A Guest Commentary by Steve Jobs
From Beyond The Grave*
By Steve Jobs (Guest Commentary).*
I used to think when I was in my 20s that technology was the solution to most of the world's problems. And unfortunately, it ain't so. A lot of times we think, why is television so demeaning, so poor.
And the first thought that occurs to you is, well, there's a conspiracy. The networks are feeding us this slop because it's cheap to produce, because of this, because of that. It's the networks that are controlling this and they are feeding us this stuff to try to dumb down the American public.
But the truth of the matter, of course, if you studied in any depth, is the networks absolutely want to give people what they want so that they watch the shows. If people wanted something different, they would get it. And the truth of the matter is, the shows that are on television are on television because that's what people want.
The majority of the people in this country want to turn on the television and turn off their brain. And that's what they get. And that's far more depressing than a conspiracy.
Conspiracies are much more fun than the truth of the matter, which is that a vast majority of the American public are pretty mindless most of the time. I think the school situation is equally – there's a parallel here when it comes to technology.
It is so much more hopeful to think that technology can solve the problems that are really more human and more organizational and more political in nature. And it ain't so. We need to attack these things at the root, which is people. And how much freedom we give people,
The competition that will attract the best people.
Unfortunately, the side effect of pushing out a lot of 46-year-old teachers that lost their spirit, you know, 15 years ago and shouldn't be teaching right now. So, I think, I feel very strongly about this. And I wish it was as simple as giving every kid a computer, but it won't work.
*Sometimes we have to make things up as we go along. It’s called riding the wave. Some of us can do this, others can’t. So if you can’t, love yourself to let yourself go and realize that you may be the agent, manager, or other influencer that can take someone’s idea on a napkin and turn their dream into a reality!
Smile, Happy Saturday, here’s a little tech:
Post notes: (Happy Saturday), here are some additional thoughts from Steve Jobs: