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Only one greasy-haired hippie named Steve built the first Apple [Spaceship Earth]

December 10th, 2007 at 6:51 pm

Source:Valleywag

Michael Dell wants you to call him SteveHaving returned to his own company, Michael Dell has seen his namesake PC maker fall behind Hewlett-Packard and stagnate on Wall Street. So far, he hasn’t done much to duplicate fellow company-founder Steve Jobs’s stunning second act with Apple. Forbes, in its profile, seems to be hoping he will, but Dell’s own words show why it’s unlikely:

Let’s suppose you had a business you could grow from $30 billion to $60 billion by focusing only on one thing. Then you do that, until you can’t do it anymore.

Dell is speaking of the company’s direct-sales model, which bypasses retail stores — a model Dell built but is now tearing apart. Instead, Dell is now chasing strategies he formerly derided or already failed at: retail sales, cool marketing, high-end hardware, and consumer electronics. Not only do these strategies not match Dell’s strengths, but they just highlight how he doesn’t measure up to Jobs.

Source:Valleywag

Photo by kyle simourdFounder Ben Lerer tells us Thrillist will announce a Las Vegas version of its email guide to restaurants, bars and culture tomorrow. ‘Cause you were so worried you’d find nothing to do on your next Sin City business trip, right? Mock the idea if you like (and we do), but you’ve got to admire former AOL Time Warner COO Bob Pittman’s choice in Web investments. Thrillist does nothing but grow. Subscribers are up 500 percent to nearly 300,000 so far this year.

An email list might seem too 1999 for geeks more apt to find a new nightspot via Yelp or Twitter. But even though most of Silicon Valley has written off email for good, delivering its content over the ubiquitous technology seems to work for Thrillist. As Lerer notes, because readers have to sign up for Thrillist, “advertisers value impressions we deliver much differently.” By differently, he means more.

We like Lerer — so much so that we’re going to help him move into the 21st century. Any number of services allow you to convert email subscriptions into RSS feeds. Valleywag has signed up for Thrillist SF at one such website, Mail2RSS.org. The feed is here.

(Photo by kyle simourd)


Source:Valleywag

Woz as he wasWalt Disney’s monument to international culture and technology, Epcot, was stunningly advanced when it opened in 1982, but many of its original attractions became horribly dated over the last quarter-century. Particularly its centerpiece, Spaceship Earth. The ride within the iconic, giant silver golf ball documents the advances of human communications and technology. Recent renovations have brought Spaceship Earth into the Internet age, but when it emerged that the ride would include only one Steve toiling away in a garage to create the historic first Apple computer, controversy ensued. Which Steve?

Many jumped to the conclusion Steve Jobs was using his position as the largest individual shareholder in Disney to rewrite history on his own behalf. Was Jobs attempting to erase Steve Wozniak from the origins of Apple? In fact, Disney has achieved a frugal balance through imagineering.

The ride reveals the iconic scene of Valley folklore by positioning a solo “Steve” with his back to the audience. The life-sized diorama allows each viewer to imagine his or her own founder’s myth. The Steve Jobs idolators (and tourists who have no idea who Woz is) can believe the marketing genius is soldering transistors. (Sure, and elephants can fly!) Woznatics can console themselves that they know better. (The dummy’s dress, posture, and heavier growth of facial hair aren’t the giveaway — it’s the pizza boxes.)

It also means Disney was able to renovate on the cheap — “Steve” doesn’t have to look like any real person. For all we know, he’s a recycled Pirate of the Caribbean. (Photo by lifthill)


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