amideislas

This is the essence of entrepreneurialism. This is what it's all about. And it likely couldn't have happened here. He would have faced almost insurmountable hurdles.

Steve Jobs in 1980

rugbymatt

I've never got why people gush over Jobs. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Apple products, I have an Apple Mac (Its a bit sick at the mo) but not only is the company hell bent on ripping people off but by all accounts of anyone who ever dealt with him, he was an absolute wanker. Strange really.

steviedeluxe

To me the essence of Steve Jobs' greatness, was not the DTP capabilities of the early Macs, nor the iPod nor the iPhone (although they were all fantastic additions to the market). It was the decision, in the mid 90s, to make their new iMac range of computers, in different colours. Up to that point everyone accepted that business computers had to be a shade of grey. He had the ability to see the Emperor had no clothes, when no-one else was able to do so.

amideislas

Clearly this presentation proves he (and anyone else who manages to become successful) was a self-centered, greedy bastard hell-bent on ripping everyone off.

Remember, all of this was long before anyone had ever seen a "mouse" or a graphical user interface.

I'd be more inclined to characterise him as "visionary". You did watch it, right?

rugbymatt

I did actually but I am not basing my comments on one video.

amideislas

Well, you must be delighted and feel much safer that fewer and fewer people like him are in business.

Seems that the successful ones are mostly day traders and hedge fund managers nowadays, all making far better contributions to society than "wankers" like Steve Jobs.

cricketman

Emancio Ortega didnt find insurmountable hurdles, neither did Emilio Botin

Steve Jobs was an excellent designer in a field where nobody had really thought about design before

rugbymatt

Woah woah woah, lets just hold on a second. I didn't say anything of the sort. What I said was that the public image of the man and the private one was very different. Many who worked with him closely, including people who had known him for decades painted a very different picture of him. You didn't know him. He wasn't your bessie mate so why are you getting so upset by my comments?

amideislas

He apparently was very demanding. I'd argue whether that's qualifies him as "wanker" , "hell bent on ripping everyone off" as you so eloquently asserted.

But I think your views speak for themselves, and don't need any further explanations from me.

Have a nice day!

rugbymatt

Well if you consider, for a second that an iPhone costs less than a fiver to construct (R&D aside as that always has to happen) yet they cost a minimum of £500 to purchase, how do you see that? I recently purchased a cable for the laptop that cost me 50 quid.... the same cable was at PC world the other day for 11.50.

Do Apple rip people off? As an Apple user and fan I'd have to say yes. Sorry.

Pocaloca

The issue surely is not whether Jobs was a wanker or not, but whether it would be possible for someone with great ideas and an entrepreneurial spirit could succeed in modern Spain?

The odds do seem set against it. It is incredibly difficult to start a small business because of the bureaucracy, the autonomo system and the high costs of employing staff (legally that is).

Then at the point when you are readly to expand, there is the unwillingness of banks to invest in anything vaguely risky. The would-be Jobs would have to resort to a venture capitalist to get funding, who would bleed off his profits and have no long-term commitment.

cricketman

There are plenty of large successful multinational Spanish companies that have been set up in the past 30 years

Currrently there is a lack of financing, but there was only easy credit in Spain for a very short period of time (late 90s to 2007)

Very successful companies are often those that are set up during very difficult times. You dont need to overleverage to attract growth

Here in Oviedo, shops are closing down all the time, but 1 month later a new shop is in its place, together with a very expensive refit and branding. So the money is coming from somewhere. This shop has opened up close to me this week, a Spanish company that is growing rapidly across Northern Spain, the clothing is pretty expensive too http://tiendasleonce.wordpress.com/

amideislas

Hmm. That's an opinion. But about 20 million others seem to disagree.

Sent by my €150 android phone because I had a choice.

EMR

If it has not already done so Samsung will soon overtake Apple in the sales of competative products, the recent court decisions in favour of Samsung have not done Apple's image any favours.
Remember until the I player came out Apple was in the doldrums its products being part of a niche market. The player was a fantactic marketing job that introduced the name of Apple to a younger generation whe eagerly snapped up its new products almost as fashion accessories. Jobs was marketing genius
, that is the real strength of Apple it is certainly not in designing phones .

steviedeluxe

There are any number of entrepreneurs who are expanding their businesses within and outside of Spain. Of course the well-known examples are Zara and Mango, but if we look at MercaDona and Dia (headed by a Venezuelan woman) they are expanding within Spain. Never heard of Fon? A Madrid enterprise started by the Argentinean Martin Varsavsky that is a huge player world wide in terms of wi-fi routers (if you have a BT wi-fi router in the UK chances are it's provided by Fon). Another wi-fi company, Gowex, is growing fast the world over. 100 Montaditos and Lazarran are expanding worldwide. And there are any number of IT startups (eg Softonic, Akamon, BrainSins, Minube, even directory like Idealista) that are expanding in various countries, not just Spain.

If the question is, "can a new company start up from nothing and become as big as Apple?", then you may have a point. There has only really been 1 company in all of Europe that has made it to the top 10 in the last 40 years, and that was Inditex (Zara)