SUMMARY

In a rediscovered 1995 interview, journalist Robert X. Cringely engages Steve Jobs on his childhood fascination with computers, founding Apple, key innovations like the Macintosh, corporate struggles, and visionary predictions for technology's role in communication and human potential.

STATEMENTS

• Steve Jobs first encountered a computer at age 10 or 11 through a time-sharing terminal at NASA Ames Research Center, sparking lifelong fascination.
• Early computers were mysterious, depicted in movies as large boxes with tape drives and flashing lights, rarely seen or used by the public.
• Jobs was thrilled by programming in BASIC or Fortran, executing ideas and receiving predicted results on primitive teletype printers.
• At 12, Jobs cold-called Bill Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard for parts to build a frequency counter, leading to a summer job and exposure to company culture.
• Hewlett-Packard treated employees valuably, with perks like daily donut and coffee breaks, shaping Jobs' view of ideal workplaces.
• Jobs attended Hewlett-Packard Palo Alto research labs weekly, discovering the first desktop computer, the HP 9100, which he programmed extensively.
• Jobs met Steve Wozniak around age 14 or 15; Wozniak knew more about electronics, and they bonded over shared projects.
• Inspired by an Esquire article on Captain Crunch, Jobs and Wozniak built blue boxes to make free phone calls using AT&T's signaling tones.
• They discovered AT&T's technical journal at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, confirming the feasibility of generating control tones with electronics.
• Blue boxing taught them that young individuals could control massive infrastructure with simple devices, a lesson pivotal to Apple's creation.
• Necessity drove the shift to personal computers: Jobs and Wozniak built a terminal for free time-sharing access, evolving it into the Apple I.
• The Apple I was an extension of their terminal, hand-built with scavenged parts, taking 40 to 80 hours each and often breaking.
• To save time, they designed printed circuit boards for the Apple I, funded by selling Jobs' Volkswagen bus and Wozniak's calculator.
• Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop ordered 50 assembled Apple I boards, prompting Jobs to source parts on 30-day credit and enter business.
• They sold the first 50 units for twice the cost, paying suppliers on time, but faced a profit realization crisis with unsold inventory.
• Mike Markkula joined as an equal partner, investing money and expertise to tool the Apple II design for mass production.
• The Apple II debuted at the West Coast Computer Faire in 1977, featuring advanced color graphics that stole the show.
• Jobs learned business by questioning practices, rejecting "folklore" like standard costing, which masked poor cost controls.
• Programming teaches structured thinking, akin to law school, and should be a liberal arts requirement for everyone.
• Becoming rich young—over $100 million by 25—mattered less than building the company, people, and enabling products.
• Xerox PARC's graphical user interface in 1979 was revolutionary; Jobs saw all future computers would adopt it.
• Xerox failed due to sales-focused leadership eroding product innovation, calling executives "toner heads" oblivious to computing potential.
• IBM's entry scared Apple, but their alliances with others improved their initially poor product, unlike Apple's isolation.
• Apple II engineers from HP resisted the GUI vision, underestimating mice and fonts; Jobs outsourced a reliable $15 mouse in 90 days.
• Companies falter by institutionalizing processes over content, leading to IBM's and Apple's early issues.
• The Lisa project mismatched Apple's culture by pricing at $10,000, alienating customers and distribution.
• After losing leadership battle for Lisa to John Couch, Jobs formed a "mission from God" team for Macintosh to save Apple.
• Macintosh reinvention included Japan's automated factories, cheaper processors, and a $1,000 price target, launching at $2,500.
• Great ideas require craftsmanship; Sculley's error was assuming 90% done after ideation, ignoring trade-offs and evolution.
• Teams polish ideas like rocks in a tumbler, through friction and passion, creating beautiful outcomes.
• Dynamic range in software/hardware talent is 50-100:1, so seek A-players who self-select and propagate excellence.
• Macintosh team endured intense work, hardest yet cherished, with direct feedback prioritizing work over egos.
• Apple pioneered desktop publishing with the first U.S. Canon laser printer engine, partnering with Adobe for software.
• LaserWriter succeeded via AppleTalk sharing, despite internal resistance, making Apple the world's top printer revenue company by 1985.
• Jobs' 1985 marketing blunder announced "Macintosh Office" broadly, diluting desktop publishing focus.
• Sculley's survival instinct scapegoated Jobs during 1984 recession, leading to Jobs' painful 1985 ouster amid leadership vacuum.
• Post-departure, Apple's values eroded; by 1995, it lagged 10 years behind, with stagnant innovation and shrinking base.
• Microsoft succeeded via IBM boost and persistence, dominating apps, but lacks taste, culture, and original ideas like proportional fonts.
• NeXT focuses on object-oriented software, enabling 10x faster development, as the industry's key innovation area.
• The web fulfills computers as communication tools, democratizing sales and innovation beyond Microsoft's control.
• Humans amplify abilities with tools; the computer is the "bicycle of the mind," ranking top in inventions.
• Direction guided by taste: steal great ideas from arts, blending liberal arts with tech via diverse teams.
• Jobs identifies as a hippie, seeking life's deeper essence beyond routine, infusing products with spirit users sense.

