Glossary

1. amble - to walk slowly in a relaxed manner
   e.g. Even as the excitement reached fever pitch, Jobs ambled on stage with a calm and placid demeanor.
2. jaunty - expressing a lively and upbeat vibe
   e.g. The gaunt Steve spoke to the crowd in a surprising jaunty perk.
3. gaunt - looking lean and haggard, perhaps due to hunger or old age or illness
   e.g. Steve Jobs was eerily gaunt as he managed to go up the stage for the iPad 2 launch.
4. visceral - deep inward feeling vs intellect
   e.g. I have a visceral aversion to gift-giving since I was not allowed to attend a party as a child because I had no gift.
5. frazzled - showing effects of strain and exhaustion
   e.g. After 9 years putting up with Jobs, Rubenstein was frazzled and left Apple.
6. anthology - a collection of literary pieces like poems
   e.g. iPod released a comprehensive anthology of Bob Dylan's recordings totalling 773 songs.
7. wry - dry, mocking, derisive, sneering, satirical, sardonic...usually applied with humor
   e.g. Satirical comedians apply wry humor to generate a laugh.
8. ostentatious - designed to impress, to get attention, vulgar, pretentious display, not subtle
   e.g. Celebrities coming up on stage need to look borderline ostentatious.
9. exuberance - feeling of excitement and energy
   e.g. The launching of the iMac was met with public exuberance.
10. innocuous - not harmful, not offensive
    e.g. To settle a litigation, Apple Corp (Beatles) and Apple (Jobs) agreed on an innocuous term that Apple will not go into the music business - this was before iPod and iTunes were conceived.
11. gregarious - one who loves company, being sociable
    e.g. I could be gregarious today and be withdrawn the next day.
12. sardonic - sarcastic, cynical, derisively mocking
    e.g. Roger Ames was a sardonic Brit who was sly and clever in his ways.
13. pall - a gloomy effect that covers or mantles
    e.g. The dot.com bubble burst cast a pall on the heady days of the internet frenzy.
14. just-in-time factories (JIT factories) - factories that only produce what is needed, when its needed, in the right amount - this lowers down inventory and frees up capital
    e.g. Jobs saw a few just-in-time factories in Japan, especially Toyota.
15. perfunctory - mechanical, no passion, almost like duty-bound, superficial, no effort, no enthusiasm
    e.g. When iMac was launched, Bill Gates, in his now perfunctory thumbs down remark, said the iMac was nothing more than a leadership in colors.
16. impresario - a director, producer, stage manager, etc. One who organizes and finances stage shows, theaters a nd vaudeville
    e.g. For Apple product launches, Jobs was at his best playing impresario.
17. pocket-vetoed the request - usually, a person of authority simply does not act on the request without rejecting or refusing it. By doing nothing, the request lapses
    e.g. Clinton pocket-vetoed Jobs' indefferential request to a president to call Robin Williams for a voice-over for Apple.
18. stupor - state of insensibility
    e.g. Amelio was in stupor as he ranted with his unrehearsed speech.
19. self-effacing - not taking attention for oneself, making it "not about me"
    e.g. Reed was self-effacing unlike his narcissistic Dad.
20. unedifying - distasteful, unpleasant
    e.g. Laurene left Goldman Sacks because she felt the job unedifying, focused only on capital formation.
21. tempestuous - turbulent and conflicting emotion
    e.g. Their love affair was tempestuous at best.
22. salving his wounds - salve means healing with an ointment, so "healing his wounds"
    e.g. When Jobs was kicked out of Apple, Redse salved his wounds.
23. pine in public - openly displaying longing in public
    e.g. Jobs and Tina Redse would both pine in public.
24. vacillate - to waver and be indecisive, sometimes here, sometimes there
    e.g. Jobs vacillated if he would continue running the Mac project or develop the flat screen project with Steve Kitchen.
25. reprise - in music, a repeat of a passage
    e.g. The January 1985 shareholder's meeting was to be a reprise of the iconic 1984, but made a dark turn since it portrayed every manager who bought an IBM as mindless and stupid.
26. Cheshire Cat smile - a mischievous smile from someone who knows more than what he is letting on. The Cheshire Cat is a character from Alice in Wonderland.
    e.g. While Jobs was hosting dinner for Sculley's first year anniversary at Apple, Jobs had the grin of a Cheshire Cat.
27. acquiesce - accept something reluctantly but without protest
    e.g. After Jobs asked Sculley the sugared-water question, Sculley had no recourse but to acquiesce.
28. sophomoric - guileless, presenting to be knowledgeale but uninfored
    e.g. Sculley's marketing recommendations to Jobs were sophomoric with all his underlined words and patronizing condescension.
29. impetuous - harsh, impulsive, reckless, edgy
    e.g. Sculley was taken by the impetuous Jobs during the hiring meet up.
30. esprit de corps - sense of pride, fellowship and loyalty to the group
    e.g. The Mac team felt an esprit de corps for being A-list players producing the world's most interesting personal computer.
31. tenuous - very weak
    e.g. With only 4 engineers, the Macintosh computer led a tenuous existence, often to the brink of getting canceled.
32. enthralled - capture the fascination of...
    e.g. Raskin enthralled Jobs as much as he got Jobs annoyed.
33. resolute - purposeful, determined, unwavering
    e.g. Jobs was resolute in his quest for a product that looked simply, friendly and elegant.
34. solicitous - showing interest
    e.g. Jobs was solicitous to Don Valentine about needing a marketing man who can develop a business plan for Apple.
35. briskly - spiked or thorny
    e.g. I get briskly when confronted by authority.
36. regent - someone taking over because the official administrator is incapacitated or a minor
    e.g. Mike Scott essentially acted as a regent to Jobs because of Jobs youthful arrogance and his hygience.
37. petulant - being childishly sulky or bad tempered
    e.g. Jobs' petulance eupted when his badge number was #2 while Woz's was #1
38. foil - prevent from succeeding
    e.g. With Jobs as Don Xiotte, he launched to foil IBM's aspiration of being the big cheese in personal computer.
39. repudiate - refuse to accept or refuse to be associated with
    e.g. Moritz repudiated the harsh reporting on Jobs and claimed it was a bartardization of the publication editors.
40. lapidary - the art of etching on stones and gems
    e.g. The lapidary on granite rocks broke the etching tools.
41. mollify - appease the anger
    e.g. His apple pie offering did not mollify me...not after backstabbing me.
42. prescient - knowing something before it happens
    e.g. Combining the circuit board, keyboard and monitor was prescient to the birth of the personal computer.
43. tome - a large heavy scholarly book
    e.g. The bible is a tome worth its weight in gold.
44. incredulous - state of unwilling or unable to believe in something
    e.g. Skeptics were incredulous about Jobs' unapologetic statement that iPhone 4 had no problem.
45. French farce - a comedic play originating in France during the late Middle Ages. It is characterized by exaggerated characters, improbable situations, physical humor, complex plots and brisk pace.
    e.g. The incestuous sexual escapades that happened in Jobs' ranch house was worthy of a French farce.
46. skunkworks - a special team in an organization working autonomously on a spefic project
    e.g. Raskin headed a skunkworks within Apple, working on a low-cost computer for the masses.
47. oversubscribed IPO - there was more buyers than the available stock for sale
    e.g. When Apple went public, it became the most oversubscribed IPO since Ford, catapulting Apple with a market valuation of $1.79B.

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