How the book came to be
(p 18) 2004, Jobs asked Isaacson to write his biography. It was declined - perhaps in another decade when Jobs retired. In 2009, Jobs' wife gave WI the news that Jobs was very sick. When Jobs talked about being the man who combined science and humanities in his undertakings, WI was intrigued. Jobs assured that he will not take control of the book's contents or seek advance reading. He even encouraged everyone to speak freely to WI - even people who didn't like him. WI had 40 interviews with Jobs plus hundreds more with family, friends, competitors, employees, antagonists over a 2-year period. WI saw how Jobs could have a warped distortion of reality - not intentional, but simply how Jobs saw events happen through his lenses. WI saw how Jobs' vision and passion innovated 6 industries - phones, tablet computing, digital publishing, animated movies, personal computer and music, perhaps even retail stores. In August 2011 when he stepped down as CEO, 2 months before his death, Apple was the most valuable company in the world./p>

Creativity and Technology
WI also wanted this book to be about creativity and technology. This is what Jobs essentially combined to launch all his products. His imagination developed new and exciting products the public didn't even know they needed./p>

Asshole Boss
Jobs wasn't an ideal boss. He had his demons and drove his people to anger and despair. But Jobs' personality and products are deeply intertwined, just like Apple's hardware and software. They simply come bundled together.

Adoption
(p 25) After WWII, Paul Jobs (would-be Dad of Steve) met Clara Hagopian (of Arminian decent) in San Francisco and got engaged 2 weeks later. It was a happy marriage lasting 40 years until one died. After 9 years together without a child, they decided to adopt. Steve's real parents, Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, (Syrian muslim) could not have Steve because they couldn't get married and abortion was not an option. Thus, the parents gave up Steve for adoption to lawyer parents who rejected the baby learning it was male. Steve was then given to his new parents, Paul, a high school drop out making a living as a mechanic and Clara, simple housewife working for a bookkeeper. The couple named their newly adopted, Steven Paul Jobs. Joanne and John eventually married and had a daughter, Mona Simpson, who would be an acclaimed novelist. It would take another 20 years before the 2 families would find each other since the adoption was formalized and closed.

Abandoned
(p 26) Jobs knew the whole time he was adopted and felt that he was an abandoned baby - this 'abandoned' thinking stayed with him the rest of his life. This played a crucial role in Jobs being very independent and controlling about his environment and the products he churned out. This also led him to be cruel. Jobs rejects this and claims that he always felt special. He sees his biological parents simply as genetic source.

Silicon Valley
(p 29) Jobs' parents adopted a girl, Patty and they all moved to Mountain View, south of Palo Alto. At that time, the aero-space companies and the 'industrial military complex' were beginning to establish themselves in that general area. In his neighborhood, even the rich people were mostly engineers. Polaroid was making cameras for the U2 spy planes, Lookhead was building missiles for submarines, Westinghouse was making support systems for the missiles. Many exciting things were happening during the 50s. The genesis of Silicon Valley dates back to 1938 when the computer Hewlett Packard was developed by 2 friends in the garage. Ternet of Stanford University developed a 700-acre area in the campus for companies who would commercialize the projects of its students. This brought about the explosive growth of the area.

The main industry in Mountain View was semi-conductors. Intel was born here. More than 50 chip companies were HQed there. The memory chips were later scaled to fit into a microprocessor. This scaling was growing and forecasted to double every 2 years - this forecast was used by Jobs and Gates to grow their companies. The 40-mile Santa Clara Valley later on became the now-famous Silicon Valley. This was the scene as Jobs was growing up - it excited him and wanted to be a part of this growth.

Eichler Homes
(p 31) The family was living on an Eichler home. It was a budget house for the masses but built smart and clean elegance with value-added features you would not expect from a budget house. This was also the genesis of Jobs' future products - smart and well designed for the masses.

Paul as White Knight
(p 32) Jobs learned from his Dad, to craft the unseen parts properly. Paul would show and explain to Jobs the fine appointments of the cars he was restoring - features that would eventually be reflected in the iPhone products. Jobs didn't really like to dirty his hands or do anything mechanical, but showed a keen interest in electronics (when his Dad would teach him the rudimentary of electronics in the cars he was refurbishing). Jobs remembers a time his father stood up for a baby sitter who was beaten up by the boyfriend. Paul didn't succeed in real estate because he wasn't good at sucking up to people. So he went back to being a mechanic.

Smarter than his Parents
(p 35) Jobs soon realized that he was smarter than the 2 people he idol-worshipped - his parents. The carbon-microphone event underscored that. It stayed with him with shame making him feel more detached - more so because he knew he was adopted. His parents also knew this and went out of they ways to support Jobs - better school, gadgets he needed, etc. His personal mindset was being abandoned and special - this formed his self-image and his personality.

School
(p 36) Being smarter than the rest, Jobs got bored in class and took exception to authority. Jobs addressed his boredom by playing pranks, sometimes getting him in serious trouble. Paul defended Jobs by telling the school that it was their responsibility to stimulate bright kids - otherwise, it's their fault. This all happened up until his 3rd grade.

In 4th grade, a smart teacher, Imogene 'Teddy' Hill, bribed Jobs to finish a set of math problems. Jobs was so into it that he didn't require a bribe after a while. Teddy cared for Jobs and attended to his special needs. Jobs credits her for learning the most of all teachers. The school eventually realized Jobs was too smart so they advanced him to 6th grade, which ended him in a different and violent school - Crittenden Middle. Jobs begged his folks to be moved. For this, they moved south to a much better school - Cupertino Sunnyvale.

Jobs' view on religion took shape as he subscribed to having a spiritual experience rather than being taught dogma.

Paul Jobs was now working for a laser company but Jobs was more interested in electronics. When he saw a calf born and walked after a few minutes without leaning how to walk, he realized that the hardware-software were designed and developed together. This was his inspiration for the Apple computer - hardware and software were made by the same company (unlike IBM).

In the 60s, he was beginning to hangout with the hippie types who were on LSD. He was still into the geeky stuff though - math, science and electronics.

Jobs would often visit his old neighbor, Larry Lang, who introduced him the the Heathkit assemble-it-yourself kit. The kits gave instructions on how to build it but also explained the concept - so Jobs learned things as he was building it.

Jobs got a job at Hewlett-Packard after calling the CEO on the phone. At work, he would hang out with the engineers and learn from them. He also had a paper route and worked as a stock clerk at Haltek, an electronics shop - it was heaven for him.

At 15, Jobs started smoking weed. This escalated into LSD and acid. p 43

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Woz
(p 45) Jobs became friends with the school's legendary whiz kid, Stephen Wozniak, who was 5 years older. He was th alpha geek with technology but he was also the stereotypical geek socially and emotionally. Woz's teacher was his Dad who was an accomplished scientist working at Lockheed, chanting the mantra that engineering transforms society. The one thing he valued from his Dad was NEVER LIE - and Woz never did to this day. Another lesson Woz learned was not to take the spotlight but to stay in the middle. As his childhood playmates turned to girls, Woz was shut out. He became alone and lost. He didn't know how to be with girls - but he compensated for that by playing pranks.

He studied FORTRAN programming on his own and developed an optimized version of an existing computer using just half the parts with newer and better parts - on paper. He became the computer builder par excellence - on paper.

Bill Fernandez, a common friend to Woz and Jobs, introduced the both to each other - probably the most meaningful meeting since Hewlett and Packard 32 years before. They immediately hit it off. The 2 talked for hours, mostly about pranks they pulled and electronics. They both enjoyed music, Bob Dylan especially. The 2 did many more pranks that caused suspension or discipline. Their capers became lore of Homestead High.

Stephen Wozniak and Steve Jobs

The Blue Box
(p 51) Through a magazine featuring a phone hack using a specific frequency response to make a free long-distance call, Woz and Jobs wasted no time in their next prank. After successfully raiding a library for the pulled-off-the-shelf frequency codes, they sourced the gadgets they needed - analog tone generators, frequency counters, etc. After a few unsuccessful attempts, they finally got it nailed. They initially used it for pranks like calling the Pope, but Jobs thought about building more like it and selling it. It worked until they encountered an episode with a guy with a gun. They stopped selling, but that escapade would eventually lead to the founding of Apple where Woz's wizardry and Job's vision and marketing would prove synergistic.

Chrisann Brennan
(p 55) Chrisann was Jobs' first real girlfriend. They moved together to a cabin on the hills of Palo Alto, against Jobs' Dad's wishes.

Jobs was already dropping acid and looking like a half-crazed shaman given his long hair and scraggly beard. He was exhibiting eccentricity. Woz described Jobs as half crazy and Chrisann described him as angsty, dark, enlightened and cruel.

For money, Woz, Chrisann and Jobs worked in costumes for Alice in Wonderland. Woz was happy and Jobs thought it was a pain and wanted to smack some kids. Patience wasn't one of his virtues.

Chrisann Brennan and Steve Jobs

Reed College
(p 57) True to Paul's pledge to send Jobs to college, they saved enough for it. But Jobs wasn't too eager and instead thought about New York where some more artistic could be pursued. He applied to Reed College, a liberal arts private school in Oregon that was too expensive for the family to afford. Reed was the hippie school where students practiced Timothy Leary's, "turn on, tune in, drop out". Indeed, the drop out rate there was 1/3!. Jobs was ungrateful to his parents for that coveted schooling - something he regreted later in life. With his move to Portland, he also left Woz behind...but they were always in touch.

As the Vietnam War was winding down, so did anti-Vietnam activism. Flavor of the month shifting to spiritual pursuits with Ram Das being the pied piper.

Daniel Kottke
(p 58) During his freshman year, Jobs became friends with Kottke. Both of them dove deep into Zen Buddhism, meditation, acid, Bob Dylan, fasting, fruitarianism and vegetarianism.

Kottke remarked that Friedland was radiant, charismatic, mercurial, a conman, supremely confident and dictatorial. He has a strong presence and gets everyone's attention. These traits Jobs admired and emulated.

Robert Friedland
(p 61) For money, Jobs sold his computer to Robert Friedland who somehow became a guru to Jobs for many years until Jobs began to see him as a charlatan. Friedland was a son of a wealthy architect. He spent jail time for having 24,000 tablets of LSD. At Reed was influenced by Ram Das teachings and he became student body president. He went to India to meet Ram Das' guru. At Reed, Friedman looked and talked the guru part. Friedland was impressed by Job's intensity taken to an irrational extreme - a Jobs signature. Friedman introduced Jobs to a reality distortion field.

Jobs, Kottke + girlfriend would stay at Friedland's 220-acre hippie communal farm. Other hippies would stay and work for free while Friedland commercialized the products for profit while chanting anti-materialism. Commune members gradually left as they smelled Friedland. Friedland eventually became a mining billionaire who got into environmental troubles and attempted to use Jobs to bail him out - Jobs avoided him.

Drop out
(p 64) Jobs quickly got bored with the course requirements of Reed. He only took what he liked like dance, typefaces (fonts, kerning, etc.) and calligraphy (this highlights Jobs' fusion of arts and science. There was always elegance, great design and human touches with functionality and technology). Woz would visit from time to time. Jobs felt guilty spending his parent's entire savings to send him to college, which he found meaningless. Thus, he eventually decided to drop out and see where life takes him. Jobs wanted to stay at Reed but to only take the classes he likes without paying tuition. Reed was smart in seeing Jobs' potential and allowed him to audit the classes he wanted (without paying tuition) and allowed him to hang out with his friends in the dorm. Jack Dudman, dean of students, remarked that Jobs would not simply take the packaged 'truths' - he had to kick the tires and see how it measures up.

Questioning the 'truth' was something Jobs and Elon had in common. Elon would question all requirements and launch a protest if the requirements are no longer valid, can be better optimized or simply stupid. He was a practitioner of First Principles thinking.

As a drop out, he stayed in an unheated garage for $20/month, walked barefeet most of the time, availed of the free Sunday lunch at the Hare Krishna, and returned empty bottles for loose change. Elizabeth Holmes, Kottke's girlfriend would make meals for him for support. His relationship with Chrisann would be erratic.

Jobs credits LSD for his enlightenment. He could not have reached his pinnacle without LSD. LSD opened up the other side of the coin. You forget what, when it wears off, but you know there's something out there. This shifted his paradigm to built great things instead of pursuing money.

Atari
(p 66) Feb 1074, after 18 months in Reed, Jobs moved back to his parents house in Los Altos and worked for Atari as technician for $5/hour. During this time, it wasn't hard to look for tech jobs. Atari was headed by Nolan Bushnell, a charismatic visionary who, like Friedland, used his charm to ingratiate and intimidate, control and persuade, etc. Jobs learned how to manipulate people through his new mentor. Al Alcorn, was the chief engineer and the stabilizing factor to Bushnell. Atari's runaway bestseller then was Pong. Alcorn saw something in Jobs despite applying looking like a hippie, so he was hired. Jobs was difficult to work with and his colleagues complained about him. But Bushnell liked him. Jobs claims that everyone at Atari was bad shit, thus he rose in stature.

Jobs became friends with a closet-queen colleague, Ron Wayne, who started his slot machine business but failed. Jobs was impressed that Ron started his own company. He wanted to emulate that.

India
(p 69) Jobs was going to India and resigned from Atari. Alcorn offered a sideline. If Jobs could go to Germany and Turin to fix the interference problems of the Atari games from 60 to 50 frames/sec. Jobs did the contract but the Germans complained that he smelled and looked like a bum. Jobs had a better experience in Turin with the distributors. He passed by Switzerland then to New Delhi where he quickly got the Delhi-belly (diarrhea). He lost 40 lbs in a week. When he got well, he was just in time for the the Kumbha Mela in Haridwar. It was Woodstock for yogis. When he came upon the village of Neem Karoli Baba (the guru of Ram Das) on the foothills of the Himalayas, the guru was already dead. There, he met Larry Brilliant, who would become a lifelong friend. Jobs walked from village to village until he was told of a guru and his followers staying on the estate of a wealthy patron. He went there. The guru singled him out and shaved his head to 'save his health'. Kottke joined him in Delhi. At that point, Jobs wasn't looking for a guru anymore. He simply wanted to achieve enlightenment by being an ascetic himself, living in extreme austerity. But no, Jobs didn't find enlightenment. Soon after, he left for Los Altos where his parents picked him up at the airport.

The Search
(p 72) He continued to find himself, meditating and doing course audit at Stanford. His interest in Zen Buddhism, Hinduism and Eastern philosophy wasn't a passing fancy. This search extended the rest of his life. He was serious about enlightenment and spiritual evolution.

In restrospecting about his trip to India, he valued the Hindu's use of intuition the same way the West uses intelligence. Jobs valued intuition and experiential wisdom higher and this was reflected in his decision making process in later years. He saw how crazy the racing mind goes in the West and its capacity for rational thought (vs intuition). If he sits down and observes without reacting, the mind eventually slows down and he sees the expansion of the mind revealing details often looked over with a frenzied mind. It's at this moment intuition kicks in. This can be practiced. Jobs thought about going to Japan to follow a guru but was advised that when the student is ready, a guru will happen. And it did.

There was a Zen meditation teacher in the neighborhood, Kobun Chino Otogawa. Jobs, Chrisann, Kottke and Holmes would regularly attend the session. His friends found Jobs becoming increasingly self-important and insufferable. Jobs was the most serious of all who would spend as much time as possible with Kobun. This friendship extended through the years. 17 years later, Kobun officiated Jobs' wedding. Jobs even signed up for scream therapy where you unleash all those repressed angst and anger. This stems from Jobs' unknowing who his biological parents are and that he was given up.

Breakout
(p 76) Jobs came back to work nightshift for Atari - Alcorn and Ron Wayne were happy to have him back, despite looking like a Hare Krishna devotee. Woz worked for HP nearby and they would hang out and play video games. Bushnell asked Jobs to design a Pong game for one player. As Bushnell expected, Jobs would tag along a better engineer - Woz, for the job. It's was Bushnell's 2-for-1 scheme. Woz only too happy to participate on a 50% split. What Jobs didn't tell Woz, was that there would be a bonus if the chips used were less than 50. Jobs also fictionalized a 4-day deadline for Woz (this is where it gets gray for me. Was Jobs being dishonest by not divulging all? Or was this fair game since Woz didn't have to know everything and that he agreed to the terms anyway. This reminds me a scene in Godfather where the young de Niro made a proposal to Clemenza without telling him all the details de Niro arranged with Fanucci, the Black Hand). Both of them actually finished it in 4 days using only 45 chips (which means a bonus for the 5 saved chips). Engineers usually take months to do this. Woz eventually found out 10 years later when the Atari story broke out, that Jobs was paid a bonus that was not shared with Woz. This pained Woz - he still would have waived the bonus if Jobs told him he needed the money. To Woz, this was a lack of ethics on Jobs' part.

From that episode, Jobs learned from Bushnell how to be hardball with business. But Bushnell would do this without being abusive unlike Jobs. Bushnell saw in Jobs the engineer aspect but also the businessman aspect. Bushnell advocated to pretend like you know what you're doing and people will behave accordingly around you.

Machines of Loving Grace
(p 80) There was a fusion happening in the San Fran area during the late 60s - technology boom with the aero-space industry, computers, video games, the hippie movement, hacker groups, New Age resurgence and the music scene (Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, etc.). It was an exciting time to be in SF. Jobs soaked this all in - meditating in the morning, then auditing classes at stanford and working night shift in Atari. He was poising himself to start his own business.

Cyberdelic
(p 81) There was a merging of the hackers and the computer. Computers were no longer a manipulative machine to control people but a means of self-expression. This fusion gave rise to a new world that had no precedent.

Altair
(p 83) When the first personal computer kit was introduced in Popular Mechanics, Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed a BASIC program for its OS. Jobs and Woz were followed suite.

Homebrew Computer Club
(p 83) This club was the culmination of the counterculture and technology with PCs as a focal point. On its first meeting, Woz got an inspiration to add the microprocessor within an integrated component with a screen and keyboard. It would be a stand-alone and self-contained - thus the Apple 1 was conceptualized.

The First PC
(p 85) Woz worked on the concept immediately and labored for months, soldering the hardware and writing code. Finally, he was able to type a few strokes on the keyboard and it displayed on screen - the first ever, and the PC was born! Jobs was impressed and gave support - more RAM, Intel chips, etc. He peppered Woz with more questions about networking the PC, adding more chips for memory, etc.

Not Free
(p 85) When Bill Gates finished the BASIC program for Altair, he wanted money from the club for its use. Jobs felt the same way. Woz wanted to give his schematics for free but Jobs convinced Woz to make a little money from it. Woz on his own, could not have thought of it. Jobs had the circuit board printed out and sold it. They then pooled their meager resources to found a company - Apple.

Apple is Born
(p 87) Woz had to be convinced to resign from HP. So Jobs recruited Ron Wayne at 10% to be a co-founder to also mediate if Jobs and Woz were at an impasse. Wayne, for fear of business failure, left the company. Had he stayed and kept his 10%, it would have amounted to $2.6B by 2010. Jobs and Woz were an odd couple, but synergistic. Jobs had great marketing and business skills and vision while Woz was great in engineering. Out of ethics, Woz offered his PC to HP first but was rejected. This freed Woz to signup his invention as Apple property.

Jobs and Woz showcased their new product at the Homebrew Convention Club where the Byte Shop owner, Paul Terrel, took interest and placed a $25,000 order for 50 assembled circuit boards (not just printed schematics). Jobs and Woz raised $15,000 capital for parts.

Apple 1

Garage Band
(p 01) With 30 days to complete 50 computers, Jobs and Woz commandeered all their friends to help out. Jobs did the soldering while Woz was quality control. They pulled it off with spare parts left for another 50 circuit boards. They started selling to retailers at $666.66/piece. Other competitors were there as well. They showcased Apple 1 in New Jersey at the annual Personal Computer Festival. Apple 1 had advantage over the competition, but it looked scruffy.

Integrated Package
(p 95) At the Festival, Jobs realized that Turrel was right - computers should be sold as an integrated unit including monitor, keyboard and computer. They are now selling the PC to the mass market and no longer to hardcore hobbyists.

Apple II Prototype
(p 96) Woz brought along the Apple II prototype but didn't publicly display it. He tested to see if it could be hooked up to a colored tv as monitor. It worked! But in order to mass produce Apple II, they needed a big company to do it for them, so Jobs talked to HP president Joe Keenan. But Jobs was barefoot, smelly and put his feet on Keenan's desk! He was unceremoniously thrown out. Next, they pitched to Commodore and even offered to sell the company for a 'few hundred thousand dollars'. Commodore declined and manufactured their own instead, the Commodore PET. It was so rushed and sloppy.

Who's Contributing More?
(p 97) Woz's Dad chewed up Jobs for getting half the company when he hasn't produced anything but talk. Woz knew better. With Jobs, they now have a budding company. If it was Woz alone, he would still be giving out free schematics at the club. The 2 talked and decided to remain equal partners.

Apple II

Sprucing Up Apple
(p 97) Next, Jobs needed a assembled unit that looked simple, friendly and elegant (like the iPhone). He was inspired by the Cuisinart design. He hired a Homebrew consultant to design one. Jobs was thrilled. For power supply, he hired Rod Holt who was a master of everything. Holt pioneering the switching design which switched power on-off thousands of times/sec and not the conventional 60x/sec, thus heat doesn't built up and there is no use for a fan. This is now used by all PCs. Holt revolutionized the PC power supply but got little credit for it. Jobs also wanted the guts of the Apple to be streamlined - even though it cannot be seen. He only wanted 2 input jacks - for printer and modem. Woz objected and won...that time. He would increasingly lose power and won't be able to veto Jobs again.

Mark Markkula
(p 99) To develop a product tool for Apple would cost a lot of money. Jobs looked for investors and was referred to Don Valentine, a venture capitalist from Sequioa Capital. Don's problem about the Apple structure was marketing. He suggested Mark Markkula as a marketing/distribution guy who can write a business plan. Jobs agreed to Mark - 33 years old and already a retired millionaire when Intel went public. Mark would be playing a critical role in Apple for the next 2 decades. Mark was moral, shrewd, cautious, calculating, reserved and flashy (gold convertible Corvette?). Mark offered that they both prepare the business plan together. If Mike likes it, he'll invest. If not, then Jobs got 2 weeks of Mike's time for free. Both labored into the wee hours. Mark's vision for Apple was to go beyond the hobbyist market and into homes of regular people where they can use the computer to balance their checkbooks, file their recipes, etc. Mark predicted that Apple will be on Fortune 500 in 2 years - it actually took 7 years. Finally, Mark agreed to invest $250,000 for 1/3 equity - Apple would now be incorporated. Jobs, Woz and Mark to get 26% each, and the balance for future investors. Jobs didn't think Mark would see his $250,000 again. Woz resigned from HP to join Apple fulltime when he realized that even as owner, he wouldn't have to be on management and can continue to function as an engineer. On Jan 30, 1977, Apple was incorporated. It bought the partnership between Jobs and Woz 9 months earlier. Mark became a father figure and mentor to Jobs.

Apple's marketing philosophy

1. Empathy - Apple must understand its customers needs, desires and demographics. Jobs understood his customers like no other business leader.
2. Focus - Apple must not be distracted by other opportunities. Jobs only focused on core products.
3. Impute - 'make the book cover look attractive' because people DO judge a book by its cover. This also means the design of Apple remains simple, friendly and elegant. Apple's public image was solid and readily identifiable. It's packaging alone sets the statement already.

Regis McKenna
(p 79) Next for Apple was to have a Public Relations and Advertising arm or partner. When Jobs saw the Intel ad for racing cars and poker chips, he was told that Regis McKenna was responsible for it. He met McKenna with Woz, but Woz snapped and the meeting ended. Jobs met again with McKenna but without Woz - it worked this time.

First on the 'things to do' was to develop a brochure for Apple II with a new logo (replacing Ron Wayne's Victorian wood cut design). They settled on a biten apple with rainbow stripes.

evolution of the Apple logo

First Launch Event
(p 104) In April 1977 during the West Coast Computer Faire, Apple took the entrance as the display area and lavished the aura of a professional company creating the public image that Apple is now known for. The new logo was in full display, lighting was dramatic, boxes were stacked up behind (although only 6 Apple II were on display and in existence). Woz and Jobs were in tux. The message being, "We have a great machine and a great company". It was imperative for a product launch.

Apple got 300 orders and Jobs met a Japanese who would be its first distributor in Japan.

Mike "Scotty" Scott
(p 105) Apple was now a real company with a credit line, its own office (no longer in a a garage), 12 employees, and daily pressures from customers and suppliers.

Jobs became tyrannical and mean - especially to the 2 programmers hired by Woz. At Atari, his personality banished him to the night shift. He hasn't changed. His hygience was still horrible - he smelled, he didn't take showers, and his feet were dirty.

To reign-in Jobs, Markkula hired Mike Scott, an old friend and colleague, to be the Apple president. Woz liked the idea since like Markkula, he didn't want to confront Jobs - let the new guy do the dirty work. Jobs didn't want to relinquish control of his baby, but at 22 years old, he was smart enough to know that he was too young and inexperienced to run a real company. He reluctantly acquiesced. As manager, Scotty's primary task was to manage Jobs.

With over 2000 shades of beige for the casing, Jobs wanted a customized beige - Scotty stopped it. Jobs agonized for weeks on just how the corners of the packaging was rounded. Scotty just told him to make a decision already. Warranty was 90 days, Jobs wanted 1 year. There was always a tug-of-war.

There was a growing divide between Woz and Jobs. Woz found Jobs too harsh. Woz wanted Apple to feel safe for its employees. Jobs found Woz too spacey and unfocused. Woz wasn't able to complete the floating point BASIC program thus they had to make a deal with Microsoft.

