.

[Ade]

I'm a tech guy and have been since the early 80's when I convinced my mother and stepfather to shell out a huge (for us at that time) amount of money for a Sinclair Spectrum 48K. The usual reading material of a hormonal teenager was replaced by rather large numbers of various computer magazines that were usually 80% ads to 20% editorial content. I remember being awestruck by what seemed like an endless variety of systems that were available in those early years as opposed to the relative homogeneity that people are used to seeing now. Some of the most impressive throughout the 80's were a direct result of the work Jobs and Wozniak did in a garage back in the 70's.

Years later at the start of 90's, I remember looking into Tim Burners-Lee's office and, even as a fairly jaded IT guy by then, being awestruck anew by the NeXT cube, another visionary creation inspired by Jobs, that Tim was using to create the World Wide Web. The last time I saw that cube it was sitting in a glass case outside of restaurant 1 in CERN and, as far as I know, it's still there to this day; that's a pretty heady compliment to the creators of such a device in an environment chock full of Nobel prize winners and staggeringly complex technology.

Even today, myself and many of my colleagues anticipate the next awesome gadget that will come out of Apple. Sure, we may not buy it, or even like it, but few will deny that it will probably help refine the consumer electronics industry in a way that only Apple can.

Some people have an impact on the world and those around them that seems to exceed their individual contributions by orders of magnitude. I think Steve Jobs was one of those people and it's always a sad day when the world loses one of them.

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

[acctBill]

The problem with the Russian economy is not that Russia can't produce brilliant businessman and scientists that could work successfully in companies like Apple; the problem is that a company like Apple can't exist in Russia. 

A private, successful company like Apple would soon attract the attention of the Kremlin and that would be the end of the company's independence. Large successful, private companies completely independent of the Kremlin simply can't exist in Russia, it's not a business model that exists in Russia.

[mendeleyev]

Large successful, private companies completely independent of the Kremlin simply can't exist in Russia

+1

[BC]

+1

How is that Silicon City project coming along outside of Moscow?

http://en.rian.ru/science/20100318/158240604.html

[mendeleyev]

BC, Skolkovo is progressing nicely and part of the complex already built although there is much more to come. Earlier this year Medvedev invited Arnold Schwarzenegger to bring some California investors over for a dog and pony show and he came and got the t-shirt with some of his buddies. They rode the Metro, took a cruise on the Moscow River and toured the Kremlin then went out to Skolkovo.

That trip has been bringing in more funds for expansion from the Hollywood types too brain dead to understand what they're really getting into.

I wish that I was a little bit dumber and clueless--perhaps then I could have gotten a gig as an actor and gotten rich along with being stupid. 

On a more serious note, Medvedev is also courting Indian investment for the project too and plans to make an effort to showcase the place when time for the Olympic games rolls around.

The Russian economy is not in as good a shape as they try to let on. Any large project these days requires outside investment.

[2tallbill]

The Russian economy is not in as good a shape as they try to let on. Any large project these days requires outside investment.

I can't believe any company is stupid enough to create new technology in Russia just so it can
be stolen from them when everything is ready. There is no advantage to building a technology
company in Russia and there is every disadvantage against it. 


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