~ The Biography Of Steve Jobs ~

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

[…] The day after the movie aired [in 1999], I was sitting in my living room and my phone with what I thought was my unlisted phone number rang.
"Noah?" said the voice.
"Yes," I said.
"This is Steve Jobs."
My heart started beating through my shirt. And he said—and I've memorized this—"I'm just calling to tell you I thought you did a good job. I hated the movie, I hated the script, I think if you had spent a little more time and a little more money and maybe a little more attention to detail, you could have had something there. But you were good."
And all I could say was, "Thank you. Sir."
"Listen, we do this thing every year called the Macworld convention. It's in New York, at the Javits Center. There will be about 10,000 people there. And I think it would be hilarious if you came out on stage dressed as me and did the first five minutes of my keynote address. Are you interested?"
"Absolutely!"

So he bought me a plane ticket to New York the next month and I went over to the Four Seasons Hotel, went up to his room, knocked on his door, and there I was staring face-to-face with Steve Jobs, and he looked me up and down from my toes to the top of my head, and smiled, "Yeah, you do look like me."

He invited me into his room. It was just he and I. He had been shopping that day and bought me a matching pair of blue jeans and a black turtleneck sweater and matching round eyeglasses. He'd written a sketch for us to perform the next day at Macworld. I'd put my hands together in a kind of Jobs-like silent-prayer pose and then launch into his keynote. And then a few minutes into the address he'd come storming onto the stage and say, "Wyle, you don't have me at all! What the hell are you doing? First I pick up my slide-clicker and then I put my hands together." He'd say, "Ladies and gentlemen, Noah Wyle!" And then he'd kick me off the stage and take over, introducing the latest piece of Apple technology.

And that's exactly how we did it.

The first few rows, I think, could obviously tell it wasn't him, but most others didn't know at all. And there was this growing ripple of laughter throughout the auditorium when people got what was happening. I honestly had had no idea what to expect: I thought the whole thing might be an ambush—that he'd get me to his event and that what he said we were going to do in fact wasn't what we were going to do, and I would somehow be humiliated. But he stayed on script and was very kind to me. […]
Source: Noah Wyle, Fortune, Oct 7, 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

Anyway, when the [keynote where Noah Wyle played Steve Jobs on stage] was over, he invited me to have dinner with him at a soba-noodle shop in downtown Manhattan. My wife was invited, too, along with his executive-design team. And I kick myself over what happened next. They all —I don't want to say they live in fear of him— are certainly are subservient to his will and whim. But I had no dog in the race I felt much freer to crack jokes and engage him in conversation, which surprised them a bit. At a certain point in the meal, out of nowhere, he turned to his designers and said, "You know what I want to make?" And they all snapped their heads around and replied, "What, Steve? What, Steve?"
"You know those picture frames that has my kid in his baseball cap and uniform?"
"Yeah, Steve! Yeah, Steve! We know picture frames!"
"Well, I want to make a picture frame where the picture's not a picture, but a little movie of the kid swinging the bat and hitting the ball. Can we do that?"
"We can do that, Steve!" said the designers in unison.
"I'll show you what I mean."

And he took his napkin and started sketching out the schematics and he passed the napkin around the table. They all approved the design – nobody touched it, there were no changes or suggestions. The check soon came and we started to get up the leave—and the napkin just sat there on the table. I thought to myself, "I got to take that napkin" and my hand was on it, but Steve called from the door and asked, "Noah, you want to share a cab with me?" So I put the napkin down. I could have had an Edison original.

Source: Noah Wyle, Fortune, Oct 7, 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

After leaving my job at Apple, I dropped in for lunch one day. I was exiting the main building, Infinite Loop One, and just ahead of me was Steve Jobs, walking with the usual spring in his step that never seemed to go away even as he started looking more frail. Bumping into Steve was a surprisingly common occurrence for such a large company as Apple.

Steve was heading towards a car parked next to the curb with its door open, waiting for him. The car was idling. A family was standing near the Apple sign outside the building, a common site for people to take photos on their pilgrimages to Apple.