Altogether, Apple was doing very well. Tech writers are lauding it, practical software are programmed for Apple II and investors are coming in. Apple II came in various models for the next 16 years with over 6M units sold. But Apple II was Woz's brainchild. Jobs wanted something to be his.

Greg Calhoun
(p 110, late 74 to early 75) Chrisann Brennan was in and out of Jobs' life - from moving to a cabin after high school to living together at Roberts Friedland's farm, to Los Altos. While she was with Greg Calhoun, she would occasionally seque to Jobs. It was normal during that time accordingly to Elizabeth Holmes, a mutual friend. They were all a collective bunch - Jobs, Friedland, Kottke, Holmes, Chrisann and Calhoun.

Chrisann Pregnancy
(p 112) Calhoun and Chrisanne even spent a year in India, Iran and Afghanistan before coming back. Everyone was a spiritual junky. At Jobs' ranch house shared with Kottke, Chrisann moved in and got pregnant by Jobs. Jobs tuned-out the pregnancy issue, even denied paternity. Friedland offered his farm and that's where Chrisann gave birth to Lisa Brennen - May 1978. DNA paternity test showed he was the Dad. Later in life, Jobs admitted his shortcoming.

Barbara Jasinski
(p 115) After settling the paternity, Jobs inched into maturity, getting a decent haircut, buying expensive suits and even buying a proper house in Los Gatos (but kept it bare). He also started going out with Barbara Jasinski.

A New Baby
(p 116) Apple II grew in sales, but Jobs knew he had to keep innovating to keep market lead. The Apple II was Woz's. Jobs also wanted his own product with his signature on it. This was supposed to be Apple III but it flopped. As one journalist wrote, "Apple III was conceived in a group orgy with everyone saying, 'It's not mine'."

Bill Atkinson
(p 117) Jobs hired 2 HP engineers to conceive of new radical computer which he named Lisa...what the...? But they couldn't push the capabilities of the more powerful 16-bit microprocessor...and Woz was quietly toiling with the Apple II in the background. It flopped. Bill Atkinson (a former student of Jef Raskin) was an acid-dropping neuro scientist when he was invited by Jobs to join the team. He had some of Woz's brilliance and Jobs' sense of launching a good product.

Apple II Replacement
(p ) Jobs had 3 possible replacements for the aging Apple II.

1. Apple III - a flop
2. Lisa - being worked on by buttoned-down HP engineers led by John Couch (former HP engineer)
3. Mac - it has no name yet but it was handled by Jef Raskin who was developing a self-contained low-cost computer for the masses

Xerox-PARC
(p 118) In Palo Alto, 3,000 miles away from Xerox HQ, is a Xerox digitall research center. They develop new products not necessarily related to copiers - SmallTalk object-oriented program and the PC notebook Dynabook. One of its visionaries was Alan Kay whose 2 quotes Jobs adhered to:

1. "The best way to predict the future is to invent it"
2. "If you're serious about software, create the hardware for it"

Kay's project at the time were:

1. desktop folder GUI
2. bitmapping of the screen (although uses a lot of memory and power). This was radical and departed from the DOS OS with green letters only and a dark screen. The GUI brought to life pictures, fonts, and artistic qualities on the monitor

Raskin knew that the 2 were the future of computers so he urged his student, Atkinson, to convince Jobs to visit the guys at Xerox-PARC. Unbeknownst to everyone, Jobs had an ongoing deal with Xerox already - Xerox buying $1M worth of Apple stocks in exchange for access to technologies they have developed at PARC.

When Larry Tesler of PARC showed bitmapping to the Apple crew, Jobs was ecstatic claiming that Xerox didn't really know that they had gold in their hands. This would be the features of his replacement for Apple II. This raid on PARC would also be considered one of the most spectacular heists in software technology. The brass at Xerox had no appreciation for computers and paid little attention to what the PARC guys were doing...and this frustrated the scientists there. As Jobs claim, it wasn't so much a heist of Apple but a major fumble of Xerox.

Xerox Star
(p 123) In fairness, Xerox actually capitalized on the PARC inventions. They developed the Xerox Star PC that had all the bells and whistles. But it was crude, slow and expensive ($16.5k). Only 30k were sold until it was withdrawn. Xerox didn't have the fast-thinking and innovative abilities of the Apple designers and engineers - Xerox could not refine the PC.

Great Artists Steal
(p 122) Jobs went to work immediately in emulating and improving what they saw at PARC - the GUI, the mouse, the costing, drag-and-drop. In the process, Jobs pirated Larry Tesler and Bob Belleville from PARC. Jobs wanted all these features on the LISA computer. He started bypassing John Couch (who headed Lisa) and assigned tasks to Tesler, Belleville and Atkinson. Atkinson did innovative wonders - white screen, overlapping folders, smooth scrolling, omni-directional mouse movement, etc.

The Lisa project was being torn - John Couch (who is officially heading the project) who wants a corporate computer vs Jobs (who is technically meddling) who wants a simple and low-cost computer for the masses. Tension was rising. Markkula and Mike Scott (prez assigned to reign-in Jobs) intervened and reinstated Couch as the undisputed head of Lisa. Jobs simply became the public face of Apple but had no operating control. Jobs brooded about it a lot...and held Markkula and Scott responsible for it.

Options
(p 126) In 1977, Apple was valued by Markkula at $5,309. When it went public, 4 years later, it was valued at $1.79B, making it the most oversubscribed IPO since Ford went public. It made 300 people instant millionaires.

Poor Daniel Kottke
(p 127) Unfortunately, Kottke, Jobs' friend who helped out from the beginning of Apple, wasn't one of the millionaires. He got nothing. He thought all the while that Jobs would take care of him. Jobs simply dismissed Kottke as an hourly worker who is not a founder and had no stake in the company. It was cruel and un-loyal. When Rod Holt pleaded to Jobs and even offered to match what Jobs would give Kottke, Jobs said 'zero'. Kottke was Jobs' soulmate in college, travel buddy to India, buddy at Friedland's farm and room mate at the ranch house. They had history. When Kottle made a plea, Jobs brushed him off.

Woz on the other hand, sold some of his options at a cheap price before the IPO to mid-level employees - a few of them were able to buy a house. He gifted to many including Kottke. Everybody loved Woz.

Investment Bankers
(p 128) Jobs particularly chose his 2 investment bankers to handle the IPO - the traditional Morgan Stanley and the boutique Hambrecht and Quist. The IPO price was $22 but after the first day of trading, it was at $29. At 25 years old, Jobs was already worth $256M.

Baby you're a rich man
(p 128) Jobs was a study in contrasts. He was an antimaterialistic hippie who built a business and became one of the richest people on the planet. But this contradiction somehow worked. He liked object d'art that are functional - Porsche, MBenz, Henchels knives, Braun kitchen appliances, Bang and Oluffsen audio systems, but his house is mostly barren with hardly any furnishing. He could have owned a lear jet but didn't. He drives by himself, hardly any security and not surrounded by an entourage. Essentially, he was still himself - his newfound wealth didn't really change his personality. He was contemptuous about using philantrophy to leverage or gain advantage. Jobs became an instant celebrity, making it on the cover of .Inc and Time.

He gave his parents $3/4M worth of stock which they used to pay off the mortgage and go to an annual ship cruise.

Steve Jobs became an instant celebrity, making it on the cover of .Inc and Time

Jef Raskin's Baby
(p 132) Raskin can enthrall and annoy Jobs. He was a music/theater/computer teacher. When he got fed up with teaching, he went up on a hot air balloon and shouted his resignation when the balloon was over his superior's house. He was hired by Jobs to do the manual for the Apple II for $50 during the garage days. As Apple grew, he became the manager of the publication department. He always had a dream of developing a low-cost computer for the masses at $1000 with a cheap processor (read: slow) and a small 5-inch screen. He was able to convince Markkula to set him a skunkworks to build such, which he name Macintosh for his favorite apple variety. Seeing himself a philosopher as well, he documented his thoughts in a book he called "The Book of Macintosh". The Mac led a tenuous existence, often on the brink of getting canceled. The skunkworks were located away from the main building which gave the crew a sense of autonomy - the workspace had lots of toys, rc airplanes, etc. An interesting character in the team is brilliant engineer who worshipped the work of Woz, Burrell Smith.

Jobs would emphasize to Raskin to forget about a price point and focus on developing a great computer. Raskin thought that Jobs was unrealistic and replied sarcastically. This is why Jobs is both enthralled and annoyed at Raskin.

When Jobs was kicked out of the Lisa project, he set his sights on the Macintosh project and started messing around. This of course annoyed Raskin. Jobs, behind Raskin, tasked Burrell to develop a Mac with the more powerful Motorola processor - the one for Lisa. After 3 weeks of brilliant and non-stop work, he made it work. The more powerful Mac will be less expensive than a Lisa but more expensive than the original spec for Mac.

Raskin wrote a scathing memo to Mike Scott about Jobs being a dreadful manager who steals ideas from other people, who belittles subordinates, who says harsh things to employees, who misses appointments, who acts rashly without deliberation, etc.

Scotty's role in Apple as president was to reign in Jobs from his transgressions - and he had to do the unsavory task this time. He gathered Jobs, Raskin and Markkula for a showdown. In the end, Jobs was given Mac and Raskin essentially was ousted out of the company. It's ironic that Raskin, who complained about the situation, was the one ousted.

Raskin's low cost microprocessor would not have delivered the gee-wiz GUI bitmapping. He also despised the use of icons and the mouse. He didn't get it. Jobs undermined Raskin until he took the Mac away from Raskin and put his own people plus some of Raskin's crew. Some of Raskin's crew felt that Jobs was untrustworthy and brought tension into the workspace but they also agreed that he was brilliant and could pull rabbits out of a hat.

Ousting Raskin might seem harsh and unfair. But his idea would have created a low-cost computer and that's that - another PC in a sea of PCs. But with Jobs creating a compact Lisa, the entire industry would be reinvented and fundamentally change the role of personal computing forever. Raskin was hired by Canon where he was able to develop the low-cost computer he had envisioned - the Canon Cat. It flopped. This was a vindication for Jobs, not matter how brash and harsh and how difficult he was.

Texaco Towers
(p 137) With Raskin's departure, Jobs pulled Andy Hertzfeld to work on the Mac. Jobs also recruited Bruce Horn - he would be joining another ex-PARC engineer, Larry Tesler. Jobs wanted Woz to join the team as well but Woz nearly died in an accident. When he recovered, he decided his days in Apple were over and went back to school. From 4 engineers during Raskin's reign, the Mac project grew to 20 engineers so Jobs moved the HQ to a new building next to a Texaco Station - the new office was then called the Texaco Towers.

Mike Scott
(p 140) Jobs was now in complete control of the Mac project. To consolidate his power, his next move was to oust the president, Mike Scott. Scotty has been losing his popularity especially after a ruthless round of layoffs. He was erratic and afflicted by narcolepsy. When Scotty took a break, Markkula, together with some top people decided to let go of Scotty. Markkula then became interim president. With Scotty gone, Jobs now had full control of the Mac project.

Original Mac Team - there would be 45 of them by the time design of the Mac was finalized

Reality is Malleable
(p 141) When Hertzfeld joined the team, he was warned about Jobs' reality distortion field - that Jobs sees reality according to what he wants and it may not be realistic. Jobs' persuasion skill is a combination of charisma, strength of character and distortion of facts. But Jobs is able to mesmerize people into believing it, until it wears off. People who are even aware of this hypnotic effect couldn't resist. Jobs wasn't exactly lying because he believed in his own lies. But surprisingly, as impossible as it is, it becomes possible and the workers suprise themselves at what they can do (hmmm...the fact that is was done means that there was no distortion of reality. Jobs simply saw what's possible that his people couldn't see because it hasn't been done before. People with high IQs see things normal people don't see). Jobs was acutely aware that he could mesmerize people almost to a hypnotic trance...not unlike gurus who cast a hypnotic spell on his disciples (I have seen this power before when I would accompany great salesmen. They can almost hypnotize people into giving them the check. But it wears off. By then, the sale has been made).

Gods and Shitheads
(p 142) In Jobs' world, there are only 2 types of people - the gods and the shitheads. And there is a great chasm. From a god, he can reduce you to a shithead in an instance. But from a shithead, you have to do a lot of upstream swim to make it to a god.

Stealing Ideas
(p 144) If an engineer suggests a great idea, Jobs wouldl call it stupid. A week later, he talks to the same engineer and tell him about his (Jobs') great idea...which was the engineer's original idea. He does this repeatedly, it's a running joke.

A-Type People
(p 145) You could stand up to Jobs and survive (and even be promoted like Debi Coleman) if you know what you're doing and don't challege him. Raskin didn't know this and was eventually destroyed. Within the team, they would hand out an annual award to the best person who stood up against Jobs. Jobs was aware of this and liked the idea. The first winner was Joanna Hoffman. People who survive Jobs come out stronger and able to do better work. Others simply fall off the wayside. At some point, Jobs was surrounded by only A-type people. They felt they could accomplish the impossible and took pride in working 90 hours/week.

Translating Jobs
(p 147) Atkinson taught his team how to translate Jobs' words. If he says, "This is shit!", what he meant was, "Can you tell me why this is the best way to do it?". This alllowed his people to remain composed and address Jobs' concerns in a balanced, non-emotional way.

Better Product, not beat competion, not for profitability alone
(p 148) As an artist, Jobs' priority in building things is to make a perfect product. He hates compromises to meet a deadline or a price-point. He is obsessed with the purity of the art. At one time, Jobs took his team to a museum to view the underlying art of the Tiffany glasses.

Was the Mac worth the wounded souls?
(p 148) The Mac turned out to be one of the runaway successes in personal computing, but it wasn't seamless. It came out behind schedule because of Jobs' excessive intervention. In its wake were brutalized souls. Woz felt that a combined Woz-Jobs management style could still have produced the legendary Mac without the casualties.

A Bauhaus Aesthetic
(p 149) Jobs appreciated the simple and clean styling of the Eickler homes for the masses. He also remembered his father's eye for details on car designs. They were all reflected in the sleek and simple styling of the Apple II.

The Apple office moved from Jobs' garage to a small unit beside a Sony center. Jobs loved the dark artistic industrial designs of Sony products and hired its employee, Dan'l Lewin.

Italian Influence
(p 150) Jobs' sense of aesthetics shifted after attending an Italian-themed art convention in Aspen. In attendance were Paninfarina, Bellini, Bertolucci and Agnelli. He was inspired with the Bauhaus movement philosophy of simple but functional design. Fine art was infused into industrial design to come up with simple, elegant, functional products but high-tech - museum-worthy products in their artistic flair. Jobs veered away from Sony's black and heavy industrial look. He began to embrace white, clean and sleek designs like the Braun appliances. He wanted simple but easy to use products that were instinctive to the user without explanation or how-to manuals. During that time, there was nothing superlative about design coming out of Silicon Valley. Jobs' sense of style was heavily influenced by the sublime understatements of Japanese Zen Buddhism.

Bauhaus furniture

Like a Porsche
(p 151) Jobs took a phone book and told his design team that the Mac should not have a bigger footprint. It should have timeless classic lines like a Volkswagen Beetle or a Porsche - not boxy, curvaceous but not voluptuous.

Jobs told his designers the Mac should have the contours of a Porsche 928

Like a Cuisinart
(p 153) Jobs brought a Cuisinart to the design team to study its design. He wanted something friendly. It took a while for the designers to figure out how a computer could look 'friendly'.

Rectangles with rounded corners
(p ) When Atkinson produced amazing circles and ovals on the computer (unheard of during that time), Jobs was unimpressed. He challenged Atkinson to produce rectangles with rounded corners (no one has ever done that before even though just about everything in the real world has rectangles with round corners). The following day, Atkinson was able to produce them. After that, nearly all rectangles on the screen like dialogue boxes had rectangles with rounded corners.

Typography
(p 154) With bitmapping and Jobs' background in caligraphy, he realized he could also control the font, its kerning and leading on the screen. Hertzfeld hired Susan Kare, a high school friend, to develop varied fonts from serious to wacky. Jobs had the fonts named after great cities of the world. Susan also developed the trash bin icon on the desktop. She and Jobs would collaborate intensely on this project.

Markkula couldn't get Jobs' obsession with typography - afterall, they were building computers. Even though it was unknown then, this focus on amazing typography, the advent of laser printers and superlative graphics capabilities would give rise to a new industry - desktop publication. Jobs seemed to have an instinct for these things and inventing the future in the process.

Apple-Wide Design Template
(p 156) Even though Jobs was working on the Mac, he was also concerned about having a company-wide design template for consistency with all its products. He launched a search for an individual who can offer that, similar to Dieter Rams was for Braun.

Hartmut Esslinger
(p 156) That guy was Hartmut Esslinger, a German who designed the Sony Trinitron series. Esslinger suggested a "California look" to the products - a design attitude that is distinctively California. Jobs hired Esslinger for an annual contract of $1.2M on condition he moves to California. His company, frogdesign, came up with the "Designed in California" stamp.

Hidden Details
(p 157) Deep inside the Mac are the circuit boards with the microchips. No consumer would see this, but Jobs ensured that the placement of the chips are orderly and aesthetically aligned on the circuit board. He would not compromise on art and perfection.

Mac Packaging
(p 158) Even though the buyer would throw away the box upon opening a newly purchased Mac, Jobs insisted on perfecting the box, in full subscription to Markkula's philosophy that people judge the book by its cover. A team member felt there was imbalance to spend so much on disposable packaging while scrimping on the microchips. That box had more than 50 revisions before Jobs was happy.

Real Artists Sign Their Work
(p 158) When the design was finalized (the Mac hasn't been built yet), to let his team feel that they were the artists behind this opus magnum, each got to sign their names which would then be engraved inside every piece of Mac that ships out. The team felt that they really created art.

The Competition
(p 159) When IBM, the industry leader that licensed its hardware to be cloned by every manufacturer, released their computer in 1981, Apple deemed the product inferior and paid no attention. They didn't realize that corporate technology managers would rather work on a computer made by an established brand rather than an upstart.

Jedi Complex
(p 160) Jobs has always regarded himself as the Jedi fighting oppressive superior forces. That's how he felt about IBM, and even stated that if IBM wins the computer war, technology would stagnate because the big companies, IBM, Microsoft, Google, are not innovators - they are dinosaurs.

Poor Lisa
(p 160) Jobs created an unhealthy competition between his Mac group and the Lisa group. If Mac succeeds, Lisa will be cannibalized because the Mac was essentially a scaled-down version of Lisa. The Lisa group felt that Jobs was destroying Apple. To make matters worse, the Apple II, Lisa and Mac are not compatible to each other. Every departmemt seem to be its own skunkworks.

End-to-end control: Sealed System
(p 161) Jobs wanted the Mac to be self-contained and tightly linked from hardware to software, from design to engeering. This way, he can control the user experience because there is no third party that can get in the way. Jobs even developed special screws on the Mac so even hackers and hobbyists cannot open it. Jobs wanted full and absolute control. He was adamant at this even though his top managers and Woz favored the licensing approach - license the Mac OS so that other computer manufacturers can make Mac clones.

Currently, IBM is the industry leader because it licensed its hardware to any computer manufacturer. Likewise, Microsoft licensed it Windows OS to all IBM-compatible computers. Jobs' approach enabled Apple to make great looking products that functioned well, but it didn't capture market share - it remained a niche market - IBM/Windows remained the industry standard (One down side of IBM/Windows OS was seamlessness. IBM manufactured the hardware and Microsoft developed the software - there were incompatibilities and bugs. Whereas with Apple, Apple developed the hardware and software so operation was flawless and user experience was enhanced. Also, since no 3rd party can get inside the Apple, no virus could enter the system...whereas Windows was plagued by viruses and malware).

Machine of the Year
(p 163) When Michael Moritz, TIME's SF bureau chief, came to the Texaco office and interviewed the staff, Jobs thought he would me TIME's Man of the Year. Instead, the cover showed "Machine of the Year: Computer". But Jobs was in the article, hailing him as the man who single-handedly launched a new era in personal computing. The article also included damaging stories of Jobs. Still, Jobs was devastated not being Man of the Year.

Jobs suspected that Moritz was envious of Jobs, both of them being the same age, so Moritz included negative press on Jobs which resulted in him being by-passed by a computer. According to the author, Moritz was not jealous, he didn't write the negative press but was added on by the NY editor, and that Jobs was never slated to covet that title. The choice of a computer was already decided way in advance.

Lisa Launches
(p 165) In Jan 1983, the Lisa launched, a year ahead of Mac. Jobs lost a $5K, bet against John Couch, Lisa project head.

For the Lisa press-interview part, the strategy was to align the selected publications in an hourly sequence for the interview at Jobs' hotel. He wasn't supposed to mention anything about the Mac so as not to undermine the Lisa - but still he did, like a juvenile rebeling against authority. Worse, he said the Lisa won't be compatible to the greatest computer that will be launched shortly - the Mac. The Lisa died a slow death. It was dead in 2 years.

Moving to Hadley 3
(p 165) As the Mac team grew, they moved to the main Apple HQ and then along Hadley 3. They furnished the new office with toys, music and fun.

The Hiring Process
(p 166) Jobs was hands-on with hiring. He was looking for creative, smart and slightly rebellious people. It was ok to push-back on Jobs if you know what you are talking about and prove yourself to be right. He would ask the applicants when they lost their virginity or if they have taken LSD. He would tear people up, then lift their spirit, telling them they are part of an exclusive club and their time at Apple is a high point in their lives. His people end up doing the impossible, out of fear and eagerness to please Jobs. Every 6 months, Jobs takes the team on a 2-day retreat where presentations and plans for the future are discussed.

No Compromise
(p 167) The Mac was still 16 months away from shipping and it's ok to push the date further in order to perfect the Mac - it's not done until it ships. There was no compromise. This could be harmful since most projects are a trade-off of time, cost and technical compromises. Jobs doesn't do market research since he feels customers don't really know what they want until it's handed to them - true in the case of Apple products.

Real artists ship
(p 167) On another retreat, his message was, "Real artists ship" - a slight to Atkinson for being behind schedule in shipping the Mac and allowing the Lisa to ship 16 months earlier, losing Jobs, a $5000 bet vs John Couch. Atkinson threatened to quit but Jobs shrugged it off.

Laptop Prototype
(p 167) Jobs showed his team a prototype of what would be the laptop - during this time, only the desktop was in existence. The laptop hasn't even been invented yet.

Pirates
(p 168) Jobs instilled a 'pirate' sense to his team - being renegades, bypassing rules, moving fast and getting things done. One team member took it too far and hoisted a Jolly Rogers flag on top of their office building. Jobs liked it.

The pirate flag boosted the Mac team morale, but it was divisive before it showed everyone else at Apple was inferior. Jobs was CEO of Apple, not just the head of the Mac team.

Jolly Rogers flag hoisted on the Mac building

Sony 3.5 disk drive
(p 169) You can defy Jobs and he'll admire you for it if you prove yourself right and save the day. When the in-house disk drive, Twiggy, proved buggy, Jobs and Belleville flew to Japan to negotiate with Alps Electronics on making one for the Mac. Bellville knew Alps couldn't get it ready on time, so behind Jobs' back, he simultaneously placed the order with Sony who was already making it for other companies (but it would be more expensive). True enough, Alps finally admitted they couldn't do it in time. But the Sony alternative was there. Jobs thanked the engineers for disobeying him and doing what was right.

The Courtship
(p 172) After firing Mike Scott, Mark Markkula was forced to become president to reign-in Jobs' aberrant behavior. He didn't really like that role. He'd rather be enjoying his newfound wealth and flying his plane. After 2 years of potty training Jobs, Markkula's wife gave him an ultimatum to find him a replacement...or else. Jobs also knew he wasn't ready to run a big company yet, but he couldn't help himself.

First choice was Don Estridge of IBM with an offer of $1M signing bonus + $1M/year salary. Don didn't want to abandon ship to join the enemy (If I were Don, I would counter with an additional $2M sign-off perk - afterall, as soon as Jobs becomes ready to take the reigns, Don will be kicked out).

John Sculley
(p 173) Next choice was John Sculley of Pepsi who was basking from his successful marketing campaign, "Pepsi Challenge".

Sculley had a high-society Mom on the posh Upper EastSide of Manhattan. His Dad was a Wall Street lawyer. He studied at Brown and Wharton. He had the pedigree. Sculley was skilled in marketing and advertising but little on information technology and product innovation.

The Meetings
When a meeting with Jobs was scheduled, Sculley looked forward to it since even his daughters were kilig about Jobs as a real celebrity. There was something about Jobs' youth and impetuousness that intrigued him. The first meeeting was at Apple HQ, the 2nd was in NY and the third was in Greenwich at Sculley's ostentatious home and then to the opulent Pepsi HQ. Both got each other excited about the looming prospects. Sculley was interested in joining the team but still unsure about leaving Pepsi. He saw in Jobs what he fancied about himself. Jobs saw in Sculley the difference between the staid Fortune 500 establishment and the nimble new digital wave. Jobs was excited about showcasing the Mac to Sculley. Sculley saw a showman in Jobs, more than a businessman. The next meeting was at Cupertino, the Mac HQ. News spread that Sculley was the big Pepsi guy who would buy lotsa shares of Apple. They presented what Mac can do but Sculley feigned interest. The crew smelled him as a marketing guy who had no interest in technologh or the product, but would pretend to be.

Reining In Sculley
After a few more meetings, Jobs was convinced Sculley was the guy they were lookng for. Jobs formally asked Sculley to join Apple, playing his 'apprentice' role adeptly, ingratiating himself to Sculley's ego. Sculley saw more of his younger self in Jobs. When Sculley dilly-dallied on a $1M annual salaray plus $1M signing bonus, Jobs asked the now-famous question, "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water? Or do you want a chance to change the world?" Sculley had to acquiesce - there was no other response to that question.

