[briandw]

"Real artist ship" Steve Jobs

I am sorry but while the concept of Auteur may come from France and the French may have once been an important source of culture, science and technology, it is no longer so. So you can say that Auteur thinking embodies all things French, but I ask what of importance has come from France in the last 50 years? Stop living in the past and do something new France, or is all your greatness in the past?

[Jason Snell]

amadeopuzzo said:

Gruber is an ass. Why does Jason Snell love him so?

He has compromising photos of me. Obviously.

[TiggerToo]

in the arts world this would be called.... what is it now....... that's right, "self important prententious crap!"

[amadeopuzzo]

Jason,

While Gruber's site is an excellent resource, with great links, his commentary and his outlook is so full of arrogance it's in spite of him that I read it. I believe the word "blowhard" is fitting here.

[dannyo152]

Though this is not the time and place to argue the supremacy of the auteur theory, because it is flawed, the French New Wave critics did find and report repeated motifs in US cinema and they guessed that these were being injected by the director. The theory holds up, is darn near self-evident, when one reviews the films of John Ford, Howard Hawks, and, yes, Alfred Hitchcock. Thing is, during the studio years of Hollywood, the producer was the first and often the last person making decisions for the film: supervising script development, casting the picture, approving production design, and, choosing the director and editor. The theoretical pre-eminence of the director as auteur fades a bit when one looks at the works of gentlemen such as Victor Fleming or King Vidor, who were consummate professionals and delivered pictures that were on budget, well performed, and with the script they were given. Though it was beautifully blocked and well acted, speaking well of Michael Curtiz' work, the biggest task the director on Casablanca had was to shoot enough so editing could save the picture. Not surprisingly, Ford, Hawks, and Hitchcock all became their own producers, somewhat to protect artistic vision and somewhat because the money was better. As a side note, since Hitchcock's films so recurringly revealed his obsessions, compulsions, and fetishes, the oeuvre was a New Wave critic's dream.

[Jason Snell]

amadeopuzzo said:

While Gruber's site is an excellent resource, with great links, his commentary and his outlook is so full of arrogance it's in spite of him that I read it. I believe the word "blowhard" is fitting here.

Okay. I don't agree but I think it's a valid perspective to have. Not sure if it matters, especially if it's an "excellent resource" in the end. One need not agree with someone's point of view or even like them to find them interesting or thought provoking. These days I think everyone's a bit too quick to avoid any point of view that contradicts one's worldview or is brought by a personality who is unwelcome. To your credit, you suck the marrow from Gruber's site even though he rubs you the wrong way.

[danilo]

amadeopuzzo said:

Jason,

While Gruber's site is an excellent resource, with great links, his commentary and his outlook is so full of arrogance it's in spite of him that I read it. I believe the word "blowhard" is fitting here.

John Gruber never strikes me as arrogant. Instead, he writes from the comfort of his certitude. Where he gets this certitude is his own business, but it generally works out for him. When it doesn't, he's first to admit he missed the mark. People don't like confidence of opinions because taking a position means not being a weiner, and not being a weiner is often diffcult business.

[DownLowSturgen]

John's a brilliant writer, and a courageous speaker. The man's element is behind a 20 year old keyboard, so cut him some slack. Everyone has to start somewhere.

More importantly, listen to his message. He's up there inspiring all of us to stick to our guns. Moreover, he's giving us an example -- and a strategy -- of someone who has. He's not just talking about himself. He's asking his audience to be like Hitchcock. How on earth could you take that kind of encouragement as arrogance?

Why the slides were displayed so long was definitely annoying though. I enjoyed the medium of watching John speak versus reading his words. Like listening to one of your favorite musicians perform live after listening to their polished CD produced in a studio.

Thanks, Macworld, for posting this series. Looking forward to the next one, John.

[awinthrop]

Oh please. As I said before. This guy is a hack. Plain and simple. Tolstoy was brilliant. Gruber... not so much. And the insight he brings toward understanding Apple only seems wise because we are in an online sea of jackassery and second grade analysis. A kid working at an Apple store has just about as much insight into the company and its philosophy for developing products as Gruber.

His Twitter buddies can stop supporting his smoke and mirrors sideshow. Most reasonable people see him for what he is, a guy that makes a living reading RSS, writing a single line of text and adding a hyperlink (using Markdown of course).

[amadeopuzzo]

I am not sure where anyone has gotten the impression that he's a "brilliant writer". His site is a good resource for links. But his commentary on those links is most of the time self-aggrandizing crap. He pretends to be a designer, but all I see is ultra non-committed negative space design. The kind of stuff we see with lots of first year design students. Not a great writer, though. And he is a blowhard. I'm wondering about what kind of compromising photos he has of Jason Snell. What could be more compromising than promoting this guy?

[Clemencello]

That's it. I'm pulling his RSS feed and he's never going to make it onto my speed dial list. This is just plain ordinary. A far worse sin then being dreadful in my opinion. I'm sure you could fillet out a passable text block out of this but without his edit filter in action Mr Gruber needs to learn to keep his mouth closed. (Judging by his appearance he should keep it that way for both our mental and his physical well being).

[DownLowSturgen]

Wow. I can't wait to read what you haters hate about Merlin Mann's talk.
Forums have outgrown their usefulness.
Peace out.