Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Edited piece on steve jobs


Reflection on The Man Who Though Different

In Steve Jobs’s Biography, (the man who thought different) Steve Jobs’s co workers seemed to both despise and admire Jobs. Explain.

Steve Jobs (co founder of next, and Apple) was a perfectionist, and that was a key thing for Apple, and their products. Jobs would include such details that really pushed the products to a whole new level! He had such a sense in design that made his products look at the same time futuristic, but also working incredibly too! But Jobs had an unpleasant side too…

Steve Jobs was a man who thought between the lines. He was a man who “thought different”. He could always- a) envision a new idea b) apply it c) then combine his idea into a sort of product (and that product would usually be incredible!)!
For example, Apple was the first company to apply the mouse to a computer! (even though Steve Jobs stole the idea of the mouse from Xerox…)
Jobs and his team would also think of the weirdest and unusual ideas for Mac computers! He really tried and made the Macs as simple as they could get! He made lots of mistakes in his life, but he always tried to get this right! He wanted to make something he would by, so technically he made his products for the people! (except for the ridiculously high price he sold his products!!!)
   Although people might say that Steve Jobs was a pure genius, he was also a mean, selfish, rude man who treated his employees with disrespect. He would yell and often curse at his employees at any idea they had that he was opposed to. Jobs also always had to be the best, he always was right in arguments, and he always had to be the genius. He never shared the credit he got. At the beginning, when apple was first created, every employee was given a number, according to their position, and Jobs was furious when he learned that he had number 2 and Steve Wozniak, co founder of Apple, was number 1. He would then call himself number 0. He would never listen to any advice his co workers gave him. For example, Steve Wozniak told Jobs to put lots of memory on the Macs he created, and Jobs refused to listen to him because he claimed that the computer would "look so dreadful" with more memory on it. This cost a lot to Apple's business, as fewer computers were sold as a result. This shows that Steve Jobs cared mostly about the appearance of his products!
Jobs would also take credit for any great ideas his employees had. All that tension Jobs had with his workers would lead to the reason he got fired from Apple at the age of 30. He would often take advantage of his (so called) friends and sometimes betray them for his own good.

     Jobs spent long periods of time not talking to his friends or worse, his family. For example, his first daughter Lisa, which he did not talk or interact with until she was about 20. Also he would regularly leave his home for weeks or even months without talking to his wife or daughter , and come back one day as if nothing had happened. Jobs had many family issues… 

   Jobs would also inconspicuously take off his car plates and get the closest/best parking spot that was reserved for the handicaps, so when the police came, they couldn't give him a ticket. He was very selfish.

     But with all Jobs's negative traits and social difficulties, people still recognized him as a very smart man who could really change the way we live in. A few years after he got fired from Apple, he was asked to come back and he and his team would then completely revolutionize the world we live in ( e.g creating iphones, ipads, ipods...). He had many issues with his employees, family and co workers, but Jobs really revolutionized phones and ipods. That wouldn't have happened if Jobs hadn't come back.




Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Theme on "the absolute true diary of a part time indian"

When I first opened this book, it struck me that I could almost relate to everything this book was about. I have always been the new person in a school and have always lived like that. I never had any "friends I've known since I was two" or anything of that. The main character, "Junior", does every stereotypical thing a 14 year old teenager would do. The only thing I thought was slightly boring was how Junior always telling everyone that he actually loves them, but he keeps bragging about it , till the point where at the end of the story, personally, I didn't want Junior and his "ex best friend" to be friends again! Anyways, the conflict of the story was the fact that Junior had a chance to go to a wonderful High School, were the level of education was purely just incredibly higher than in his school at the camp were everyone beat him up for how he looked!

     Junior had a very tough time growing up, not only because he came from a extremely poor family, lived in a reserve with other very poor uneducated families (which 1:100 graduated college), but also because he cried all the time, he had sicknesses which made his brain extremely delicate, and he had a lisp, and everything a teenager would NOT want to have. Fortunately for him, well not very throughout the story, but he had a very tough and strong friend who could protect Junior. Let me break up the unfortunate features of Junior. He came from a poor family, where Junior's dad would spend all the money he had, on alcohol. He would be lucky to have breakfast, and for Christmas (while his dad away getting drunk) would get maybe 5 dollars if lucky. At the reserve, nobody really interacted with other races since they were sort of a community. The "white people" were often recognized as rich educated ones who would succeed in life and live in a giant house, have two kids and live a happy life. Unlike the Indians at the reserve, they would have three good meals every day. This is were Junior faced an incredible decision in his life. He was getting beaten up, and did not learn anything in school (he was very smart), he felt useless! He was given to go to a school in a white village, where no Indian had ever been, probably never even one Indian! This school had good teachers, good students, but he would be the only person who wasn't white.

     The reserve had always kept a tradition, where no one really should leave before the finished school. They should stay at the reserve, go to school there and start a family there. Tat is exactly of what Junior wanted to do, and did. As he entered his High School back in the reserve, he only got beat up by other students (cause everyone hates freshmen) and did not learn anything. He was very smart and worked thoroughly but the level was just too low for him! That's is when Junior had to do the biggest choice in his life. He could stay at the reserve, pretty much ruin his future, but stay close to his family and friends, as well as keep his tradition, or on the other hand leave the reserve and loose all the friends he had including his best friend "Rowdy", it would ruin the tradition and everyone would hate him, and when he would get to school he would be the outsider, but that was what his destiny told him to do. Follow your guts!

     When Junior made his decision, I could completely feel for him. When he chose to leave everything he had except family, that is an enormous challenge that everyone should face at least once in their life time. Everyone hated him at the reserve, they would all beat him up. But I think that Jobi made an excellent decision. He should care about the future no matter what happens! YOU have to trust your guts and do what you love or care the most above all, regardless of what people say.Stand up for your self and make the right choice!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Theme on the drummer boy of Shiloh

     In the beginning of the story, Joby doubted himself and did not believe he had any part in the battle. He felt useless. He watched the soldiers come beck from the war injured, hurt, and exhausted from all the fighting they had done. They were maybe 3 or 4 years older than Joby. They were sick, tired, and even suffering, but none of them gave up. Joby on the other hand, did not feel exhausted or hurt, because (according to him) he had done nothing in this war to help his side of the union. He felt fine, even healthy!


     Joby felt like he was the only person on the field who wouldn't die. He was even persuaded that he was alone, going to live a happy life after this, and sing the hula until he died with all the other people who had survived. He would always be ashamed of his role during the war and could possibly never live with the memory through his life. The soldiers unlike Joby were representing their part of the union (the north) and Joby was just there to watch. He was the "guy in the way" of this battle. For example in the text, the author quoted- "Me. I'm the one of all who won't die." He fells like he is the one playing the "Jumba" while the others are actually getting the job done!

     In the end, after the General gave Joby the long, touching speech, Joby realized that he was as important as anyone else in this battle. He was the only one in this battle who was giving the soldiers a rhythm. He could control their intensity. He would put the beat slow, the soldiers would go slow. He would beat the drum fast, the soldiers would move fast. He was in charge when the General wasn't there. After this intense speech, Joby wiped his eyes, stood up with his chest up and was proud of his position. He was happy to be a drummer boy and was representing the union as much as anyone, who was on the battlefield. He was proud.