The Honeymoon
(p 228) Sculley's first attendance to an Apple meeting was a culture shock. People were dressed so casually and Jobs was barefeet sitting on the floor playing with his toes. In the ensuing argument, employees were challenging Jobs. This was never done in Pepsi.

Sculley and Jobs would talk several times a day, each reaffirming how right they were to be working together. They were soulmates, finishing each other's sentences.

The Chasm
While Sculley continued to be enamored by Jobs, Jobs saw early on that Sculley wasn't quick to learn new things and hired bozos. Sculley also viewed people, the world and his values differently, as Jobs observed. Jobs slowly began to manipulate Sculley by feeding him virtues he didn't really have - but Sculley ate them all up.

$2500 Mac
(p 232) The first clash they had was on the pricing of the Mac. It was originally planned to be sold at $1K but due to enhancements, the price had to be doubled to $2K, which already made everyone jittery. They wanted the Mac to be affordable to regular people. But Sculley wanted a huge budget for a marketing extravaganza that would increase the price to $2.5K. The staff were aghast. But Sculley prevailed. 25 years later, Jobs still strongly felt it was a wrong decision that slowed down the Mac sales and allow Microsoft to be market leader.

Real Artists Ship
(p 235) In the 1983 Apple retreat in Hawaii, a comedic skit of My Date, featured Jobs as emcee with Bill Gates as participant. Gates talked about the Mac OS they were developing for Apple. The OS for Mac didn't happen but Microsoft developed application software like Word for Mac. On the other side of the coin, Gates (Microsoft) was also developing the Windows OS for IBM and this became the industry standard leaving Apple far behind. In 1982, Apple sold more PCs than IBM. But in 1982, IBM (+ clones) sold 3X more PCs than Apple (had Jobs decided to license the Mac so others can make a Mac-clone, the story might have been different). To make matters worse, Lisa and the Apple III were both dead in the water, leaving the Mac as the one chance for Apple's redemption. The press already declared IBM as the hands-down winner.

Why did IBM open-sourced its PC technology to begin with, when it cannot make royalty from any IBM clone manufactured? Won't people buy a cheaper clone instead of an IBM? This was my question. ChatGPT said that IBM came late in the PC market so it had to rush its PC, using off-the-shelf components like Intel for its microchip and Microsoft for its OS. By doing this, many manufacturers adopted the IBM architecture, giving rise to the IBM-clones. This made the IBM standard, the industry standard and IBM made money from the sale of its application software, peripherals, consultations and services. In the long run however, this wasn't enough. Competition manufactured cheaper IBM clones and IBM's market share diminished until it left the PC market. In hindsight, IBM should be collected royalties from the manufacturers of the clones to protect its intellectual property and generate revenue. The company that profited greatly from all this was Microsoft. All the IBM PCs and IBM clones used the Microsoft Windows OS making Bill Gates the richest person at one point. What Jobs failed to realize then was that IBM wasn't the real competition - it was Microsoft.

This is just my take on it: With the benefit of hindsight, if I were Jobs, I would have licensed Apple's PC architecture so that other manufacturers can clone the Apple for a fee. And instead of contracting the OS to Microsoft, I would develop the Apple OS in-house, so all these clones will have to buy their OS from Apple as well. With this approach, Apple becomes the industry standard (instead of IBM), Apple generates income from its lisencing (while IBM did not), and Apple generates more income from its OS (so Microsoft loses the Apple marketshare).

Hertzfeld to the Rescue
(p 236) One week before Mac was to ship out, Hertzfeld and the team haven't finished writing the code yet and stated it couldn't be finished in a week - they needed 2 more weeks. Again, Jobs convinced them that they could do it. The last 3 nights were a vigil for the team. By Monday morning, shipping date, they were all comatose, but miraculously, they did it! Mac shipped on schedule.

In January 1984, the Apple Macintosh was launched

The 1984 Ad
(p 238) For the Mac's launch, Jobs was looking for something spectacular that would break the mold. He relied on his advertising agency, Ciat/Day, headed by Lee Clow (Ciat/Day acquired the Apple account from the sale of Regis McKenna's advertising department). Lee Clow and Jobs would be associates in the next 3 decades.

Big Brother
(p ) The concept for the 1984 ad was themed from George Orwell's book, 1984, when Big Brother becomes this monolith controlling all of society. A woman athlete chased by the Thought Police hurls a sledgehammer on the screen and breaks the grip of Big Brother. This commercial was epic and revolutionized the role of the PC to a new generation that was young, rebellious and independent. This concept appealed immensely to Jobs who continued to see himself as the outsider rebeling against an oppressive establishment.

Filming
(p 240) For the production, Jobs hired Ridley Scott (of Blade Runner) to shoot the commercial. The commercial was filmed in London using real skinheads. The heroine was a real discus thrower. The film setting had the dark industrial decay of Blade Runner. The budget for that filming was $750,000 and was to be premiered at the Super Bowl.

Reaction
(p 240) When Jobs previewed the commercial to the board, there was dead air. No one liked it. Some air time for the Super Bowl was canceled. They wanted to change ad agencies.

When Woz saw it, he was amazed and offered to split the $800,000 commercial run at the Super Bowl with Jobs, if the board kills it.

When it finally aired, 96 million people around the world saw an ad they haven't seen before. All major networks and local stations ran the story. It went viral and became the talk of the town. It was heralded as one of the best commercials of all time.

Jobs as Mr. Establishment
(p 239) Even though Jobs' self image was the rebel dude against the MAN, he was essentially the epitomy of the MAN. Compared to Woz, Woz was the Dude and Jobs was the MAN. Woz wanted to give away the schematics of the Apple I but Jobs wanted to sell it. Woz wanted the garage groupies to benefit from Apple's stock options, but Jobs would not have it. Jobs wanted a sealed system while Woz wanted more slots on the PC.

With the 1984 ad, Jobs was able to reaffirm in his mind that his self-image of a rebel was still there.

Publicity Blast
(p 242) Jobs became the master of product launches. Even though the pundits knew how Jobs was doing it, it still mesmerized them. His approach is a mix of:

1. TV ad - this is a full production commercial whose result is a movie experience...like the 1984 Mac launch and the 2010 iPad campaign


2010 iPad campaign


2. Print interviews - Jobs has mastered how to tickle the journalists using his instincts and what he learned from Regis McKenna. Once, he took his 2 darling engineers, Hertzfeld and Smith to Newsweek and met with the grand lady, Katharine Graham, who was charmed by the 2, resulting in a 4-page write up. Jobs graced himself to the major publications so that when he launches a new product, it usually ends up on the cover of either Newsweek, Time or Biusiness Week.
3. Press preview stories - lotsa teasers and hype for the press corps who build up excitement leading to the launch date
4. Public unveiling - this is D-Day where the pudding is out for the eating. It's the culmination of everything they worked hard for, and it's an extravaganza of spectacular visuals

January 24, 1984
(p 243) This was launch date, coinciding with the Apple shareholders' meeting. Rehearsal the day before was frenetic with Jobs getting into everybody's nerve - the playing of the Chariots of Fire theme, the stage lighting, the scrolling on the screen of the animation, the text-to-voice introduction.

Product launch
Jobs began the event with the shareholders meeting first, playing up a Bob Dylan song, "Times they are a changin", followed by the product launch. He began by enumerating IBM's missteps from sidelining Xerox. He built it up with Blue Blue as the Big Brother out to control and dominate everything with Apple as the only remaining crusader for individual freedom. IBM was now painted as the fruition of the Orwellian 1984 prophecy. Then everything went black and silent. The film rolled showing the lady athlete being chased by the Thought Police...in what is now iconic advertising that redefined the genre. The audience was in a state of uncontrolled frenzy...not unlike the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Then Jobs uncovered the Mac and demonstrated what it can do...the fonts, graphics, and finally, Mac's own vocal introduction. Then Mac introduced Jobs - this brought the house down. Pandemonium erupted and Jobs choked up. The standing ovation lasted 5 minutes.

A Mac for every Team Member
After the presentation, Jobs gave each member of the team, a signed Mac for their own. All of them knew that Jobs pulled this miracle - none could have done it, not Woz, Raskin nor Sculley. There was no focus group, no market research. It was Jobs shooting from the hip.

Macintosh Partnership
(p 251) Beginning in the 70s, which lasted 3 decades, the rivalry of Jobs and Gates characterized the PC era. Both were born in 1955, college drop-outs and unstoppable with their brilliant minds. They rode the confluence of technology and business. Their relationship was as epic as the Einstein-Bohr saga.

Gates
(p 252) Unlike Jobs, Gates came from an upscale family. His father was a prominent Seattle lawyer and his mother was civic-minded who sat on various boards. He wasn't a hippie, not a druggie, not a rebel, but a perfect example of an 'establishment man'. He dropped out of school to establish a computer software company (geniuses who drop out of school are usually bored with school. They have agency and do things on their own. They see opportunities in things and events other people don't see).

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

Rivalry
(p 253) Both saw the other as inferior. Both didn't suffer fools. Gates could code, Jobs coudn't. Jobs has an instinctive feel for design, Gates didn't. Gates was organized and methodical, Jobs was scattershot and impulsive. Jobs was maniacal in full control with artistic temperament who seamlessly integrated hardware, software and content. Gates was pragmatic who licensed his Microsoft OS to computer manufacturers.

Microsoft Software for Mac
(p 253) Microsoft used to develop app software for Apple II. Jobs met Gates early during the phase of the Mac to see if Microsoft can develop WORD and EXCEL programs for the future Mac (at this early point, Jobs hasn't integrated hardware, software and content...not yet). This was 1982 when Apple was already big and Microsoft was fledgling. Woz could not do a BASIC floating-point program for Apple so Jobs was forced to commission Microsoft to do it. Jobs' demeanor to Gates was more like we don't need you, but you can have your finger on our pie. Jobs liked the EXCEL and offered Gates to make it exclusively for Apple (not to IBM or anyone else) and Jobs would shut down his BASIC team and license-out the EXCEL. This did not go well with the BASIC team of Apple since their project just got canceled. Gates and Jobs spent time together as Microsoft was developing software for Mac. Early on, there were 20 Microsoft developers vs 14 developers Apple had for the Mac. Relationships got bumpier as they went along. Instead of Microsoft software bundled in with the purchase of a Mac, Jobs unbundled them. This benefitted Microsoft long-term because it licensed its WORD software to IBM who took the market share.

Battle of the GUI
(p 257) Microsoft was selling the Microsoft OS to IBM with that C: - there was no GUI then. But Microsoft copied Mac's GUI and released it when the Mac was just about launched (which was a year late). Microsoft's GUI was called Windows. The first version was shit, but Microsoft has always been consistent in refining its product over the years until it dominates the market. Windows has been the standard GUI for the non-Apple computers since.

Jobs was furious although he couldn't do anything - it wasn't Gates fault that Jobs could not ship his Mac on time. He accused Gates of stealing, but Gates retorted that it was Jobs who stole from Xerox first. Litigation favored Microsoft over the years - it wasn't the technology stolen but simply the 'look and feel' of the GUI. Nonetheless, Jobs persisted all the time that Gates stole it from Apple.

Perhaps it was already the 1990s when I got my first computer, but the entire time, it was Bill Gates who took the limelight. Steve Jobs was a remote dot on the radar and remained so until his death and the release of the book that he took over the headlines. I am surprised to find out from this book that there was a time Steve Jobs was bigger than Bill Gates.

Fying High
(p 263) After the Mac launch, Jobs became a bigger celebrity. He gifted Sean Lennon and Jade Jagger a Mac. He bought a unit on Manhattan's Upper West Side which he sold to Bono for $15M. Then he bought a 14-bedroom mansion in Palo Alto and moved in there - but he never furnished it. It remained bare except for a few items of art he liked - Braun, Henckels, Bang and Oluffsen.

Lisa and Mac
(p 263) At Apple, Sculley gave Jobs both the Lisa and Mac projects which he combined giving the top jobs to his Mac loyalists and laid-off some Lisa workers, branding them as B-players. Atkinson who worked on both teams called it callous and unfair since the Lisa engineers were dedicated and hardworking. Jobs adamantly maintained that his Mac lesson was to maintain only A-players. That A-players like to work only with A-players. B-players dilute the gene pool.

John Sculley
(p 264) Sculley and Jobs were still on their honeymoon. In May 1984, Sculley's first full year at Apple, Jobs even hosted dinner for Sculley and invited the board, top executives and some investors. Jobs lavish accolades to Sculley which Sculley lapped at. The Mac lieutenants knew better. Sculley was hired to reign-in Jobs. But now, it was Jobs controlling Sculley, Sculley now eager for Jobs' approval. Scully could no longer control Jobs as the days rolled on. Jobs was not one to share power. Increasingly, Jobs consolidated his power. By year's end, he even proposed that different product divisions can create their own marketing team outside the inhouse Apple Marketing. No liked it and expected Sculley to shut up Jobs, but he didn't...he couldn't anymore.

Fremont Factory
(p 266) When Jobs decided to move the factory to Fremont, he was so obsessed with the smallest thing that Mike Carter, manufacturing manager, quit. It was draining for him to put up so much fight over something inconsequential and wrong. Debi Coleman was tapped as replacement. Finally, Jobs got what he wanted - dust-free environment with pure white walls and vivid loud colors on the machinery. Jobs learned discipline in Japan and wanted to install it in Apple's culture. Jobs' Dad loved the cleanliness and order of the factory when he visited. Jobs was beaming. When the wife of France's Miterrand asked too many labor-related questions, Jobs was annoyed and told the wife she can work at Apple anytime. The translators faked the conversation to eveyone's relief.

Above the Law
(p 268) Jobs has always regarded the law as something that's for everyone except himself. He thought of himself as special. He would park in the Handicap parking, speed at over 100mph, and snobbed the French developers for a fine dining dinner Joanna Hoffman hosted. Jobs was nasty in Paris, nasty with Apple's manager in Paris, and just nasty all over, Hoffman threatened to pour the coffee on his lap if he didn't calm down.

Falling
(p 270) Mac sales didn't do well as early as middle 1984. Jobs' reality distortion field convinced everyone but at some point, reality hits. Its beauty was skin deep.

1. Slow - the market realized that the Mac was underpowered, slow and sluggish - all that dazzling GUI ate up 40X more power and the Mac only had 128K RAM instead of the Lisa's 1000K RAM
2. No internal hard drive - so you store your files on the floppy disk drive and keep interchanging them if you want to transfer files
3. No fan - internal parts got toasted
4. Expensive - at $2500, it was no longer affordable. Jobs admits 30 years later that it was a mistake to listen to Sculley to raise the price from $2000.

Macintosh XL
(p 271) By end of 1984, Lisa wasn't selling and lots of inventory piled up. Jobs did a mongrel by combining parts of Lisa with parts of Mac and sold it as Macintosh XL. It was just a sneaky way to sell out the Lisa. Since Lisa was already discontinued, the XL was also stopped when the last unit was sold. It was a hoax on the consumer. Joanna Hoffman resigned in disgust.

Lemmings
(p 275) In January 1985, Apple's anti-IBM reprise backfired. It insulted the very market Apple wanted to sell its Mac to. It was negatively received by the public.

30 Years Old (Feb 1985)
(p 273) For his 30th, Jobs celebrated at St. Francis Hotel in SF for 1000 guests. It was a tux-tennis shoe event attended by Gates, garage days Elizabeth Holmes, Woz, Sculley, VC Don Valentine with entertainment by Ella Fitzgerald. Not surprisingly by Jobs' character, he left all the gifts in his hotel room (this brings to mind my half brother who arm-twisted some very powerful people to his wedding. He claimed that the gifts will outweigh the cost of the lavish wedding. I still cringe at the thought of that).

Being an Artist
(p 274) In an interview for his birthday, Jobs ruminated about the aging process and the erosion for artistic pursuits because life has pegged you into a pattern you can't break away from. But to be a true artist, you have to walk away from your self-image and reinvent yourself.

Exodus
(p 275) Andy Hertzfeld took a much-deserved leave after the Mac launch in 1984. During his absence, Jobs doled out $50K bonuses to the team excluding Hertzfeld due to his being on leave. Hertzfeld threatened to quit if Jobs was holding back the bonus for Hertzfeld to come back from leave. Jobs relented but the relationship was already hurt. He left. Burrell Smith followed in early 1985 after planning on urinating on Jobs' desk. Next to leave was Bruce Horn who even refused to take 15K shares just to stay.

Woz
(p 278) The biggest smack was Woz's departure. He has been working silently as a mid-level engineer at Apple II which accounted for 70% of the company's revenue. But it was being sidelined by the company for years. Out of character, he even chastised Sculley for sucking up to Jobs and neglecting the Apple II division. He quietly left without even telling Jobs. In an interview, he said Apple's direction in the last 5 years has gone horribly wrong. He founded a new company to sell his new invention - a universal remote that can control your appliances. To make his departure amicable, he agreed to stay at $20K/year to represent the company during events and trade shows.

Woz's Universal Remote
(p 280) When Jobs learned that Woz was using the same design studio to design Woz's universal remote, Jobs went berserk. He didn't want Woz's remote to have the same design language as that of Apple. Jobs even instructed Woz's design to be destroyed or surrended to Jobs. Even the ad agency refused and shocked at Jobs. Even Hertzfeld refused to let Jobs inside his house when he heard what Jobs did to Woz. Jobs rationalized as he often does, but he knew he was a jerk. Woz was there from the very start of Apple and that's how he gets treated? Then anyone at Apple is fair game to Jobs when you are no longer useful to him.

Woz simply dismissed Jobs as being resentful for Woz's remarks against Apple.

Showdown, Spring 1985
(p 280) There was a growing rift between Sculley and Jobs. Jobs find Sculley a non-product person and not even interested in learning. To Jobs where product is king, it's a mortal sin. Scullley in turn finds Jobs rude, nasty, and obsessed with insignificant details.

Board Intervention
(p 282) The board took notice and intervened, warning Sculley to take charge, use this authority and be less needy for Jobs' approval. The board told Jobs to fix the sales slump at Mac and stop meddling in others' affairs. Jobs kept berating everyone so middle management pushed back. Mike Murray talked to Sculley to remove Jobs from the Mac project since he was causing turmoil. Murray also told Jobs to stop behaving like an asshole.

Showdown with Sculley
(p 284) Pushed into a corner, Sculley mustered sinew to confront Jobs. Sculley berated Jobs about erratic behavior, about referring to Sculley as a bozo behind his back, and that Jobs should relinquish control of the Mac Division. Jobs rebutted that Sculley wasn't training/mentoring him, that Sculley didn't know anything about computers and that he's been running the company terribly.

Jobs was erratic after that - like a little bratty boy smirking. Jobs would rally troops to oust Sculley and a few hours later, he would tell Sculley how wonderful he was (it was hard to discern if Jobs was innocently manic or simply conniving and duplicitous. I think it's more the latter).

Board Decision
(p 285) At the board meeting, they decided to put a stop to this bickering once and for all. They met Jobs first who defended himself by claiming Sculley doesn't know anything about computers. The board pointed out that Jobs was behaving like a brat the past year and that he should step down from Mac. With Sculley's turn, he asked the board to back him up and he'll ease Jobs out of the Mac Division. The board voted for Sculley. Jobs was shell shocked.

Flat Screen
(p 282) As the heat from the board was reaching its crecendo, Jobs became fascinated by a new technology that could level-up his Mac - a flat screen (before the flat screen became the new standard, the boxy/bulky monitor was the default). The flat screen was developed by Woodside Design, ran by an eccentric engineer, Steve Kitchen. Jobs and Kitchen talked about a skunkworks developing the flat screen with Jobs running it. The board was delighted to have Jobs out of Cupertino and developing a new product away from the main HQ.

Another new invention on the horizon was the touch screen - an excellent level-up for the Mac.

Plotting a Coup (May 1985)
(p 286) When Sculley rejected Jobs' plea to stay longer managing the Mac, Jobs lashed out saying Sculley should resign. Sculley, out of character, lashed back at Jobs accusing him of not doing anything to increase market share, not developing software for Mac and not able to come up with new models. It turned into a shouting match.

Jobs loyalists spearheaded by Jobs, planned a coup by enlisting other individuals. This was to happen when Sculley was out to China to negotiate Mac exports.

7 Days in May
(May 23), p 288 Gassee, who flew from Paris to replace Jobs, learned of Jobs' coup plot and told Sculley that if he leaves for China, Jobs will manuever for his outster.

(May 24) In an executive staff meeting, Sculley confronted Jobs if Jobs planned to throw Sculley out. Jobs accused Sculley of being inept running Apple. Sculley asked the people to vote - Jobs or him? Everyone voted for Sculley - even Jobs' friends who didn't like Sculley. Jobs was a brilliant product manager but unable to run a company. Jobs bolted out of the room.

Even in victory, Sculley was devastated. He wanted to resign. Sculley's wife stormed to confront Jobs and said when she looked into Jobs' eyes, she didn't see a soul. She saw a bottomless pit, an empty hole, a dead zone.

(May 25) Mike Murray, marketing manager, talked to Jobs about starting his AppleLabs skunkworks and develop new exciting products. But Jobs wanted to make peace with Sculley first. Sculley, after all the shit thrown at him by Jobs, was still eager for Jobs' approval and friendship. They agreed to meet (I find it hard to size-up Sculley, for his life experience and intelligence, to keep believing Jobs can be his friend. Jobs would flatter him and the next moment tell people Sculley was a bozo. How could you even continue dealing with a man like that who keeps oscillating between ousting you and befriending you?).

(May 26) They met and predictably, Jobs asked for a bigger role. When Sculley refused, Jobs absurdly asked Sculley to make Jobs President and CEO - what the fuck? Then Jobs suggested that they split the responsibility. Sculley stood his ground - NO.

(May 27) Memorial Day, Jobs met with his Mac loyalists. Only Devi Coleman was realistic enough to suggest that Jobs pursue his AppleLabs and develop new products. Mark Markkula came to the meeting on condition that Jobs stay quiet. Mark wanted to know what's going on with the Mac team. In the end, Mark did not side with Jobs' planned mutiny.

(May 28) Hearing about the planned coup, Sculley told Jobs that he was out, that Sculley still had the board's vote. Sculley showed Markkula the new organizational chart without Jobs with Gassee taking over the Mac. Sculley, still hoping he can be friends with Jobs, told Jobs to stay as Chair and product visionary but with no operational duties (again, what the fuck? Why ask Jobs to remain in the company when it's already a fact that he will continue to undermine Sculley and subvert Sculley's plans?). Jobs knew he finally lost and sobbed. Murray consoled him until dawn.

(May 29) Murray told Jobs to attend Sculley's reorganizational plan - play the good soldier rather than a renegade commander.

Like a Rolling Stone
(p 295) At the meeting, Jobs took the back seat but stared penetratingly at Sculley - that unblinking look of contempt. Sculley announced that Gassee takes over Mac and Apple II. Jobs will be Chair but connected to no one - he would simply be a product visionary (figurehead).

Jobs cocooned home for a few days with girlfriend, Tina Redse. He would loop Bob Dylan songs. Hertzfeld and Atkinson stopped by to cheer him up. Jobs claimed he was betrayed by Sculley, Markkula and Arthur Rock - people he looked up to.

Europe
(p 298) To get away from it all, Jobs went to Europe with Redse. He gave a talk at the Apple event in Paris, went to Moscow for the Apple II launch, and talked about Trotsky against the advice of his KGB handler.

Sculley thought that Jobs was fitting-in nicely with his new role as 'ambassador of Apple. September would prove him wrong.

Before reading this book, the narrative I heard about this episode was that Jobs was betrayed by his board, only to redeem himself years later when he returned to Apple and launched new products that created new industries and revolutionized the world of computing, music and publishing. But from this book, that's not how it came across to me. Jobs was indeed a brilliant product manager but to head a multi-million dollar company with thousands of employees? No, Jobs was not ready. The board did the right thing of ousting him before he could do further damage to Apple.

The Pirates Abandon Ship
(p 302) Upon returning from Europe, Jobs was looking for new opportunities. Upon talking to people in the academe, his notion for a powerful PC for university labs was rekindled. He privately talked to key people at Apple if they would like to come on board. They said yes after feeling marginalized with the new corporate structure.

Apple Board Meeting
At the Board Meeting, Jobs talked about forming a new company to develop a powerful PC designed for university researchers to help them with lab work. He said he will take some low-level people with him. The board acquiesced, but when Jobs disclosed the names, the board and top executives were in full revolt, citing that Jobs acted in bad faith misleading the board that he was forming a new company (when he has already formed it) and that he will only take low-level people (they were key people). Jobs thought all was ok until he read in the papers about his 'betrayal' of Apple. As damage-control, he invited select reporters to his house to explain his side. He then gave his resignation letter to Markkula after citing that he was a 'victim'. He never spoke to Sculley after that resignation.

With Jobs gone from Apple, its stock price grew. Investors always felt dubious about an itinerant hippie running such a big company.

Apple Fights Back
The board sued Jobs. Jobs was furious and dumped all his Apple shares worth $100M (except 1 share to allow him to attend shareholder meetings). He was vengeful for what Apple did to him. He gave out interviews and press releases disparaging Apple as a $2B company with 4,300 employees that is afraid of 6 guys in blue jeans. Sculley requested Woz to speak up. Woz gave out his own press release saying Jobs blocked frogdesign from designing his universal remote, that Jobs tried to recruit him as well but he no longer trusts Jobs - an insulting and hurtful guy.

To Be on Your Own
(p 311) It is shared by many that Jobs' ouster allowed him to mature and be ready to run a big company - especially upon his return to Apple. But what really spurred his growth and maturity was his 2nd Act after Apple. He was unbound, developing anything he wanted. He produced dazzling products that ended up as flops. This was his learning curve. So in 3rd Act, returning to Apple, he was already wise and experienced.