IDEAS

• Early exposure to computers via time-sharing terminals ignited Jobs' passion, transforming abstract mystery into tangible thrill.
• Cold-calling industry leaders at 12 unlocked opportunities, revealing openness in pre-digital eras.
• HP's employee-centric culture, like communal breaks, modeled humane workplaces contrasting modern corporate norms.
• Discovering the HP 9100 as a self-contained desktop foreshadowed portable computing's evolution.
• Blue boxing demystified infrastructure control, empowering youth to hack global systems playfully.
• AT&T's design flaw in voice-signaling overlap enabled phone phreaking, highlighting unintended vulnerabilities in tech giants.
• Building devices from scavenged parts taught resourcefulness, birthing DIY ethos in personal computing.
• Printed circuit boards slashed assembly time, scaling hobby projects into viable businesses organically.
• Assembling on credit and selling upfront created bootstrap capitalism, turning garages into startups.
• Apple II's color graphics wowed at fairs, proving visuals' power in user engagement pre-GUI.
• Questioning business "folklore" exposed inefficiencies, advocating real-time data over archaic accounting.
• Programming as liberal art sharpens thinking, mirroring law's logic but fostering creative execution.
• Wealth accumulation pales against product impact, prioritizing long-term vision over financial gain.
• Xerox PARC's GUI demo blinded Jobs to networking and objects, yet sparked inevitable interface revolution.
• Monopolies breed sales dominance, rotting product genius as "toner heads" prioritize revenue over innovation.
• IBM's ecosystem alliances salvaged a flawed PC, illustrating collaborative survival in competition.
• Outsourcing mouse design bypassed internal skepticism, accelerating innovation through external talent.
• Process obsession confuses means with ends, dooming firms like IBM by neglecting content depth.
• Lisa's high price clashed with Apple's accessible image, underscoring market-cultural alignment.
• Macintosh as "salvation mission" reinvigorated Apple via automation, cost-cutting, and bold pricing.
• Ideas evolve through craftsmanship trade-offs, not top-down delegation, demanding daily problem-solving.
• Team friction polishes raw concepts like tumbling rocks, yielding refined brilliance collectively.
• Elite talent's 50-100:1 edge self-perpetuates, rejecting mediocrity for high-stakes synergy.
• Direct critique preserves confidence while honing work, essential for A-player accountability.
• Desktop publishing's laser printer pivot networked offices, reviving Mac via shared utility.
• Sculley's ego inflated his role, derailing Apple's trajectory through misplaced blame.
• Apple's 1995 stagnation from lost leadership eroded 10-year lead to Microsoft's pedestrian catch-up.
• Object-oriented tech at NeXT multiplies software speed, countering development complexity.
• Web as communication metamorphosis democratizes global reach, evading single-corp dominance.
• Bicycle analogy elevates computers as amplifiers, propelling humanity's efficiency beyond nature.
• Hippie spirit infuses tech with existential depth, making products resonate emotionally.
• Diverse backgrounds—arts, poetry—enrich computing, stealing excellence across disciplines.

