Industry folks and Bay Area natives, share your Steve stories! Now that the big man's retired, feels like it might be a good time to look back and share a war story or two. I've got a few, myself, but here's a couple that, as it happens, I've never told publicly:
One of my first run-ins with Steve was back in the early days of Engadget -- way back when no one (partially including us) fully understood the future blogging held for media. In those days, we had few regular, solid press contacts in the industry -- and fewer at Apple. So it kind of goes without saying that whenever a big Apple keynote was announced, it was by no means a sure thing we'd have seats. In fact, when we didn't have seats, we'd often have to rely on analyst friends in the audience to feed us updates over tethered GPRS -- this was way before 3G. I'm feeling super old all of a sudden. Anyway!
So on one particular event, invites had gone out, but the Apple PR folks hadn't sent us ours and weren't returning our calls or emails. Make no mistake about it, their PR team is probably the busiest and hardest working in the business, but our liveblogging efforts were starting to ramp up and we knew we had to be there (even if they didn't). Day after agonizing day passed where we heard nothing back on whether we'd be admitted entry, so we decided to go with the nuclear option: email Steve.
See, even though it was pretty early on, we'd heard that Engadget was already Steve's favorite new tech site (which as you might imagine kind of blew our minds). For both self motivated reasons and so as not to disappoint the man (at least that's how we justified it to ourselves), we dropped a brief email letting him know we hadn't yet gotten invites, and that we were looking forward to covering the event. Within minutes Steve emailed back that he'd look into it for us
Within the hour I got a call from a 408 number. I picked up the phone, and was promptly told "It's [redacted] from Apple, and you really didn't have to take this matter to the executive level." This person was pissed, and fairly enough, I suppose. I probably would have been, too, if I were in their position. I explained the best as I could that we'd been trying patiently to work the normal channels, but we had yet to even heard so much as a "no". We worked things out, and although the invites were probably a little begrudging, at least they came.
Our working relationship with Apple didn't change overnight, as I might have thought. In fact, Engadget's relations with Apple didn't really change until I moved to the Bay Area in 2006 -- but in time Apple's PR team began accepting more and more "new media" outlets like ours into the fold, and eventually began to treat online with the same professional courtesy as our colleagues in the dead-tree business.
Moral of the story? Steve didn't just understand the future of technology, he understood the future of media and content as well. Love that.
Definitely my weirdest interaction with Steve came a few years later at the D conference in 2007. This was not long after "Applegate" -- I'll spare all the gory inside details on that one for another time, but needless to say things got a little tense for a little while, and I wasn't sure if Apple would ever work with Engadget professionally again.
The conference broke for lunch, and Steve was standing in the hall shooting the breeze with some folks as everyone was funneling in. This was the first time I'd seen him after that whole thing, so I decided to man up and talk to the guy face to face after what had happened. I'll admit, for me it was largely on a personal level -- that whole situation kind of shook Apple's boat for a day or two there, and it couldn't have been any more fun for Steve and his team than it was for me and mine.
What's more, and, I know it sounds a little strange, but I somehow felt like I'd let the guy down. Not so much professionally, because I'd already said my peace on the matter (www.engadget.com/2007/05/17/regarding-yesterdays-a...), but because Steve had told people without hesitation that Engadget was his favorite tech site, and that he read it religiously for competitive intel. Whether that whole situation was to a certain extent out of my hands or not, I still felt like I blew it, so I went over to shake the guy's hand and apologize for the mixup.
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. Granted, Brian and his team were totally killing it in those days, and I will absolutely give him credit were it's due. As far as I'm concerned, that was kind of the golden era, and it felt like Blam and I were at the top of our game. But still, it was also pretty clear that Steve was playing them off of us, too. Gakwer later posted a story about Giz being Steve's new favorite, but I held my tongue. As much as it stung, I have to admit, that whole thing really cracked me up, too.
So, got any good Steve stories of your own? Post 'em below. Just make sure they're, you know, real!
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Share your Steve Jobs stories!
In 2006, I worked for Apple in both their retail stores and on their Cupertino campus doing testing and QA for the software running on their EasyPay machines (the old Symbol / Motorola PDAs that ran custom software on top of Windows Mobile). Those of us who worked on the software always thought that was strange and we asked our PM why Apple just didn't build their own custom device for this sort of thing. He said it'd be nice, but Apple wouldn't build something only intended for 20K people. Mind you, this was back before the iPhone was officially announced (this would end up happening about 4 months later).
Anyway, at this exact same time, a friend of mine was the visual coordinator at a nearby Apple Store. Every time new promotional material came in, he was in charge of setting it up and making sure it looked good. In fact, because of the location of this particular Apple Store in relation to the Cupertino campus, Steve Jobs and the rest of the executive team would often have it blacked out (hang up black curtains after hours so passerby couldn't peer in) to test out new store front promotions and such.
Steve is a notorious perfectionist. There's plenty of legendary stories of people getting into an elevator with him in Cupertino and not having a job by the time they reached their intended floor. One weekend, a friend of ours sent us an email after the store was blacked out. It said, "I was fired by Steve Jobs last night."
According to our friend, when Steve and the executive team came into the store, he immediately noticed a number of things amiss. Laptop screens not set to just the right angle, various placards not lined up perfectly parallel to the edge of the table, and just really small issues that most people probably wouldn't even give a second thought to.
Our friend said that Steve asked the store manager who their visual coordinator was and said they need to get rid of him immediately. The store manager, who had worked with Steve and the executive team a number of times before, said he'd be gone by morning.
When we asked our friend what he was going to do, he wasn't worried. The manager told him this sort of thing happens a lot and Steve probably forgot as soon as he walked out the door.
Over the next few months, my friend would end up getting "fired" by Steve on two or three more occasions before he moved and transferred to a different Apple Store -- where he was still a visual coordinator!
Anyway, at this exact same time, a friend of mine was the visual coordinator at a nearby Apple Store. Every time new promotional material came in, he was in charge of setting it up and making sure it looked good. In fact, because of the location of this particular Apple Store in relation to the Cupertino campus, Steve Jobs and the rest of the executive team would often have it blacked out (hang up black curtains after hours so passerby couldn't peer in) to test out new store front promotions and such.
Steve is a notorious perfectionist. There's plenty of legendary stories of people getting into an elevator with him in Cupertino and not having a job by the time they reached their intended floor. One weekend, a friend of ours sent us an email after the store was blacked out. It said, "I was fired by Steve Jobs last night."
According to our friend, when Steve and the executive team came into the store, he immediately noticed a number of things amiss. Laptop screens not set to just the right angle, various placards not lined up perfectly parallel to the edge of the table, and just really small issues that most people probably wouldn't even give a second thought to.
Our friend said that Steve asked the store manager who their visual coordinator was and said they need to get rid of him immediately. The store manager, who had worked with Steve and the executive team a number of times before, said he'd be gone by morning.
When we asked our friend what he was going to do, he wasn't worried. The manager told him this sort of thing happens a lot and Steve probably forgot as soon as he walked out the door.
Over the next few months, my friend would end up getting "fired" by Steve on two or three more occasions before he moved and transferred to a different Apple Store -- where he was still a visual coordinator!
Interviewed Steve for the 20th anniversary of the Mac and Macworld in 2004. Spent six months setting up what ended up being about a 10-minute-long phone call.
My last question to him was—and this was just after the "interim CEO" days—how long he felt he'd stay at Apple. He paused to contemplate for a minute. Then said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Well, you know what the song says. We're all just renting time here." His tone seemed very different from the rest of the interview, and I actually appreciated that he was so philosophical about it. Who can say what the future holds?
A while later it came out that my conversation with him took place in the period just _after_ he had received his first cancer diagnosis, but before he had decided to get treatment. It all made a bit more sense then.
My other story is a lot more mundane. At a press conference about OS X's launch I asked Steve if OS X would support AppleScript, since AppleScript workflows were so vital to the publishing industry. "Of course," he said. Seemed like nothing, but I heard later that AppleScript was in serious jeopardy at that point, and when Steve answered that question it provided some needed clarity that the technology was important and should continue. So that's the trick: get Steve to agree to something on the record in public. :-)
My last question to him was—and this was just after the "interim CEO" days—how long he felt he'd stay at Apple. He paused to contemplate for a minute. Then said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Well, you know what the song says. We're all just renting time here." His tone seemed very different from the rest of the interview, and I actually appreciated that he was so philosophical about it. Who can say what the future holds?
A while later it came out that my conversation with him took place in the period just _after_ he had received his first cancer diagnosis, but before he had decided to get treatment. It all made a bit more sense then.
My other story is a lot more mundane. At a press conference about OS X's launch I asked Steve if OS X would support AppleScript, since AppleScript workflows were so vital to the publishing industry. "Of course," he said. Seemed like nothing, but I heard later that AppleScript was in serious jeopardy at that point, and when Steve answered that question it provided some needed clarity that the technology was important and should continue. So that's the trick: get Steve to agree to something on the record in public. :-)
I have a funny story about ol' Steve-o. Listen to this.
My father has worked for Apple Inc. my entire life, and I am twenty-four. When I was about sixteen, I was hanging out with my best friend (whose father also worked for Apple Inc.), so we went to Infinite Loop to grab some lunch with our fathers. We had just purchased a new Ps2 game, so we were excited to look inside and read the instruction manual (who does that?). While waiting in line for our food, we realized that the person in front of us was Steve. I am not one to fawn over a "celebrity", so I didn't act any different, and neither did my friend. The cafeteria was packed (as per usual), so we were forced outside to eat our food and look at our game (it was Pop'n Music 12, if you're interested).
Who was sitting at the table right next to us?
You guessed right.
We didn't think twice, and kept on eating our meal and reading our manual.
No more than two minutes later, a tall blonde woman taps me on the shoulder and says, "I'm sorry, but we have been told from numerous employees that you are following Steve Jobs and harassing him, and we need you to move to another table immediately." My friend and I were completely stunned, and I said, "We're just eating our food, and we haven't even talked to him. How are we harassing him?"
"We need you to move to another table, please." Mind you, I was sixteen and my friend at the time was seventeen. We looked over at Steve, who looked nonplussed, and didn't even acknowledge our presence.
We got up and left.
My father has worked for Apple Inc. my entire life, and I am twenty-four. When I was about sixteen, I was hanging out with my best friend (whose father also worked for Apple Inc.), so we went to Infinite Loop to grab some lunch with our fathers. We had just purchased a new Ps2 game, so we were excited to look inside and read the instruction manual (who does that?). While waiting in line for our food, we realized that the person in front of us was Steve. I am not one to fawn over a "celebrity", so I didn't act any different, and neither did my friend. The cafeteria was packed (as per usual), so we were forced outside to eat our food and look at our game (it was Pop'n Music 12, if you're interested).
Who was sitting at the table right next to us?
You guessed right.
We didn't think twice, and kept on eating our meal and reading our manual.
No more than two minutes later, a tall blonde woman taps me on the shoulder and says, "I'm sorry, but we have been told from numerous employees that you are following Steve Jobs and harassing him, and we need you to move to another table immediately." My friend and I were completely stunned, and I said, "We're just eating our food, and we haven't even talked to him. How are we harassing him?"
"We need you to move to another table, please." Mind you, I was sixteen and my friend at the time was seventeen. We looked over at Steve, who looked nonplussed, and didn't even acknowledge our presence.
We got up and left.
Another quick story I have about Steve Jobs.
I started working at the Apple Store in Palo Alto in October of 2007. As we all know, this store is ridiculously close to where Steve lives. He would frequent this store almost weekly, and it was like a battlefield when we found out he was coming for a visit. Shirts were tucked in, friendliness was at a premium and smiles were blasted across our faces.
I was supremely hungover from the night before, and I wasn't aware that Steve was visiting us that day. I looked like shit.
I was the very first concierge *ever* at the Palo Alto store, because that service had just launched. I was great at it, and customers loved me.
While I was helping a customer find the Genius Bar, I signed them in for their appointment, and then thanked them for coming and showing up on time. I turned around to go back to the door where I greeted people, and I ran into Steve.
I froze.
After about two seconds of looking at me directly in the eye, he nodded to me gently. I nodded back, and he promptly walked away. I was scared shitless.
I started working at the Apple Store in Palo Alto in October of 2007. As we all know, this store is ridiculously close to where Steve lives. He would frequent this store almost weekly, and it was like a battlefield when we found out he was coming for a visit. Shirts were tucked in, friendliness was at a premium and smiles were blasted across our faces.
I was supremely hungover from the night before, and I wasn't aware that Steve was visiting us that day. I looked like shit.
I was the very first concierge *ever* at the Palo Alto store, because that service had just launched. I was great at it, and customers loved me.
While I was helping a customer find the Genius Bar, I signed them in for their appointment, and then thanked them for coming and showing up on time. I turned around to go back to the door where I greeted people, and I ran into Steve.
I froze.
After about two seconds of looking at me directly in the eye, he nodded to me gently. I nodded back, and he promptly walked away. I was scared shitless.
I don't know if this really counts as a Steve Jobs story, but I like to believe he was involved somehow.
In 2008 when the iPhone 3G had come out and was pretty much unavailable here in the Philadelphia area, I was at my wit's end. I had taken a day off from work to wait in a 5 hour line at an apple store, numerous visits to EVERY area AT&T store, and the like. I had heard random stories about how sjobs@apple.com was a legit email and even some had gotten through to steve himself. So in a selfish act of desperation I sent a polite email expressing my frustration and how eager I was for this new phone. Realistically I treated it as just a way to vent my distress rather than an actual solution.
A couple days later I received a call from an Apple store manager from the Buffalo, NY area. I live in Philly but my cell number is from where I grew up: buffalo. He had said that they were saving me an iPhone 3G and were happy to get it to me. Luckily I was taking a road trip home that weekend to visit the family. And without hassle they had a phone.
When I got that call, I was shocked. The level of customer service was amazing and I'll never forget it. In fact later that year I bought my first MacBook and never looked back. Now I know that sjobs email account probably forwards to some central repository where interns direct each email but in my mind I like to believe Steve himself read that email and forwarded it on.
It was as if Santa Claus himself got one of my childhood letters. Thank you Steve for being an innovator, a visionary, a hard-ass, a leader, and most importantly: a good guy.
In 2008 when the iPhone 3G had come out and was pretty much unavailable here in the Philadelphia area, I was at my wit's end. I had taken a day off from work to wait in a 5 hour line at an apple store, numerous visits to EVERY area AT&T store, and the like. I had heard random stories about how sjobs@apple.com was a legit email and even some had gotten through to steve himself. So in a selfish act of desperation I sent a polite email expressing my frustration and how eager I was for this new phone. Realistically I treated it as just a way to vent my distress rather than an actual solution.
A couple days later I received a call from an Apple store manager from the Buffalo, NY area. I live in Philly but my cell number is from where I grew up: buffalo. He had said that they were saving me an iPhone 3G and were happy to get it to me. Luckily I was taking a road trip home that weekend to visit the family. And without hassle they had a phone.
When I got that call, I was shocked. The level of customer service was amazing and I'll never forget it. In fact later that year I bought my first MacBook and never looked back. Now I know that sjobs email account probably forwards to some central repository where interns direct each email but in my mind I like to believe Steve himself read that email and forwarded it on.
It was as if Santa Claus himself got one of my childhood letters. Thank you Steve for being an innovator, a visionary, a hard-ass, a leader, and most importantly: a good guy.
Back in 1972, Steve Jobs and I were classmates in a small freshman humanities colloquium that was required of all Reed College freshmen. He and I had passionate disagreements about Greek aesthetics. The next time I saw him after Reed was at in a meeting at Apple HQ prior to the Macintosh launch (I was working for Microsoft). He recognized me and asked where he knew me from. I told him that I was the one who pointed out how mistaken he was about Greek sculpture and we picked up the debate where we had left off.
My only Steve story is from one of my college professors. This was back when Steve Jobs was at NeXT. My professor was working on a mouse for one of their PCs. One day Steve came in to inspect it. He said it was to big and told them to take off a millimeter in height. It was already as small as he could get it (this was back when mice had the rubber balls).
A week later, Steve came back and asked to see the mouse. My professor told him they were finally done. Steve grabbed the mouse, then looked at him and said "You didn't do anything. This is the same mouse you had last week!".
Steve was, and still is, an amazing perfectionist with the greatest attention to detail.
A week later, Steve came back and asked to see the mouse. My professor told him they were finally done. Steve grabbed the mouse, then looked at him and said "You didn't do anything. This is the same mouse you had last week!".
Steve was, and still is, an amazing perfectionist with the greatest attention to detail.
My tales of actual interaction with Steve Jobs aren't all that interesting. But here's one that leaps to mind when I think of him. Back in 1989, before I was really a technology journalist, I attended SIGGRAPH in Boston. My fondest memory of the conference was interviewing John Lasseter for my animation fanzine. (He told me Pixar would eventually make feature films, when it was ready. You think?)
But the other memory that sticks in my mind starts with me taking a down elevator at the Hynes Auditorium. I notice that Steve is directly in front of me, with a gorgeous blonde. (I'm not sure who she was, but this was before he got married.) I'm not the sort of person to harass a celeb--at least a celeb who's on an escalator--so I don't say anything.
We all get off and go into the show floor, where a sizable Pixar booth is right near the entrance. There's some sort of demo or showing of a short going on--I don't remember which. There's a big crowd. (In those days, SIGGRAPH sort of rotated around Pixar--which was a software company that made short cartoons on the side.)
Steve and the blonde and I are all standing near the back of the throng. If anyone notices him, they're too nice to make a fuss. He just stands there, watching the presentation and the crowd. And he just beams, in the same way I later saw him beam onstage at keynotes.
Of all the many fascinating things about Steve Jobs, here's one that fascinates me the most: at Apple, he has been the ultimate public face of a famous company. And at Pixar, he was a behind-the-scenes guy, almost always. But you gotta think that he's intensely proud of what Pixar has accomplished. He sure looked like it that day.
But the other memory that sticks in my mind starts with me taking a down elevator at the Hynes Auditorium. I notice that Steve is directly in front of me, with a gorgeous blonde. (I'm not sure who she was, but this was before he got married.) I'm not the sort of person to harass a celeb--at least a celeb who's on an escalator--so I don't say anything.
We all get off and go into the show floor, where a sizable Pixar booth is right near the entrance. There's some sort of demo or showing of a short going on--I don't remember which. There's a big crowd. (In those days, SIGGRAPH sort of rotated around Pixar--which was a software company that made short cartoons on the side.)
Steve and the blonde and I are all standing near the back of the throng. If anyone notices him, they're too nice to make a fuss. He just stands there, watching the presentation and the crowd. And he just beams, in the same way I later saw him beam onstage at keynotes.
Of all the many fascinating things about Steve Jobs, here's one that fascinates me the most: at Apple, he has been the ultimate public face of a famous company. And at Pixar, he was a behind-the-scenes guy, almost always. But you gotta think that he's intensely proud of what Pixar has accomplished. He sure looked like it that day.
Mac World Boston, summer 1997. Steve was giving his first keynote as CEO. I was sitting in the audience with Steve Khang, CEO of Power Computing, the leading maker of Mac clones. Power had been in touch negotiations with Apple over extension of its existing Mac OS license to cover the G3 processor and was facing an uncertain future. In the course of his keynote, Steve announces that there aren't going to be any G3 licenses, which was tantamount to killing off the clone licensing business. Khang looked like he'd been hit in the gut with a 100 lb. sandbag. It was a very ballsy move by Steve. At the time, Power was actually making better Macs than Apple, whose hardware had become pretty bad in the Spindler-Amelio era. But killing off the clones deeply angered both Motorola and IBM, who were supplying Apple with processors and which had "perpetual" Mac OS licenses. This probably doomed the PowerPC Mac in the long run. The relationship with IBM never recovered and as the company became less and less willing to meet Apple's demands, Apple was forced to turn to Intel. In the end, though, this was win-win for Apple since the increased compatibility (especially the ability to run really good Windows virtual machines) resulting from the move to Intel was an important factor in the surge in Mac polularity in the last six years.
As I've said before, my interest in Apple was at such a low ebb in 1997 that I didn't bother to go to the keynote or Macworld Expo at all. Despite the fact that my office was ONE BLOCK away from the keynote venue.
--Harry
--Harry
Another (minor) regret: I can't remember if any of the Apple demos I saw at Boston Computer Society meetings c. 1980 were by Jobs.
I worked at the Somerset Design Center building the PowerPC processors for Apple's Macs way back in the 90s. Steve came by a couple of times to motivate us and every time, before we would go into the conference room with him, we'd write down our thoughts about Apple (at the time Intel was basically kicking PowerPC's ass with Apple having very little market share). We'd come out after the meeting with Steve thinking Apple was the best computer company in the world and PowerPC's were going to take over all the x86 market. It was eye opening to see how much of a change he could inspire in us. It was amazing to see Steve's "Reality Distortion Field" in action.
What began as an almost impossible dream (starting my own software company) while working as a personal trainer was saved by Steve Jobs. I had the business plan, and I had no money. I pitched to investors left, right, and center only to get shot down. (your ideas are too out there, type stuff). Right around this time Steve had announced iAD and it was a saturday morning. I decided to email Steve because previously I had submitted some ideas to Apple for product improvements without asking for anything in return. I wanted to get his attention and I knew iAD was on his mind. I told him it was a great idea but it was missing an element. To my surprise on a saturday morning he replied back immediately with "what's your idea?". Stunned I immediately pitched him my software idea. He replied back in 24 hours. I had asked if he would invest or Apple. He said "no not interested, but build it." That sentence alone convinced 5 people to invest and I got to start my tiny operation. I deeply admire him and I hope that one day I could meet him in person. As a consequence of that we got UpSling started. www.upsling.com
Great story. Went to check out upsling.com but it crashes mobile Safari every time. Not many sites do that. Might want to take look into it.
For me, Cupertino has always held doorways and windows to my past and my future. Like most of the kids who grew up in Cupertino, I used to make extra money picking apricots in the orchards. Obviously, fruit has remained a big theme for Cupertino. Of course, I’m speaking tongue in cheek – Cupertino is Steve Jobs hometown too; one of many things we share in common). So, once lush with orchards and wineries, Cupertino is now one of the geek capitals of the world. I say that with pride and humor, because I am definitely one of them, standing on the thin line between artistry and technology. In fact, I worked at Apple for many years, and I’m proud to say that I launched the focus on music and led strategic Music and Entertainment initiatives during my 10 years there. So I am one of the truly lucky ones, with strong roots both in the Cupertino of old – and the Cupertino of now. The roots of now, the Apple tree, are firmly incontrovertibly implanted in Steve Jobs. Seeing him battle through the fight of his life and restore Apple to greatness was huge – a graceful, courageous and obviously successful battle – but it doesn’t hold a candle to seeing him fight for his life now. What he created, despite (or because of) that illness is mind blowing.
Which brings me to the issue of legacy: Apple is a big deal – not just to the world, that’s obvious – but here, in Cupertino (my hometown). Legacy, in its truest form, delivers on a promise made. The new Steve Jobs’ Cupertino Apple Campus Mothership is absolutely part of that promise. One day after the WWDC conference, Jobs put forth his new campus proposal to the Cupertino City Counsel, ripe with more than apples. Steve Jobs has designated acres and acres of his campus for apricot orchards – honoring the tradition of the Valley; that’s roots. And it’s deeper than I can convey.
I could go on and on about Apple’s commitment to its future and to the ever growing employee base (I was part of that once, and I retain a strong, golden thread to those people and the work they do), but the commitment from Steve Jobs is bigger than even that. I think I should come clean here and say that obviously I admire Steve Jobs. I don’t agree with him all the time, obviously – or with Apple for that matter. But I’ve seen him renovate more than a company or a product line. I’ve seen him refresh the people around him. I’ve watched him galvanize thousands of employees to get laser focused on success and build something meaningful. I’ve witnessed the grace, elegance, and simplicity with which the products have sparked a revolutionary embrace among consumers. I’ve watched his address at Stanford’s graduation a dozen times and brought that message into my own life – which brings me back to that metaphysical doorway I mentioned earlier. To that glimpse of one’s self coming and going.
You see, we’re all creating a legacy all the time. We are ALL in the process of going, like it or not.
A brand, well that’s for now. But a legacy… what we build that will outlast us, that’s huge. There are 3,700 trees in what will be the new Apple campus as of today, and 6,000 total when the mothership is built. To me, no matter what my life has become – working with industry leaders and entrepreneurs, innovators and influencers, celebrities and musicians, I often look through one of those doorways and see myself picking fuzzy apricots from the tress here in Cupertino. I remember where I come from and, like Steve Jobs, that my legacy has to be bigger than my brand. And just my humble opinion, whatever those trees are, whatever fruit they bear, in my book they’re all Apple trees.
Kelli Richards
CEO of The All Access Group
Which brings me to the issue of legacy: Apple is a big deal – not just to the world, that’s obvious – but here, in Cupertino (my hometown). Legacy, in its truest form, delivers on a promise made. The new Steve Jobs’ Cupertino Apple Campus Mothership is absolutely part of that promise. One day after the WWDC conference, Jobs put forth his new campus proposal to the Cupertino City Counsel, ripe with more than apples. Steve Jobs has designated acres and acres of his campus for apricot orchards – honoring the tradition of the Valley; that’s roots. And it’s deeper than I can convey.