Logo
(p 311) For Jobs' new company, he hired the legendary designer, Paul Rand to design the "Next" logo, Jobs' new company. Rand was known for designing the logos of IBM, Esquire, Westinghouse, ABC, and UPS. Jobs uncannily got IBM to allow Rand to do the logo for Jobs (no-competition clause). For a 2-week job, Rand charged him $100,000 - one design, no options, use it or not (I don't claim to be an art connoisseur, but I won't pay 2 cents to that NeXT logo let alone $100K. What I'll do is go to an art school, talk to the teacher of the graduating class and offer him $1000 to allow a contest where students submit a NeXT logo for a personal computer company. 1st place gets $3K, 2nd place gets $2K and 3rd gets $1K. They all sign a release for their artwork. Total expense is only $7K and you can have a choice from hundreds.). His presentation included an explanation of the logo (if an artwork needs explanation to be understood, then it's not art to me...it's a thesis).

Hartmut Esslinger
(p 313) After the logo, Jobs next task was a new design for his NeXT computer. His only choice was Hartmut Esslinger from frogdesign, Apple's exclusive 3rd-party designer. To get Esslinger, Jobs had to settle Apple's lawsuit first - which was amicably settled, with Sculley, getting the short end of the stick as usual. Esslinger worked for Jobs when his stint with Apple finally terminated. Esslinger would have free rein like Rand.

Jobs Unbound
(p 315) Without a board and no CEO to check him, Jobs was unbound with his new company - and so was his reality distortion field. Whatever he wanted, he went for it, regardless of cost or engineering hurdles. But despite having things his own way, he still remained an asshole, treating employees harshly and condescendingly, often showing a perverse eagerness to put a guy down and humiliate him to show he is smarter (granted that he is super smart and he brings out the best in people, still, how the fuck can you work with such a dick? I don't get it how his engineers who were smart, hardworking and can command their price in the market, put up with Jobs's humiliation of them in public. Are they suffering from a battered wife syndrome?). One engineer, David Paulsen, who worked 90-hour weeks quit when Jobs, instead of acknowledging the long hours and hard work, said no one was doing shit. I admire Paulsen for quitting.

The Computer
(p 317) He wanted the computer to be perfectly square, same black matte finish on the inside of the computer even if no one sees it. Jobs began developing the guts of the computer - spreadsheet by Lotus, dictionary, thesaurus, dictionary of quotes, Shakespear collection. He developed their own in-house chip (instead of buying an Intel or Nvidia).

The Factory
(p 318) Jobs moved to a new building but gutted it down and rebuilt according to his specs. He mirrored his new factory to the Mac building - super white walls, painted machines, a grand staircase that seemed to float. When Jobs announced that NeXT will ship in 18 months, instead of the realistic 3 years, it was because his money was running out. NeXT had to ship before cash runs out. In the end, despite the unrealistic shipping date, NeXT shipped in mid-1989 - 3 years exactly as his engineers had pointed out.

Perot to the Rescue
(p 321) To mitigate the expected insolvency, Jobs offered 10% of NeXT for $3M, valuing NeXT at $30M. With no revenue and no product to show for it, no VC took the offer. Ross Perot (who almost ran for president), A Texas millionaire, identified with Jobs from a tv program. He was like Sculley, saying he could finish Jobs' sentences. Perot felt he missed out on investing in Microsoft, so he wanted to catch in on NeXT. He offered to invest. Jobs, sensing an opportunity, sold Perot 16% stake for $20M, valuing the company at $126M (just like that, when ealier, he valued it at $30M).

Steve Jobs and Ross Perot

($126M for a company with just a logo, no product, no revenue? With the benefit of seeing the big picture, if I were Perot, I would first do an investigation on why Jobs left Apple. I would have found out that he was in charge of Mac that suffered from slumping sales, no other models in development and a demoralized team - not to mention being kicked out by the board. This weakens Jobs' position. I may even laugh at Jobs' offer and tell him to come back when he's serious. First, I lower the value of the company then I can get the shares for much less. eg - "You value your company $126M? You only have a logo and a building. No product, no revenue. You got kicked out of the Apple board because the Mac was mismanaged with slumping sales. I'm willing to invest $10M for 40% of the company - establishing the valuation of the company at $25M. I also put my own people on the board (so you can't get away with your folly). Call me when you accept this offer. Offer is good until DATE, 12 noon.")

In fairness, Perot was a great endorser for NeXT. He was well respected as a businessman and his investment and his endorsements were great marketing for Jobs and NeXT. Perot even took Jobs to his black-tie events.

Gates and NeXT
(p 323) Gates was immune to Jobs' charm and reality distortion field. He did not find anything special with NeXT and thus did not develop any software for it (but Gates made money developing software for the Mac). There is no love between Jobs and Gates. When Gates visited the NeXT HQ, Jobs made him wait 30 mins. Gates publicly derides the NeXT as ridiculous, making it more difficult for NeXT to find companies who will develop software for it. One time, they had a shouting episode in a public space (That being the case, why then did Jobs not develop its own NeXT application software, on top of the NeXTSTEP OS?).

Vertical Integration vs 3rd Party Licensing
Beneath the surface squabble, Jobs and Gates have a deeper difference in philosophy. Jobs wants vertical integration of his system that remains exclusive to his system alone (hardware, OS and utility software) - it would be incompatible to any system out there. Gates on the other hand, wants to develop an OS for many different computer manufacturers with compatible system (like the standard IBM x86 platform), so they can all run on Windows OS and use Microsoft software like Excel and Word.

IBM
(p 325, June 1987) There was an episode Jobs could have changed the landscape of the computing world forever. At the Washington Post party, Jobs met IBM chairman, John Akers. Jobs starting shit-mouthing Microsoft and warned Akers to be wary of betting the ranch on Windows - because it sucks. That conversation got traction. Next thing, Jobs was at the IBM HQ doing a NeXT demo with his engineer Bud Tribble. The IBM engineers were impressed, particularly with the NeXTStep (an object-oriented OS for faster processing). The negotiations went through 1988. Perot mediated and a deal was struck - NeXT will develop a NeXTSTEP OS for IBM and IBM can install the OS on some of their workstations. When Gates learned that his Windows OS was at risk, he got furious and stated that NeXT wasn't compatible with anything. Other computer manufacturers, Compaq and Dell, upon hearing this news, made inquiries if they can clone NeXT and also use NeXTSTEP OS. Jobs cooled out of it. IBM's new guy also cooled on the plan so this monumental shift never got off the ground. But what would happen if it did?

The Launch, October 1988
(p 328) Jobs' product launches have always been a theatrical extravaganza beginning in the launch of the Mac in 1984. For NeXT's launch, he wanted to outdo himself, micro-managing all the details from his presentation text, the green background color, invitation list, lunch menu, video projection company, and stage management. The demo was done live even though the hardware and OS were not ready yet (the product launch was just an announcement of a forthcoming product...the actual shipping date is the bigger question).

Over 3000 showed up after waiting 2 hours. The show didn't disappoint. Jobs gave the audience all the hypes, bells and whistles only a master showman could muster. He introduced the 1" cubic black box, NeXT, not as a personal computer, but a personal mainframe. He razzled the crowd with voice email attachments, in-system famous speeches (I have a dream, Ask not...), the high capacity optical disc drive (but sloooow), in-system digital books (Shakespeare), and a built-in dictionary/thesaurus. The crowd lapped it up.

Bad News 1: Price
But it wasn't all good news. The price was $6500, when the target audience (university researchers) expected a $2000 to $3000 machine. Worse, NeXT didn't have a floppy back up disk, the optical disk was super slooow and needed a $2500 external hard drive, and the optical printer would cost another $2000.

Bad News 2: Release Date
Another bad news that Jobs downplayed was the actual release date which would be in mid 1989...almost a year after the product launch. Joanna Hoffman was right in 1985 to tell Jobs that Jobs' shipping date of 1987 was 2 years too early than what was realistic.

NeXT computer

Exclusive Interviews
(p 332) Jobs is crafty when it comes to wooing the press. In a promise for an exclusive interview in exchange for being cover of the publication, he promised exclusivity to Businessweek, Fortune, Newsweek - yes, all 3 instead of just one. They all learned about this and Fortune begged off. Still, Jobs had NeXT on the cover of Businessweek and Newsweek. But the press people were catching on to Jobs being duplicitous and manipulative.

Lackluster
(p 333) When the hype died down, there was no more talk about NeXT, as its shortcomings became evident. Gates, typical of him, dismissed NeXT as trivial and reinstated that Microsoft will not develop programs for NeXT.

When NeXT finally shipped in mid 1989, instead of the forecasted 10,000 units/month, it only sold 400. NeXT continued to hemorrhage cash.

Lucasfilm's Computer Division
(p 335, summer 1985) As Jobs was slowly losing his grip on Apple, Alan Kay introduced Jobs to Ed Catmull who was in charge of the computer division of George Lucas' film studio. They had their own image computer and software rendering digital images. Pixar was their animation studio. The digital animation business of Pixar was just a sideline to showcase the capabilities of its hardware and software. It was the perfect integration of art and technology. Jobs was an ideal bridge for these 2. Artistic people don't really want to talk to techies and techies are not necessarily artistic people and they don't respect Hollywood creative types. Jobs was both (in a way, I am both as well. When web design was 'invented', I shifted my career into it. As a web designer, I was the artist developing creative content on the browser - font, layout, format, colors, drop-shadows, etc. As a techie, I was coding HTML and understanding servers, browsers and domains. It was then I realized I wasn't a businessman [I had a BSBA] but an artist who appreciated functional art like web design, architecture and industrial design). Pixar was unique because it was a place where both cultures were respected.

For Sale
Lucas, reeling from his success in the Star Wars trilogy, needed money after a nasty divorce, He commissioned Catmull to find a buyer for the animation division. Catmull and his friend, Alvy Ray Smith, wanted to buy it for themselves but they needed an investor. They talked to Jobs. Jobs was so impressed that he urged Sculley for Apple to buy it. No one was interested - besides, Apple already wanted to kick Jobs out. Jobs decided to buy it himself. But Jobs, of course, would run it if he invests in it. Catmull wanted investors, not a new owner to work for. A middle ground was agreed upon. Jobs would be Chair and Catmull and Smith would run the company. Jobs has always been fascinated by computer graphics and this studio was way ahead of everyone else.

Terms
(p 336) Jobs offered $5M for the company and then would invest $5M to run the company independently. Lucas wanted more money but he was desperate so a deal was negotiated. Jobs would own 70% of the new company, named Pixar, and the rest of stocks to be shared by Catmull, Smith and all the employees including the receptionist (this means Pixar was valued at $14M).

Pixar Crew
(p 337) Lucas gave Jobs a heads-up that the Pixar guys were animation people - not computer guys. The first few months, Catmull and Smith were running the company, but of course, Jobs had to inch himself into operations, suggesting what Pixar can evolve into. When Jobs visited the Pixar office, he would mesmerize everyone with his hypnotic televangelical abilities. The staff were well aware of this, so they invented gestures to remind others if they were falling into Job's reality distortion field - nose rub or ear tug.

Pixar Revenues
(p ) Pixar's original revenue source was its computer sales to animators and graphical artists. Later, it found new markets in CatScan 3D rendering, and then to the NSA for graphical rendering of satelite information. In getting Jobs' NSA clearance, he was transparent about his drug use, "The last time I used...".

Pixar for the Masses
(p 338) Jobs wanted a low-cost computer at $30K for a broader audience of creative people, so he opened sales offices in major cities. He assumed that creative people will find new uses for it that even the creator did not imagine. But it didn't take off - the machine still cost too much and not too many software to support it.

He commissioned Esslinger to design the low-cost computer. Esslinger charged a hefty fee, to the protest of Catmull and Smith, and it looked no different from the NeXT computer (Jobs has a penchant for spending a ton of money to designers who don't really delivery anything spectacular - NeXT logo at $100K?).

Pixar Software
(p 338) Pixar had an image rendering software names REYES, capable of rendering 3D images and graphics. Jobs created a low-cost software, RenderMan, hoping that the masses would take to it and become the standard for 3D graphics. But it wasn't easy to use and was still expensive. It never took off. So it was 2 strikes for Jobs - hardware flop and software dud.

Walt Disney
(p 339) Walt Disney was interested in rendering graphic images of the sketches of its illustrators on film. Pixar developed the CAPS hardware/software to do this. This was first used in the final scene of the 1988 movie, Little Mermaid.

John Lasseter
(p 335) The studio also had its own team of animators headed by an artistic man-child perfectionist, John Lasseter who was making short animations. He lived and dreamed of cartoons all his life. He mastered the uncanny skill of timing and pacing a story which is essential in a frame-by-frame nuance of animation. He landed his dream job as an animator at Disney Studios but they weren't keen on doing Star Wars-level animation. Furthermore, he got caught up in office politics that got him fired. It was at this juncture that Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith recruited him to be a part of Lucas Film.

With Jobs' arrival at Pixar, Lasseter and Jobs bonded naturally. Both were artists. Jobs treated him deferentially as an artist and Lasseter regarded Jobs as a patron who understands and appreciates art, and can weave art, commerce and technology.

Luxo Jr. Animation
(p ) Lasseter developed a 2-min animation, Luxu Jr., to showcase the hardware and software capabilities of Pixar at the SigGraph computer graphics conference (during this time, Pixar was just a minor sideline to showcase Pixar's hardware/software capabilities). The animation won first place and Jobs was stoked. He saw how others showcased technology in the animation, but only Luxo combined art and technology. Luxo was even nominated at the academy awards. Even with brutal budget cuts, Jobs set aside money for Pixar - he had a soft heart for it. Jobs would commission short animations after that, even though there really was no market for it...not yet.

Tin Toy
(p 342) The worst clash Jobs had at Pixar was with Catmull's co-founder, Alvy Ray Smith. Smith had a strong personality, charming and big ego - like Jobs. It was just a matter of time before they clash. Smith saw Jobs as a charismatic but cautionary televangelist - one who could find a way with people. Smith would be the one to call on Jobs' bullshit and smirk. At one point, they were 3 inches away from each other's faces yelling. At one point, Smith wrote on Jobs' whiteboard, essentially crossing the line. Jobs stormed out. Smith finally left Pixar to found his own image editing company which Microsoft bought out. This gave Smith the distinction of having founded 2 companies, one bought by Steve Jobs, and the other one bought by Bill Gates.

Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs and John Lasseter

Lay-offs
(p 344) Pixar was losing money - from software, hardware and animated content. Jobs had to make massive lay-offs with no severance pay and no empathy (like Elon Musk). The pressure was great - being ousted in Apple and NeXT not making money. But somehow, he would accommodate a little spending for Lasseter's animation - he has a soft heart for the animation division.

Andy Grove
(p 345) Andy Grove was head of Intel and a mentor to Jobs. When Jobs got impatient with an Intel director, Jobs called Grove, but Grove, sensing a brat on a tantrum, put Jobs in place by standing by his director. It's odd that Jobs would berate an Intel guy when Pixar was selling its services to Intel. Another occasion sprung when Jobs suggested ways on how Intel can upgrade its microchips to render 3D graphics. He charged Intel for his advice. Grove reminded Jobs that friends don't charge friends for friendly advice.

Adobe as Industry Standard
(p 345) Pixar developed great software for the graphic enthusiast, but the average consumer didn't care so much for gee-wiz features that were difficult to use and expensive. So far, Adobe remained the leader in desktop publishing - its software is not as sophisticated but it was easier to use and affordable.

Academy Award Winner
(p 347) Tiny Toy, starring Tinny, an animation short, won the Academy Awards - first time ever that a computer animation won this award. This validated Jobs' nurture and protection he gave to Lasseter.

This caught the attention of the Disney guys - Eisner and Katzenberg. They liked the storytelling and use of technology. They wanted to explore more animation in their films, and gooed Lasseter to come back. But Lasseter was now loyal to Jobs and Pixar. Disney then decided to work with Pixar.

Jobs at this point had already poured $50M into Pixar and NeXT wasn't selling. He was becoming desperate but he was still hoping that the average consumer would embrace 3D technology in their personal computing. This never took off. But another of his vision did - combining art and technology to create animated film.

Hindsight
(p 348) Looking back, Jobs wished he focused more on animation instead of hardware/software. However, had he known that hardware/software would not sell, he may not have purchased Pixar in the first place. Life kinda snookered him on that.

Joan Baez
(p 350) In 1982, as Jobs was winding down his relationship with Barbara Jasinski, he started dating Joan Baez. She was 41 with a 14-year old son, Gabriel. Jobs was 27. It lasted 3 years. Elizabeth Holmes suspects that Jobs dated Baez because she dated Bob Dylan...and Jobs is a huge Dylan fan. Jobs talked about a Ralph Lauren red dress and took Baez to the store but didn't buy it for her (he expected her to buy it herself).

Finding Joanne and Mona
(p 353) Clara (Jobs' adoptive mother) told him some details of his adoption. This sparked a hunt for his real parents. At some point he learned that his biological mother's name was Joanne Schieble. When Clara died, Jobs met Joanne. Joanne profusedly apologized for putting him up for adoption. Jobs understood why. Both went to NY to meet Mona Simpson, Jobs' sister. They liked each other and found many similarities. She later wrote a book about him, A Regular Guy.

The Lost Father
(p 357) Jobs' biological father, Abdulfattah 'John' Jandali, left Joanne when their daughter, Mona Simpson, was 5 years old. Mona finally tracked him down in Sacramento. She met Jandali alone - Jobs didn't want to meet him. Interestingly, Jandali mentioned a brother to Mona, and also mentioned having Steve Jobs as a customer in his previous restaurant. Mona kept silent that Jobs was his son. Jobs remembered the restaurant owner...his Dad but still didn't want to meet him. A few years later, Jandali learned that Jobs was his son, but didn't make effort to meet him. Jobs kept a good relationship with Joanne and Mona.

Lisa
(p 360) Jobs wasn't a Dad to Lisa. He might stop by the house he bought for them once/twice a year but that was it. When Lisa turned 8, Jobs visited more. He was already working with NeXT, which was close to Chrisann's house. Lisa was smart and artistic. She had the rebel in her as well. They became increasingly close but Jobs was just as mercurial with her as he was with most folks. Lisa would also be stubborn, not reaching out to her Dad when they have a falling out.

Jobs and Lisa Brennan

Jennifer Egan
(p 363) Jobs can be smitten. He dated an undergraduate, Jennifer Egan, for a year. They would talk for hours on the phone and debate philosophical issues. Jobs confided to her that he premonitions a short life, thus he has to double time. He makes his romance public to his colleagues. By fall of 1984, they parted ways, Egan stating she was too young for marriage.

Jobs and Jennifer Egan

Tina Redse
(p 365) In early 1985 when he was in a scuffle with Sculley, Jobs met the blond Tina Redse. Soon, she already moved in with him at Woodside - she hated being in that mansion-like but unfurnished house. They both have troubled childhood and connected at a deep level. They would both make-out, pine and fight in public. They even talked about staying in Paris indefinitely - to which Jobs objected. She found it difficult to love someone who was too self-centered and couldn't reciprocate. She was kind, Jobs was cruel. Jobs believed that beauty is universal and should be taught. Redse believed that beauty is personal and inherent. In the summer of 89, Jobs asked her to marry him. She said no - the relationship was too combustible to work. She said Jobs fit perfectly to a definition of a Narcissistic Personality Disorder - he cannot be changed, in the same way a blind man cannot see. Jobs has no empathy (just like Elon Musk). They lasted 5 years but continued their friendship.

Laurene Powell
(p 371, Oct 1989) Based on Jobs' dating history, the perfect woman should be beautiful, blonde, smart, lanky, persevering, spiritually evolved and strong. One such is Laurene Powell who happened to sit beside him on a talk shortly after his breakup with Tina Redse. They had dinner that night and had been inseparable since. Jobs loyalists speculated Laurene schemed to meet Jobs but she denied it. Jobs confessed to being in love with only 2 women - Redse and Laurene. Laurene has always been fiercely independent. She worked 3 years for Goldman Sachs, quit and spent 8 months in Florence, Italy, then came back to study at Standford Business School - this is when she met Jobs.He soon asked her to marry him and she said yes, but she suffered from Jobs' extreme focus to being ignored. It was confusing for her. After proposing marriage in Jan 1989, Jobs never mentioned it again, so Laurene moved out in Sept. Jobs gave her a ring and she moved back in to Woodside. December, they went to Kona Village in Hawaii where Laurene got pregnant.

The Wedding, March 18, 1991
(p 376) Despite being pregnant, Jobs oscillated about the marriage. Laurene moved out again. Jobs didn't know what to do and tried to come back to Redse. He also asked many people who was more beautiful - Redse or Laurene? Redse refused the marriage knowing it was bound to fail. Laurene was a logical choice - their relationship was more solid and Laurene was tough and armor-plated enough to withstand Jobs.

Bachelor's Party
(p 377) Avie Tevanian, NeXT engineer who became Jobs' friend, hosted a bachelor's party. This was tough - Jobs doesn't like to party and he had no male buddies. So, it was just Avie, Jobs and Richard Crandall, another NeXT employee. They rented a limo to SF to paint the town red. It was a pinkish red as it failed - nothing compared to movies. But Jobs appreciated the gesture and even encouraged Avie to marry his sister Mona - nothing came out of it.

Wedding
(p 378) On March 1991, they married. Jobs was 36, Laurene was 27. About 50 people came including Paul Jobs, Mona Simpson. Jobs' Zen teacher, Kobun Chino presided over the marriage.

Jobs and Powell wedding

A Family Home
(p 379) Laurene, wanting to be independent of Jobs, started her own company - Terravera, a prepared organic meal distributed to groceries. They left Woodside and moved to a manicured neighborhood in Palo Alto were Larry Page and Mark Zuccerberg lived - no fences, just a typical suburban neighborhood with wide sidewalks where neighbors can see and talk to each other. They made renovations to make it look and feel like a real home they can have a family with. Jobs was a minimalist and furnishing the new house wasn't easy. They talked for 2 weeks before buying a washing machine.The house was so unpretentious that Bill Gates, upon visiting, was wondering if they all lived in that house. Gates was renovating a 66,000 sqf mansion at that time. Even as a billionaire, Jobs had no servant, and no body guard.

Jobs still kept the Woodside mansion but it was more abandoned than lived. Once, the Clintons used the house so they had to have it furnished temporarily. Bill Clinton even asked Jobs what to do in the Lewinsky case.

Lisa Moves In
(p 384) When she was barely 14, Jobs invited Lisa to move into his house. Laurene was supportive who attended Lisa's school events. Jobs was his usual - cold then lukewarm then distant. Lisa stayed there 4 years until she applied East to Harvard. During her Harvard years, her relationship with Jobs was tumultuous. Sometimes they won't speak for months. Jobs would sometimes stop support and Hertzfeld would loan Lisa the money. During her graduation, she didn't invite Jobs. Jobs would also unsupport Chrisann.

A Regular Guy
(p 387) Mona Simpson used Jobs as a template for the protagonist in her book, A Regular Guy, but it was still a novel filled-in by Mona's imagination. Jobs claims he never read it, but stated also 25% of the charactiers's personality was him. When Lisa read the manuscript where "Jane" was patterned after her, she felt betrayed that the intimacy she shared with Mona was now for public consumption. They reconciled but their relationship was touch and go.

Children
(p 389) When the first baby came, it had no name for 2 weeks since Jobs couldn't settle on a name, much like him who couldn't settle if he was to buy a washing machine. Finally, he was named Reed Paul Jobs. Reed was like his Dad, being smart, incisive, charming, but unlike his Dad, Reed was self-effacing without any cruelty to him. 2nd child was Erin Sienna Jobs. She's quiet and distant so as not to be hurt by her father's lack of attention to her. 3rd was Eve, a strong and wily firecracker who knows how to put up with her Dad. Reed got most of Jobs's attention. The girls didn't.

Larry Ellison
(p 390) For Jobs' 40th, Larry, a mentor and close friend to Jobs, hosted a lavish party on his yatch with celebrities and moguls. Reed referred to Larry as their rich friend, somewhat oblivious that his Dad is one of the world's richest. Jobs isn't about money despite his wealth. He thinks people with security detail live a nutsy life (Larry is a mentor to both Jobs and Musk).

Jeffrey Katzenberg
(p 393) Jobs told Katzenberg, head of Disney's film studio, that he wanted to do a film with Disney. Jobs and Katzenberg are similar - they can be charming when they need to and tyrants because they are. Jobs liked Disney because of its emphasis on design and detail. At that point, Disney already licensed Pixar for its computer animation system. Katzenberg wanted Lasseter back, but since he won't, then Disney would work with Pixar to avail of Lasseter.

Meeting with Disney
(p 393) A meeting in Disney was set where Jobs, Lasseter, Catmull and Alvy Ray were present. Negotiations took months. Finally, Jobs did not give rights to Disney for Pixar's 3D animation. Jobs did not get rights to the characters, film and sequel. The battle of the 2 giants was like a ringside seat to a Joe Frazier/Ali fight. But Pixar needed the deal more than Disney, as Pixar was close to getting in the red. Disney had the money to finance the film, Pixar didn't. The final terms were Disney owns the film, characters and sequel and have creative control. Pixar gets 12.5% of ticket sales.

Toys' Existential Threat
(p 395) Lasseter's storyline revolved on 2 toys - old and new separated from their owner. Toys' reason for being is to be played by kids. If they are replaced by a newer toy or put in storage, the toy becomes very sad. So, there is a rivalry between the old and new toy.