The father turned to Steve as he passed close by and asked, "Excuse me, sir, would you mind taking our photo?" Steve paused for a moment as an iPhone was extended to him, realizing that they didn't seem to know who he was. With a hint of enthusiasm, he said "Sure!" as he took the iPhone into his hands.

Steve took a great deal of care composing the photo, backing up a few steps several times, tapping the iPhone screen to lock focus, then said "Smile!" as he snapped the photo, grinning a little bit himself to encourage the family to follow suit.

He handed back the iPhone and they said "Thank you, sir" as Steve stepped into his car, closed the door, and was driven away. The family looked at the photo that Steve had taken and all agreed that it looked great. Then the iPhone was pocketed and they were on their way.

And that was the last time I saw Steve Jobs.

Source: Chris Hynes, Oct 7, 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

On the stage of the auditorium that would hold the event, Jobs stood back and watched as his television production crew screened a video to be shown after he introduced the iMac. Marketing mini-documentaries were commonplace in the tech business: lots of product shots from flattering angles, edgy Greek chorus-like close-ups of talking-head executives and industry analysts singing the praises of the new product. Jobs watched with an eagle eye as the sharply edited vignettes ran on the large screen. One of the highlights was a playful reference to the retro-futuristic look of the egg-shaped, lollipop blue machine, which looked like something from the 1960s animated television series The Jetsons. As homage, the video included a five-second clip from the actual series. Though it would be over almost as soon as the crowd recognized it, the clip would be sure to delight the geeky audience.

Then one of the production guys gingerly approached Jobs and warned him of a problem. It seemed that Hanna-Barbera, the animation house that owned the rights to the Jetsons, had yet to sign off. The permission was still stalled with the lawyers. If the issue isn't resolved before tomorrow, the nervous media specialist told Jobs, the clip will have to go.

Jobs's face turned to steel. "Keep it in," he said.

"Ummmmm, Steve, we can't do that," said the production guy. He began to explain what Jobs certainly knew from his other job as majority shareholder of the Pixar studio and thereby the owner of some of the animation world's most valuable intellectual property: using the clip without permission could incur huge liabilities. Jobs apruptly cut him off. "I don't care!" he shouted. "We're using it."

The clip stayed in the picture. (Presumably the permission was subsequently secured.) And the iMac, a beneficiary of that perfectionism, did indeed initiate a string of Apple products that made the company one of the most admired corporations on the face of the earth.

Source: The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

At the end of this presentation, Jobs pulled back a sheet that had covered an elliptical object on the conference table. The first new product on his grid: the iMac. It was a weird, egg-shaped beast but disarmingly attractive. Like all great Steve Jobs products, it had a human feel to it. You wanted to touch it. Its plastic case was a feel-good shade of fruity blue. During its development the informal code names for the project had been the names of Columbus's ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria. Why? "A new world," he explained.

After putting the machine through its paces, he bore down on me. "Isn't that just great?" he asked, with the pride of a very pushy parent. Yes, I agreed, it's really neat. "It's not just 'neat'," he corrected me. "It's Sorrying fantastic."

Source: The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

Jobs had always been unapologetic about the incompatibility [between iPod and other music software than iTunes], insisting that Apple should not make iPods interoperable with competitors until its customer demand it. I once tried to get him to admit that the limitation was unfriendly to customers, but he would not bulge. He challenged me to provide an example where Apple's actions could harm a listener. Finally I came up with something.

"You love Bob Dylan, Steve," I said. "He records with Sony, your competitor in selling muisc. What if Sony sold a really great, previously unreleased Dylan song on its music store? None of your iTunes customers could download it and listen to it on their computers or iPods. Isn't that a disadvantage?"

"Bob Dylan loves us," said Jobs. "He's never do that."

I thought that was a fairly lame comeback. But a few months later, Dylan did okay the release of two fantastic outtakes from the legendary Blood on the Tracks sessions for online sale —on the iTunes store, not his own label Sony's store.

