SUMMARY

In a 1995 interview, Steve Jobs discusses his early experiences with computers, the formation of Apple, his vision for the digital future, and object-oriented technology, emphasizing the necessity of taste and creativity.

STATEMENTS:

He got into NASA am Research Center down here and I got to use a a time sharing terminal.
At 12 years old he called up Bill huet who lived in huet Packard.
Hewlett Packard was really the only company he'd ever seen in his life at that age and uh it formed my view of what a company was and how well they treated their employees.
He met Steve Wanac around that time too maybe maybe a little early when I was about 14 15 years old and we immediately it off.
They built these little boxes to do blue boxing as it was called.
They built something ourselves that could control billions of dollars worth of infrastructure in the world that was what we learned.
The Apple One was really an extension of this terminal putting a microprocessor on the back end.
They sold some to our friends and I was trying to sell the rest of them so that we could get our micrus and calculator back.
Steve convinced electronics parts Distributors to give us the parts on net 30 days credit.
Mara put in some money and Mike put in himself and the three of us went off and we took this design.
I got our best people together and started to get them working on this.
One of the things that really hurt Apple was after I left John Scully got a very serious disease.
When you say is someone's work is you really mean I don't quite understand it would you please explain it to me.
I don't really care about being right you know I just care about success.
They got the first Canon Laser Printer engine shipped in the United States at Apple.
They got the software from Adobe and we introduced the laser Rider.
Steve Jobs left the company in 1985.
John Scully basically got on a rocket ship that was about to leave the pad and the rocket ship left the pad.
The important part was the values of Apple you know over the next several years were systematically destroyed.
After the IBM deal, Microsoft was very strong opportunists, and they're like the Japanese they just keep on coming.
The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste they have absolutely no taste.
Next has perfected and commercialized this object oriented technology and become the biggest supplier of it to the market.
The web is going to open a whole new door to this industry it's another one of those things that it's obvious once it happens but five years ago who would have guessed right.
The personal computer was the bicycle of the mind.
Humans are tool builders, and they possess the ability to amplify capabilities.
Hippie movement got a little bit of that and they wanted to find out what that was about also that life wasn't about what they saw their parents doing.
They've worked 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.

IDEAS:

Experiencing a computer for the first time was a real privilege and thrill, especially being able to write a program and see it execute your idea.
Building a device to make free telephone calls revealed that a small group could control a large, expensive infrastructure
Designing and building a terminal out of necessity led to the creation of the Apple One, initially for personal use.
Selling fully assembled computers to the Byte Shop marked a shift towards the packaged personal computer concept.
Don Valentine said I looked like a renegade from the human race.
Asking "why" leads to discovering that many business practices are based on folklore rather than logical necessity.
Computer programming teaches one how to think in a structured way, similar to law school.
John Scully destroy everything i' spent 10 years working for starting with me.
The graphical user interface at Xerox Park was incomplete but it was obvious that computers would work like this someday it was obvious for Robert X. Cringely as well.
Product people can lose influence to sales and marketing in monopolistic companies, stifling innovation and genius.
Great product design requires keeping thousands of concepts in mind, constantly pushing for innovative combinations.
The rock tumbler metaphor illustrates how a team working passionately together can polish each other and their ideas.
The difference between average and the best in software development is 50 to 1 or 100 to 1.
Finding A players benefits the individual and other A players involved, because really good people knows they're really good.
When a team member's work isn't good enough, it's essential to address it directly, without undermining their confidence.
The Macintosh was ahead, but Apple stagnated by not improving its product, but Microsoft are able to catch up with the mac.
The Internet and the web represent a shift towards communication, offering direct customer distribution and innovation.
The web is the defining social moment for computing
Microsoft's products lack taste, spirit, and creativity.
I thought Lisa was was in serious trouble, but Steve Job can not convince enough people of the Senior Management of Apple.
Humans are tool builders, building tools to amplify their abilities.
One of the questions I asked everyone in the series was are you a hippie or a nerd.
The fact that the MAC team were musicians and Poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happen to be the best computer scientists. They brought with them to this effort a very liberal arts attitude that we wanted to pull in the best that we saw in these other fields into this field.
He hired the wrong guy that was was Skully, and he destroyed everything he' spent 10 years working for starting with Steve Jobs personally.
At that point in time, he really occurred to him that if we didn't do something here The Apple 2 was running out of gas and we needed to do something with this technology fast or else Apple might cease to exist as the company that it was.
Humans are tool Builders and we build tools that can dramatically amplify our innate human abilities.
The computer is the bicycle of the mind.
Apple is dying today Apple's dying a very painful death uh it's on a Glide slope to to die and reason is is because when I walked out the door at Apple we had a 10-year lead on everybody else in the industry.