Katzenberg the Butcher
(p 395) Every few weeks, Lasseter and his team would present a storyboard. Pixar was brilliant in producing visual effects impossible by hand rendering. But Katzenberg would butcher the storyline and a new storyboard would be presented for the next meeting. Katz wanted more edge, more meanness between Woody (the old toy) against Buzz (new toy). Even though it was cartoons, Katz wanted some grown-up element. He suggested that Pixar watches classic buddy films where the 2 protagonists are at odds but had to work things out together and ultimately become friends. Woody had to be a jerk in the film. But Woody became a hateful character, which sidetracked the whole film.

Cut!
(p 396) Disney execs killed the film because Woody was no longer wholesome...and also because they didn't like outsiders (Pixar) to be making the movie for them.

Jobs was uncharacteristically uninvolved. He respected Lasseter so much to get in his way. When Disney killed the movie, Jobs continued it with his own funds, reverting Woody's character back to his wholesome self. 3 months later, Pixar met with Disney again to show the reworked characters. Instead of being tyranical, Woody this time was a wise leader. Disney liked it.

Cost overrun
(p 398) With Katz's revisions, costs piled up. When Jobs requested more money, Katz said no. This sparked war between the 2. Katz argued that Disney was helping Pixar with their creative input. Jobs didn't like being reduced to a contractor with no full control. He got wise for the next projects with Disney. This meant Pixar needs to finance its own movies and to renegotiate with Disney. For that to happen, he had to take Pixar public to generate the money.

Pixar Rebounding
(p 399) Jobs was already putting up Pixar on the auctioning block, but as Toy Story was developing, he saw potential on how the animation business can transform the movie business. He would show his friends repeatedly the incremental improvements...he was obsessed to the chagrin of his guests who had to go through it again.

He began to feel that his Pixar investment might yield when he attended the Pocahontas premiere in Central Park. Even he, was astonished at the lavish product launch. Disney CEO Eisner was there.

To Infinity!
(p 400) Toy Story was premiered by Disney on November 1995. A few passes were given to Pixar - they were made to feel that this was a Disney show. Jobs didn't attend. He instead rented out a theater and staged his own premiere with Silicon Valley big dicks - to make it clear it wasn't a Disney show.

Who's Movie is this?
(p 401) With the 2 premieres, the question was, whose movie was it? Was it Disney's movie with Pixar as an animation contractor? Or was it a Pixar movie with Disney as a distributor to roll out Pixar movies? These questions became more important when Toy Story became a runaway bestseller, outselling Batman Forever and Apollo 13. The media were all in praise of it - Newsweek, NY Times, Rotten Tomatoes and TIME. However, these reviews exalted Disney - not Pixar.

Jobs appeared on interviews claiming that Pixar made their film and Disney was simply a distributor. Disney of course objected. Jobs had to contractually negotiate the ownership of the film in the subsequent negotiations. Pixar had to be the main deal and not an animation contractor. But to be an equal on the negotiation table, Pixar had to have the money - thus the premature IPO.

IPO
(p 401) The IPO was held a week after the Toy Story movie with an initial price of $22. But the movie was such a success that the price shot up to $49 before settling down to $39 at the closing. It was the biggest IPO that year, surpassing Jobs' wildest expectations. Before the IPO, Jobs was selling Pixar to recoup the $50M he invested. But after the IPO, given his 80% ownership of Pixar, his investment shot to $1.2B

Renegotiating with Disney
(p 402) This money meant Pixar can now shoulder half the cost of making the movie and thus get half the profits. The movie deals will be co-branded - Disney and Pixar. Jobs met with Eisner to discus his new terms - Eisner was shocked at Jobs' balls. Meanwhile, Katzenberg left Disney to partner with Geffen and Spielberg to form Dreamworks. Jobs threatened that if Disney plays hardball, after doing the 3 contractual movies with Disney, Pixar would then partner with Dreamworks. As for Eisner, he ace-in-the-whole was to make Toy Story sequels outside Pixar using the same characters as per original contract.

New Terms
(p 403) The final agreement was Pixar will shoulder half the cost to produce the movie and get half the profits. They will make 5 films within 10 years. Co-branding was prickly but it passed muster. By being co-branded with Disney, Pixar, a new kid on the block, gets to bask in the goodwill of the established Disney brand. Eisner and Jobs parted as friends. But in the coming decade, Jobs saw the dark side of Eisner. Jobs had proven himself not just creating good products, but creating great companies with valuable brands. He has done that with Apple and now, Pixar.

Things Fall Apart
(p 406) When Jobs unveiled NeXT in 1988, there was much anticipation. But when it came out the following year, it was a disappointment - it was not compatible to anything outside and there was only a few application software supporting it. Even the media made the thumbs down. Jobs remarketed it as a personal workstation - the power of a workstation and the user friendliness of a personal computer. Still, sales slumped and IBM didn't go through the licensing of the NeXTSTEP OS. This forced Jobs to license the OS to run on other computer systems.

Jean Louis Gassee
(p 406) Gassee, who replaced Jobs at Apple, wrote that NeXT is not Apple, but Steve is still Steve. For this, Jobs invited him to the announcement of NeXTSTEP OS to be ported to an Intel/IBM platform.

Canceling NeXT
(p 407) Next strategic move was for Jobs to stop manufacturing the hardware, NeXT. It was painful since he loved his products, making painstaking measures to perfect them. Now, his main business is to license its OS to uninspired computer brands.

1995: PC's Dark Ages
(p 407) In 1995, Jobs gave a gloomy interview stating that since Microsoft won the PC race, innovation ceased. Microsoft's Windows ruled, beating UNIX, beating OS/2, and beating Mac. The standard bearers were producing uninspired cookie-cutter software for uninspired machines. Apple was dead. At this point, he was long gone from Apple, enjoying his family life and becoming a name in the animated movie business.

Apple Falling
(p 408) When Jobs left Apple, Apple remained profitable with its dominance of desktop publishing. Sculley went for profits without being innovative on the products. The Mac didn't grow. Eventually, Microsoft overtook Apple as it improved its GUI with upscaled Windows OS. Windows 95 became a most successful OS ever and Microsoft dominated the PC market.

A Hostile Takeover of Apple?
(p 409) Jobs talked to Larry Ellison (VC for Oracle) about buying back Apple. Larry could raise $3B and Jobs gets 25% equity as CEO. But Jobs demurred...a hostile takeover of his former company. It didn't sound right. But he was open to being taken back.

Gil Amelio
(p 408) In 1996, Apple's market share was down to 4% from 16%. Spindler, CEO who replaced Sculley, tried to sell Apple but failed. He was ousted too. Replacing him was Gil Amelio, not a fan of Jobs, and lost $1B for Apple during his first year. Jobs met him in 1994 to tell him to put Jobs back as CEO - Amelio was on the board at that time, not yet CEO. It was time to resurrect Apple. When asked what Jobs will replace the Mac with, there was no clear answer, except for one-liners. Amelio shooed Jobs out of his office unceremoniously.

Copland OS
(p 410) By 1996 when Amelio was CEO, he realized that Apple's new hope, the Copland OS, was a dud. And he had no alternative for it. Apple needed to partner with a maker of an object-oriented OS. The only viable choice was the NeXTSTEP OS.

Gassee's BE
(p 411) First move for Apple was to purchase Gassee's BE Company. But Gassee wanted too much money - 15% of Apple, and word reached Amelio that Gassee was out to squeeze his balls. There was rivalry between Gassee and Jobs, despite Gassee's kind words about NeXT.

Windows NT
(p 411) Odd, but Amelio focused on Windows NT, to be tweaked to look like a Mac on the surface, but Windows on the inside, compatible to everything that's out t here. Gates was willing and negotiated with Amelio. Gates had high hopes until Amelio later told him their getting NeXTSTEP.

Satire on Jobs
(p 411) A parody was published in Macworld that Apple buys NeXT and installs Jobs as CEO. It was satire, but sometimes, life imitates parody.

Slouching toward Cupertino
(p 412) There were promising mid-level talks about Apple looking into the NeXTSTEP OS. Jobs called Amelio to not do anything until he arrived from Japan. Amelio was in dire straits that he welcomed it. In Dec 1996, Jobs set foot again at Apple in Cupertino to meet Amelio - this was 11 years after his ouster. He made a pitch for Apple to buy the whole NeXT company, not just the OS.

Larry Needs More Money
(p 413) Jobs and Larry were discussing at Larry's home in Hawaii. Jobs was saying he could run Apple again and be CEO without Larry buying the company. Larry's question was how to make money from that. Jobs says with no Apple stock but CEO, he has the moral highground. Larry promised to help Jobs in any way, but he knew Jobs would wrestle for CEO soon because Amelio is full of shit.

NeXTSTEP PS vs BE OS
(p 414) There was a presentation showdown in front of Apple brass between Jobs and Gassee. Jobs was mesmerizing while Gassee assumed the deal was his. Larry Tesler advised Amelio that whatever company he chooses, the top guy will replace Amelio. Amelio chose Jobs vs Gassee and made his recommendation to the board with Jobs present. Jobs saw Markkula for the first time in 11 years. They shook hands.

Jobs and Amelio at Palo Alto
(p 415) Next, Jobs invited Amelio to his house for finalize the details. He didn't over reach unlike Gassee so the financial part went smoothly. Jobs accepted Amelio's counter offer of $10/share of NeXT instead of $12. This valued NeXT at $400M. Jobs wanted his payout in cash but Amelio compromised to $120M cash, $37M in stock to be held for 6 months. Jobs wanted a seat on the board. Amelio was charmed like all others despite his awareness of Jobs' way with people. When he was ousted as CEO, he then realized he was played.

Amelio vs Gassee and Gates
(p 417) Amelio told Gassee that Jobs won. Next, he had to tell Gates - who had high hope Apple will get his Windows NT OS. Gates went berserk, telling Amelio that Jobs didn't know technology, that he's just a super salesman, that he's a bullshit artist, and NeXT is garrbage. Gates stated years later that in hindsight, Apple was not able to use NeXTSTEP OS. Avie Tevanian simply worked on the existing Apple OS using the kernel of NeXT OS. So, buying NeXT at that price was super expensive. All that purchase did was to reinstall Jobs back to power.

Announcement
(p 418, December 20, 1996) Amelio announced the purchase of NeXT with Jobs acting part-time as advisor to the chairman. Next day, Jobs went to Pixar to assure the people that he's still their man. The staff were glad Jobs would be preocuupied with Apple. Less of Jobs is a great working space. However, with negotiations, they appreciate the involvement of Jobs. Jobs also got the blessing of Lasseter.

Hovering Backstage
(p 421) So far, Jobs' predictions to Ellison has been unfolding - get Apple to buy NeXT, then install Jobs as board member. Then, he waits for Amelio to drop the ball and he makes a move to replace him as CEO.

Money?
Although he became immensely wealthy, money wasn't his primary obsession - he didn't buy yatchs and mansions, no security detail, didn't pin his hopes on being the big dick in Forbes. Jobs' return to Apple was to essentially reclaim his kingdom and prove to everyone that even in his 40s, he is still an innovative force to reckon with. Indeed, in the years to come he would:

1. iPhone - develop the smart phone
2. iPod - change the way people listen to music
3. iPad - introduce tablet computers
4. iMac - pc redefined

Un-Passive Jobs
(p 422) As adviser to the chair, Jobs was unusually passive, but he took steps to protect his NeXT people who were absorbed in the buyout. He immediately put his own people on the top ranks of Apple to consolidate his power. Although Jobs didn't report everyday at Apple, he is kept abreast of what's happening through his people mostly Avie and Jon. It didn't take long before Silicon Valley got wind that Jobs was out to undermine Amelio. Press reports circulated that Jobs was now the power behind Apple.

Macworld Jan 1997, SF Marriot
(p 422) At the SF Macworld, Amelio was unprepared for his speech and fumbled and stumbled in front of 4000 guests including Peter Gabriel and Muhammad Ali. Amelio rambled for 2 senseless hours before introducing Jobs. Jobs' entrance was worthy of the 2nd coming. The crowd burst into ecstatic frenzy for a full minute. Jobs talked about Apple dropping the ball 10 years ago (when he got ousted), enabling Microsoft to catch up and take market lead. Amelio appeared on stage again and ranted for another hour until he called a surprise guest on stage - Stephen Wozniak. Jobs was annoyed and retreated backstage. Amelio was incensed that Jobs would ruin a golden moment for Apple. This friction was a prelude of things to come.

Macworld 1997, Amelio, Jobs and Wozniak

Installing Jobs' People
(p 424) Jobs wanted to replace top people in Apple with his own people from NeXT. First on the firing line was Ellen Hancock who wanted Sun Solaris OS instead of NeXTSTEP. Avie Tevanian headed software engineering and Jon Rubinstein headed the hardware engineering.

Rattling the Product Line
(p 425) After successfully installing his people in key positions, Jobs' next target was the product mix. First was the Newton, a handheld personal assistant using a stylus (I guess voice recognition wasn't invented yet) - this was Sculley's pet project, thus its doom.

Ed Woolard makes a Move
(p 426) As if Amelio's Macworld wasn't bad enough, Amelio came unprepared for the shareholder's meeting. Sales went down 30% and he couldn't explain why and he didn't know what he was talking about. Board chair Ed Woolard, ex-CEO of DuPont, was dismayed and asked Jobs what he thought of Amelio. Jobs was blunt in saying Amelio was a terrible CEO.

What About the Hole?
At a party with Larry Ellison, a reporter asked Amelio how Apple was doing. Amelio described Apple as a ship with precious cargo but it has a hole. So, he has to direct everyone to row in the same direction. What about the hole? This ship analogy thus became the butt of jokes. Amelio was increasingly becoming a caricature with the Silicon Valley folks, but he takes himself seriously, telling people he should be addressed as Dr. Amelio - again, the butt of jokes.

The press was building up Jobs as the savior of Apple. Larry Ellison circulated talk that he was willing to buy a substantial bulk of Apple and install Jobs as CEO. This shot up Apple's share price which annoyed Amelio, but coudn't get Jobs to dismiss the rumor. The press went rabid on Apple and Amelio's resignation.

Jobs the Chameleon
(p 429) Jobs can charm people he didn't like just as easily as he can be insulting to people he liked. With Amelio, Jobs thought he was a bozo, but charmed him anyway because he was needy for it. Like Sculley, Amelio needed Jobs' approval. And Jobs knows exactly how to manipulate the situation. He would flatter until the other guy laps it up, thinking he now has the respect and admiration of Jobs. Maybe he was just stringing him along for the ride until Jobs pulls the rug from underneath him - classic Steve Jobs!

Selling $1.5M Apple shares
(p 430) 6 months after Jobs' agreeement with Amelio, and just a few days after an intimate dinner with Jobs and wifey, Jobs sold his 1.5M shares (from the buyout of NeXT) but lied to Amelio that it was his. This ruptured Amelio's bubble that Jobs was his friend. Why did Jobs lie when he was at liberty to legally sell his shares? Not because it was in his interest, but because it was in his nature. Jobs will lie just because. He will lie as much as he is also willing to disclose a painful truth. Jobs has a complex personality.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear
(p 431) It didn't take long for Amelio to figure out that Jobs was out to take him out as CEO. Additionally, the CFO told Woolard that Apple was hitting the sand bank already and top people are leaving. This alarmed Woolard who convened a board meeting without Amelio. The report was if Amelio stayed, there's a 90% chance Apple goes bankrupt. If Amelio is kicked out and Jobs becomes CEO, there is 60% chance Apple survives. The board unanimously voted to kick Amelio out and reinstate Jobs as CEO (this aligns with Jobs' resolve from the start - get Apple to buy NeXT, get himself on the board, and become CEO when Amelio blunders).

When Woolard asked Jobs to be CEO, he said no (no? what the fuck was his undermining Amelio for? He waited 2 decades for this!). He accepted sitting on the board and be advisor without pay. Woolard fired Amelio. When news became public, Jobs assured his Pixar people that he is still with them.

Why Refuse CEO?
Why then did Jobs not take the CEO role? His answers were not convincing - that he wasn't sure about being CEO of 2 big public companies (Apple and Pixar). But Isaacson surmissed that Jobs simply did not know what to do with Apple - or how to save it. Without a game plan, he'd rather not commit. In his dichotomized world, he's either a hero or a bozo. Jobs surprised Amelio with a call explaining that he had nothing to do with the firing...and more bullshit. No one bought it.

At the next board meet, Jobs was announced as an active advisor who will lead the team. But everybody knew already Jobs was in charge.

Fast-track for Jobs
(p 436) Jobs was quick to take action - negotiating with suppliers, product design, advertising agency review, etc. First was to mitigate the brain drain by lowering down the exercise price of the stock options (since the stock price has gone down, stock options were practically worthless). The board pushed back, Jobs pushed harder. The board relented. Instead of saying thanks, Jobs told the board to all resign (including MarkMarkula) except Woolard. Jobs was just an advisor, didn't even sit on the board, and here he was, telling the entire board to quit - that's guts and unwavering resolve. The board met to fire themselves with Jobs as a new board member, Woolard as chair and one other.

Reinvent the Company
(p 439) Asked by Jobs how to sustain a resilient company, Markkula said the company must learn how to reinvent itself to keep current. He cited Hewlett-Packard - first an instrument company, then a calculator company, then a computer company. With Microsoft as the industry standard, Apple must look for other ways to make a come-back, not necessarily in the PC business.

The New Board
(p 440) Jobs' first choice was Larry Ellison (who only attended 1/3 of board meetings), Bill Campbell (marketing guy at Apple in the old days, who sided with Sculley), Jerry York (CFO Chrysler and IBM). Jobs filled in the board with heavy hitters, who despite their stature, were intimidated by Jobs or were eager to please him. Jobs' prerequisite for hiring was loyalty...loyalty to a fault. Jobs made it clear that Apple's board should be subservient to him and not be independent.

Macworld Boston, August 1997
(p 441) With Jobs as de facto CEO, share price went up from $13 to $20. 5000 packed the Macworld Boston in Aug 1997 to hear Jobs' keynote speech - what were his plans for Apple? When he walked on the stage, he received rock star treatment. As Chair and CEO of Pixar, he talked about helping Apple get back on its tracks. It was clear he was also running Apple. He inspired and even brought some to tears.

The Microsoft Pact
(p 443) At the Macworld, Jobs announced a stunning partnership with Microsoft - of all companies! Microsoft and Apple have been at each other's throats for decades over stolen ideas, copyrights and patents. Microsoft also refused to make Excel and Word for the Mac OS (since Mac was incompatible to everything else and no one, even at Apple, knew what this next Mac OS would be). In a meeting with Gates, Amelio and Jobs, Gates didn't know who was in charge or what OS he was to make applications for - Mac OS or NeXTSTEP?

Microsoft-Apple Handshake
When Amelio was ousted, Jobs called Gates and told him that they can sustain the litigation and they both lose. Or they can end the feud right there if Microsoft continues to develop Word and Excel for Mac, and for Microsoft to invest in Apple shares as assurance that Microsoft is invested in the future of Apple. Gates agreed, and in 4 weeks, the agreement was hammered out.

Terms
Jobs announced that Microsoft will invest $150M to Apple, Apple will install Internet Explorer as the default browser on the Mac (with other browsers to shift to, as an option). Then Gates appeared online and announced that Microsoft is developing a suite of apps, Microsoft Office, for the Mac, and will develop advanced versions of Word and Excel for Mac.

This announcement by Jobs and Gates shot Apple's stock by 33% adding $830B to its market valuation. Apple is now back from the fringes of the grave.

Here's to the Crazy Ones
(p 449) After Amelio's resignation, Jobs called Lee Clow, the creative director of Chiat/Day Agency to pitch for Apple. Clow, a respected creative talent, is sought after by clients - it was below him to pitch in competition with other ad agencies to win an account. But Jobs couldn't just grant them the contract due to board constraints. For Jobs, he did pitch with this brilliant idea, Think Different. Jobs was moved that Clow pitched for his love of Apple (and Jobs). With that idea, Jobs felt the presence of purity...sublime purity, it couldn't even come close to what the other ad agencies were pitching.

Think Different
(p 450) With Think Different, it reinstates the global recall of Apple and also that the company is distinctively apart from the rest. The thrust wasn't on product features but a brand image campaign. The campaign underscored what creative people could do with computers. Per Jobs, Apple is about people who think outside the box, who want to use computers to help them change the world. Apple was to be a lifestyle brand like Ferrari. People who buy Apple are creative, anti-corporation, innovators and rebels.

For the text narrative, they figured the Seal song, Robert Frost and Robin Williams' Dead Poets Society, but ultimately they realized they had to create their own text. For voice over, it was a split of using Jobs's or Richard Dreyfuss. Jobs used Dreyfuss...it was about Apple...not Jobs.

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

Print Campaign
(p 452) For print, Think Different had an Apple logo and a picture of a famous person who thought different - no name of the person. It should be understood. But some posters had pictures of not-so-famous intrepids - this causes people to look them up. It wasn't just a picture, but iconic portraits. Jobs talked personality of the living relatives to get licensing for the pictures.

Think Different print posters

3-Hour Wednesday Ad Meetings
(p 454) Every Wednesday, for 3 hours, Jobs would meet with his ad agency, marketers and communications people to fine-hone whatever public message they convey for Apple. He approved every ad, billboard, poster, etc. For a CEO, he was super micro-managing the marketing campaign.

iCEO
(p 455, Sep 16, 1997) For 10 weeks since Amelio left, Jobs was advisor. He changed his title to iCEO (interim CEO) - no contract, no salary. But he was very much in charge of the company - no consensus required. There was a search for a CEO but none wanted to have Jobs looking over his shoulders. After 4 months, the board gave up looking for one - thus Jobs became the indefinite CEO.

Being CEO of Pixar and Apple and running a family was very tough on Jobs. He developed health problems during this time.

Killing the Clones
(p 457) Jobs' Apple always avoided licensing its OS and its hardware architecture to the other computer makers. This was to the objection of Woz and Alan Kay (an Apple fellow) who argued that for people to use their OS, they had to buy the hardware at 2X the price. Besides, software people are inherently multiplatformed. Without Jobs, Apple licensed Mac-clones to 3 companies - Power Computing, Radius and Motorola. This turned out bad for Apple. It made $80 on every clone sold, but lost $500 in its computer sales because the clones were much cheaper than Apple computers.

Even Bill Gates advocated Mac-clones and Mac OS even if it means eating up on Windows sales. He figured he'll make his money on apps for the Mac OS on Mac-clones. He offered to help but got no response.

Jobs was not a fan of clones so when the new batch of Mac OS was released, the clones were not given upgrades. Apple had to pay $100M to relinquish the cloning license to Power Computing.

Product Line Review
(p 459) When Jobs took over, it became clear that Apple was unfocused with its product lines. There would be multiple versions of every product to satisfy the vendors' whims. e.g. Mac would have different versions with model numbers that didn't mean anything in the series. He would meet the product teams and ask probing questions and ultimately defend why the product needed to be produced. He slashed up to 70% of the products and models resulting in massive layoffs. There were push backs but others were also relieved since they knew what they were doing were crap with no direction.

Finally, Jobs instructed everyone to just make 4 products - that's it. For Consumer desktop (iMac) and portable (iBook) and Professionals desktop n (PowerMac G3) and portable (PowerBook G3). The board pushed back but Jobs bulldozed ahead anyway. The engineers were relived to be able to focus on just 4.

Focusing on 4 products meant stopping production on printers, servers and his much-hated Newton, the personal assistant that required a stylus. By canceling these products, some engineers were freed to focus on the new products like iPhone and iPad.

With Jobs' return, Apple finally turned a profit from $1.04B loss.

Jony Ive
(p 465) Jony Ive was a 30 year old head of the design team who was disillusioned with Apple's quest for money instead of developing great products - during Amelio's reign. Then, Apple would ask him to make a design and then the engineers would make it as cheap as possible resulting in uninspired products. He was about to quit when Jobs took over Apple. Jobs was looking for a designer from the outside until he and Jony talked about form and materials. That began one of the greatest industrial design collaboration in the era that would transform Apple. Jony became special to Jobs - others were replaceable but Jony was not. Jony would often stop by Jobs' house to chat.

Jony puts care in what he does and hates indifference or mediocrity. He made great designs with focus on engineering and on the inner components (unlike American cars where engines might look ok, but to repair the first part that usualy breaks down, you have to dismantle the entire engine to get to that part).

To Jobs, Jony is supremely intelligent who understands not just design but business and marketing. Jony understands that Apple is a product company. Jony reports to Jobs directly and enjoys autonomy in his decisions. Jony thinks like Jobs (in Chiang Mai, Mike, the hotel owner where I stayed, told me about the people in his company who think like him and he gives them special rein. He also says I don't think like him. I really have no idea how he thinks. One time, I told him that if I thought like he did, I would also have 4 hotels in Chiang Mai). Jobs would intuitively select products he likes and Jony can understand the philosophy that went into that design and would implement it. It was like a Lennon-McCartney synergy.

Design Simplicity
Jobs and Jony subscribe to the "simplicity is the best form of sophistication", so when they study a product, they look into ways of making it less or simplifying further. Designing a product simple was not just to minimize clutter but to dive deep into the essence of the product. At Apple, design dictated the engineering (at Elon Musk's companies, engineering comes first before design, but engineers, designer and product managers all work together to dish out one product signed by the 3).

Inside the Studio
(p 470) At Apple, the design studio is like Fort Knox - even high level executives cannot just go inside - the crown jewels are inside. It's arranged from drawing to computer designs to foam molding to spray painting to make the products look real and hand-felt. Being in that room with all works-in-progress evolving, Jobs can see where the company is heading in the next 3 years.

Apple Packaging
(p 473) Even the packaging gets special treatment at Apple. Some even have their patents - all this attention to details when people will just throw it after opening the box. But the point is to excite the person before he even sees the product. According to Markkula, the packaging imputes the essence of the product - people judge the book by its cover. Packaging is theater.

