[macintologist]

http://www.panic.com/extras/audionstory/

Gee, I thought Steve Jobs was over his abrasive asshole-ness from the 80s era. I guess I was wrong

For the n00bs here, Audion was one of the most popular Mac audio-mp3 apps before iTunes ever came out.

I recommend you skim through the story. Here are the juicy parts.

The first time I talked with Steve Jobs was rather intense. Not necessarily because I was nervous, or he was angry, or anything like that, but because we talked in the middle of the MacWorld Expo show floor, surrounded by a throng of lookers-on, being laser-beamed suspiciously by PR people.

[...]

"Hi Steve, it's Cabel, from Panic."

"Oh, hey Cabel! Nice to meet you. So tell me, what'd you think of iTunes?"

"Well, I think it looks great! You guys have done a great job with it. But, you know, I still feel we'll do all-right with Audion."

"Oh, really? That's interesting, because honestly? I don't think you guys have a chance." What a nice thing to say a a 2-man company shareware team, asshole

[...]

"Well, Steve, I really think it'll still find an audience," I replied. "We've got a lot of higher-end features that you guys probably won't ever add."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Well, umm.." I was a bit stumped. "You can keep a count of how many times you've played a song, or you can even rate your songs by popularity..."

"...why the hell would anybody want to do that?" (what a backward thinking f*cktard

"Well, maybe you want to sort your playlist by your favorite songs..."

"...you've got to understand, this is just 1.0, of course. You can only imagine where we'll be by the time we release 2.0!"

[...]

(Now they are at Apple headquarters about to have a meeting with Jobs.)

Anyway, a few moments later, Steve Jobs himself entered the giant Apple boardroom, threw his feet up on the table, and got to the meat of the matter.

To be honest, my memory is a bit compressed here, as the whole experience was nothing less than surreal and difficult to process. To find ourselves — just two nerdy guys who make Mac shareware — sitting on Apple Campus, in a meeting with all of these brilliant bigwigs, pretty much caused our heads to continually and rapidly explode, humbled to say the least.

[...]

We also seem to remember Jobs painted us a vibrant (but genuinely honest) picture of how he viewed Audion fairing against iTunes:

"It's like you guys are a little push-cart going down the railroad tracks, and we're a giant steam engine about to run you down." cute Steve.....cute

And the rest is history. Well Steve, putting down small shareware makers and disparaging their efforts to write good Mac software really reflects how Apple values its developers. Bah..what a goon.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

I think he is overly honest and egotistical. What he did say about Audion turned out to be true, he also complimented them and offered them jobs.

[mixin visuals]

he has one

[mixin visuals]

everything he says is completely true

[olePigeon]

Seems like a typical CEO to me. I really like Apple, and I really like their products, but I think the only thing that keeps them popping out such innovative designs and ideas is because they're the underdogs.

Unfortunately, as much as most Apple fans wouldn't want to believe, if Apple were in Microsoft's position, we'd all be rooting for Microsoft right now.

[d4nth3m4n]

cue trogdor/trogmor.

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=235145

on the front page even. shame on you.

[ort888]

Isn't it an established fact that he is a complete jerkwad?

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
Seems like a typical CEO to me. I really like Apple, and I really like their products, but I think the only thing that keeps them popping out such innovative designs and ideas is because they're the underdogs.

Unfortunately, as much as most Apple fans wouldn't want to believe, if Apple were in Microsoft's position, we'd all be rooting for Microsoft right now.

I don't root for Apple because they are the underdog, I root for them because they make kick-ass, high-tech, user-friendly gear in a technology-saturated market drowning in second- or third-rate crap.

THAT is why I root for Apple. If they were Microsoft I would not be rooting for them because then they would be making crappy products.

Even if you are talking about market-share in your comparison, quantity does NOT equate with quality.

[FulcrumPilot]

That is nothing as compared to a few I have interacted with so far. But retiring Audion like that doesn't make sense, I wonder if they approached any of the music houses or hardware makers (e.g. creative) to see if they can collaborate and add more value or provide more choice in the marketplace. Get my drift? Apple as a near-monopoly (in terms of hold on the music market or presence) needs to be held in check and this will happen one way or the other.

[ManOfSteal]

He was nice when we ate lunch the other day.

[Visnaut]

Steve is direct. If that comes off to you as being an asshole, then I guess if you met him in person that would be your impression of him. I've met several people like him (based on the descriptions thereof) and although they may seem pompous or arrogant, they do tend to make pointed and accurate judgements, whether or not you or I agree with them.

In fact, when the Panic guys met with Steve, he seemed to me like he was honestly trying to help them. Their market was about to be cornered, and the competition offered them a job. Call Steve Jobs what you want, but that was nothing short of cordial.