I could go on and on about Apple’s commitment to its future and to the ever growing employee base (I was part of that once, and I retain a strong, golden thread to those people and the work they do), but the commitment from Steve Jobs is bigger than even that. I think I should come clean here and say that obviously I admire Steve Jobs. I don’t agree with him all the time, obviously – or with Apple for that matter. But I’ve seen him renovate more than a company or a product line. I’ve seen him refresh the people around him. I’ve watched him galvanize thousands of employees to get laser focused on success and build something meaningful. I’ve witnessed the grace, elegance, and simplicity with which the products have sparked a revolutionary embrace among consumers. I’ve watched his address at Stanford’s graduation a dozen times and brought that message into my own life – which brings me back to that metaphysical doorway I mentioned earlier. To that glimpse of one’s self coming and going.
You see, we’re all creating a legacy all the time. We are ALL in the process of going, like it or not.
A brand, well that’s for now. But a legacy… what we build that will outlast us, that’s huge. There are 3,700 trees in what will be the new Apple campus as of today, and 6,000 total when the mothership is built. To me, no matter what my life has become – working with industry leaders and entrepreneurs, innovators and influencers, celebrities and musicians, I often look through one of those doorways and see myself picking fuzzy apricots from the tress here in Cupertino. I remember where I come from and, like Steve Jobs, that my legacy has to be bigger than my brand. And just my humble opinion, whatever those trees are, whatever fruit they bear, in my book they’re all Apple trees.
Kelli Richards
CEO of The All Access Group
I’m at the Javitt’s Center in NYC, it’s the day before the 2000 summer keynote and Job’s is rehearsing on stage behind closed doors. I’m in the room as a digital projectionist and security is deadly tight but I had a special pass with the appropriate color coded apple logo granting me access. I had come and gone from the room many times over the days and once again entered the hall from the rear to see Steve stop mid-sentence and stare right at me. I continued to walk forward as he gestured to his handler who came rushing up to me. “Are you supposed to be in here?” he asked me all accusatory… Um, yeah dude. I’ve been here all week setting the gear up, I’m working. I looked up at the stage and saw Steve still looking at me, arms folded. I gave him the universal WTF gesture with my arms, his handler gave him the thumbs up and he continued rehearsing. After all he was getting ready to announce the G4 Cube.
Another memory also dates from the 1980s: Going to the east coast debut of the NeXT, which was held at a Boston Computer Society meeting and filled Symphony Hall. I remember my socks being knocked off. I remember Steve doing his thing as well as I ever saw him do it in later years. There was a musical guest, just as at Apple keynotes. And as we left, we all got NeXT posters.
I'd give anything to see a video of that night...
I'd give anything to see a video of that night...
I once interviewed Steve Jobs on an escalator, in the Moscone after a keynote. He wanted to get the hell out of there but I ambushed him just as he stepped on. I knew I'd have him for 20-30 seconds or so. Got some decent quotes, which was easy to do with him. :-)
Wow, I swear: When I wrote in my memory that I wouldn't harass Steve on an escalator, it was before I read this, Sam. Shows that you're a better journalist than I am...
There are some great stories here!
Anyway, "Fast Company" has also collected a very nice set of stories and posted them in this link:
www.fastcompany.com/1776100/the-first-time-i-met-s...
You should really check them out.
Anyway, "Fast Company" has also collected a very nice set of stories and posted them in this link:
www.fastcompany.com/1776100/the-first-time-i-met-s...
You should really check them out.
I've seen a few more stories pop up around the web -- post links under this reply!
Vic Gundotra's (of Google) "icon ambulance" story: https://plus.google.com/107117483540235115863/post...
Gruber's linked to a few good ones, too:
baligu.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-one-question-for-st...
tumblr.davidcairns.org/post/9359368094/so-steve-jo...
blog.precipice.org/youre-the-ones
allenpaltrow.tumblr.com/post/9375814057/my-experie...
Vic Gundotra's (of Google) "icon ambulance" story: https://plus.google.com/107117483540235115863/post...
Gruber's linked to a few good ones, too:
baligu.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-one-question-for-st...
tumblr.davidcairns.org/post/9359368094/so-steve-jo...
blog.precipice.org/youre-the-ones
allenpaltrow.tumblr.com/post/9375814057/my-experie...
