"When you're young, you look at television and think, there's a conspiracy, they have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want, and that's a far more depressing thought." Steve Jobs

submitted by EndlessSunflowers from self.quotes

... "Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution!
But the networks are really in business to give people what they want." Steve Jobs

all 13 comments
sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun

[–]dontbuyanylogos 7 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

It might be a bit of a chicken and egg situation

[–]FreedomUltd 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Media can be used very effectively to manipulate people. Thinking that the people who own / control the media wouldn't use it that way is stupid.

And I'll add...gullible.

[–]IridescentAnaconda 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, it's an iterative process.

[–]poopdawg15 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The first part is right: there is a conspiracy. Tavistock. Jews.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

There was a conspiracy.

Schools Were Designed by Corporate Foundations - John Taylor Gatto

[–]ReeferMadness 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Schools and TV are not the same thing. Schools are supposed to be teaching us and are clearly not. TV is supposed to entertain, and does that.

I think they both participate in brainwashing. But if people watched more documentaries they would produce more documentaries and just use those for propaganda.

The Jobs quote isn't wrong. Everyone is just expanding it beyond what he said.

[–]Klenvastergan 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

According to Steve Jobs, literally famous for dumbing down technology and giving people precisely what he wants.

[–]christnmusicreleases 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

No, they are in the business of brainwashing us into wanting what they want us to want.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ahhh, steve jobs, the messiah of tech. Anything he ever had to say would be bullshit in my opinion. Just another opinionated wealthy prick who, like his replacement prophet musk, had to be seen sprouting wisdom and futuristic dreams, all the while making a fortune selling overpriced products. This quote of his among them. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want?

I don't want a crap european car, yet the networks push them all the time, even in movies. They push homosexuality like it's normal, but when my son gets married I don't want to lead him as a bride down the isle into the hands of some old pervert who will sodomize him. They push war through their endless movies and shows, glorifying it, yet I don't want to go to Iraq to kill women and children in their villages.

The networks are just pimps, selling their airtime to anyone who wants to manipulate you into emptying your wallet or into doing something against your better judgment.

[–]jet199 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Partly but also there's a lot of stupid people working in TV so they can only make things their level of smart.

Most stuff that's bad is bad because the writers are useless.

I heard someone saying that writing a screenplay is the middle class version of buying a lottery ticket and that's pretty spot on. They imagine if they get lucky they will get the millionaire lifestyle and have no thought to actually being good in anyway that's not going to get that outcome. So they write to what they think the gatekeepers want.

Then there's also the kudos of being a professional writer which some middle class are chasing which means their shows are more about them telling you how clever they are rather than trying to tell a good story.

Documentaries have the same problems.

Unfortunately many of these people do get stuff made because all the people making the decisions are from the same background and speak the same language.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

They imagine if they get lucky they will get the millionaire lifestyle and have no thought to actually being good in anyway that's not going to get that outcome. So they write to what they think the gatekeepers want.

I have a relative who wasted decades writing crappy books just for that reason, always writing what they thought was the style of book most likely to succeed. Unfortunately 10 years in they had one published and that fueled the delusion for more decades. Sad sad waste of life's opportunities.

[–]Node 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

What they want 'now', which is not what pre-television people wanted.

[–]369 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh, it's definitely the first one.