INSIGHTS

• Childhood tinkering with forbidden tech like blue boxes reveals how empowering the powerless sparks revolutionary innovation.
• Corporate folklore perpetuates inefficiency; relentless questioning uncovers truths hidden in tradition.
• True wealth lies in enabling human potential through products, not personal fortunes.
• Monopolistic complacency invites decay, as sales eclipses creation, blinding leaders to paradigm shifts.
• Alliances amplify weaknesses; IBM's ecosystem turned a dud into dominance, a lesson in interdependence.
• Vision demands diverse, passionate teams; friction forges excellence beyond solitary genius.
• Elite performers thrive in meritocracies, self-selecting to elevate collective output exponentially.
• Feedback's precision builds mastery without ego erosion, prioritizing mission over harmony.
• Pivots like desktop publishing succeed when visceral understanding overrides institutional inertia.
• Leadership vacuums breed scapegoating; survival instincts fracture unity during crises.
• Stagnation erodes leads; innovation requires constant reinvention, not R&D spend alone.
• Software's potency lies in objects and webs, transforming tools into societal enablers.
• Taste, drawn from arts, guides direction; narrow tech views yield soulless artifacts.
• Hippie ethos uncovers life's mysteries, infusing mundane machines with transcendent appeal.
• Computers as mind-bicycles amplify innate abilities, ranking atop human ingenuity's hierarchy.

QUOTES

• "Nobody had ever seen one [computer]; they're very mysterious very powerful things that did something in the background."
• "It was an incredibly thrilling experience... that you could write a program... and actually this machine would sort of take your idea and... execute your idea."
• "We could build something ourselves that could control billions of dollars worth of infrastructure in the world."
• "I don't think there would have ever been an Apple computer had there not been blue boxing."
• "In business a lot of things are... folklore; they're done because they were done yesterday and the day before."
• "Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer... because it teaches you how to think."
• "It was obvious to me that all computers would work like this someday... you couldn't argue about the inevitability of it."
• "The best people... are the ones that really understand the content and they're a pain in the butt to manage."
• "A team of people doing something they really believe in... is like... rocks in a tumbler... through... friction... come out these beautiful polished rocks."
• "When you get enough A players together... it becomes self-policing and they only want to hire more A players."
• "Great artists copy, great artists steal."
• "The computer is going to rank near if not at the top as history unfolds... the most awesome tool that we have ever invented."
• "There's something more going on... another side of the coin that we don't talk about much."
• "They work with computers because they are the medium that is best capable of transmitting some feeling that you have that you want to share with other people."

HABITS

• Cold-call experts for advice and resources, turning curiosity into opportunities.
• Attend industry labs weekly to immerse in cutting-edge tech and network informally.
• Scavenge parts and build prototypes hands-on to foster resourcefulness.
• Question every business practice deeply, rejecting unexamined traditions.
• Program regularly to sharpen logical thinking across disciplines.
• Prioritize product content over processes, focusing on core excellence.
• Surround with A-players, allowing self-policing talent dynamics.
• Provide direct, work-focused feedback to elevate team output.
• Steal ideas shamelessly from arts and liberal fields for inspiration.
• Visit global factories to learn automation and efficiency firsthand.
• Maintain passion by viewing tech as a medium for deeper human expression.
• Evolve ideas daily through trade-offs and problem-solving iteration.
• Infuse products with hippie-inspired spirit seeking life's essence.

FACTS

• In 1971, no unlisted phone numbers existed, enabling a 12-year-old Jobs to reach Bill Hewlett directly.
• The HP 9100, suitcase-sized with CRT display, was the first self-contained desktop computer in 1968.
• Blue boxes exploited AT&T's MF tones at 2600 Hz, routing calls via satellite loops worldwide.
• Apple I boards sold for $666.66, funded by Jobs' bus and Wozniak's calculator sales.
• Apple II launched at 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, drawing dealer lines with color demos.
• Xerox PARC's Alto in 1979 networked over 100 machines with email, predating commercial internet.
• Macintosh mouse prototyped in 90 days for $15, countering HP engineers' $300/5-year estimate.
• By 1985, Apple became the world's largest printer revenue company via LaserWriter.
• Jobs reached $100 million net worth by age 25 in 1980, without selling stock.
• Object-oriented programming at NeXT enabled 10x faster software development.
• Web commerce projected to shift 15% of U.S. catalog sales, tens of billions in value.
• Bicycle riding expends fewer kilocalories per kilometer than any animal locomotion except condor.

