Steve Jobs - The Lost Interview (11 May 2012) [VO] [ST-FR] [Ultra HD 4K]

SUMMARY

In a rediscovered 1995 interview, Steve Jobs, hosted by Robert X. Cringely, recounts his early fascination with computers, founding Apple, innovations like the Macintosh, corporate missteps, and visions for software and the web revolutionizing communication.

STATEMENTS

Steve Jobs first encountered a computer at age 10 or 11 through a time-sharing terminal at NASA Ames Research Center, sparking his lifelong passion.
Computers in the early 1970s were seen as mysterious boxes from movies, represented by tape drives and flashing lights, far from everyday reality.
Jobs worked at Hewlett-Packard at age 12 after cold-calling Bill Hewlett for parts, shaping his view of a company that valued employees deeply.
HP provided perks like daily coffee and donut breaks, reinforcing Jobs' belief that a company's true value lies in its people.
Jobs met Steve Wozniak around age 14, bonding over electronics and building projects together.
Inspired by an Esquire article on Captain Crunch, Jobs and Wozniak built blue boxes to make free phone calls by mimicking AT&T signaling tones.
Their blue box exploited a flaw in AT&T's network, allowing control of billions in infrastructure with a small device, teaching the power of ingenuity.
Building the blue box involved finding secret tones in an AT&T technical journal at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
The first blue box call accidentally woke someone in Los Angeles, but confirmed its miraculous functionality.
Jobs and Wozniak created the world's best digital blue box, enabling global calls via satellites and cables.
The blue boxing experience proved that young innovators could control vast systems, directly inspiring the creation of Apple.
Necessity drove the shift from blue boxes to personal computers, as Jobs and Wozniak needed an affordable terminal for time-sharing access.
The Apple I was essentially an extension of their homemade terminal, with a microprocessor added for processing.
They built Apple Is by hand for themselves and friends, scavenging parts, which took 40 to 80 hours each.
To save time, Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus and Wozniak his calculator to fund printed circuit boards for easier assembly.
The first sale was to Paul Terrell at the Byte Shop, who ordered 50 fully assembled units, forcing them into business.
They convinced parts distributors for net-30 credit, assembled and sold 50 units in 29 days, paying suppliers on time.
Profits were tied up in 50 unsold computers, leading them to expand distribution to other stores nationwide.
Mike Markkula joined as a key partner, investing money and expertise, enabling the Apple II's packaging and production.
Jobs envisioned the Apple II as the first fully packaged personal computer for non-hobbyists, with color graphics.
The Apple II debuted at the West Coast Computer Faire, stealing the show with advanced graphics and attracting dealers.
At age 21, Jobs learned business by questioning conventions, realizing many practices were unexamined "folklore."

IDEAS

Early computers were mythical entities, only seen in films as room-sized machines with whirring tapes, making personal access a profound revelation.
Calling Bill Hewlett directly at 12 years old for parts not only succeeded but led to a job, showing boldness unlocks opportunities.
Blue boxing revealed how a simple device could hijack a global network, empowering individuals against giants.
Pranks like calling the Pope as Henry Kissinger highlighted the thrill of technological mischief and its limits.
Personal computers emerged from necessity, evolving from terminals to self-contained systems for everyday users.
Selling personal assets like a bus and calculator to fund prototypes demonstrates bootstrapping innovation.
The Byte Shop order transformed a hobby into a business overnight, emphasizing adaptability to unexpected demands.
Venture capital introductions, like from Don Valentine to Mike Markkula, underscore networking's role in scaling startups.
Graphical user interfaces at Xerox PARC were an inevitable future, blindingly obvious once seen, despite flaws.
Corporate monopolies erode product focus, promoting sales over innovation, as seen in Xerox and IBM.
Macintosh required bypassing internal skepticism by outsourcing mouse design, proving external expertise accelerates breakthroughs.
Process often overshadows content in growing companies, leading to downfall when bureaucracy stifles creativity.
Wealth from Apple IPO felt secondary to building impactful products and enabling user creativity.
Programming teaches structured thinking, akin to law school, positioning computer science as a liberal art.
Teams of top talents self-perpetuate, rejecting mediocrity and driving exceptional outcomes.
Desktop publishing revolutionized offices by integrating hardware, software, and networks seamlessly.
Leadership vacuums in crises amplify internal conflicts, as with Sculley's survival instincts against Jobs.
Apple's post-Jobs stagnation showed how losing innovative leadership evaporates technological edges.
Object-oriented programming revolutionizes software creation, enabling 10x faster development.
The web fulfills computing's shift from calculation to communication, democratizing access and innovation.
Humans amplify abilities through tools like bicycles; computers are the mind's equivalent, ranking as history's greatest invention.
Taste guides innovation, drawing from arts and humanities to infuse products with spirit.
Hippie ethos seeks deeper meaning beyond materialism, channeling into creative technology.
Products should transmit human feelings, turning users into passionate advocates.
Macintosh succeeded by blending diverse talents—musicians, poets, scientists—creating humanistic tech.
Software's potency lies in enabling new services, as MCI's billing software captured billions from AT&T.

INSIGHTS

Bold persistence in youth, like cold-calling industry leaders, forges lifelong professional paths.
Small inventions controlling vast infrastructures empower underdogs, fostering entrepreneurial confidence.
Questioning business "folklore" reveals inefficiencies, allowing rapid learning without formal training.
Graphical interfaces represent computing's humane evolution, making technology intuitive and inevitable.
Monopolies prioritize short-term gains over product excellence, rotting innovative cores.
Exceptional teams emerge when A-players collaborate exclusively, self-sustaining high standards.
True leadership demands direct feedback on work quality, balancing candor with confidence in talent.
Great ideas require craftsmanship and iteration; delegation alone fails without deep involvement.
Dynamic range in tech talent far exceeds other fields, rewarding pursuit of elite performers.
Corporate paralysis from weak leadership erodes leads, as innovation demands unified vision.
Software's future lies in object-oriented tools, amplifying development speed and reliability.
The web democratizes commerce and presence, leveling giants against smallest innovators.
Tools like computers exponentially enhance human cognition, steering societal progress.
Aesthetic taste, borrowed from arts, elevates products beyond functionality to inspiration.
Hippie curiosity for life's deeper layers infuses technology with soulful, user-loving design.

QUOTES

"I became very captivated by a computer and a computer to me was still a little mysterious because it was at the other end of this wire."
"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 you're willing to sort of ask a lot of questions and think about things and work really hard you can learn business pretty fast."
"I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer... it teaches you how to think."
"Within 10 minutes it was obvious to me that all computers would work like this someday."
"The product sensibility and the product genus that brought them to that monopolistic position gets rotted out by people running these companies who have no conception of a good product."
"Designing a product is keeping 5,000 things in your brain these concepts and fitting them all together."
"The same common stones that had gone in through rubbing against each other like this a little bit of friction creating a little bit of noise had come out these beautiful polished rocks."
"In software... the difference between average and the best is 50 to one maybe 100 to one."
"When you get really good people they know they're really good and you don't have to baby people's egos so much."
"I don't really care about being right... I just care about success."
"Microsoft's just you know it's McDonald's."
"The web is going to be the defining technology the defining social moment for computer."
"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 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."

HABITS

Cold-call industry leaders directly for advice or parts, leveraging unlisted numbers in pre-digital eras.
Attend research lab meetings weekly to immerse in cutting-edge technology and network.
Build prototypes by hand, scavenging parts to solve immediate needs without budgets.
Question every business practice deeply, rejecting "that's just how it's done" explanations.
Assemble diverse teams of top talents from arts and sciences, not just engineers.
Visit global factories extensively to benchmark and innovate manufacturing processes.
Provide blunt, specific feedback on work quality to keep high performers aligned.
Steal great ideas shamelessly from other fields, adapting them to technology.
Prioritize content understanding over process in all decisions and hires.
Maintain passion for products by focusing on user enablement rather than personal wealth.

FACTS

In 1971, at age 12, Jobs got a summer job at HP after calling Bill Hewlett, who provided parts for a frequency counter.
Blue boxes mimicked 2600 Hz tones to control AT&T's network, exploiting voice-band signaling flaws.
The Byte Shop in Mountain View was the world's first computer store, ordering 50 Apple Is in 1976.
Apple II debuted at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, featuring the era's most advanced personal graphics.
Xerox PARC in 1979 demonstrated GUI, object-oriented programming, and networked Altos to Jobs.
Macintosh mouse was designed by David Kelley in 90 days for $15, countering internal engineers' 5-year, $300 estimates.
Apple became the world's largest printer company by revenue when Jobs left in 1985.
MCI's Friends and Family program used custom software to capture billions from AT&T over 18 months.
Humans on bicycles are the most efficient locomoters, surpassing condors per Scientific American study.

REFERENCES

Triumph of the Nerds television series by Robert X. Cringely.
NASA Ames Research Center time-sharing terminal.
HP 9100 desktop computer.
Esquire magazine article on Captain Crunch.
AT&T technical journal from Stanford Linear Accelerator Center library.
Byte Shop computer store in Mountain View.
Don Valentine as venture capitalist introducer.
Mike Markkula as Intel executive and Apple partner.
West Coast Computer Faire 1977.
Xerox PARC Alto computer and GUI demo.
PepsiCo as John Sculley's prior company.
Lisa computer project at Apple.
Macintosh automated factory in California.
Canon Laser Printer engine.
Adobe software and 19.9% stake.
LaserWriter printer.
NeXT object-oriented software platform.
Web and Internet as emerging technologies.
Scientific American article on locomotion efficiency.

