SUMMARY

In a rediscovered 1995 interview, Steve Jobs reflects on his early fascination with computers, Apple's founding and challenges, innovations like the Macintosh, his ousting by John Sculley, NeXT's software focus, and the transformative potential of technology as a tool for human expression.

STATEMENTS

• Steve Jobs first encountered a computer at age 10 or 11 through a time-sharing terminal at NASA Ames Research Center, which profoundly thrilled him by executing his programs.
• At 12, Jobs cold-called Bill Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard for parts to build a frequency counter, leading to a summer job that shaped his view of companies valuing employees.
• Jobs attended Hewlett-Packard's Palo Alto research labs, where he discovered the HP 9100, the first desktop computer, and spent hours programming it.
• Jobs met Steve Wozniak at 14 or 15; Wozniak knew more about electronics, and they bonded over projects like building blue boxes for free phone calls.
• Inspired by an Esquire article on Captain Crunch, Jobs and Wozniak built digital blue boxes that tricked the AT&T network, teaching them they could control vast infrastructure with simple devices.
• Their first blue box call accidentally reached Pasadena, and they later prank-called the Vatican pretending to be Henry Kissinger, nearly reaching the Pope.
• Necessity drove Jobs and Wozniak to build a terminal for free time-sharing access, evolving into the Apple I as an extension with a microprocessor.
• They hand-built Apple I computers for themselves due to cost, then helped friends assemble them, leading to the idea of printed circuit boards to save time.
• Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus and Wozniak his calculator to fund Apple I circuit board artwork; they sold boards to friends and approached the Byte Shop.
• Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop ordered 50 assembled Apple I units, prompting Jobs to secure parts on 30-day credit from distributors, marking Apple's entry into business.
• They faced a profit realization crisis with unsold units, leading to nationwide distribution calls and gradual business growth.
• Mike Markkula joined as an equal partner after retiring from Intel, providing funding and expertise to tool the Apple II design for higher ambitions like color graphics and packaged units.
• At 21, Jobs launched the Apple II at the West Coast Computer Faire, stealing the show with advanced graphics and attracting dealers.
• Jobs learned business by questioning "why" practices, criticizing folklore like standard costing as symptoms of poor information systems.
• Computers should be taught as a liberal art, like law school, to teach structured thinking, regardless of career paths.
• Jobs became a multimillionaire by 23 but prioritized company, people, and products over money, never selling stock.
• At Xerox PARC in 1979, Jobs was mesmerized by the graphical user interface, recognizing its inevitability for all future computers.
• Xerox failed to commercialize innovations due to sales and marketing dominance eroding product sensibility, calling executives "toner heads."
• IBM's entry scared Apple, but their genius was creating vested interests in allies, improving their initially terrible PC.
• Apple's HP-recruited engineers resisted GUI ideas like mice, leading Jobs to outsource a cheap, reliable mouse design in 90 days.
• Companies confuse process with content when scaling; IBM excelled at processes but forgot content, nearly dooming Apple similarly.
• The Lisa project mismatched Apple's culture by pricing at $10,000, alienating customers and distribution.
• After losing leadership battle to John Couch on Lisa, Jobs formed a small Macintosh team to save Apple, reinventing manufacturing and distribution.
• Sculley's disease was believing a great idea is 90% of the work, ignoring craftsmanship and trade-offs in product evolution.
• Jobs's rock tumbler metaphor illustrates teams polishing ideas through friction and passion, creating beautiful outcomes like the Macintosh.
• In most life areas, the best outperform average by 2:1, but in software/hardware, it's 50:1 or more, so hire A-players who self-select and propagate excellence.
• Macintosh team members found the work intensely cherishing, though exhausting, with Jobs directly critiquing subpar work to refocus on goals.
• Apple pioneered desktop publishing by partnering with Adobe for LaserWriter software, buying 19.9% stake, and designing the first laser printer controller.
• Jobs's 1985 marketing blunder announced the full Macintosh Office instead of focusing solely on desktop publishing.
• Jobs's 1985 departure from Apple was painful; he hired the wrong CEO in Sculley, who prioritized survival over vision during recession.
• Apple's values eroded post-departure, leading to stagnation; by 1995, it was on a glide path to death with eroded differentiation.
• Microsoft succeeded via IBM's boost and opportunism, dominating apps after gambling on Mac, but lacks taste, culture, and enlightenment in products.
• NeXT focuses on object-oriented software, enabling 10x faster development, as innovation shifts to software infiltrating business and services.
• The web fulfills computers as communication devices, not just computation, enabling direct sales and equalizing small/large companies.
• Humans are tool builders; the computer is the bicycle of the mind, amplifying abilities, ranking among history's greatest inventions.
• Direction in technology comes from taste, stealing great ideas from arts, with Macintosh team drawing from diverse liberal arts backgrounds.
• Jobs identifies as a hippie, valuing life's deeper spark beyond materialism, which infuses products with spirit that users sense and love.