Source: The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

On January 13, 2006, something interesting came to Jobs's attention. At Wall Street's close on that Friday afternoon, Apple's market capitalization had reached $72.13 billion. what made it a milestone to Jobs was that the cap of Dell computers at that moment was $71.97 billion — almost a million dollars less.

Recalling Dell's advice almost a decade earlier, the Apple CEO was moved to send out a companywide e-mail. "Team," he wrote his employees, "it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future."

Source: The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

Jobs has instituted a periodic meeting of what he calls the Apple 100. Ever the elitist, he describes those invited as not the highest-ranking executives on the organizational charts but the really key people, the people, he says, who you'd take on the life raft with you when the ship was sinking (presumably everyone else would go down in the drink). "I usually get up in the beginning," Jobs says, "and say something like 'Our revenues have doubled in the last two years. And our stock price is high and our shareholders are happy. And a lot of people think it's really great, we've got a lot to lose, let's play it safe. That's the most dangerous thing we can do. We have to get bolder, because we have world-class competitors now and we just can't stand still'."

Then Steve Jobs told the hundred what he intended to do. Even though Apple had created one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history and the most popular of those was the tiny iPod mini, he was going to pull the plug on it and make something better."We are going to redefine the whole industry," he told his people. "By coming up with a player that's a full-featured iPod, color display, a click wheel, dock connector, photos, everything — at a size that completely changes the rules."

Source: The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

I went over to shake [Steve Jobs]'s hand and apologize for the mixup [relative to Engadget posting an incorrect story about an iPhone delay].

His reaction completely threw me. I expected some of the chiding he was infamous for giving journalists, but I heard not even a hint of frustration. Actually, he just acted as though he had no idea what I was talking about. Like it had never happened. Seriously. This was probably the most unexpected reaction I could have possibly imagined -- I was completely flummoxed. Of course, I realized moments later he was snowing me big time, and that it was classic Steve passive-aggressive. But you're Steve Jobs, and it's lunch time, and what happened happened, so what exactly DO you say to that whole thing, right?

Well, my nemesis (and one of my best pals) Brian Lam notices Steve and I interacting, so he rolls over to say hello as well. No sooner than Brian introduces himself, Steve is telling him him all about how Gizmodo is his favorite tech blog, and how it's the first site he reads and that he put it above Engadget (motioning upwards with his finger). Ouch.

Source: Ryan Block, gdgt, Aug 26, 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

When Steve tried to hire me I said, " I don't like having a boss."

He said, "A lot of people say working for me is like not having a boss."

Yes, it's a true story.

Source: Wil Shipley, @wilshipley, Twitter, Aug 27, 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

When the book was finished, Steve asked for a pre-release copy, which I duly sent.

At the time, all sorts of people were telling me that I needed to put quotes on the back cover of the book. So I asked Steve Jobs if he’d give me one. Various questions came back. But eventually Steve said, "Isaac Newton didn’t have back-cover quotes; why do you want them?"

And that’s how, at the last minute, the back cover of A New Kind of Science ended up with just a simple and elegant array of pictures. Another contribution from Steve Jobs, that I notice every time I look at my big book.

Source: Stephen Wolfram, Oct 6, 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

Some time later, I worked on a Twitter client with my pal Buzz. A friend of his who worked at Apple told us this little story.

One day while riding the elevator at Infinite Loop, he found himself in the freakiest scenario any Apple employee can imagine: alone, with the elevator door opening to let Steve in. Being a well-adjusted individual, Buzz’s friend promptly disappeared into the tap-world of his iPhone, lest he say or do something wrong in Steve’s presence. It was still the early days of iPhone apps, and Steve did something that had apparently become a habit with him. He reached for the iPhone and asked,
"What app is that?"
"Birdfeed", came the reply.

Steve tapped here and there, flicked the scrollview a bit, then handed the phone back. "The background needs more texture," he said.

I’ll do better next time, Steve.