INSIGHTS

Early exposure to computers can spark a lifelong passion and the realization of their potential.
Building something that can control significant infrastructure can teach invaluable lessons about innovation and impact.
Assembling a product and selling it introduces real-world business challenges and the need for distribution strategies.
The best way to learn is by asking "why" reveals assumptions and folklore, fostering a deeper understanding of business.
Learning to program develops analytical thinking skills applicable beyond computer science.
The graphical user interface was inevitable and would change future computers.
A company's innovative spirit can be lost when product sensibility gives way to sales and marketing dominance.
Craftsmanship is essential in turning great ideas into great products, requiring constant refinement and trade-offs.
A team working passionately can refine ideas and produce beautiful results
Microsoft had no taste and no Spirit.
Object-oriented technology revolutionizes software development by improving speed and quality.
The web is significant for social moment for computing, offering direct customer distribution and democratizing business opportunities.
Apple wasn't able to take the chances and push computer development forward.
Computers amplify human abilities and that the personal computer was the bicycle of the mind.
Taste is the guiding star how to know what's the right direction
The drive to make products stems from a desire to share feelings and ideas with others.

QUOTES:

"It was miraculous um and and you might ask well what's so interesting about that what's so interesting is that we were young and what we learned was that we could build something ourselves that could control billions of dollars worth of infrastructure in the world."
"I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer should learn a computer language because it teaches you how to think it's like going to law school".
"I think money is wonderful thing because it enables you to do things it enables you to invest in ideas that don't have a short-term payback and things like that".
"The people at Xerox Park used to call the people that ran Xerox toner heads uh and they just had no CL clue about what they were seeing".
"People get confused that the process is the content that's ultimately the downfall of IBM IBM has the best process people in the world they just forgot about the content".
"Designing a product is keeping 5,000 things in your brain these Concepts and fitting them all together in in in kind of continuing to push to fit them together in new and different ways to get what you want".
"If you most things in life the dynamic range between average and the best is at most 2 to one right like if you go to New York City and you're get an average taxi cab driver versus the best taxi cab driver".
"I don't really care about being right you know I just care about success".
"Microsoft's products have no Spirit to them their products have no sort of spirit of Enlightenment about them they are very pedestrian".
"Humans are tool Builders and we build tools that can dramatically amplify our innate human abilities and to me we actually ran an ad like this very early to Apple that the personal computer was the bicycle of the mind".
"Whether it's thorough or whether it's you know some Indian Mystics or whoever it might be and and the hippie movement got a little bit of that".

HABITS

Asking "why" things are done a certain way in business.
Continually question assumptions and challenge the status quo.
Seek out and work with A players who are experts in their field.
Directly address performance issues with team members, yet show confidence.
Prioritize success over being right, being open to changing your mind.
Staying exposed to the best things that humans have done in history.
Seek input from diverse fields to influence your own craft.
Seek to find out what is beyond what you see everyday.
Don't work with computers for the sake of working with computers.
Expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things in to what you're doing.

FACTS:

AT&T made a fatal flaw when they designed the original telephone Network digital telephone network was they put the signaling from computer to computer in the same band as your voice.
First computer store was the bite shop of Mountain View.
Mike Mara had retired at about 30 or 31 from Intel.
The automated Factory for Macintosh was able to get rid of a lot of these Antiquated Concepts and know exactly what something cost to the second.
Xerox could have owned the entire computer industry today but lost their lead.
In the early Macintosh days it was always a Steven and John show.
The Macintosh that's shipping today is like you know 25% different than the day I left
I then asked Steve for his thoughts on the state of Apple remember this was 1995 a year before he would go back to Apple remember too that when Apple bought bought next a year after this interview Steve immediately sold the Apple stock he received as part of the sale Apple's dying today Apple's dying a very painful death.
15% of the goods and services in the US are sold via catalogs over the television all that's going to go on the web.
Condor one it was the most efficient but Mankind the crown of creation came in with a rather unimpressive showing about a third of the way down the list.

