Steve Jobs is an impressive answer to the question "Who was your commencement speaker?" I'm rarely bragging that Charlayne Hunter-Gault addressed my graduating class. So in that respect, Jobs was an excellent choice for Stanford, where I attended my sister's ceremony last Sunday.
The speech (full text here) had its ups and downs. He told three stories about his life, which were generally uplifting ("I dropped out, but ended up successful." "I got fired, but ended up making a shitload of money." "I got Cancer, but didn't die.")
On the "Huh?" side, Jobs told students the best thing he ever did was drop out of college. He took a shot at Stanford's high tuition. He also rambled on about typography, which I'd bet 60% of the listeners didn't know or care anything about.
Someone behind me complained that it lacked the "spread your wings and fly" message, and that's what graduates need. If you're relying on inspiration from your commencement speaker, your education dollars were pissed away. But I agree we heard a little too much autobiography of Steve The Great.
Overall, though, the ceremony was surprisingly entertaining...
Normally, a graduation is a bitter cocktail of waking up early, sunburn, and a yearbook full of names. Ugh. But Stanford does it right. Instead of marching in, the students just rushed the field.
Some wore costumes, some did skits, some played oversized Tetris.
Some played to the speaker (iGrad, right); some played against him (XP logo, left).
While others just begged for work.
If these kids had taken Jobs' advice, I would have been forced to rely on the occasional beach ball for entertainment.
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