Originally posted by FulcrumPilot:
I wonder if they approached any of the music houses or hardware makers (e.g. creative) to see if they can collaborate and add more value or provide more choice in the marketplace. Get my drift? Apple as a near-monopoly (in terms of hold on the music market or presence) needs to be held in check and this will happen one way or the other.

I completely agree with you. However, as I'm sure you've gathered from their article, Panic didn't exactly show the capacity to make the wisest of business decisions.

Don't get me wrong, I love their software as much as the next guy, but canceling a meeting with Apple just because AOL couldn't show made me cringe when I read that. That's not how you deal with potential clients. AOL shouldn't even have been a factor in that meeting. If I've got the goods, it's first come first serve. No doubt when the brass at Apple heard them say "AOL can't make it", they lost all interest in Panic. It's a shame too, because it seemed they were Apple's first choice.

But yeah, to end on an on-topic note, I appreciate the Steve Jobs brand of honesty. There's no beating around the bush with him

[macintologist]

He'd make a good president... or not

[Xeo]

Originally posted by dcmacdaddy:
I don't root for Apple because they are the underdog, I root for them because they make kick-ass, high-tech, user-friendly gear in a technology-saturated market drowning in second- or third-rate crap.

THAT is why I root for Apple. If they were Microsoft I would not be rooting for them because then they would be making crappy products.

Even if you are talking about market-share in your comparison, quantity does NOT equate with quality.

I think you missed his point. He said that one of the reasons they are forced to innovate is because they are the underdog. Meaning, if Microsoft was the underdog, they would be forced to innovate, and we would most likely be rooting for them since, in that situation, Microsoft would be pumping out the better product.

I don't necessarily agree that Apple's innovation is limited to their underdoggedness (word?) nor that Microsoft would become better as an underdog but I see his point and I do agree that Apple must continue to innovate to stay in the game.

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by manofsteal:
He was nice when we ate lunch the other day.

[Simon X]

Originally posted by Visnaut:
...but canceling a meeting with Apple just because AOL couldn't show made me cringe when I read that.

Me too. I read it and thought bad move. As he says in the article if Apple came out with a Transmit killer then they would be screwed. But in all honesty Panic have got to be more creative. I mean Stattoo?! What a wast of time that was, and not because of Dashboard but because it is useless and way too basic without being extensible.

[Visnaut]

Originally posted by Simon X:
As he says in the article if Apple came out with a Transmit killer then they would be screwed.

The transmit killer will be once we have fully functional FTP in the Finder. Once that happens, you can bet I'll drop Transmit like a rock, and it's no fault of their own, it's just that nothing beats the convenience of transferring files all in one place.

And Steve for President? Bring it on. I'd love to see him go up against Schwarzenegger.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Visnaut:
The transmit killer will be once we have fully functional FTP in the Finder. Once that happens, you can bet I'll drop Transmit like a rock, and it's no fault of their own, it's just that nothing beats the convenience of transferring files all in one place.

That wouldn't really be a Transmit killer, unless they included fully functional SFTP in the Finder as well.

[SamuraiDL]

not really

[OreoCookie]

I think he's pretty, eeeeh, unique and strong-minded (sometimes misinterpreted as bulk-headed). Apple is very centralized when it comes to most of the decision making and `coz-Steve-said-so' permeates many ways and means how Apple does things.

[storer]

Originally posted by macintologist:
He'd make a good president... or not

Maybe you already have a president like that.... lol

[Eriamjh]

It is obvious to me that the bundling of iTunes (and giving it away) was what helped drive Audion to the grave.

Steve is obviously an ass at times. Those times above are good examples.

Everyone should know not to ever spill the beans about future products or features to the competition.

Are there any example of Windows Media Player destroying an MP3 software company on the PC side? I'm sure there are some that went under.

[Cipher13]

Ah, good old Audion... 1.5 forever. 2.0 didn't play nice with my 5500 so I stuck with 1.5, and it was beautiful. I still use it on the non-G3 and non-G4 machines.

[moonmonkey]

Yes (but he was being honest).

Jobs
Branson
uh..uh..etc.

All dedicated assholes, all great leaders.
We don't want a "nice guy" steering the ship, we want a leader.

As long as Steve still knows who's boss, he will give me what I want.
And I will pay for it.

[Superchicken]

Steve reminds me of the Pastor at my current Church. Only said Pastor is not as cut throat and not worried about profit. That said He does work to make our Church as useful and beneficial for those who attend as possible. WONDERFUL leader.

Steve always struck me as someone who would be a great preacher if he were called.

That said I think people sometimes don't appreciate that Steve has a vision and sometimes he forgets to play nice with others. That said I think he's simply trying to do his best. And his attitude to Panic was down right kind. That said those guys make some BAD choices. And I think it's as bit stupid that they'd want to work as a Shareware company instead of work for Apple. How much do those guys actually make!? I bet they'd make more and have more resources to make better products if they worked at Apple. Though perhaps it was more one of the two that had actual talent