REFERENCES

• NASA Ames Research Center time-sharing terminal.
• Teletype printer with keyboard for early computing.
• BASIC and Fortran programming languages.
• Bill Hewlett and Hewlett-Packard company.
• HP Palo Alto Research Labs.
• HP 9100 desktop computer.
• Steve Wozniak and joint electronics projects.
• Esquire magazine article on Captain Crunch.
• AT&T technical journal on signaling tones.
• Stanford Linear Accelerator Center library.
• Blue box device for phone phreaking.
• Time-sharing company in Mountain View.
• Apple I and Apple II computers.
• Printed circuit boards for assembly.
• Byte Shop in Mountain View (later adult bookstore).
• Paul Terrell as early retailer.
• Mike Markkula as Intel executive and investor.
• West Coast Computer Faire 1977.
• Xerox PARC's Alto computer, GUI, object-oriented programming, networked systems.
• David Kelley design firm for mouse.
• Lisa computer project.
• Macintosh automated factory in California.
• Canon laser printer engine.
• Adobe software and 19.9% stake.
• LaserWriter printer and AppleTalk networking.
• PepsiCo as John Sculley's prior company.
• NeXT object-oriented software platform.

HOW TO APPLY

• Start with curiosity: Seek out mysterious tech like early terminals to experiment and program simple ideas.
• Network boldly: Cold-call leaders for parts or advice, leveraging openness to build relationships.
• Build iteratively: Design and assemble prototypes from scavenged materials, refining through trial.
• Collaborate deeply: Partner with skilled peers like Wozniak to tackle ambitious projects beyond solo capacity.
• Hack systems ethically: Explore flaws like AT&T tones to understand infrastructure control.
• Scale prototypes: Create printed boards to reduce build time, enabling sales to friends.
• Bootstrap funding: Sell personal assets to finance initial production runs.
• Pitch assembled products: Approach stores with ready units to validate demand.
• Secure credit wisely: Negotiate net-30 terms with suppliers for cash flow.
• Recruit expertise: Convince investors like Markkula to join as partners for tooling.
• Demo innovatively: Showcase graphics at events to attract distributors.
• Question norms: Probe business practices to eliminate folklore and improve efficiency.
• Learn programming: Master languages to think logically and creatively.
• Visit innovators: Tour labs like Xerox PARC for inspiration.
• Outsource smartly: Engage external designers for rapid prototyping.
• Form elite teams: Assemble A-players for content-focused missions.
• Iterate craftsmanship: Evolve ideas through daily trade-offs and friction.
• Pivot strategically: Partner for software like Adobe to launch features.
• Provide direct feedback: Critique work precisely to align with goals.
• Infuse passion: Draw from arts to guide product direction.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Embrace curiosity, assemble passionate A-players, and infuse technology with humanistic taste to revolutionize human potential.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Expose children early to computers via hands-on terminals to spark lifelong innovation.
• Foster company cultures valuing employees through simple, communal perks like breaks.
• Pursue DIY projects with scavenged parts to build resourcefulness and skills.
• Question every established business practice to uncover and eliminate inefficiencies.
• Learn programming as a core skill to enhance structured thinking for all.
• Prioritize product vision over financial gain in early career stages.
• Visit pioneering labs to absorb revolutionary ideas like GUIs firsthand.
• Avoid sales-dominated leadership in tech firms to preserve innovation.
• Build ecosystems of allies to strengthen flawed initial products.
• Outsource skeptical components to accelerate development with experts.
• Focus teams on content mastery, tolerating process disruptions from talent.
• Align pricing and features with company culture and customer base.
• Launch "salvation" projects during crises to reinvent core operations.
• Invest in craftsmanship between idea and product for true evolution.
• Assemble diverse liberal arts talents to enrich technical outputs.
• Deliver blunt, work-specific feedback to high performers without ego coddling.
• Pioneer shared tech like networked printers to unlock market niches.
• Admit errors quickly when evidence contradicts strong opinions.
• Develop object-oriented tools to speed software creation exponentially.
• Harness web for communication over computation to democratize access.

MEMO

In the dim glow of a garage rediscovered VHS tape, a 1995 conversation between journalist Robert X. Cringely and Steve Jobs emerges like a time capsule from Silicon Valley's formative chaos. Jobs, then 40 and steering the niche NeXT after his acrimonious exit from Apple, recounts his improbable origin story with disarming candor. At 10, he stumbled upon a teletype terminal at NASA Ames, a primitive conduit to invisible machines that executed his boyish programs in BASIC, igniting a passion for the "mysterious very powerful things" lurking in the background of human endeavor. This wasn't mere tinkering; it was a portal to controlling ideas, a thrill that propelled him to cold-call Hewlett-Packard's Bill Hewlett at 12 for frequency-counter parts, landing a summer job and a lifelong template for employee-centric companies—donuts at 10 a.m. and all.

