[jajko]

Pretty awesome story, but also with a bit of dark lining. Of course any owner, and triple that for Jobs, loves over-competent guys who work themselves to the death, here almost literally.

But that's not a recipe for personal happiness for most people, and most of us would not end up contributing revolutionary improvements even if done so. World needs awesome workers, and we also need ie awesome parents or just happy balanced content people (or at least some part of those).

[1123581321]

Pretty much. Most of us have creative itches to scratch that make us a bit miserable if we never get to pursue them, even if given a comfortable life. It’s circumstantial whether we get to pursue them as entrepreneurs or employees. The users or enjoyers of our work benefit either way.

[kevinventullo]

Just to add on, some of us have creative itches that are not directly monetizable, and for which there may be no users or enjoyers of our work at all (if there are, all the better!).

Naturally I don’t expect to do such things for a living.

[1123581321]

Yes, and thankful for these. Good addition.

[richardw]

Survivorship bias. The guys going home at 5 went home at 5 and their companies are not written about. It’s dark but we’ve been competing for a while as life forms and this is “dark-lite” compared to what our previous generations had to do.

Some people are competing, and need to make things happen that can’t be done when you check out at 5. Or more generally: the behaviour that achieves the best outcome for a given time and place, is what succeeds and forms the legends of those companies.

If you choose one path, know your competitors are testing the other paths. You succeed or fail partly based on what your most extreme competitors are willing to do, sometimes with some filters for legality and morality. (I.e. not universally true for all countries or times.)

Edit: I currently go home at 5, but have also been the person who actually won the has-no-life award. It’s a continuum, and is context specific. Both are right and sometimes one is necessary.

[duskwuff]

That's not quite how I read the story. Jobs didn't ask Atkinson if he remembered regions - Atkinson brought it up.

[asveikau]

It's also a joke, and a pretty good one at that. Shows a sense of humor.

[bowsamic]

What is the dark lining? Do you think Atkinson did not feel totally satisfied with his labour?

And I don't think anyone said that that's the only way to be