HOW TO APPLY

Start young by seeking access to technology through local institutions like research centers.
Build personal projects with friends who share expertise, iterating on real needs.
Research and exploit system flaws ethically to understand larger infrastructures.
Fund prototypes by selling non-essential assets, minimizing external dependencies.
Pitch to early adopters like computer stores, adapting to assembly demands quickly.
Secure credit from suppliers on faith, delivering products promptly to build trust.
Recruit experienced partners for scaling, valuing their full involvement over mere capital.
Design for non-experts, packaging hardware simply to broaden accessibility.
Visit innovators like Xerox to steal and refine ideas, avoiding internal biases.
Question all processes, eliminating folklore to streamline operations.
Assemble elite teams of A-players who self-select and elevate each other.
Infuse arts and humanities into tech to create products with soul and taste.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Steve Jobs' journey reveals that bold innovation, elite teams, and humanistic design propel technology toward empowering human potential.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Immerse in technology early, even remotely, to ignite curiosity and skill-building.
Collaborate with complementary talents to tackle ambitious, interdisciplinary projects.
Prototype relentlessly, starting small to validate and scale ideas.
Network audaciously, cold-calling experts to gain mentorship and resources.
Challenge industry norms by probing "why," fostering genuine efficiency.
Prioritize user intuition over complexity in product design.
Build diverse teams blending arts, sciences, and engineering for inspired outcomes.
Invest in craftsmanship between idea and product, iterating through trade-offs.
Cultivate direct, work-focused feedback to elevate team performance.
Steal liberally from great works across fields to enrich your creations.
Focus on software revolutions like objects to multiply development speed.
Embrace the web's potential for direct, global communication and commerce.
Hire only A-players, letting them self-perpetuate high standards.
Infuse products with spirit, making them beloved tools for expression.
View computers as mind amplifiers, nudging their vector toward enlightenment.
Seek deeper life's meaning to fuel passionate, non-materialistic innovation.

MEMO

In 1995, as part of Robert X. Cringely's Triumph of the Nerds series, Steve Jobs sat for a rare, unfiltered interview that captured his charisma and foresight just before his return to Apple. Conducted after a decade away from the company he co-founded, Jobs reflected on his improbable path from a 10-year-old mesmerized by a distant terminal at NASA Ames to revolutionizing personal computing. He described computers then as mythical behemoths from sci-fi, only accessible via teletype printers that executed Basic programs, thrilling him with their ability to manifest ideas into results.

Jobs' early hustles shaped his ethos: at 12, he cold-called Hewlett-Packard's Bill Hewlett for parts, landing a job that imprinted HP's employee-centric culture—daily donut breaks symbolizing value in people. Meeting Steve Wozniak at 15, they bonded over electronics, inspired by an Esquire tale of "Captain Crunch" to build blue boxes hacking AT&T's network with synthesized tones. This "miraculous" device let two kids control global infrastructure for free calls, even pranking the Vatican. The lesson? Ingenuity trumps scale, birthing Apple's DIY spirit.

Necessity birthed the Apple I: needing a terminal for free time-sharing, they added a microprocessor, hand-building boards from scavenged parts. Selling a bus and calculator funded prototypes; a Byte Shop order for 50 assembled units forced business acumen—net-30 credit from distributors, repaid in 29 days. Profits in unsold stock spurred nationwide sales. Mike Markkula's investment packaged the Apple II for hobbyists-turned-users, debuting at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire with groundbreaking graphics, stealing the show at age 21.

Xerox PARC's 1979 demo of graphical interfaces blinded Jobs to other gems like networking, but ignited Macintosh's vision. He bypassed skeptical HP alumni hires—doubting mice could cost $300 and take years—outsourcing a $15 reliable version in 90 days. Programming, he argued, mirrors thought processes, a liberal art everyone should learn, like law school sans the career. Wealth from Apple's IPO ($100 million by 25) paled against product passion; money enabled long-term ideas.

Corporate pitfalls loomed: monopolies like Xerox rotted under "toner heads," sales eclipsing innovation. IBM's PC scared Apple but succeeded via ecosystem partnerships. Macintosh saved Apple from Lisa's mismatches, reinventing manufacturing with Japan's automated factories and a $1,000 price via volume deals. Jobs likened teams to rock tumblers: friction among talents polishes ideas into gems. A-players' 50-to-1 edge over averages self-perpetuated excellence, though intensity burned some out.

Desktop publishing via LaserWriter—first U.S. Canon engine, Adobe PostScript—became Mac's killer app, making Apple the top printer firm by 1985. Clashes with CEO John Sculley, a Pepsi marketer out of depth in tech's pace, led to Jobs' ouster amid 1984's recession. Sculley's survival instincts scapegoated Jobs, destroying Apple's values and 10-year lead. By 1995, Apple glided toward irrelevance, Macintosh barely evolved despite billion-dollar R&D.

At NeXT, Jobs championed object-oriented software, enabling 10x faster creation amid software's infiltration of business (MCI's billing war on AT&T). The web excited him most: fulfilling computing's communication destiny, unowned by Microsoft, it would redefine society—catalog sales migrating online, smallest firms rivaling giants. Humans as tool-builders peaked with computers, the "bicycle of the mind," amplifying cognition; taste from arts ensured humanistic direction.

Jobs embodied a hippie-nerd hybrid, seeking life's "other side" beyond materialism, channeling it into soulful products users loved. Stealing from Picasso—great artists steal—he blended poets, musicians, and scientists into Mac's magic. Though NeXT was small, its innovations hinted at futures; the interview, lost then found in a garage, immortalized Jobs' unyielding vision at technology's crossroads of art and utility.