Stealing Ideas
(p 473) Jony is sensitive particularly when Jobs steals the credit, something his other colleagues complain about. Additionally, he gets hurt when people refer to Jobs as the only ideas guy in the company. But Jony admits that without Jobs, his brilliant ideas would have been buried by bureaucracy and politics.

Back to the Future
(p 476, May 1998) The iMac was the first design collaboration between Jobs and Jony. The iMac was an all-in-one (keyboard, screen and computer together...just plug it in) consumer-based PC selling at $1299 that sported a radically different look from all the boxy beige PCs during that time. For this to materialize, the team had to go back to the roots of the Macintosh in 1984 and get the designer and engineers working together. It came out with a hard drive (instead of just being a terminal within a network) and it had the guts and microprocessor of the professional PowerMac, the G3 (so it was powerful, unlike the slow NeXT). It was smooth to the touch and easy on the eyes. It supports a compact disc but no floppy disk drive (eventually, PCs got rid of the floppy disc drive, but it was too premature then. It was a mistake because when ripping music became a trend, PCs needed a floppy disk drive to do this and the iMac had none). As a trend-setting feature, it was playful-looking curvy cube with a translucent bondi blue color - what you might think the Jetsons family might be using. The neatly arranged chips in the circuit board inside could now be seen. It also had a discreet handle for tactile friendliness (not function, afterall, it's a desktop). All those added features cost more money but Jobs decreed it without board approval and despite the grunting of the hardware engineers - he was already playing God at Apple.

iMac was released in May 1998

Lee Clow of Chiat / Day
(p 479) Jobs flew-in Lee Clow and his team (ad agency) to take a look at the unit and they coined the "iMac" name to it. At first, they disapproved how it looked, but nobody said anything for fear of Jobs. Clow prepared the print ad and Jobs insisted Clow used a different blue - then a shouting match until compared side by side, it was the same blue.

Product Launch Rehearsal
(p 480) Rehearsal for the product launch was hellweek as usual especially when the unit had a button for a disc tray. Jobs wanted a disc slot, not a tray - but there was no time to make product revisions. Rubinstein (hardware manager) took shit for it although he insisted the prototype he presented had a tray. Another flashpoint was the stage lighting - he was so obsessive about how bright the light show be and when the light opens up. Everybody's nerves were frayed.

The Launch, May 6, 1998
(p 483) Beginning in 1984 with the product launch of the Macintosh, product launches have been a full theatrical production unto itself sometimes involving movie production outfitters. This product launch was the first since Jobs retook Apple. This was his chance to tell the world Apple has been saved, to dispel doubters, rally the troops, encourage 3rd party app developers and invigorate the company. Additionally, Jobs really enjoyed playing the role of impresario - he loved the attention , the drama and the adulation.

Jobs started off by acknowledging the presence of Woz, Markkula (1/3 partner in Apple in the beginning) and Mike Scott (first Prez who was to potty-train Jobs). The original Mac team was also there with Hertzfeld.

Jobs built momentum by showing the current state of PCs - boring boxy beige components. Then he showcased the bondi-blue iMac to a thunderous roar by the audience. It was the concretization of the "Think Different" manifesto. It was a very inviting sight especially to those who never owned a PC before - it made them want to own THAT iMac.

The media couldn't praise it enough - "industry-altering success" by Forbes, "sci-fi shimmer" by Newsweek. Even the estranged Sculley remarked that the iMac was a "hit product with tremendous marketing".

Sour Grape
(p 485) Of course, there was the predictable and perfunctory thumbs-down by Gates saying it was nothing more than a leadership in colors. He painted his PC red to underscore his sentiment (Bill Gates could have shown more class by praising the iMac. He lowered himself by being an obvious sour grape). Jobs was of course furious and rebutted that Gates was devoid of taste and simply cannot 'get it'.

Runaway Bestseller
(p 485) The iMac shipped out in Aug 1998 and sold 800,000 by year's end at $1299 - the fastest selling computer made by Apple to date. 32% were 1st-time buyers and 12% were transitioners from Windows (poor Gates).

More Colors for iMac
(p 486) Jony soon showed 4 more dazzling iMac colors for Jobs. He gave an instant approval. Jony was stunned - in other companies, that proposal would have been subject to meetings, discussions, cost-benefit analysis, logistics hurdles that would have taken months.

iMac was soon released in various colors

Tray-Loading CDs
(p 486) Last item for the iMac was to revert the design to a cd slot instead of a tray. Rubenstein argued that music will soon be burned on cds and that will happen first on tray-loading cds. Jobs persisted and commissioned Sony to develop a slot-loading cd for the iMac. Soon, Panasonic launched a tray-loading cd drive that can burn music on a cd. This left Apple in the dust and took years to not just catch up but leapfrog its competitors.

The Customer Experience
(p 502) Jobs took full control of the customer experience from design, engineering, hardware, software, production and content. But he didn't control the customer experience when making an Apple purchase in a store. That was about to change. PC sales from a specialty computer shop was obsolete. Now, Megachains and Big Box Stores controlled the distribution and sales of PCs (these are large-scale retailers selling different brands of related products - PCs, desktops, printers, phones, gadgets. e.g. Target, Best Buy, Walmart). This means that a higher priced Apple will be displayed side by side with a Compaq and Dell with the behind-the-counter staff not knowing why an Apple is different and special. All that effort in the factory is not realized at the point of sale in a chain store. So, the weakest link in the customer experience was the retail outlet. So how do take control of the retail outlet? Create your own - an Apple store, selling only Apple products with staff trained by Apple.

The Ideal Store
(p 503) As early as 1999, Jobs was already looking into having Apple stores. He was already talking to Ron Johnson, VP Merchandising of Target. They took an 8:30 am walk inside a mall with hardly anyone yet and started dissecting the dynamics between the specialty stores and the department stores. They entered an Eddie Bauer store which was long and narrow with 2 entrances. They concluded that an Apple store should be squarish with only 1 entrance so that all merchandise can be viewed upon entering.

No Tech Stores in the Mall
(p 504) There were no tech stores in the mall. The conventional wisdom then was that expensive and rarely purchased items like a PC are sold in cheaper locations since customers are willing to drive out. Jobs disagreed. He wanted Apple stores to take center stage in malls and along mainstreets, to make them inviting so people come to take a look, and chances are, they would like what they see and make a purchase. The store size should be massive to impute what the brand's for - again, people judge the book by its cover. Massive with only a few products (because Apple just has a few products). The store will be airy and minimalist. Think of a GAP product you bought. Can you think about that product without seeing the spacious store with wooden floors, white walls and meticulously folded apparel? That is what an Apple store should be. This morphs Apple's image from being a cult to something playful, friendly, accessbile and hip with an intimidating underpining.

The Prototype
(p 505) When Jobs presented the idea to the board, no one was thrilled. Gateway tried having their own stores and failed. Meanwhile, Dell doesn't have its own store yet it's selling. Besides, Apple isn't that big - it's a marginal player. Woolard, tired of the ensuing tug-of-war with Jobs, stepped down. The board opted for a test - 4 Apple stores.

Millard 'Mickey' Drexler
(p 506) The only board member who was with Jobs was Mikey Drexler, CEO of GAP. He had Jobs' vision for end-to-end control of the consumer experience. He also advised Jobs to create a secret mock-up Apple store near the Apple campus and hang out there for epiphanies. Jobs did exactly that and even brought trusted board members like Ellison and Drexler.

Hand-held Checkout System
(p 507) Larry Ellison was working on a revolutionary hand-held checkout system that eliminates the bulky cash register. Jobs wanted it for the Apple store, but the process had to be simplified and reduced to the barest minimum. Ellison was able to perfect that and was soon used at the Apple checkout counter.

Store Layout Change
(p 507) Near the unveiling day for the prototype store, October 2000, after 6 months of secret preparations, the configured layout was to segment the store according to the products - a quadrant for the iMac, a quadrant for the PowerMac, PowerBook and the iBook. But Ron Johnson woke up in the middle of the night with an epiphany - that the store layout should pull together the different equipment the user will be using, e.g. a movie bay area where the iMac/PowerMac are showing movies from iMovie together with a video cam where movies can be edited. The launch still pushed through, but Jobs announced to the crowd that the layout will be changed because Johnson was right. Lesson: if something isn't right, fix it right away regardless how many hours were already poured in. This was done in Pixar when Woody morphed into a jerk - the storyboard had to be changed and all those footages had to be trashed.

Revised Prototype (Jan 2001)
(p 509) Finally, the final prototype was ready and Jobs brought the board in to see the 'store'. The board was impressed and unanimously voted to go ahead with the Apple Store concept. They realized that the store bridges the gap between brand and purchase. It also ensures full control of the customer experience - from conceptualization of product to point of purchase. This also elevated Apple from the likes of Dell and Compaq.

The critics however, were ruthless, "Apple is serving caviar to people happy with cheese and crackers" and "I'll get them 2 years til they turn off the light and pack up".

Wood, Stone, Steel, Glass
(p 509) In May 19, 2001, the first Apple store opened in Virginia. While Target stores were visited 250X/week, the Apple store had over 5,000/week in 2004 with revenue of $1.2B, first ever that retail breached the billion mark. At that point, Ellison's hand-held was already being used, additionally providing real-time tabulation on supply, sales and inventory.

As usual, Jobs was hands-on on every aspect of the stores including what kind of grey hue the washrooms should have. A showcase of every store was the one-off staircase to which Jobs applied a patent for.

Grey Stone of Florence
(p 510) In 1985 while visiting Florence, Italy, Jobs took particular fascination with the stones on the sidewalk. So in 2002, he decided to use the grey stones in Florence as the floor to his Apple store. Replicating the texture and color would have been 10X cheaper, but Jobs wanted the original. It wasn't as simple as buying the stones from the supplier. Only 3% of the stones are harvested annually to get the right shade, veining and texture. The stones were quarried in Firezoula just outside Florence, and cut into slates and marked so that they are installed with its rightful partner.

Genius Bar
(p 511) Johnson came up with the idea of having a bar on every Apple store resembling a cross between a bar and a concierge desk where the brightest people can talk about the Apple products. It would be called the Genius Bar. He sent his people to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel for training. Jobs called it crazy but behind Johnson's back, told his lawyers to patent the name Genius Bar - another underhandedly play by Jobs (in addition to stealing ideas).

Fifth Avenue store
(p 511) The flagship of Apple stores was the 5th Avenue location - a glass cube with its signature staircase, very minimalist, almost like an art installation which opened in 2006. This was the pinnacle of Jobs' vision. It opened 24/7 and attracted up to 50,000 visitors a week (Gateway was only getting 250 pax/week before the concept store was developed by Jobs). On a per square foot basis, it generated the most revenue in all of NY's retailers.

Apple Store on NY's 5th Avenue which opened in 2006

Store Openings
(p 512) In the same way Jobs drummed up excitement for a product launch, he did exactly the same thing for a store opening. There would be so much excitement that people would camp out the night before so they could be the first ones to enter the store when it opens. This became a social event and almost like a craze with groupies doing this on every store opening.

A decade after the first store opened, Apple had 326 stores globally, the biggest in London and the tallest in Japan. The stores accounted for only 15% of Apple's revenue but it added so much buzz and brand excitement that carried over to everything else Apple did.

overnight camping at an Apple Store opening

Glass Walls
(p 512) Even during his cancer days, Jobs continued pushing his vision for better stores using the latest in aesthetics and technology. One such was to use 4 walls of glass for the proposed Grand Central Station store, instead of the 18 panels installed on the 5th Avenue. To do this, they had to build their own autoclave (pressurized vessel laminating layers of glass together) in China.

Connecting the Dots
(p 516) Every year, Jobs would host a retreat for his top 100 - people he would take with him to form a new company. He would ask them 10 ideas on what to do for next year. He picks out the top 3 ideas. By 2001, Apple's PCs were stable and on solid ground. He wanted to 'think different' by doing something outside PCs.

But by 2001, doom and gloom descended on the dotcom era when the bubble burst sending NASDAQ on a freefall to 50% of its value (I remember this time very well. I was a freelance web designer working for Chapters Online in Canada making $20/hour. I was earning well. There was a frenzy in the dotcom environment. Programmers were investing in internet stocks thinking they'd be millionaires in no time. Nortel was the darling stock of the NASDAQ. I put it $20,000 worth. Then BOOM! Nasdaq took a freefall and Nortel was worthless. I lost everything including my job. As a freelance web designer then, my dream career was to go country hopping and do my web work on a cafe in Paris, then go to Lyon to continue my work, etc. I guess for a brief while, it also happened when I had my laptop, which was a new thing during that time.).

PC as a Digital Hub
(p 517) The bubble burst went deeper than falling stock prices. The PC, which had been the centerpiece of the dotcom craze, was now seen as boring...that its time has come and gone. It was at this time when Jobs elevated the role of the PC as a digital hub where digital devices are connected to the PC to process/create/develop music, videos, pictures and texts. This was the germ idea for the re-landscaping of the digial world - when the iPod, iPhone and iPad came into being.

Jobs thought that people over 30 get stuck in their old patterns and couldn't break away or reinvent themselves...like a needle of a record player stuck along the vinyl grooves. Now at 45, he would attempt to jump out of that groove.

FireWire
(p 516) The PC as a digital hub came to Jobs as early as the 1990s with the FireWire, a highspeed serial port developed by Apple. It could move big files like video from one device to another. He saw this on a camcorder by Sony. Jobs added FireWire to the iMac in 1999 thinking it can be connected from a camcorder where video files can be downloaded, edited and distributed.

Before, raw video footage resided inside a camcorder - you couldn't do much with it. If you wanted to edit it, you had to do it within the camcorder with its limited space for all the functionality it carried. But if this video is downloaded to a computer via FireWire, then the user can do all the editing using the PC's video-editing software, from the comfort of a PC's spacious monitor and keyboard. The portable devise can do away with the application software inside the unit and let the PC's app do all the editing. Better yet, if all the editing is done on an integrated hardware/software environment, the ease and fluidity of work flow is greatly enhanced. This vision was groundbreaking. (to put this in context, think of your raw video footage shot on a Sony camcorder, then doing your editing on an Adobe app software on an IBM machine running Microsoft OS - there are a million things that can snag due to nuanced incompatibility from 4 different brands having to work together. Apple on other hand, had all those things under its roof).

Apple vs Adobe
(p 517) For iMac to be a digital hub, it had to have a good video editing software. Adobe refused to develop one for the Mac because it had few users. Furthermore, it also refused to develop the popular Photoshop for the Mac. This infuriated Jobs and lapidized into his psyche that he had to be vertically aligned from software to hardware otherwise he could be at the mercy of the 3rd party app developers.

In-house Apps for Mac
(p 517) In 1999, Jobs began developing in-house application softward for the Mac: iMovie and Final Cut Pro for editing video, iPhoto for editing images (like Photoshop), iTunes for managing songs, iTunes Store for selling music online, iDVD for burning music/video/images on a cd, and GarageBand for creating and mixing music.

Digital Hub via FireWire
(p 518) To get the ball rolling on his digital hub concept, he imported a video file to a Mac using FireWire and edited the video using iMovie. With the finished video, he burned the video into a dvd with iDVD and watched it on a TV (of course now, with HDMI cable, it is possible to watch video in your PC directly to a big screen smart TV without the use of ripping the movie to DVD...in fact, DVD is now obsolete).

Jobs spent time finding a drive manufacturer to develop a drive that could burn DVDs, and then develop the iDVD app software that had the simplicity of drag-and-drop with as few steps as possible.

iTunes
(p 519) Jobs initially missed out on ripping music to a cd because he wanted a cd slot instead of a cd tray that can burn music. Downloading music from Napster or from a music cd and burning a select playlist into a blank cd was the craze during that time - and Apple was nowhere. Instead of catching up, Jobs leapfrogged the industry by coming up with something radically new and innovative.

He first installed a cd-burner on a Mac but he had to develop a music-management app that was simple. The current apps then were far too complicated that people hardly availed of 90% of its features - Window Media Player, Real Jukebox, etc.

Bill Kincaid
(p 520) Groundbreaking at the time, Rio, an MP3 player was introduced but not Mac compatible. Bill Kincaid and his friends, Jeff Robbin and Dave Heller, all former Apple software engineers, made a workaround that by creating SoundJam to interface with Rio so that MP3 music can be played on a Mac. Jobs bought SoundJam, bringing the ex-Apple engineers back into the fold. All three would stay long in Apple. SoundJam was transformed into an Apple product with simplified interface - the iTunes was born. iTunes was introduced at the Jan 2001 Macworld with the slogan, Rip, Mix, Burn.

iPod
(p 522) Next step in the digital hub strategy was to develop a portable music player compatible to iTunes - the iPod. iTunes would be the Mac-based editing/music management software, and this simplifies the development of iPod to have minimal features. The fruition of the iPod transformed Apple to be one of the most valued companies in the world.

Rubenstein
(p 522) To develop the iPod, a small LCD screen, lithium-polymer battery and small disk drive with a big memory (to fit many songs) had to be sourced. Rubenstein sourced the 1.8 disk drive with 5GB developed by Toshiba - it was developed by their Research & Development but had no idea where it fit in the company's product line. It could fit 1000 songs, exactly what Rubenstein was looking for. He paid $10M - Toshiba had no use for it, so they licensed Apple exclusive rights to all units produced.

Tony Fadell
(p 523) Rubenstein hired Tony Fadell (practically twisting his arm) to lead the development team. Fadell was a programmer who already had ideas about a portable music player. They clashed in the future on who gets credit as the father of the iPod. Rubensteim claims it's him because the job was assigned to him by Jobs, he sourced the battery, the LCD screen. the mini disk drive and hired Fadell. Fadell on the other hand, claims that he already had the idea of a portable music player that he already tried to sell to some major companies before he was hired by Apple. This claim for iPod was widely expressed in the court of public opinion through interviews, magazine articles, podcasts and even Wikipedia.

iPod evolution: iPod original, iPod Mini, iPod Touch

PortalPlayer
(p 525) Jobs wanted the unveiling of iPod by October and shipped out by Christmas. Fadell needed an existing MP3 player as foundation for the iPod. He found PortalPlayer and worked on an exclusive deal. PortalPlayer had a complicated interface, short battery life and can only have 10 songs - they all had to go. The components of iPod were added in.

Watching a Genius at Play (That's it)
(p 525) April 2001 was a historic meeting that showcased Jobs' leadership. Fadell was to make a presentation of the iPod to Jobs, Rubenstein and the other top brass of Apple. It was Fadell's first time to meet Jobs and he was intimidated. Fadell learned that Jobs hated slide presentations. Jobs wanted to see objects he could touch, see and play around. After seeing the presentation, he decided what the iPod should be, and the team took it from there. Fadell was impressed that Jobs made that decision on the fly where other companies would require meetings after meetings before they could make a decision. Jobs was there every single day tearing the weak points away and fine-honing the shape, form and functionality of the future iPod. He wanted fewer and more intuitive clicks. If the team gets an impasse, Jobs would suggest something no one else saw and the problem would go away. The team simply saw genius at play. They would constantly be in communication with one another, plotting on how to sway Jobs to a direction (half the time, they were able to do). They looked after each other because the weakest link spells disaster to the team. They were constantly wound up with Jobs breathing down their necks.

Lighten iPod by putting Functionality on iTunes
(p 528) To keep iPod simple, most heavy functionalities were put on the iTunes where the listener uses the Mac to manage the songs. iPod should be kept as simple as possible. This was possible because iPod and iTunes are both under Apple designed and engineered by the same people. Example: making playlist can only be done on iTunes, not on iPod. This frees iPod from all complicated features. This scenario was unique to iPod. Rio couldn't do this because its player and software are both on the small unit. So to use all the features crammed on that small screen, the interface had to be very complicated - hardly ever used by listeners.

No on-off Switch
(p 528) This was radical during its time - no company had ever done this, but Jobs got rid of the on-off switch. The unit would automatically turn off when dormant and turn on when any key is clicked (this is how I hacked my Xiaomi phone when its on-off switch got broken. Others would have replaced their phone. Instead, I configured my phone to turn-off after 1 minute of inactivity and to wake up when it is moved. It works...and it is how I use my phone now...Sep 2024).

1000 Songs
(p 529) Everything came together with the 1000 Songs as a benchmark - a FireWire serial port to transfer/sync 1000 songs under 10 minutes, a track-wheel to scan efficiently through 1000 songs, a 1.8" hard drive to fit 1000 songs, and a longlife battery to listen to 1000 songs. Every engineer working on the project couldn't wait to have one. It was then Christened 'iPod'.

Outside Design by Jony (The Whiteness of the Whale)
(p 529) Jony was responsible for the outer design of the iPod. On an Aha moment, he decided to make the front pure white (together with the headphone, wires and power block) and the back should have a brushed metal finish - to give it gravity. Most little gadgets during that time had a flimsy feel to it...a feeling of disposability. Not the iPod. During that time, all headphones were black. By being white, the cord/earbuds became an iPod icon. The iPod had a quiet significance to it...not a dog wagging its tail. White is not just neutral - it's pure and quiet.

iPod Poster by Lee Clow (TBWA)
(p 530) The market for the iPod was hip millenial-generation music lovers - not the rebel baby boomers (who would be in their early to mid 50s). James Vincent (band player and DJ) and Susan Alinsangan of TBWA ad agency designed the posters for the iPod. Presentation of several choices from traditional to iconic were presented to Jobs. He liked traditional but the team leaned on the iconic. Jobs agreed. But on the press release, he claimed the idea to be his.

iPod poster with iconic white wires and earbuds

Lifting the Apple brand
(p 531) Having integrated hardware, software and device also meant that sales in iPod meant sales in Mac and everything else Apple because you can't use other brands with anything but Apple. Thus the success of the iPod meant the success of everything Apple. This also meant that advertising budget for other products can be diverted to iPod since iPod carries the sales of other products too. Jobs diverted the ad budget of Apple products ($75M) to iPod, outspending any MP3 player then by several orders of magnitude - and yet, other Apple products sold well as a result of iPod sales.

What music is used in advertising the iPod was also the subject of many meetings. Unknown bands became famous when featured, like Black Eyed Peas.

iPod Launch (Oct 21, 2001)
(p 532) True to any product launch, the iPod unveiling was spectacular with a teaser, "It's not a Mac". Jobs pulled off a unit from his pocket and touted about its 1000 song capability. At $400, there was push back from techies, but the consumers couldn't get enough of it. Soon, the iPod epitomized what Apple stood for - hip, young, cool, artsy, innovative and fun to own. It blended art, creativity, functionality and technology. Even Woz, who has always been against end-to-end exclusivity, saw wisdom in it with the runaway success of iPod.

When Gates saw the iPod, he was bedazzled but kept it to himself and derided, "It's only for Mac?"

Warner Music (2002)
(p 535) With iTunes, iPod and iMac vertically linked within the Apple ecosystem, the weakest link lied beyond Apple - sourcing the music from 3rd party providers. Either you buy a cd and rip it (you have to buy a cd first) or download music from file-sharing sites like Napster (quality is inconsistent, takes long, illegal) or pirate sites like Pirate Bay (lots of sifting through, could have malware). Apple offered a way to download music simply, safely and legally.

The music industry was also plagued by file-sharing sites like Napster, Gnutella and Kazaa, resulting in a 9% slide of cd sales (I remember this time...Napster was the first to come up with peer-to-peer free music download. It was a party. Free music? It was radically new and empowering to the music consumer who could bypass the monolithic recording companies). Music executives were scrambling to copy-protect their music but didn't know what to do. They decided to talk to Jobs and persuage him to join their consortium. So, Warner Bros (Paul Vidich ), AOL (Bill Raduchel) and Sony (CEO Nobuyuki Idei?) descended to Cupertino (January 2002). After just showing Jobs 4 slides, Jobs interrupted to tell them their 'heads were up on their asses'. Vidich admitted that they had no clue how to deal with the situation. (one thing I like about Jobs is his irreverence no matter who he's talking to. These executives are practically Gods in their respective companies and Jobs is treating them like shit).

Jobs knew that if the consortium succeeded in copy-protecting their music, then many stores would sell music online and Jobs's envisioned iTunes Store would lose its monopoly. Piracy actually would help Apple since free music will spur increased sales for the iPod. But Jobs, despite his flawed character, still had his scruples - he wanted artists to make money from their intellectual property. Piracy was stealing.

25 Worst Tech Products
(p ) Sony pulled out of the group, giving Jobs his way out of it too. Sony found Jobs too difficult to work with aside from having his own agenda. Sony formed a partership with Universal instead to create a monthly subscription service callee PressPlay. AOL, Time Warner, Bertelsmann and EMI partnered with RealNetworks to form MusicNet. Neither group would license its music to the other group, users would lose their music when their subscription lapsed, the interfaces were not intuitive and the terms had complicated restrictions. It was so bad that PC World included them on the top 25 Worst Tech Products of all time.

Part of the failure is that music executives didn't know much about tech and they just hire run-of-the-mill tech guys who do shitty work. Compare that with the tech guys of Pixar and the difference is big. With Apple and Jobs, tech and artistry go side by side. Jobs is uniquely qualified to bridge the chasm between the record industry and the technical complication of copy-protection for a paid download.

iTunes Proposal
(p 537) Jobs gathered the top 5 recording companies to license their music to Apple. He would charge $.99/song which is impulse buying and buyers could keep the music. The record companies get $.70. Jobs saw this as the only way out of the situation - piracy stops and everybody makes money. But the recording companies pushed back - they didn't want to sell individual songs - only albums. These companies make money by selling albums with only 2 or 3 good songs and the rest were fillers. Even the musicians were against the unbundling. But piracy also unbundles the album into individual songs - so selling whole albums won't stop piracy (I think selling individual songs encourage artists to make just good songs and make money off that...instead of making fillers because they have to fit so many songs in an album).