IDEAS

• Encountering a computer as a child felt like a privilege, demystifying powerful machines through hands-on programming.
• Cold-calling industry leaders at 12 opened doors to mentorship and jobs, showing persistence unlocks opportunities.
• Blue boxing revealed that simple inventions by youths could hijack billion-dollar infrastructures, empowering the individual.
• Prank calls with blue boxes, like to the Pope, highlighted youthful audacity blending technology with mischief.
• Building terminals from necessity evolved into personal computers, blurring lines between hobby and innovation.
• Selling assembled units unexpectedly scaled a garage project into a business, teaching adaptive entrepreneurship.
• Venture capital introductions, like to Markkula, turned raw designs into polished products for mass appeal.
• Questioning business folklore exposes inefficiencies, allowing rapid learning through critical inquiry.
• Programming as a liberal art reshapes thinking, akin to law, fostering logical precision for all.
• Wealth accumulation was secondary to building impactful products and enabling human potential.
• Xerox PARC's GUI demo blinded Jobs to other innovations, yet sparked inevitable industry transformation.
• Monopolies rot innovation by promoting sales over product genius, as seen in Xerox's "toner heads."
• Allies with vested interests can salvage flawed entries, like IBM's PC ecosystem.
• Outsourcing resisted ideas, like cheap mice, accelerates innovation against internal skepticism.
• Process obsession in scaling confuses means with ends, dooming companies like IBM.
• High-priced mismatches, like Lisa, alienate core markets, underscoring cultural alignment in pricing.
• Small, mission-driven teams reinvent companies by overhauling manufacturing and marketing.
• Great ideas require craftsmanship; evolution through trade-offs polishes them via team friction.
• Dynamic ranges in tech talent amplify success exponentially, self-perpetuating A-player cultures.
• Direct feedback on work, without ego coddling, refocuses talent toward collective excellence.
• Pioneering laser printers via software partnerships unlocked killer apps like desktop publishing.
• Marketing blunders dilute focus, as broadening beyond strengths scatters impact.
• Survival instincts in leaders scapegoat visionaries during crises, fracturing companies.
• Stagnation erodes leads; Apple's post-Jobs R&D yielded little without unified leadership.
• Opportunism plus persistence turns boosts like IBM's into dominance, though lacking soul.
• Object-oriented tech revolutionizes software creation, 10x faster for infiltrating society.
• The web democratizes communication and commerce, breathing new life into computing.
• Bicycles outpace natural locomotion, mirroring how tools like computers amplify humanity.
• Taste guides innovation by stealing from arts, infusing tech with liberal arts spirit.
• Hippie ethos seeks life's deeper essence, channeling it into products that resonate emotionally.
• Computers as mediums transmit personal feelings, attracting diverse talents beyond tech.

