Steve Jobs Stories

Although I hadn't planned on posting this page to the blog, some friends had personal stories and comments to share.

I don't normally recommend a magazine, but we picked this one off the shelf in the grocery store and are really enjoying it.  It's a commemorative issue by Time Inc.  He's appeared so many times on the cover, he qualifies in the same league as presidents and other heads of state.

It's a fascinating retrospective by the various reporters who wrote many articles about him and the technology he produced over the years, from the very beginning of Apple Computer to just before his death.

Yes, of course, Amazon has it in case you can't find it.

At this point, you've probably heard about the most recent biography written by Walter Isaacson in which the usually reclusive Jobs gave the writer many personal interviews so his children could know him better. Unfortunately, Jobs died before getting to read the published book. I recently bought a copy at Costco for $19. Yup - Amazon carries it as well.

Another good article, that appeared in the New York Times, was written by his sister Nora Simpson

A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs

My Own Personal Steve Jobs Story

I once had the chance to meet him in person toward the end of his NEXT adventure. In the 80's, a friend and I were on our way to a retreat at Tassajara Zen Center and had booked a ride over the Saddle Road on their stage shuttle.

After about 15 minutes of waiting while the stage vehicle stood in the parking lot we asked why we hadn't left yet. It was odd because the Zen Center usually runs right on time. The Zen student in the stage stop, just rolled her eyes and said they were waiting for a VIP to arrive.

Shortly afterwards, a very new and very shiny expensive black mercedes came screeching to a halt in a cloud of dust. The license plate simply read

NEXT

I immediately knew who the VIP was and sure enough Steve Jobs stepped out of the driver's side and a blond stepped out of the passenger side (*not* his future wife).

All four of us rode in the back seat of the stage together into Tassajara. Assuming he probably wanted his privacy, I never addressed him directly. Instead, my friend Penny (a grade school teacher) and I talked about all the difficulties of instituting computers into education. Since the ride took almost an hour, we had plenty of time to detail the funding and faculty acceptance issues for his listening ears, even though his blond companion babbled on meaninglessly.

Once at Tassajara, we really never saw him much, as he pretty much kept to himself in his stone cottage.

Love him or hate him - there's no debating he's had an immense impact on technology and how we use it.

I, for one, will miss his presence in this industry.

Jamie Simon's Personal Story

I used to attend MacWorld at the Moscone. I saw him at the end of his reign when Apple dropped him and again when Gil Amelio brought him back at the Keynote. Amelio presented him with a black limited edtion commemorative Mac. Jobs did not touch it. He said little and looked down at Amelio as if he were waiting for the perfect moment to pounce and dispatch him and all his associates. The front rows went wild, but he just cooly looked out across the audience and left. Amelio said Jobs would return to Apple as an advisor. He was wrong or lying and everyone knew it. The tension was delicious.

At this keynote they had taped video cassettes of "Independence Day" (the scifi space invaders movie) under the seats. Amelio introduced Mohamed Ali as a special inspirational guest. Ali stood, wobbled side to side, said nothing and flopped back into his seat - TBI. There were other inspiring guests such as Peter Gabriel and his latest music video with dancing insects (WTF?). On the vendor show floor PowerComputing was pushing third party computers with the Mac OS (I had one) and Apple stock was plummeting. The shit was about to hit the fan.

Next year, Powercomputing was driving around the Moscone in Hummers and wearing fatigues challenging Apple to survive without them. They and all third party computer manufacturers had been banned from Mac World by Jobs, who was introducing new more powerful desktop MACs. At the keynote some poor Apple tech tried to demo DOOM but it froze while Jobs looked on. Oops. Jobs moved on to describe something forgettable. No mention of the next big thing: iMAC. I got some of those too.

Very entertaining stuff.

Henry Burnett's Comment on Steve Jobs and Philanthropy

Steve Job’s Philanthropy was focusing upon giving the world the most usable technology; Bill Gate’s Philanthropy was giving the world marginal products, making a lot of money with mercenary business practices; and giving away  money driven by feelings of guilt.  

Who was the most honorable Philanthropist?


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PS from Marti... for a fun look at the rivalry between Jobs and Gates, see the DVD (available via Netflix):

Pirates of Silicon Valley