Winning Warner Music
(p 539) Jobs gathered Roger Ames (Warner Music), Paul Vidich (Warner Bros) and impressed both how the prototype iTunes Store worked. Both agreed on a deal. They also enlisted the others to sign up.

Doug Morris (Herding Cats)
(p 540) The key person to recruit into the fold was Doug Morris, head of Universal Music Group. He had the popular artists like Eminem, U2, and Mariah Carey. He also controlled popular labels like Motown, A&M Records, Geffen, etc. Morris was fed up with piracy and had disdain for the low-caliber tech people they hired (C-players) who couldn't figure out flow in music download (after downloading a song, Ames could not locate where the file was in his computer).

After the talk with Jobs and Ames, Morris was convinced Jobs was the man the music industry was looking for. Jobs streamlined everything so it was intuitive to the listener and safe for the record companies. Universal techies pushed back on Jobs, but relented at the end of the day. They put the restriction on max number of times a song can be propagated on several devices.

Jimmy Iovine
(p 541) Morris was so enthralled by Jobs as the guy who'll save the music industry that he persuaded his best friend, Iovine, to meet Jobs. Iovine was the brash head of Interscope/Geffen/A&M records. Iovine was so impressed by Jobs that he cancelled his contracts with Sony.

Sony and its Problems
(p 541) Morris had been dealing with Sony for 2 years and yet, Sony hasn't come up with anything. And now, here's Jobs with a turnkey system that's stunningly brilliant.

Sony had everything under one roof but it had no end-to-end integration. Sony has the consumer electronics division (hardware guys) with sleek music players and the music division with artists like Bob Dylan. But these divisions were at war with each other and operated under their own interests. At Apple, Jobs would fire everyone if the divisions cannot work seamlessly together.

Andy Lack
(p 542) Andy Lack was the Sony guy who was responsible in striking a deal with Jobs. Andy knew that selling Sony's music increases the sale of iPods, so Andy wanted royalty for every iPod sold. Jobs agreed but had no intention of doing it (typical Jobs who would string someone along. Come to think of it, I've worked with people who would say 'yes' to a proposal for the greater good, but when push comes to shove, they won't do it. But saying 'yes' makes them feel the problem went away). Andy couldn't get the other labels to work with him either since Jobs has already herded them to Apple. What was frustrating Lack was that Sony had everything under its roof like Apple. But Sony couldn't get its divisions to row in unison. Sony ultimately signed up with Apple, but Andy would play hardball everytime there's a change in the agreement or a renewal. Andy would constantly be the stone in Jobs' shoes.

Chasing after the Artists
(p 544) It wasn't enough for Jobs to get the record labels to sign up. He also had to convince the artists who had contract carve-outs where they retain digital distribution rights or prevent albums from being fragmented. Like a heat-seeking missile, Jobs went to the task of herding them as well (nearly 2 dozen major artists) - Bono, Mick Jagger, Sheryl Crow, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, etc. Jobs had the uncanny ability to convince these artists where no one else can.

iTunes Store Unveiled
(p 545, April 28, 2003) Finally, the iTunes Store was unveiled with all the record execs in full attendance. Jobs was compelling in talking about the advantages of paying $.99 in owning a song they loved - it wasn't stealing, it was legal, it supported their favorite artist, it took only 1 min (Kazaa will take 15 mins), good download quality, song includes album cover, song preview before purchase, you own the song and can rip it on cd, and selection of 200,000 songs. Instead of the forcasted 6 months, Apple sold a million songs in 6 days (again, Jobs pulls a wild rabbit out of hat through his genius. All the CEOs of the record labels are smart. But even collectively, not one was smart enough to think of a solution to piracy. I always wonder what else genius people [those with 150 IQ like Jobs] see that normal people don't).

Microsoft
(p 546) When Microsoft learned of the iTunes, the first quesiton was how the fuck Apple convinced the record companies and the artists to go along. It inspired them to provide an end-to-end experience to the user as well. Even Gates, in a private memo, conceeded that Jobs pulled off a stunning performance...and product. He was amazed that no one in the entire music industry thought about developing an online store to sell music per song instead of a whole album. No one did, not Microsoft, not PressPlay, not MusicNet and not Real - only a genius like Steve Jobs could see it.

After being caught flat footed again by Jobs, Gates vowed to leapfrog Apple...but like Sony, it never did despite its resources.

Porting iPod to Windows
(p 547) Jobs was happy leaving Windows alone. iTunes sell the iPod and increases the sale of the Mac too. But the Apple lieutenants were opposed to it - Rubenstein, Fadell, Robbin, Schiller. Everyone vs Jobs. The big question was, should Apple be in the music player business? If so, then the iPod should be universal and made available to Windows users. But instead of iTunes (which was only available on Mac), Windows users can use MusicMatch to manage their songs. Should Apple remain in the Mac business? Then iPod should only be for Macs and not Windows. If iPods were available to Windows users, iPod sales will increase, but Mac sales will diminish. Will profits from increased iPod sales offset the sales decline of Macs? The answer was Yes, and Jobs angrily acquiesced to his team leaders (but Jobs has repeatedly said that it's ok to cannibalize your own projects to move on, because ultimately, if you don't, competition will do the cannibalizing).

Apple partnered with MusicMatch and gave its secret sauce to plug into an iPod within a Windows OS. But MusicMatch did a shitty job and gave a lousy user experience to iPod users. This was a big no-no to Jobs since all those painstaking work on perfecting the iPod would be marginalized if the software was shitty - the iPod must only be played with iTunes.

Porting iTunes to Windows
(p 549) The next question now becomes, "Should Apple develop iTunes software to Windows?". It can do this without asking consent from Microsoft even though Apple is a closed platform. The execs opposed it because Apple never makes software for Windows. But Jobs believes that software and hardware should be made by the same team for both to sync seamlessly. MusicMatch proved too clunky for iPod so after 6 shitty months, Apple fasttracked in developing iTunes for Windows.

When Jobs talked to the record companies about letting iTunes Store sell their music, he pointed out that Mac only represented 5% of the market, so even if the venture failed, it won't be catasthropic. But now that it's porting iTunes to Windows, it would now command a much bigger slice of the pie. Jobs had to meet with the record companies again to renegotiate. Expectedly, Andy Lack of Sony was difficult. But the other record companies already saw the success of iTunes and approved. Sony had no choice but to go with the herd.

iTunes for Windows
(p 550, Oct 2003) 3 years later, Microsoft released its version of the iPod, the Zune. It looked similar to the iPod but clunkier. 2 years after that, it only had 5% of the market until it was pulled off the shelves. Jobs stated that Microsoft is just a copy cat with no love for music unlike Apple. And if you are working on something you don't love, your motivation is low. You don't work the weekend, you watch the clock...you're just a hired hand with no inspiration.

Walkman is Dead (Mr. Tambourine Man)
(p 551, April 2003) Andy Lack, head of Sony Music, went to Japan with an iPod and iTunes profile. He told the Japanese heads that Sony should be making something like the iPod. And because they can't, their Walkman is as good as dead.

Sony had everything Apple had - the hardware division, the music division, the software division, etc. But every division had its own bottom line, its own universe and worse, it was at war with the other divisions. At Apple, all these divisions were integrated - the designers, engineers, programmers talk to each other to come up with an amazing product. Apple had synergy while Sony was in a war zone.

Cannibalizing
(p 551) Sony's fear was that a portable music player that can share songs may cannibalize its records division. Jobs on the other hand was not afraid that Apple products will cannibalize each other. If you stay away from that, others will do the cannibalizing.

Sony Connect
(p 552, May 2004) In keeping pace with iTunes, Sony developed its Sony Connect music management software for its portable music player. After 3 years, it was pulled off the shelves (Sony is a name brand with a goodwill for portable music, Walkman. But even all that was no match for the brand culture that developed around Apple. When you think Apple, a feeling of being hip and cool permeates. When you mention Sony, a big corporation comes to mind).

FairPlay
(p 552) FairPlay was Apple's proprietary digital rights management software built into the iPod. FairPlay protects copyrighted digital content sold on iTunes like music, movies, TV shows and apps. It prevents unauthorized copying, sharing and distribution of copyrighted content. He would not license it out to other portable music players. This caused a push-back from the industry. Gates was livid as usual and accused Jobs of not giving users a choice. Microsoft is known to license out its Windows Media software, Windows OS, Microsoft Office software,etc.

Rob Glaser of RealNetworks, reverse-engineered the FairPlay for his Harmony (his version of iTunes Store) when Jobs wouldn't license it. Jobs called Glaser a hacker. Songs purchased from Harmony can play on any device, including an iPod. Jobs made later versions of iPod not support songs purchased from Harmony.

iPod Mini
(p 553, Jan 2004) Apple continued to develop more iPod products like the iPod Mini - slimmer, lesser capacity but costing the same, designed for people doing sports or having an active lifestyle. Jobs didn't get it because he was never into sports. But the Mini shot iPod's market share from 31% to 74%. It eliminated its flash-drive player competitors.

iPod original, iPod Mini and iPod Shuffle

iPod Shuffle
(p 554, Jan 2005) Users liked to be surprised so they would play the iPod on 'shuffle' mode. Jobs introduced something revolutionary - lose the LCD screen and make the gadget shuffle songs with only a 'skip' button. The user puts in the songs they liked anyway, so all the songs should be ok. Marketing slogan was catchy, "Embrace Uncertainty".

Apple's Industry Lead
(p 554, Jan 2007) Many copy cats failed as Apple continued its dominance through innovation. iPod sales accounted for half of Apple's revenues - the company was shifting more into the music business. iTune Store sold 70M songs in its first year, and sold its billionth song in Feb 2006.

Payment Transactions
(p 555) As Apple's database increased and more people began to trust the brand, iTunes Store extended its wares from just music to subscription and other products, collecting user credit card information. This information would be the property of Apple and not the vendor. This would play out to Elon's time when he bought Twitter. Elon wanted Twitter subscription to be available on the Apple Store but he realized that he couldn't get user info like credit card. Elon went to talk to Tim Cook who was then CEO but that info remained a tightly guarded asset of Apple.

On His iPod
(p 557) From iPod's phenomenal explosion in the pop culture scene, the viral question was, "What's on your iPod?". Any who's who in popularity including heads of state and royalty were not spared the question. What's on your iPod essentially reveals who you are musically - there's no hiding it. Expectedly, Jobs' were Dylan and the Beatles. While Eminem was growing on Jobs, he still couldn't add him on his iPod. Jobs like listening to 2 versions of the same song by the same artist, decades apart. He sensed the lessons of life learned and the wisdom gained from the later version.It was more poignant to him as he was terminally sick.

Bob Dylan
(p 562) Jobs and Dylan were never friends. However, when Dylan held a concert in Palo Alto in Oct 2004, he invited Jobs up to his hotel room. They talked for 2 hours. Dylan was still sharp. On a separate concert, Dylan sang One Too Many Mornings for Jobs who was in the audience. Jobs thought of coming up with a special box set of every Dylan song - all 773 at $199/box. Andy Lack of Sony, who handled the label, played hardball as usual. He said no to Jobs, and even bribed Dylan's agent for $1M not to go with Jobs' plan. When Andy left Sony in 2006, Jobs opened the renegotiation and swung the deal. Dylan appeared on an iPod ad with no pay, which was unheard of. There was initial pushback to use Dylan because it wasn't clear if he was still cool or relevant. Jobs dismissed all that - he wanted Dylan. The ad propelled Dylan to top the charts again since 1976, beating Christine Aguilera. The ad opened up Dylan to a younger generation that never heard of him. iPod reversed the way things were done - instead of a celebrity endorsing a product to launch its sales, this time, a product endorses a celebrity to remake his career. iPod became a game-changer and a catalyst for cultural change.

Pre-iPod, you had to pay a lot of money for a celebrity or artist to do your ad. But since iPod had such influence, clout and persuasive power, anyone featureD on iPod is 'made'. Obscure bands like Black Eyed Peas became world famous when they were featured on iPod.

The Beatles
(p 565) Jobs liked the Stones, but loved The Beatles. He references a bootleg version of Strawberry Fields Forever as an example for questing for perfection. Lennon and MacCartney kept improving the song for months on end until they perfected it. It was the artistic quest for perfection that was uncompromised. That had a very deep appeal to Jobs, being one himself. His frustration is that he couldn't put The Beatles on iPod because of the 3-decades wrangling with Apple Corp, the holding company owning rights to Beatles songs. Jobs wanted the Beatles on his iPod during his short remaining lifetime.

Bono
(p 568)After U2's spectacular performance at Live Aid in 1984, the band has been treading on the surface between a 'has been' to 'still visible'. Its lead guitarist, The Edge, composed a song, Vertigo, that could be a hit, but needed traction. Bono, lead singer, front man and soul of the rock group, appreciated Apple's marketing pull and pitched a proposal to Jobs. iPod can feature U2 on iPod's next marketing campaign for free. During its heyday, U2 received offers as high as $23M to appear in a product commercial but Apple doesn't have to pay a penny to U2. To feature a recognizable artist in an iPod commercial hasn't been done before. Bono left an album with Jobs (the only person outside the band to have it, pre-released).

Apple - U2 Deal
(p 569) First negotiation, they came to terms...almost. Bono requested royalty on every 'U2 edition' of an iPod sold. He also wanted a black iPod. Then both parties pulled back. Jobs thought it would start a precedent if they give royalty to U2 for iPod sales. Also, he didn't want to give that kind of treatment to every band. Bono also thought he was selling out. But Vincent and Jony, both U2 fans, mediated to save the deal. Jony flew to Dublin to show Bono his black iPod. Bono and Jony knew each other. Bono loved the black iPod and went on board with the deal. Jony called Jobs to cement the deal. Jobs had to tweak the finer points of the deal and then agreed. The deal was done. Jony and Bono went for some serious drinking after that.

iPod Commercial: Launch
The iPod commercial launch was attended by Bono and The Edge. On its debut, the album hit #1 on the Billboard and sold 840,000 copies on its first week. U2 was also introduced to a younger audience. Because of iPod's marketing clout, U2 came back to life. Bono was lavish in his praise of Jobs and the iPod when he dishes out interviews. Bono and Jobs did a few more projects, but always, Jobs plays hardball ensuing to a heated discussion with a few Fuck Yous. But that's just part of their dynamics.

Yo-Yo Ma
(p 573) Yoyoma and Jobs met in Aspen in 1981 and have been friends since. Jobs respects Yoyoma as a performer and friend. He would have played at Jobs' wedding but he was on tour. Years later, he played Bach in Jobs house and said it was what he would have played for him at his wedding. Jobs already had cancer and knew he was dying. He asked Yoyoma to play at his funeral.

Jony and Lasseter: A Bug's Life
(p 576) When the iMac was released, Jobs took Jony to Pixar. Jony and Lasseter bonded well, both appreciating the fusion of artistry and technology. Both Lasseter and Jony are unique in a way that they bring out the best in Jobs. Apple vibe is wound up and edgy...just like its head, Jobs. Pixar is relaxed and chill...just like its head, Lassiter. Jobs tries not to get in the way of Lasseter - there is so much respect and love from both. Besides, Lasseter is doing a great job at Pixar, and Pixar folks appreciate Jobs absence. Pixar was Jobs' getaway from Apple. He was increasingly getting fascinated at moviemaking using technology and animation. At Pixar, the creatives are done by Lasseter and Jobs' role iis more into deal making where his intensity is productive rather than destructive (and he's really a good hardball negotiator).

Katzenberg vs Jobs
(p 576) Jobs clashed with Katzenberg thinking that Pixar's insect movie-in-the-making, A Bug's Life, which was intimated to Katz when he was still at Disney, was used to make another insect movie, Antz, when Katz moved out of Disney to form Dreamworks with Spielberg.

What really happened was, Katz was already at Dreamworks when he listened to Lasseter talk about the insect movie they were making at Pixar. Still, Katz stole the insect idea from Pixar - whether he did it while at Disney or at Dreamworks. Katz even sped up the release of Antz for Pixar to push back the release date of A Bug's Life. Both Lasseter and Jobs were furious at Katz. Lasseter didn't speak to him for 13 years. Jobs never trusted him again, even though Katz made moves to smoothen things out.

Antz vs A Bug's Life
(p 580) Antz was released Oct 1998 and A Bug's Life, 6 weeks later. Antz did great but Bug's Life did double making $363 worldwide - similar to Toy Story. Bug's Life was technically better and the storytelling was more epic. Its success is more meaningful because it was Pixar's 2nd movie, meaning the first one wasn't a fluke or a one-hit wonder. This fluke happens when you got successful on the first without knowing how or why, so you couldn't replicate it.

Pixar HQ: Steve's Own Movie
(p 581) Toy Story 2 came out Nov 1999 earning more than Bug's Life. Pixar was now an established success story. Jobs built a fancy HQ for Pixar on a 16-acre lot that used to be a Del Monte cannery. Expectedly, Jobs obsessed over every detail of the materials and construction - from the tiniest detail to the overall project. He was like a movie director sweating over every scene in a movie.

Instead of the traditional Hollywood studio with separate buildings, Jobs created just one building with a central atrium acting as a hub. This created random encounters and encouraged interaction and collaboration between staff from different departments. All passages led to the atrium. Jobs was a big fan of face-to-face talk instead of email or chat. The plan worked. Lasseter stated that because of the building layout, he saw many people working for the same company that he hasn't seen in months.

The construction was a showcase. Steel beams were carefully sourced. They were bolted (not welded), sandblasted and clear-coated to show its real color and texture. Even the construction workers brought their families on weekends to show off what they were doing. There was even a secret Love Lounge room which resembled a cavern. VIPs were taken there and they signed on the wall.

The Divorce: Eisner vs Jobs
(p 583) Eisner antagonized Jobs by saying Jobs encouraged theft with his slogan, Rip Mix Burn, thinking 'rip' meant ripping someone off. It meant importing music from a cd to a computer. This pissed off Jobs at a time when the Pixar-Disney contract was up for renewal. Also, Pixar released Monsters Inc. which was the most successful of everything that came before. This meant Pixar had the bargaining leverage. Jobs made it clear to Disney that Pixar will not renew if Eisner was still CEO. Eisner shrugged it off and told his board that Pixar will renew because their soon-to-be-released film, Finding Nemo, will be flop, and that Disney owns rights to Pixar's films and characters. Jobs learned this and went ballistic. Eisner was also wrong about the movie. Finding Nemo was a blockbuster grossing nearly a billion worldwide and won an Oscar. It also made money for Pixar, hefty enough to head butt vs Disney.

Contract Renewal
Jobs renewal terms were so one-sided it was meant to be rejected - Pixar owns all films and characters, including the 2 movies in the works. Disney only get 7.5% distribution fee. Eisner threw out Roy Disney from the board and Roy publicly lashed back and so did Jobs. Of course, Disney rejected the terms and the separation happened in Jan 2004. Lasseter was disheartened that the characters he created, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, etc., would now be handed to a child molester. He cried a few times. Jobs had to console him and assure the Pixar staff that Pixar will prevail.

Bob Iger
(p 588) Bob Iger, Disney COO, had to do damage-control. He was skilled and clever with his management, an eye for talent, confident with a quiet flair and had a sense of humor. Iger's assessment was that Eisner was cocky to Jobs because Eisner didn't realize how big a problem he had with Disney animation - the life and blood of Disney. A good animated movie isn't just profit from the box office. A successful movie spawns Disney rides, TV shows, stage performances performed at Disney Cruises, sequels, clothing lines, video games, etc. Disney's last 2 animated movies (not Pixar) flopped and had none of the carry-over benefit. And Eisner still didn't get it - he didn't realize Disney badly needed Pixar. Eisner can negotiate but cannot compromise - which could be good but not with Jobs who was the same (and Jobs had the leverage from Pixar's success).

Eisner was a great CEO the first 10 years when he had Frank Wells as president who handled management as Eisner played the creative genius hopping from department to department, tweaking things around for maximum delivery. The 2nd and last 10 years, after Frank Wells dies in a chopper accident, Eisner never found the right manager and handled it himself. He was a good creative boss but a horrible manager. The last 10 years of Disney was a downhill ride - without Eisner even realizing it.

Apple and Disney Together Again
(p 590) Eisner was soon kicked out by the board and Bob Iger became CEO. His first order was to mend the bridge with Jobs. Jobs was thrilled. First, since the new iPod would support video, Iger offered ABC's top 2 TV shows on iPod. This galvanized his relations with Jobs. In his meeting with the Disney board, he stated that the last 10 years with Eisner, no successful animated movie came out from Disney (so no new rides, no new characters in the theme park, no TV offshoots, etc.) and that the animation division actually lost money. The board was livid to Eisner, who was no longer at Disney. Iger suggested that Disney make an offer to buy Pixar. The board said yes.

Iger's Courtship
Iger had the mandate to buy Pixar, but this was a sensitive issue and had to be handled delicately. He couldn't have just gone to Jobs and made an outright offer. Like a gentleman courting a girl, Iger proceeded graciously but with full intention. Iger met Jobs many times talking about terms and what-if scenarios about possible synergies, but ultimately leading to a buyout of Pixar. When that became clear, Jobs had to get the blessing of Lasseter and Catmull. He advised both to get to know Iger because they make a decision (of course, hoping they both would approve the buyout). He leaned on the virtues of Iger as a man they can deal with, unlike Eisner.

Iger was quick to do his part. He individually met Lasseter and Catmull, had private dinners with them and talked to the directors on what's on the horizon. Iger was adept in winning them over.

Meeting with the Disney Board
On the next Disney board meeting, Jobs, Lasseter and Catmull were there to make their pitch. It was all good but Eisner tried to derail the buyout by squeezing himself on the board meeting through his influence with Warren Buffet. Eisner argued that Disney already owned 85% of Pixar. So, the purchase price for Pixar is too expensive considering that what's being bought is only 15% of Pixar. Iger rebutted. Finally, the board agreed to let the purchase go through (even if Disney owned the Pixar movies and the characters, Disney didn't have the engaging storytelling or the creative genius of the Pixar people. They didn't have Jobs. It's like buying the hammer and nails used to build a masterpiece, but if the actual craftsmen were not there, all they have are useless hammers and nails).

Jobs announces at Pixar that Disney will buy it. Iger also said a few things that assuaged fear and discomfort. In the end, it was a Disney acquisition but in practice, Disney animation is subordinated to Pixar with Catmull and Lasseter still running the show.

Lessons from Power Mac G4 Cube
(p 598) Since the partnership of Jobs and Jony, Apple products have been characterized by exuberant design that became cultural icons - despite just carving a niche in a Windows world. The Power Mac G4 Cube was so ahead of its time that it earned its place at the Museum of Modern Art. This was the pure expression of Jobs' creativve minimalist genius - just a cube, no cd trays, no fan, no buttons. Less is more. Anything superflous have been removed. But despite being powerful and beautiful, it flopped. It was overdesigned and overpriced - just like the NeXT. But Jobs learned his lessons. With the iPod, he knew where the trade offs were. He launched on time and kept it within budget.

Power Mac G4 Cube was so ahead of its time that it earned its place at the Museum of Modern Art

Advent of Flat Screens
(p 600) When flat screens came around, Jobs had to redesign the Mac. Jony put the guts of the computer behind the flat screen so you only see the keyboard and the flat screen. Jobs rejected because if you look behind, you see the ugly back. Jony got inspiration from the sunflower. Why not a flat screen propped up like the flower stem of the sunflower? During that time, Apple was the only brand known to innovate. The others, Dell, Compaq and HP were outsourcing generic cases and competing in price.

Intel Inside
(p 601) Since 1994, Apple has been using the powerful Motorola chip. But Intel developed faster chips. When Jobs returned to Apple, he canceled the licensing of Mac OS but willing to make an exception to Motorola's PC if it would make a faster chip. This talk got heated. Jobs also canceled licensing to Motorola. Secretly, he began to look into chip replacement by Intel. Easier said than done. To do this, the OS would practically have to be redesigned. Jobs was still the 'advisor' to the CEO during this time, so he put the idea to the board. After deliberating for 18 months, the board agreed to replace the Motorola chip with Intel.

Jobs began his long garden walks with Paul Otellni, Intel CEO, to get a low price for Intel chips. Otellini and Jobs have history during the NeXT era. In the beginning of the walk, Jobs usually talk about evolution of the PC and all that history, but ultimately, it boils down to haggling over price. Otellini sent a crack team of Intel engineers to help out Apple rewire its OS for Intel. They finished the job 6 months ahead of time. Jobs was pleased and invited Otellini to come to Apple's Top 100 retreat (only the top 100 employees of Apple are invited). In 2005, a public announcement was made that Apple will now use Intel chips.

Paul Otellni in his Intel bunny suit and Jobs

Stock Options
(p 603) Jobs is odd with money. When he came back to Apple, he offered to work for $1/year. But when he was offered 16M in stock options, he wanted a plane and 20M in options. The board went creative to accomodate that (lawsuits ensued because of that) but the options proved worthless when Apple shares tanked.

Worse, Fotune Mag issued a cover with Jobs with a title, 'Inside the Great CEO Pay Heist.' Even though the options were worthless, at the time it was granted, it was worth $875M. Jobs was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He was publicly roasted having received the "largest compensation package ever granted a CEO" without realizing a penny of it. In a hearing, Jobs told the court that the board should have offered him a bigger grant as recognition of the turn around he did for Apple, without him asking for it. 'He was after the recognition and not the money'. This was a farce since Jobs handpicked the board who doted on him.