REFERENCES

Triumph of the Nerds television series
NASA am Research Center
Basic and Fortran programming languages
hulet Packard
Esquire magazine
Captain Crunch
AT&T
Volkswagen bus
The bite shop of Mountain View
APL
Xerox's paloalto Research Center
John Scully
H Packard
IBM
David Kelly design
Canon Laser Printer engine
Canon
Adobe
Laser Rider
Microsoft
Ford LTD
Cadillac
BMW
MCI's friends and family
Internet
The web
Scientific American article measuring locomotion efficiency
Picasso
thorough
Indian Mystics

HOW TO APPLY

Take advantage of the opportunity if you get to use a computer and start writing programs.
Find someone who could help you in your domain and stick together.
Build something by yourself that could control the business.
Assemble a product and sell it to test the market demand and distribution.
Question existing practices by asking "why" they are done that way, digging deeper to get to the core reasons.
Strive to make the best product.
Always challenge assumptions.
Work through team to improve a product.
Search and work with the best people.
Be open to listen and embrace new ideas.
Learn from other people field.
Share something feeling that you have that you want to share with other people.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Blend liberal arts with technology, question norms, build with passion, and craft tools enhancing human abilities for progress.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Learn at least one computer language.
Challenge assumptions.
Build something that controls something greater.
Get insight from the world and bring it to the products.
Push your product over dead bodies because they're all people want to work on short term plans.
Strive to create products with taste, more insight, and creativity
Bring spirit and enlightenment to your work.
Seek out A players who are experts in their field to work with.
Directly communicate the team where the their work isn't good enough.
Don't be afraid of changing your mind.
Focus on what is best for the team.
Search and try to understand things beyond of what you are able to see everyday.
Be the best you can on your purpose.
Don't sell your stock to keep strong and make your company goes well.
Don't think that because a company is big, product/company is the best.
Don't think small; think for long tem and for improvement.

MEMO:

Early Encounters and Shaping Influences

Steve Jobs's journey into the world of computers began in his childhood. Early access to time-sharing terminals sparked a fascination igniting a desire to understand the power behind the machines. A formative experience at Hewlett-Packard as a 12-year-old, where he landed a summer job after cold-calling Bill Hewlett for parts, instilled in him the importance of how a company values its employees. These early experiences shaped Jobs's perception of technology and corporate culture.

The Genesis of Apple

Alongside Steve Wozniak, Jobs engaged in projects such as building blue boxes to make free phone calls, which taught them that they could control a giant thing which later evolved to Apple. This experience highlighted the potential of small entities to impact massive systems, a lesson that would underpin Apple's innovative spirit. The creation of the Apple One, initially a personal project born out of necessity, marked the beginning of their foray into personal computers.

Key Partnerships and Ambitions

Assembling and selling computers, Jobs faced practical business challenges, learning to navigate distribution and finance. The recruitment of Mike Markkula, an early Intel executive, was pivotal. Markkula's investment and business acumen provided the resources needed to realize Jobs's vision for the Apple II: a fully packaged computer accessible to non-technical users. Presenting the Apple II at the West Coast Computer Fair catapulted Apple into the industry spotlight.

Navigating Growth and Defining Values

During Apple's period of rapid growth, Jobs observed that many business practices were based on outdated folklore. Questioning these norms, he advocated for better information systems to accurately track costs. He believed in the importance of understanding the content for great products. Steve didn't hesitate to hire the right person for each area even if people hated him.

Xerox Park and the GUI Revelation

A visit to Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) was transformative. Though initially not receptive, it became clear which path to follow. Jobs realized the graphical user interface's inevitable impact on computing. He got our best people together and started to get them working on this. Jobs was very persistant through the implementation of the vision for the Mac team.

Passion, Craftsmanship, and Teamwork

Jobs emphasized the importance of craftsmanship from idea to product. Likening a high-performing team to a rock tumbler, he illustrated how talented individuals, through passionate collaboration and friction, polish each other and refine their ideas. He says you need to do it in a way that does not call into question your confidence in their abilities but leaves not too much room for interpretation that it's their work the work that they've done for this particular thing is not good enough to support the goal of the team.

Reflections on Apple's Trajectory

Eventually, disagreements with then-CEO John Sculley led to Jobs's departure from Apple in 1985. He felt that Apple's values were being compromised. In 1995, Steve looked back in the state of Apple was dying and Microsoft didn't had taste. He had confidence though to build something greater with Next.

Vision for the Future

Looking forward, Jobs saw the Internet and the World Wide Web as transformative social moments for computing. He felt that these technologies would democratize opportunity and enable small companies to compete on a