Jobs' alliance with Steve Wozniak, met at 15, crystallized in the audacious blue-box era, inspired by an Esquire tale of phone phreaking. Rifling through Stanford's libraries, they unearthed an AT&T journal revealing the telco's fatal flaw: voice-band signaling tones at 2600 Hz that mimicked computer commands. Their digital box, etched with "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," looped calls via satellites to Turkey and back, even pranking the Vatican as Henry Kissinger. "We learned we could build a little thing that could control a giant thing," Jobs reflects, a eureka moment underscoring youth's power over billions in infrastructure. This hacker ethos birthed Apple: necessity drove a homemade terminal for free time-sharing, evolving into the Apple I—a circuit board extension sold from garages after Jobs hocked his VW bus and Wozniak his calculator.

The Byte Shop's order for 50 assembled units forced a leap into commerce, sourcing parts on 30-day credit and realizing profits amid a "Marxian crisis" of unsold stock. Mike Markkula, ex-Intel wunderkind, joined as equal partner, funding the Apple II's plastic enclosure and color graphics that dazzled at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire. At 21, Jobs deconstructed business "folklore," like quarter-end cost variances masking sloppy controls, insisting, "It's not rocket science." Programming, he argued, was a liberal art, teaching thought's architecture much like law school. Wealth amassed—$100 million by 25—faded beside the company's soul: products enabling human flourishing.

Xerox PARC's 1979 demo sealed Jobs' vision. Blinded by the graphical user interface on Alto machines, he missed networking and objects but grasped inevitability: "All computers would work like this someday." Xerox's "toner heads"—sales execs from copier monopolies—squandered it, a cautionary tale of how revenue rot devours product genius. IBM's PC terrified Apple's billion-dollar upstart, its alliances salvaging a "terrible" debut. Internally, HP transplants scoffed at mice and fonts; Jobs outsourced a $15 wonder in 90 days. Process idolatry plagued giants like IBM, confusing bureaucracy for brilliance, while Apple's Lisa flopped at $10,000, misaligned with its scrappy ethos.

Defeated in a leadership skirmish with John Couch, Jobs rallied a "mission from God" for Macintosh, touring 80 Japanese factories to automate production and slashing processor costs. It reinvigorated everything: $2,500 pricing, novel marketing. Sculley's Pepsi-honed style assumed ideas were 90% done, ignoring craftsmanship's trade-offs. Jobs likens teams to rock tumblers: friction polishes ugly stones into gems through arguments and passion. A-players, with 50-to-1 edges, self-perpetuate excellence, enduring intensity for cherished results. Desktop publishing crowned the Mac via LaserWriter—first U.S. Canon engine, Adobe software—networked for sharing, propelling Apple to global printer dominance despite naysayers.

Sculley's 1984 recession survival instinct scapegoated Jobs amid paralysis, ousting him in 1985 after he volunteered for a research skunkworks. "He destroyed everything I'd spent 10 years working for," Jobs laments, watching Apple's 10-year lead evaporate by 1995 into stagnation, R&D billions yielding little as Microsoft, boosted by IBM, peddled "third-rate products" sans taste or spirit. NeXT, with 300 souls, perfected object-oriented software for 10x speed, but Jobs eyed broader horizons: the web as communication's triumph, unowned by Microsoft, set to eclipse catalogs with billions in direct sales.

Ultimately, Jobs frames computers as the "bicycle of the mind," outpacing condors in efficiency, amplifying tool-building humanity. Direction hinges on taste—stealing from Picasso, poets, zoologists blended with code. A self-proclaimed hippie from the '70s Bay Area, he sought life's inrush beyond garages and careers, infusing Macs with a spirit users "love." "Computers are the medium... to transmit some feeling you want to share," he says, a testament to technology's humanistic core. This lost interview, raw and visionary, captures Jobs not as icon but architect, nudging our vector toward enlightenment.

As NeXT awaited Apple's 1996 acquisition—unforeseen then—it underscores reinvention's cycle. Jobs' tale warns against complacency, urges diverse infusion into tech, and celebrates the garage as cradle of worlds remade. In an era of pedestrian giants, his call rings: ratchet up our species with subtlety, spirit, and unyielding curiosity.