INSIGHTS

• Early hands-on tech exposure ignites lifelong passion, turning mystery into mastery for innovators.
• Youthful rule-breaking with technology teaches empowerment, proving small acts control large systems.
• Adaptive entrepreneurship emerges from solving personal needs, scaling unexpectedly through partnerships.
• Critical questioning dismantles outdated business practices, accelerating learning in dynamic fields.
• Education in programming cultivates versatile thinking, essential for navigating complex modern challenges.
• True wealth lies in creating enabling tools, not accumulation, prioritizing long-term societal impact.
• Revolutionary interfaces, once glimpsed, render all prior computing obsolete, demanding swift adoption.
• Corporate monopolies prioritize short-term gains, eroding the creative core that built them.
• Ecosystems of allies transform weak launches into industry standards, leveraging collective stakes.
• Resistance from legacy mindsets necessitates bold outsourcing to realize visionary hardware.
• Institutional processes stifle content innovation, requiring tolerance for talented disruptors.
• Product pricing must align with company culture to sustain customer loyalty and growth.
• Intense team dynamics, like rock tumbling, refine ideas through conflict into polished excellence.
• Exponential talent gaps in tech demand relentless pursuit of top performers for viral excellence.
• Candid critique sustains high standards, distinguishing supportive guidance from ego threats.
• Strategic software alliances pioneer applications, reshaping industries like publishing overnight.
• Leadership vacuums in crises amplify scapegoating, destroying visionary foundations.
• Innovation halts without bold direction; R&D alone fails amid eroded differentiation.
• Relentless opportunism exploits windows, but cultural depth elevates products beyond functionality.
• Software paradigms like objects multiply efficiency, embedding tech as societal enablers.
• Communication over computation defines computing's future, with the web as ultimate equalizer.
• Tools amplify human potential profoundly, positioning computers as history's pinnacle invention.
• Aesthetic taste, drawn from diverse arts, infuses technology with humanistic enlightenment.
• Seeking life's intangible spark inspires creations that emotionally connect beyond utility.
• Diverse backgrounds enrich tech, channeling non-technical passions into transformative mediums.

QUOTES

• "To see one and actually get to use one was a real privilege back then."
• "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."
• "If we could only had one of those we could sell them to all our friends for you know as much as it cost us to make them and make our money back."
• "It's not rocket science."
• "Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer... it teaches you how to think."
• "The most important thing was the company the people the products we were making."
• "It was obvious to me that all computers would work like this someday."
• "They just had these toner heads would come out to Xerox Park and they just had no clue about what they were seeing."
• "It's not process it's content."
• "Designing a product is keeping 5,000 things in your brain these Concepts and fitting them all together."
• "Through that group of incredibly talented people bumping up against each other... they polish each other and they polish the ideas."
• "In software and it used to be the case in Hardware too the difference between average and the best is 50 to one maybe 100 to one easy."
• "When you say someone's work is shit you really mean I don't quite understand it would you please explain it to me."
• "There's a just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product."
• "He basically got on a rocket ship that was about to leave the pad... and thought that he built a rocket ship."
• "Apple's dying... it's on a Glide slope to die."
• "They just have no taste... their products have no Spirit to them."
• "The personal computer was the bicycle of the mind."
• "Good artists copy great artists steal."
• "There's something more going on there's another side of the coin that we don't talk about much."
• "They've work with computers because they are the medium that is best capable of transmitting some feeling that you want to share with other people."
• "The web is going to be the defining technology the defining social moment for computer."

HABITS

• Cold-calling experts for parts and advice to fuel personal projects.
• Attending weekly research lab meetings to explore cutting-edge technology.
• Collaborating intensely with skilled peers on electronics and hacking ventures.
• Questioning established business practices deeply to uncover underlying reasons.
• Prioritizing product content over rigid processes in team management.
• Hiring and surrounding oneself exclusively with top A-player talent.
• Providing direct, clear feedback on work quality to refocus efforts.
• Drawing inspiration from diverse fields like arts and history for innovation.
• Seeking out and stealing great ideas from other domains shamelessly.
• Infusing personal passions and hippie-like curiosity into product development.
• Visiting factories worldwide to reinvent manufacturing approaches.
• Maintaining focus on long-term vision over short-term financial gains.