I really like this one about ״Steve the neighbor":
lisenstromberg.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/my-neighbo...
lisenstromberg.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/my-neighbo...
This post has been removed.
A few more (some lifted from Giz):
venturebeat.com/2011/08/25/michael-dhuey-apple-eng...
www.fastcodesign.com/1664874/xbox-designer-on-work...
www.red-sweater.com/blog/2143/steve-jobs
www.businessinsider.com/an-attention-to-detail-201...
www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/de...
venturebeat.com/2011/08/25/michael-dhuey-apple-eng...
www.fastcodesign.com/1664874/xbox-designer-on-work...
www.red-sweater.com/blog/2143/steve-jobs
www.businessinsider.com/an-attention-to-detail-201...
www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/de...
Walt Mossberg published a very good, personal story: allthingsd.com/20111005/the-steve-jobs-i-knew/
Brian Lam's apology is also very touching:
thewirecutter.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-was-always-ki...
And I also really liked this one by John Siracussa:
arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits/2011/10/steve-jobs-a...
Brian Lam's apology is also very touching:
thewirecutter.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-was-always-ki...
And I also really liked this one by John Siracussa:
arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits/2011/10/steve-jobs-a...
Some other good ones:
Eric Shmidt's goodbye - www.businessweek.com/magazine/eric-schmidt-on-stev...
Stephan Wolfram's memories of Steve Jobs - blog.stephenwolfram.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-a-few-m...
Eric Shmidt's goodbye - www.businessweek.com/magazine/eric-schmidt-on-stev...
Stephan Wolfram's memories of Steve Jobs - blog.stephenwolfram.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-a-few-m...
So, if he emails you to ask if there is any way you could add the Apple company page to his "Had" list, will you? :)
Ryan, I hate to point this out among these nice stories but to be clear, Steve has not retired. He is still an Apple employee and board chairman. Retired would mean that he no longer collects a salary (even if it's just $1) from Apple.
Steve is simply not CEO anymore.
Unlike most CEO's he still valuable tothee company and doesn't need to leave so that new leadership can do what they want.
Steve is simply not CEO anymore.
Unlike most CEO's he still valuable tothee company and doesn't need to leave so that new leadership can do what they want.
I've spent the whole night creating a humble tribute to Steve..
tribute4.com/stevejobs/
I still cannot sleep!
tribute4.com/stevejobs/
I still cannot sleep!
I was fortunate to be involved with Steve Jobs during the initial development of the personal computer. At the time I worked for a major keyboard manufacturer in the Midwest, We supplied Steve with standard encoded keyboards modified in key layout and key legends, along with code modifications to test his first units. On a couple of occasions I visited his garage shop where he and Steve Wozniak did there work. Unfortunately, our company was not willing to put up the tooling dollars for Apples first production units. This was a decision I am sure they still regret.
Also At this time, Mr. Jobs was selling a phone dialer that emulated the tone pattern of phone numbers. His market for this device was mainly colleges, students calling home. This provided him the some of the initial funds to do his work in personal computers.
Bob Denikas
Sales Engineer
Columbus, WI
Also At this time, Mr. Jobs was selling a phone dialer that emulated the tone pattern of phone numbers. His market for this device was mainly colleges, students calling home. This provided him the some of the initial funds to do his work in personal computers.
Bob Denikas
Sales Engineer
Columbus, WI
This post has been removed.
Though I have never met Steve, I have been introduced to his lawyers. I was served a cease and desist for the fan-art I created "steve jobs in carbonite". I reached out to him in several emails, asking for approval of the art to continue selling it, but never heard back.
OK I am not so sure how much praise we should give Steve on Apple. I mean if Steve Jobs was Apple, then what does that say about Apple now that Steve has stepped aside? I am a firm believer that Steve when he came back to Apple had some ideals that finally were not ahead of their time. Plus Apple finally made a new product that was affordable to more people. I am of course talking about the iPod. Steve's first product that failed after coming back was the Cube. It of course was over priced for what it did. I am no huge fan of Steve Jobs as I believe he stifled competition and always used overhyped marketing to sell Apple's products. Many times lying about competitions products as being inferior. For all Apple has done right under Steve Jobs. I think a more open CEO could have done even more.