Source: Neven Morgan, Oct 5, 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

Jobs was a fruitarian (someone who only eats fruit), and he continued to be a strict vegan throughout his life. But he made an exception for Japanese food.

Such was his love of soba that he sent the chef from Caffé Mac, the Apple company cafeteria, to study at the Tsukiji Soba Academy and had him serve a dish called “sashimi soba,” an original Steve Jobs creation.

Source: Hayashi Nobuyuki, Dec 2011

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

[An early version of the Segway, codenamed Ginger at the time, is showed to Steve Jobs, John Doerr and Jeff Bezos.] Within a couple of minutes, after some quick introductions, everyone settled around the big square table, Jobs at one corner, flanked by Dean and Doerr.

"Good morning to everyone," said Tim, smiling at the front of the table. "Before we start, we'd like to ask you to hold your questions until after each presentation."
"Yeah, right!" snorted Bezos, followed by that honking laugh.
"Otherwise we might as well not be here," said Jobs.
"How long is your presentation?" asked Doerr. "Each pitch is about ten minutes."
"I can't do that," said Jobs. "I'm not built that way. So if you want me to leave, I will, but I can't just sit here."

Tim studied Jobs for a moment, then turned to the screen and put up a spec sheet about Metro and Pro. "As you can see—" began Tim.
"Let's talk about the bigger question," interrupted Jobs. "Why two machines?"
"We've talked about that," said Tim, "and we think—"

"Because I see a big problem here," said Jobs. "I was thinking about it all night. I couldn't sleep after Dean came over." There were notes scribbled on the palm of his hand. He explained his experience with the iMac, how there were four models now but he had launched with just one color to give his designers, salespeople, and the public an absolute focus. He had waited seven months to introduce the other models. Bezos and Doerr nodded as he spoke.

[…] "What does everyone think about the design?" asked Doerr, switching subjects.
"What do you think?" said Jobs to Tim. It was a challenge, not a question.
"I think it's coming along," said Tim, "though we expect—" "I think it sorrys!" said Jobs.
His vehemence made Tim pause. "Why?" he asked, a bit stiffly.
"It just does."
"In what sense?" said Tim, getting his feet back under him. "Give me a clue."
"Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras.

"You have this incredibly innovative machine but it looks very traditional." The last word delivered like a stab. […] "There are design firms out there that could come up with things we've never thought of," Jobs continued, "things that would make you shit in your pants."

Source: Harvard Business School, Jun 16, 2003

[MysteRy]

Sayings

Anecdotes
"Telling a Steve Jobs story": Silicon Valley's favorite topic of discussion

Jobs, who was known for his prickly, stubborn personality, almost missed meeting President Obama in the fall of 2010 because he insisted that the president personally ask him for a meeting. Though his wife told him that Obama "was really psyched to meet with you," Jobs insisted on the personal invitation, and the standoff lasted for five days. When he finally relented and they met at the Westin San Francisco Airport, Jobs was characteristically blunt. He seemed to have transformed from a liberal into a conservative.

"You're headed for a one-term presidency," he told Obama at the start of their meeting, insisting that the administration needed to be more business-friendly. As an example, Jobs described the ease with which companies can build factories in China compared to the United States, where "regulations and unnecessary costs" make it difficult for them. Jobs also criticized America's education system, saying it was "crippled by union work rules," noted Isaacson. "Until the teachers' unions were broken, there was almost no hope for education reform." Jobs proposed allowing principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit, that schools stay open until 6 p.m. and that they be open 11 months a year.

Jobs suggested that Obama meet six or seven other CEOs who could express the needs of innovative businesses -- but when White House aides added more names to the list, Jobs insisted that it was growing too big and that "he had no intention of coming." In preparation for the dinner, Jobs exhibited his notorious attention to detail, telling venture capitalist John Doerr that the menu of shrimp, cod and lentil salad was "far too fancy" and objecting to a chocolate truffle dessert. But he was overruled by the White House, which cited the president's fondness for cream pie.

Source: Huffington Post, Oct 20, 2011