FACTS

• In 1995, Jobs ran NeXT, a niche company later acquired by Apple, leading to his return.
• Jobs first used a teletype terminal at NASA Ames, programming in BASIC or Fortran.
• Hewlett-Packard offered donut and coffee breaks at 10 a.m. to value employees.
• The HP 9100 was the first self-contained desktop computer with a CRT display.
• Blue boxes exploited AT&T's signaling in the voice band for free international calls.
• Apple I assembly took 40-80 hours per unit due to hand-wiring.
• The Byte Shop was the world's first computer store, later becoming an adult bookstore.
• Apple II launched at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire with groundbreaking color graphics.
• Jobs was worth over $100 million by age 25 after Apple's IPO.
• Xerox PARC demonstrated GUI, object-oriented programming, and networked Altos in 1979.
• IBM's PC entered as a $30 billion company against Apple's $1 billion valuation.
• Macintosh mouse was designed for $15 in 90 days, countering $300/5-year estimates.
• Lisa priced at $10,000, unaffordable for Apple's hobbyist market.
• Apple built the world's first automated computer factory for Macintosh.
• LaserWriter used the first Canon laser printer engine shipped to the U.S.
• Apple became the world's largest printer company by revenue when Jobs left in 1985.
• NeXT specialized in object-oriented software, serving 300 employees with $50-75 million revenue.

REFERENCES

• Triumph of the Nerds TV series by Robert X. Cringely.
• Esquire magazine article on Captain Crunch.
• AT&T technical journal from Stanford Linear Accelerator Center library.
• HP 9100 desktop computer.
• Apple I and Apple II computers.
• Macintosh project and automated factory.
• Xerox PARC innovations: graphical user interface, object-oriented programming, networked Alto computers.
• Lisa computer project.
• LaserWriter printer and Adobe partnership.
• NeXT software and object-oriented technology.
• West Coast Computer Faire.
• Scientific American article on locomotion efficiency.
• Picasso's saying: "Good artists copy, great artists steal."
• Bill Atkinson quote on critiquing work.
• MCI's Friends and Family billing software.
• PepsiCo product cycles and Sculley's background.

HOW TO APPLY

• Start with hands-on experimentation: Access basic computing resources early to build programming skills and fascination.
• Network boldly: Cold-call experts or attend labs to seek mentorship and parts for projects.
• Collaborate with superiors: Partner with knowledgeable peers on challenging builds like electronics or hacks.
• Identify necessities: Design and build tools, like terminals, to solve personal access issues affordably.
• Prototype iteratively: Hand-assemble initial versions, refining based on self-use before scaling.
• Fund creatively: Sell personal assets to cover prototyping costs, like circuit board artwork.
• Pitch assembled products: Approach stores with ready units to test market demand unexpectedly.
• Secure credit wisely: Negotiate net-30 terms with suppliers to bootstrap production without upfront capital.
• Seek venture partners: Introduce designs to retired executives for funding and equal involvement.
• Question conventions: Probe "why" behind business practices to eliminate inefficiencies.
• Hire for vision: Assemble small teams of A-players passionate about content over process.
• Outsource resistance: Bypass internal skepticism by commissioning external designs for key components.
• Focus marketing tightly: Announce products aligned with core strengths, avoiding broad dilutions.
• Provide direct feedback: Clearly articulate work shortcomings to refocus talent without undermining confidence.
• Infuse diverse arts: Draw from music, poetry, and history to enrich technological creations.
• Nudge trajectories early: Influence emerging tech vectors through subtle, foundational changes.
• Build ecosystems: Partner with allies to amplify product ecosystems and vested interests.
• Reinvent operations: Visit global factories to overhaul manufacturing for automation and efficiency.
• Prioritize craftsmanship: Evolve ideas through trade-offs and team friction for polished outcomes.
• Democratize access: Develop software enabling faster creation and societal infiltration.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Embrace technology as the bicycle of the mind, blending art and engineering to amplify human potential.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Learn programming early as a thinking tool, treating it like a liberal arts essential.
• Question business folklore relentlessly to innovate beyond outdated practices.
• Hire only A-players to foster self-perpetuating excellence in teams.
• Steal great ideas from arts and diverse fields to infuse products with spirit.
• Prioritize content over process to avoid institutional stagnation.
• Provide candid feedback on work to maintain high standards without ego.
• Focus marketing on killer apps, avoiding broad announcements that dilute impact.
• Build small, passionate teams for intense innovation through productive friction.
• Outsource boldly against internal resistance to accelerate hardware breakthroughs.
• Partner strategically for software, like with Adobe, to pioneer industry applications.
• Seek life's deeper essence to create emotionally resonant products.
• Nudge tech directions early, recognizing small changes yield massive trajectories.
• Develop object-oriented tools to 10x software efficiency in business.
• Champion the web for communication, equalizing commerce and innovation.
• View computers as amplifiers of innate abilities, ranking them historically supreme.

