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Steve Jobs Insult Response - Highest Quality

Jonathan Field

12K subscribers • 1 video on Hallway

YouTube
  • Recommended by 3 people: 3 on Hacker News.
  • A classic. People kept recommending it from 2020 to 2024.
  • Presented by Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple
  • An opinion. It argues one side of a question engineers disagree on.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

17M views9 years ago3 recommendations

Tools and practiceHistory and cultureThe tech industryHistory of computingPeople who shaped computing

Steve Jobs responds to a hostile question at WWDC 1997 by explaining why product development must start with the customer experience rather than the technology.

Steve Jobs handling a tough question at the 1997 Worldwide Developer Conference. He had just returned to Apple as an advisor and was guiding sweeping change at the company. The full video is here - youtube.com/watch?v=6iACK-LNnzM - this interactions is at .

Why it's here

3 people recommend this

What people say. Engineers frequently cite this clip as a timeless explanation of product design philosophy and the necessity of user-centric development.

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Most of the people who worked directly under Steve Jobs knows he is an Asshole. At the same time they all loves him. You may want to watch 1 Steve Jobs Insult Response. And you can imagine most people are the guy asking that question. 1 link to this video
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Much of what Joel says here - especially the conclusion at the end - is also mirrored in what Steve Jobs said when confronted over shutting down OpenDoc: "You have to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can't start with the technology and figure out where you're gonna sell it." link to this video
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