Steve Jobs died today. It was not unexpected, but it was still shocking. He was relatively young and he had a huge impact on the computer industry. Macintosh was always more expensive than Windows-run computers. When I bought my first Mac in 2008, I understood why.
After I read the news I got on facebook. I happened to see a post by an Arab American, who wrote on her page: "in case you didn't know; the arab that made apple" and linked to this article: "Steve Jobs Dies: He Was The Most Famous Arab in the World". Steve Jobs was an Arab? LOL! A couple of hours after that I got back on facebook, saw another friend express her gratitude to Steve Jobs. A friend of hers wrote on her post "Did you know he is Sryian".
After I bought my Mac and then my iPhone I saw Apple's stock explode. Last year while visiting London I visited the Apple store on Regents street and I was not surprised to see huge crowds there. During my visit I read an article that said that Apple store on Regents street was the most profitable per square foot in London in 2009. After I returned home I wanted to know more about the genius who founded Apple, so I read the Wikipedia article. From that article I learned that Steve Jobs was born to a Syrian father and American mother, who gave him up for adoption. He was adopted by an American couple named Paul and Clara Jobs. So I was a little surprised to see Arabs and Arab Americans claiming that Steve Jobs was Syrian or Arab!
I wonder if Steve Jobs even knew his biological father, and I wonder if he would have become the genius he was if he was raised by his Syrian American biological father, a political science professor!
Steve Jobs was not Syrian, not an Arab, had nothing to do with Arabs except that his biological father was an Arab. Steve Jobs was a great American.
10 comments :
Well its expected for an ethnic group to claim for itself a successful individual if he is related to them in any way.
I would be more sympathetic to the Steve Jobs=Arab/Syrian angle if there were any Arabs/Arab Americans went out of their way to adopt him as their own.Especially in light of the taboo of adoption in Arab/Islamic culture which I undertand unnecesarily compounds the problems of orphans in Iraq.
Are there any Arabs who claimed him as their own BEFORE he became famous?
Most likely no,I dont think Steve Jobs forgot or forgave this which is why he rarely ever brought up his Arab heritage.
"Steve Jobs was not Syrian, not an Arab, had nothing to do with Arabs except that his biological father was an Arab. Steve Jobs was a great American."
The same thing can be said about mojo. He is not an arab, except that his biological parents are.
Anonymous, are you saying I'm a great American? Thank you:)
But I was born in Iraq and spent a total of 8 years in Iraq. I have known my biological parents all my life. I have spent much time with Arabs, especially Iraqis. I have the misfortune of understanding the backward ways and hypocrisy of many Arabs and Muslims.
A couple of months ago I received a forward from my father. The email said to check out this Iranian girl Nina Burri. Amazing! But it turns out she was born and raised in Switzerland. So funny!
So Barack Obama is not Kenyan as well,i guess if your biological father is a hundred percent syrian you are by no choice half syrian.wether you like it or not the genes are there unless no one has studied genetics in this group you all should know that.and by the way i claim that Malek Jandali is syrian and some of you might not know who that is but anyway the way society works is you don't even get as much recognition till you become famous or die so if i tell you that mousa ibrahim issa is syrian you would not care what i am saying till he becomes famous
and by the way Iraqi girl shame on you for not recognizing his roots.of course he is american but only 50 percent so remember that every human is made of a hundred percent if you didn't take math that is
for someone who came from the oldest civilization in the world you should not deny roots from that region but connect it.
just like alphabet numerals best medicine poetry and musician came from that region you should be proud of your heritage and i bet you don't even know who said the phrase
asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?
Iraqi girl? I am a man.
docfoos, do you believe Steve Jobs' genius can be attributed to the genes he inherited from his biological father, or can it be attributed to how his adoptive parents raised him? Or could it be a combination of both? I think it is a combination of both, but I believe genetics is not as big a factor as education and parental guidance. Also I believe the country he grew up in is a big factor. I think a nurturing environment is key to developing genius. I doubt he would have become the genius he was if he had grown up in Syria.
docfoos, he was 50% Arab and 0% Syrian. Syrian is a nationality, not an ethnicity. If he had ever been to Syria, or had been exposed to Syrian culture, or even had contact with a Syrian parent, we might be able to argue the point. But, none of that ever happened.
I doubt he would have become the genius he was if he had grown up in Syria.
^I totally agree. I'm sure there are many born geniuses in the arab world who's brilliance withered away because it was not encouraged or stimulated.
"If beauty is indeed truth, as John Keats claimed, then this story ought to be true: The logo on the back of your iPhone or Mac is a tribute to Alan Turing, the man who laid the foundations for the modern-day computer, pioneered research into artificial intelligence and unlocked German wartime codes.
His death, a decade after the end of the war, provides the link with Apple. Unrecognized for his work, facing jail for gross indecency and humiliated by estrogen injections intended to 'cure' his homosexuality, he bit into an apple he had laced with cyanide. He died in obscurity on June 7, 1954, 10 years and a day after the Normandy landings, which made copious use of intelligence gleaned by his methods.
And so, the story goes, when two Stanford entrepreneurs were looking for a logo for their brand new computer company, they remembered Turing and his contribution to their field. They chose an apple -- not a complete apple, but one with a bite taken out of it."
If Alan Turing had grown up in Iraq, he might have been killed. It is sad he was treated badly in the UK.
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