MEMO

In 1995, as the tech world buzzed with uncertainty, Steve Jobs sat for a rare, unfiltered interview with journalist Robert X. Cringely, rediscovered years later from a dusty VHS tape. At 40, Jobs reflected on his improbable path from a 10-year-old mesmerized by a teletype terminal at NASA Ames to co-founding Apple. That early thrill of programming—watching ideas execute on a distant machine—ignited a passion that defined his life. Jobs recalled cold-calling Hewlett-Packard's Bill Hewlett at 12 for parts, landing a job that imprinted Hewlett-Packard's employee-centric culture on his young mind. Weekly visits to their labs introduced him to the HP 9100, the first desktop computer, where he honed skills alongside future partner Steve Wozniak.

Their friendship sparked audacious projects, none more emblematic than the blue boxes—devices that hijacked AT&T's network for free global calls. Inspired by an Esquire tale of Captain Crunch, the duo built the world's best digital version, prank-calling from Pasadena to the Vatican. "We learned we could build something ourselves that could control billions of dollars worth of infrastructure," Jobs said, a lesson that birthed Apple. Necessity drove their first terminal for free time-sharing, evolving into the hand-wired Apple I, assembled in garages over 40-hour marathons. Selling to the Byte Shop's Paul Terrell—50 units fully assembled—forced them to bootstrap with 30-day credit, turning hobbyists into entrepreneurs amid a profit crisis of unsold boards.

With Intel veteran Mike Markkula's investment and expertise, Apple II launched at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, dazzling with color graphics and packaged appeal for non-hobbyists. At 21, Jobs questioned business norms, decrying "folklore" like standard costing as veils for poor controls. He amassed $100 million by 25 but fixated on products enabling human potential, not wealth. Xerox PARC's 1979 demo of the graphical user interface blinded him to other gems but convinced him: All computers would soon mimic it. Xerox squandered this, Jobs argued, as "toner heads"—sales execs—eclipsed product vision, a fate befalling monopolies like IBM.

IBM's PC terrified the $1 billion Apple, but alliances salvaged its flaws. Internally, Hewlett-Packard hires resisted Jobs's GUI dreams, prompting him to outsource a $15 mouse in 90 days. Scaling confused process with content, birthing the mismatched $10,000 Lisa, which Jobs lost control of to John Couch. Undeterred, he rallied a "mission from God" Macintosh team, reinventing manufacturing with Japan's automated factories and slashing microprocessor costs. Sculley's "disease"—mistaking ideas for 90% of execution—ignored craftsmanship's trade-offs. Jobs's rock tumbler metaphor captured it: Talented teams polish raw stones through friction into brilliance, as A-players self-select for 50-to-1 excellence.

Desktop publishing emerged from Jobs's LaserWriter gamble, partnering with Adobe for the first U.S. Canon engine, making Apple the world's top printer firm by his 1985 exit. That departure, amid recession, saw Sculley scapegoat Jobs's vision for survival, eroding Apple's values. By 1995, Jobs deemed Apple dying, its 10-year lead squandered on stagnant R&D while Microsoft opportunistically rode IBM's rocket to dominance—yet without taste or spirit. At NeXT, Jobs championed object-oriented software for 10x faster creation, eyeing the web's communicative promise as computing's social revolution, equalizing small firms in a catalog-to-direct-sales shift.

Jobs's philosophy crystallized around tools amplifying humanity: A Scientific American piece showed bicycles trouncing condors in efficiency, mirroring computers as the "bicycle of the mind." Taste, stolen from Picasso to poets, guided direction—Mac teams blended zoologists and musicians with coders. A self-proclaimed hippie, Jobs sought life's ineffable spark beyond materialism, infusing products with soul that users adored. "Computers are the medium best capable of transmitting some feeling you want to share," he mused. This lost interview, raw with charisma, captures Jobs not as icon but architect, nudging technology's vector toward enlightenment.