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Author
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Topic: A great way to quit a job
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gergley
IE # 200
Member # 74
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posted
Yesterday, Jef Raskin, one of the original designers for Apple Computer's Macintosh, passed away.
He was key in the development and refinement of the Graphical User Interface design and played a key role in most of what you are looking at right now and how you are interacting with the machine sitting before you.
Anyway, I ran across an anecdote recounting how he quit a job he had as professor at UC-San Diego.
What a way to do it; with an unforgettable exclaimation mark:
"A true Renaissance man, Raskin quit a teaching job by flying off in a balloon: "When I resigned I got into a hot air balloon in the middle of Revelle Plaza and flew over the Chancellor’s residence playing my sopranino recorder so that he would hear the sound. He came out and I yelled down that I was resigning and floated off. I was an art professor at the time and it seemed arty to leave that way."
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JDC
IE # 116
Member # 1993
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posted
Wow.. that is a cool way to quit a job. I used to have a fantasy about getting rid of my boss at the market. Basically I would punch him in the face, put him in a basket and let him loose down a hill only for him to be smacked by a Mack truck. Then I would be carried off on the shoulders of hot chicks with confetti raining down.
I like the balloon idea better.
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Inkan
IE # 77
Member # 1089
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posted
The Chancellor should've shot the balloon down. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Russian Judge
IE # 174
Member # 3004
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posted
No. Raskin should have finished the bottle of champagne (of course he had champagne in the gondola; what the hell else is there to do in a balloon, except type a resume letter on your battery-powered Opportunity For Theft?) and then whizzed on the Chancellor. Or at least his residence; in a balloon the aim wouldn't be that precise.
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OFFBEAT
IE # 39
Member # 873
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posted
Spelling out "I quit" in dog poo inside your boss's convertable Lexus is a cheaper way.
For those who cannot afford a hot air balloon.
I have 2 big dogs, so I wholesale to all the neighborhood hellions.. I can get you a deal.
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Mr. Fun
IE # 63
Member # 352
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posted
Jef Raskin was my hero. He not only came up with the original concept for Macintosh, he gave the computer its name.
After Apple Computer's failed "Lisa Project," Steve Jobs took over Jef's ideas and put together the original Macintosh team in that wonderful building with the pirate flag flying overhead.
As always, great ideas come from us radicals, not those who tow the company line and play it safe.
Today, Steve Jobs carries on at Pixar, and continues to kick Disney's butt.
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Ravenshoe
IE # 186
Member # 783
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posted
The best way to quit a job is when you're moving on to bigger and better things. And they know it, but you're nice about it.
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gergley
IE # 200
Member # 74
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posted
Ravenshoe,
That's as pragmatic as all get-out...er...as an approach to getting out goes.
What gets me, as a visual person, is that Raskin's literally over-the-top method of resignation was like some Willie Wonka moment. Or, was some sort of Terry Gilliam scene. Even with out knowing the backstory, it still seems impressive.
Mr. Fun,
From what I know about Steven P. Jobs and his companies, he always endorses hiring extremely talented people. They are not only super smart or super creative in the areas which the work in but also are talented in other areas. Like, the fact that Raskin was a talented musician as well as a geek. Like you noted, that is part of the culture Jobs seems to nuture. I hear it makes for a great work environment.
Trivia:
Some of the first Macs which shipped back in the 80s, you know, the future fishbowls of America, were actually signed (engraved sigs) by the Macintosh team and are inside the case.
Real artists ship and all that....
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Charles
Administrator
Member # 7
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posted
Place a sheet of punched paper on your disk with "gone fishing" on it, then go fish.
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Mr. Fun
IE # 63
Member # 352
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posted
That's very true, gergley.
Steve Jobs and both his companies embrace creative people. Much the same way Disney use to. I repeat -- use to. This explains why both Apple and Pixar are thriving today.
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