Next, he was offered another huge stock grant at $18 but Jobs wanted the board to cancel the old option so he doesn't appear greedy. But to do so would violate established accounting procedures, so Jobs had to accept the new offer first and wait 6 months before the board could cancel the old ones. In December 2001, the grant was issued. But more issues cropped up that required anti-dating the options - this one crossed the legal line. At the end of all this creative smoke and mirrors just to accomodate one man's quest to polish his self-image, the general counsel, Nancy Heinen paid a fine of $2.2M, Apple settled the shareholders' complaint for $14M and an upright board member resigned. Carnage, ruined careers and reputations lay along Jobs' wake as he bulldozed his way with the board. Some good people were forced to make unintentioned mistakes because of his bullying.

Cancer
(p 609) Jobs suspects that his cancer stemmed out of the stress he took when he went back to Apple. He was then managing Pixar and Apple concurrently. He developed kidney stones and would come home exhausted. His kidney tests revealed a malignant tumor. It was still in its early stage and operable. The chances of survival was high. Jobs confided with his close friends and associates, but he surprised everyone by not going through the surgery. He didn't want to be opened up. Instead, he subscribed to every available means of new-age therapy. Everyone pleaded with him to get surgery but he would not budge. Jobs would simply not engage in anything he didn't want to confront. In July 2004, another scan revealed the tumor to have grown and spread. This time, Jobs went for surgery. Because the cancer has spread, he also had to go into chemo. He body was ravaged.

The Stanford Commencement
(p 613) Jobs kept his cancer secret until when he was asked to give a commencement speech at Stanford in June 2005. He began by saying, "I'd ike to tell you a story". He narrated 3 short stories - his dropping out of Reed College (dropping out but taking the classes that interested him), his getting fired at Apple (restarting life as a beginner again with no baggage) and his dying (in the face of death, nothing but the most important remains - to follow your heart). Like Jobs' artistic creations, his speech was simple, pure and graceful.

A Lion at Fifty
(p 615) Instead of partying with Silicon Valley big wigs and celebrities, Laurene prepared an intimate party with just the closest of friends and professional colleagues - Tevanian, Lasseter, Cook, Schiller, Rubenstein, Clow, Jony. The famous chef, Alice Waters, prepared salmon from Scotland.

Tim Cook
(p 616) Cook was managing Apple well, keeping calm and decisive without taking the limelight. This was a difficult role - placing in for Jobs without being damned. But Cook adeptly navigated this shoal. Cook doesn't mind and doesn't care if Jobs gets the credit for everything. It is not surprising that he would be CEO of Apple after Jobs. He understood that Jobs' mercurial personality was just passion. When you understand that, Jobs becomes more tolerable. Jobs is all praises for Cook, but he admits Cook is not a products-person - which is a big handicap in Job's eyes. When Jobs came back to resume his post in Apple, he appointed Cook, COO.

Avie Tevanian
(p 616) It was also during this time that Tevanian and Rubinstein left. Tevanian already had enough money to stop working and prioritize something else in life. Jobs felt a great loss with his departure. Jobs felt Tevanian was a genius and more grounded than Rubenstein. He had no ego.

Jon Rubenstein
(p 617) After 9 year in the company, Rubenstein was frazzled and left as well. He was upset by Cook's ascendency and had more shouting matches with Jony who used to work for him but was taken under Jobs' fold. Jony would design something according to Jobs' vision but hard to engineer. Rubenstein was head of engineering and this frustrated him. His shouting match with Jobs were also intensifying. One flashpoint was Jony's screws on the Power Mac G4 - he wanted them polished and a certain shape. Rubenstein balked at the added cost, effort and delay. Jony would go to Jobs or to other mid-level engineers. At some point, Jony told Jobs it's either him or Rubenstein, Jobs, of course, took Jony. Rubenstein was ready to leave anyway since he wanted to move to Mexico with his wife.

Dealing with Jobs
(p 618) The trick to survive Jobs was to be defferential but also to push back to show that you know something. Jobs may take a contrary position just to stimulate further discussion. You are expected to hold your own or be mowed down. It's a thin line that Cook and Jony understood.

Monday Executive Meetings
(p 618) Apple's top executives meet Mondays at 9 am and it can last for 4 hours. They talk about what's next for the products, what the next new thing, etc. Jobs keeps about 3 priorities to keep focus - nothing more. This gathering also instills a shared mission to everyone - that they are all working towards a common objective.

Apple University
(p 619) To document and teach the knowledge base of Apple, Jobs created a learning center called Apple University. He hired Joel Podolny who was dean of the Yale School of Management. New hires study case studies to they get a sense of how things are done at Apple. This also cultivates an Apple culture. An example is the switch from Motorola to Intel chips. Another case study would be the Apple Stores.

Memento Mori
(p 619) In ancient Rome, a parading general would be followed by a slave who would say, "Memento Mori" meaning to remain grounded and humble despite the adulation...that you will die someday. Jobs' mememto mori was when his doctors told him he was dying. But instead of being humble, Jobs felt he had nothing more to lose, so he unleased himself, making bold moves that were unheard of. Even Cook was astonished.

Jobs at 50 with Cancer
(p 620) When Jobs came back to Apple after his surgery, having just turned 50, people noticed that he was still as edgy but doesn't humiliate people as much anymore. When Jobs is displeased, he yells, throws expletives but stops before he totally destroys the person - unless the person had to leave the company because he was really bad. Otherwise, Jobs simply wants the guy to do a better job. Colleagues are used to Jobs and know how to put up with him, but when he turns his ire on strangers, they cringe and take exception - Jobs rankled an elder lady serving at the smoothie counter, yelled at the hotel concierge because he didn't like his room. Tevanian or Clow would try to calm him down and talk sense into him (Jobs' loyalist are essentially apologists explaining away his nasty behavior. Why not simply call a spade, a spade - Jobs is a rotten asshole, albeit, a brilliant asshole).

Gates and Jobs...Again
(p 622) Gates and Jobs have been at each other's throats for decades while maintaining a business relationship - Microsolft continues to make software for Mac. In May 2007, for the All Things Digital Conference, both Gates and Jobs were slated for a discussion. But earlier that day, Jobs already jabbed Microsoft saying that iTunes app for Windows was like a cold drink to someone in hell. The meeting turned out cordial though. Gates was gracious saying he wished he had Jobs' artistic taste. Jobs in turn explained (without derision) the different approaches both companies made that worked for them. Apple had the end-to-end integration that worked well for the iPod-iTunes-iMac ecosystem. Microsoft on the other hand was successful in licensing its Windows to PC manufacturers and dominated the PC market.

An iPod That Makes Calls
(p 626) In 2005, iPod sold 20M units accounting for 45% of Apple's revenues. It also established a niche hip-culture for Apple.

This worried Jobs. If iPod goes, the company may fold. And the smart phone was becoming an existential threat to the iPod. Digital cameras became obsolete because phone were able to integrate a camera. What if phones are now able to integrate music? People won't be buying an iPod if they can already play music on their phones. And phones were selling at an alarming rate. In 2005, 824M phones were sold. The writings were on the wall.

iPod-Motorola Partnership
(p 626) Jobs first partnered with Motorola who already had a built-in camera on its phone. This time, the phone would also have a built-in iPod. But the product was ugly, clunky, hard to load and limited to 100 songs. It had all the hallmarks Jobs hated. He was left with only one choice - to develop the phone in-house.

Tony Fadell
(p 627) The smart phones during that time were 'brain-dead' - complicated and loaded with features nobody could figure out. The new mandate was to make a phone with the same collaboration of the designers and engineers to make a bold statement the way the iPod did. Jobs assigned the phone project to Tony Fadell (same guy who developed the iPod).

Fadell initially used the iPod's trackwheel to navigate but it was impossible to key-in the phone numbers without the keypad. At that time, a tablet computer was in development (the future iPad). The features of these 2 would intersect to create the iPhone.

Multi-touch
(p 628) The tablet PC was first developed by Microsoft. Jobs learned about it when the engineer kept talking about it during dinner. Jobs decided he will develop an Apple tablet PC without a keyboard or stylus - but it was a secret project. Jobs asked his crew to develop a multi-touch and sensitive-to-touch screen (the screen can process multiple inputs from the fingers). In 6 months, the team produced a workable prototype.

Jony had a different version of the 'multi-touch'. According to him, his team was already independently working on it for the MacBook Pro trackpad. He presented the prototype to Jobs and Jobs loved it.

Jobs gathered Rubenstein, Fadell and Schiller for Jony's demo of the multi-screen prototype. A decision was made to proceed on 2 versions of the phone - using the trackwheel of the iPod and using the multi-touch screen.

FingerWorks
(p 630) FingerWorks, a separate company from Delaware was already developing a multi-touch screen with patents on the finger-pinching and finger-expanding features. This is exactly what Apple was looking for. Apple quietly purchased the company and all its patents together with its 2 founders.

Trackwheel or Multi-touch?
(p 630) After 6 months of development, Jobs gathered the 2 teams to decide on which fork to use. Fadell, the trackwheel team, admitted they couldn't make dialing-in phone numbers using the trackwheel - they were stuck. The touchscreen proved more interesting and promising but it wasn't sure if it could be engineered. Jobs decided to go for broke on the touch screen.

Going Full On
(p 631) There was suggestion to have a keypad but Jobs wanted everything on the screen - keypad when you want to dial a phone number, a keyboard when you want to write, and all kinds of buttons for other activities. By getting rid of hardware and replace it with software, there is more fluidity to work around and you can maximize the screen size.

For the next 6 months, Jobs was there brainstorming with his team figuring out ways to refine, simplify and functionalize the phone. They thought about things that might go wrong and addressed them - like when you're on a call and the phone is on your ear, your earlobes can accidentally press some buttons on the screen.

Obsessed with Materials
(p 632) Jobs wasn't just obsessed with design. He was equally obsessed on what materials to use. With the iMac, he replaced the traditional solid beige case with a translucent colored case. From the plastic casing of the PowerBook G3, Jobs replaced it with titanium with the launching of the G4. Later versions of the iMac and the iPod Nano were made with anodized aluminum (aluminum was immersed in an acid bath and electrified to oxidize its surface). He even had a factory for it built in China. Instead of traditional building walls, he made glass walls and glass staircases for the Apple Stores. For the iPhone screen, Jobs wanted to use glass instead of plastic.

Gorilla Glass
(p 633) Jobs needed a ultra-strong glass that is resistant to scratches for the iPhone. He was advised to talk to Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning in NY. The 2 met in Cupertino. Weeks talked about a super strong glass they were working on in the 1960s, but abandoned the project because they couldn't find a market for it. Jobs was sold on the idea and ordered as much Gorilla glass as Corning could produce. But Corning never made any and there were engineering challenges. Jobs didn't accept the excuse and simply told Weeks he could do it.

Weeks immediately converted an LCD glass factory into a Gorilla glass fulltime and had his best engineers and scientists work on the glass. Finally, after 6 months, Corning was able to make a super-strong glass that hasn't been done before. To this date, he keeps a note sent to him by Jobs when the iPhone was finally launched. It simply said, "We couldn't have done it without you."

The Design
(p 634) Nine months into perfecting the iPhone, when it was close to launch, Jobs changed the design. The case competed real estate with the screen, when the screen should have been center stage. Jony and the team agreed despite knowing they'll have to go back and rework the whole thing again. Other companies would have shipped. But Jobs is a perfectionist. The new design was just a thin stainless steel bezel allowing the glass screen to go all the way to the edge of the phone. The final phone was sleek and friendly. And because there was no replaceable battery inside, the phone was thin (thin is beautiful to Jobs. All Apple products are thin). The iPhone was also sealed so no one gets inside - he used tamperproof Pentalobe screws to keep even the colorum repair shops out.

iPhone, the original

The Launch
(p 636) Jobs granted TIME a sneak peak and interview before the launch. Launch date was Jan 2007 at the Macworld. This may have been Jobs' best product launch yet. The 1984 iMac team was invited - Hertzfeld, Atkinson, and even Woz. He played up the iPhone as 3 products in one - a phone, a wifi connection to the internet and an iPod with wide screen controls. Five months later in June, the iPhone shipped. Jobs stopped by the Palo Alto store to see how the opening day went. He was a rock star to the fans. Hertzfeld and Atkinson were there too. Microsoft balked at the price tag of $500 saying it's the most expensive phone in the world and no one will buy it. But by end of 2010, 90M iPhones were sold accounting to half of global profits made by phone companies.

The success of the iPhone paved the way for the continued development of the iPad.

The Battles of 2008
(p 639) By 2008, it became clear to Jobs and his doctors that the cancer has spread. He was also in pain and having eating problems. Pancreas send enzymes to digest protein. Since his pancreas were partially removed, digestion became an issue. The vegetarian family began to consume meat as well to join Jobs due to his protein needs. Even a chef was hired to cater to his meals. He lost appetite too due to pain and the cancer. By spring of 2008, he already lost 40 lbs. Worse, Fortune disclosed his progressive health deterioration coupled with backdating the stock options. But public speculation caused Apple's share price to slide down and continued to slide down as his physique declined with every public appearance. Jobs tried all sorts of experimental therapies - hormone-delivered radiotherapy in Switzerland, peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in Rotterdam, etc. On January 14, 2009, Jobs officially took a medical leave. Tim Cook took over.

Legal Ramification
Hiding his health situation was legally problematic because Apple was a publicly held corporation - there must be corporate governance and transparency. Apple kept Jobs' health under the radar despite increasing speculation by the media, his board and other CEOs. An investigation was conducted to see if there was any wrongdoing - if material information that shareholders should know have been kept away from the public. But it didn't go anywhere.

Memphis
(p 646) Because the cancer has spread to his liver, he had to have a liver transplant. But the waiting time was long - he wouldn't last. Arrangements were made to have Jobs also line up in Memphis - it's unusual but not illegal to sign up in 2 states. He had friends who made arrangements. On March 21, 2009, an organ was available. Jobs (helped by Laurene) flew to Memphis to get the transplant. The old liver showed signs that the cancer has also spread beyond the liver. There were complications that nearly killed him. Laurene was with Jobs the whole time, taking charge of his treatments. Laurene's family was also there to help her out. Dr. Eason, who ran the facility, took reponsibility for Job's comprehensive treatment - transplant recovery, cancer tests, pain treatments, nutrition, rehabilitation and nursing. He orchestrated all that. Despite being sick and weak, Jobs was still difficult and hard to manage. He detested the mask he was made to wear because the design sucked. Lisa visited twice (people find Lisa to be as difficult as Jobs...like father like daughter). When he got a little better, his grumpy behavior was just as bad. He brightens up when Cook visits to give updates on Apple. It clearly showed how much Jobs loved Apple.

Sun Studio Tour
Riley, a lawyer friend from Memphis, arranged a private tour for Jobs of Sun Studio, the ground zero where legends did their recordings - Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc. The kid who toured them was hired by Apple to manage the early R&B and Rock &Roll section of iTunes.

The Return
(p 653) May 2009, Job flew back to Apple after his cancer treatment. He was excited to get back. Jony confided that while Jobs was away, it was hard for Jony hearing stories that Apple's innovation would die when Jobs dies. As co-designer with Jobs, he felt unappreciated.

Indispensable?
Jobs also realized that he may not be indispensable to Apple. While he was gone, the share price rebounded and Apple went along operationally well. Cook also made an announcement to the public that was labeled the 'Cook Doctrine', essentially underscoring the continuity of Apple and its adherence to innovation. There were speculations too that Jobs may step down as CEO. This was all too much to someone who takes charge and autocratic control.

As soon as he started work, he chewed up people the way he used to. He didn't mellow down. By 2010, he regained most of his strength back and ready to shift tectonic plates again like he did for iPod and iPhone.

You Say You Want a Revolution
(p 657) In 2002 when a Microsoft engineer touted the tablet PC to be the greatest thing that will come out, Jobs was annoyed. That's when he had his team develop something better - no stylus, no keyboard and touchscreen. The Microsoft tablet PC was launched by several PC makers using the OS but it never created a stir in the industry. Jobs was out to change all that, but first, he had to use the touchscreen tech to develop his iPhone.

The initial thrust of the tablet was a low-cost mini-laptop they called the netbook computer. But at one of the Monday sessions in 2007, Jony suggested that the keyboard hardware be removed and put it on the touchscreen as a software - you get rid of a lot of the weight and bulk. Jobs liked it. The tablet project gained momentum.

Jobs and Jony made 20 models with different screen sizes, all with rounded rectangles, figuring out the optimum size. After playing with all the models, they were able to fid the right screen size. Next, they determined that the screen was the heart of the tablet. From there all functionalities, buttons, and displays were simplified or eliminated. Again, minimalism was key - less was better (less bulk, less weight, less buttons, less steps).

Rounded Edges
At one point, Jobs didn't feel that the tablet wasn't friendly enough. It should look inviting enough to be scooped away with just one hand. Jony suggested a rounded edge so your fingers could easily just slide underneath without having to lift it up carefully. Of course, it was an engineering nightmare to put input slots and edge buttons on a rounded edge. This was so unique, they applied a patent for it under Jobs and Jony. The iPad came with that feature.

ARM vs Intel
(p ) Intel made the most powerful chips at that time (fast processing but expensive, uses a lot of power and bulky because the chip only contained the microprocessor) but their chips were designed for units plugged into a wall - battery life became short. But Intel was working on something low-voltage and Jobs trusted Intel would deliver. However, Fadell who was head of the iPad project insisted on using the ARM chip which is what they were using with the original iPhone. ARM had had a simpler design, cheaper and used low voltage - extends battery life and ideal for any handheld or portable devise. Fadell with his team vs Jobs had a showdown on this and Fadell threatened to resign. Jobs relented and even licensed the ARM architecture. He bought a 150-person microprocessor-design team to develop a systems-chip based on the ARM architecture that was outsourced for manufacture by Samsung in Korea. The revolutionary A4 chip contained the microprocessor, the graphics, the OS, and the memory control, unlike the Intel chip.

Jobs vs Otellini
Jobs commented after that Intel was slow to do things and don't really listen to Apple. Besides, Jobs was wary that Intel (used also by Windows) would know too much of Apple's software/hardware architecture that could be sold elsewhere (like to Microsoft). Otellini on the other hand, said Apple and Intel couldn't agree on price. Besides, there was a question of control. Jobs wanted to control the design of the chip. Jobs wanted full control from chip (Intel) to flesh (consumers on point of purchase).

The Launch, January 2010
(p 660) There was a lot of frenzy that built up on iPad's unveiling on January 27, 2010. The media poured gasoline into the fire - Economist, Wall Street Journal. In the audience were many Apple ex-employees, his doctors and his family.

Mr. Showman
(p 661) Jobs, a master showman on product launches, outdid himself. He presented the iPad in context. Between the iPhone and the laptop was a question mark, "Is there room for something in the middle?". It should browse the internet, send email, store pictures, play music, make phone calls, play videos, play games, and display ebooks. Jobs emulated a casual living room scene. He sat on a comfy lounge chair and scooped the iPad from a table and started showing off what it can do. Then, "This is more intimate than a laptop. Isn't this awesome?". Again, he hammered the point that Apple always stands at the intersection of liberal arts and technology.

the original iPad

The Backlash
The crowd and the media didn't get it since the iPad wouldn't ship until April. Was it an iPhone on steroids? Critics lashed that there was no camera, no multi-tasking, no USB cord, etc. #iTampon trended as a hashtag. Gates also put in his requisite dismissal, still touting the stylus. Jobs received a ton of thumbs-down email - he got depressed.

Redemption
The hate subsided when the iPad was shipped and people got to play with it, Even the media turned friendly saying the hype is true. One substantive criticism was that iPad was good for consuming content, but not good in creating one(to develop content like making websites, music, video and blog, you need the ease of a keyboard and a bigger screen and even a mouse). This one hit Jobs, who vowed to address this issue in the coming versions of iPad.

In Bogota, a six year old illiterate boy who has never seen a computer, intuitively played with an iPad. This simply showed the impact of Jobs' obsession for intuitive use when designing his products.

Open Source or End-to-End capture?
(p ) The biggest argument in the industry focused on Apple's end-to-end integration, especially with its use of its in-house A4 chip. Fans tout the iPad as the perfect example of why vertical integration works. Google, however, was launcing an Android system similar to Windows which is open-sourced. Any manufacturer can license it for its hardware.

What's on your iPad?
Like the iPod, the craze on what's on everyone's iPad caught on. Obama's staff used it to showcase their hipness. High-flying government brass used it for games, videos, stock market, news, etc.

Advertising
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Apps
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Publishing and Journalism
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IPO word was extensively used when Apple went public and when Pixar went public. I know that it's when a private company goes public. But I wanted to know how the price of the company is determined in an IPO. Ask ChatGPT/Gemini!

This depends primarily on company valuation and market demand. From these 2, the investment banker arrives at a selling price.

1. Company valuation
   1. Prospect of future profitability - since Apple was reinventing a totally new industry with potential global demand, the prospect for growth was very high
   2. Financial performance - cash flow, liquidity, profitability, revenue
   3. Industry comparison - the company is compared to other publicly traded companies in the same industry
   4. Intangible assets - goodwill, brand reputation, intellectual properties, technological advantages
2. Market demand
   1. Low supply - if the stocks for sale are few, then the demand becomes high. This is true of Apple. In its IPO, it was the most oversubscribed IPO since Ford
   2. Investor interest - high interest means high demand and higher valuation
   3. Market condition - if there is recession, people are not willing to invest
3. Investment bankers (course of action)
   1. Set the price - they perform due diligence to determine price based on company valuation and market demand
   2. IPO prospectus - they prepare the IPO prospectus
   3. Roadshow - they conduct a roadshow to present the company to institutional investors who make a non-binding bid (buying how many shares at a specific price)
   4. Price fine-tuning - based on the non-binding bids, the IBankers refine the outstanding shares to be sold and at what price. The company and the IBanker agree on this before the shares are sold
   5. Market trading - once the shares are sold, they begin to trade on the stock exchanges. The initial opening price on the stock exchange can be different from the IPO price

Pre-established Price?
I've read a few books about mergers and acquisitions especially during the bull market of the 80s. The books took me inside meeting rooms where lawyers, investment bankers and the client meet. A lot of times, all these number-crunching is to justify a price that the parties already determined - and not at all to determine the selling price.

As Jobs himself exercised, when he offered NeXT to the VCs, he arbitrarily priced NeXT at $30M by selling 10% of its shares at $3M. But when Perot offered to invest, without consulting any investment banker, he priced 16% of the company at $20M, making the company valuation at $125M. From $30M to $125M in just a few days? It's all arbitrary. It all depends how much the owner wants to sell it for and how much the buyer is willing to buy it for. The role of the investment bankers seem to just provide smoke and mirrors for their take-home pay.

Often in a tech environment, like Tesla or Apple, similar words like programmer and software engineers are thrown around. What's the difference in role, skill and function?

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Pixar vs Disney
It's crucial to know the points to negotiate with. Jobs was not entirely prepared in his first salvo with Disney given the terms he agreed to. The following are points to consider:

1. Who owns the film, characters and sequel?
2. How is revenue from box-office sales divied up?
3. Who has business control? If the other party revises too many to increase cost, will they shoulder the cost overrun?
4. Who has creative control? If this impacts on increased cost, who shoulders it? Business control?

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1. Microprocessor was introduced by Intel - this microprocessor was the genesis for Woz to improve on using less parts. On paper, Woz developed the schematic for a better circuit board and started giving it away the printed copy for free to Homebrew members
2. Integration 1 - the circuit board should be sold as one assembled unit and not just a schematic where only hobbyists will buy, then buy chips and wires to solder them together
3. Integration II - the PC cannot be sold as 3 different pieces - monitor, keyboard and computer. They all had to come as an integrated whole system. This makes it user-friendly
4. Streamlining the unseen - even the internal guts of the PC had to be streamlined and organized - even if consumers can't see that
5. Capital - to build manufacturing tools for Apple (casing, monitors, mass production) meant getting financing - from bank, friends, venture capitalists. Mark Markkula invested $250,000 for 1/3 equity share
6. Business plan - Jobs took Mark Markkula for marketing/advertising and developing business plan. Jobs was content on selling his computer on a store-by-store basis. It had to shift its focus that Apple was for the masses who will use it for their day-to-day needs. Wide-scale distribution had to be adopted
7. Incorporating - by incorporating, shares are issued which are distributed to owners. This also means the business is serious and no longer a garage hobby. This means all founding members must be all-in - thus Woz had to resign from HP
8. PR and Advertising arm - Apple hired Regis McKenna to handle the public image of Apple - new brochure, new logo
9. Public launch - Apple II was unveiled at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire in SF with its 'personality' well imputed
10. Start acting like a real company - Apple moved out of Jobs' garage and rented an office, hired people, had a credit line and started dealing with customers and suppliers
11. Hire a President - someone had to reign-in Jobs since Markkula and Woz didn't want to do it. Someone has to do the dirty job - Mike Scotty
12. Horizontal Integration / Collaboration - like Elon, Jobs integrated / collaborated designers with engineers with manufacturing with marketing and distribution. All worked together to produce a seamless product. Same thing with hardwars, software and content
13. Hiring - applicants get to meet not just their immediate boss but top brass as well. Then everyone meets to discuss if the applicant is a fit or not. They just hire A-players. And A-players only want to work with A-players. Having a C-payer is introducing a rot
14. Apple 1997 - Jobs' triumphant return to Apple when Apple purchased NeXT
15. Oct 2003 - Jobs was diagnosed with cancer
16. Jun 2005 - Jobs gave a commencement speech and opened up about dying of cancer
17. Jan 2007 - iPhone was launched and shipped 6 months later in June
18. Early 2008 - cancer spread
19. Jan 2009 - Jobs officially took a medical leave. Tim Cook took over
20. May 2009 - Job flew back to Apple after his cancer treatment. He was excited to get back
21. Jan 27, 2010 - iPad's unveiling
22. -
23. -
24. -
25. -
26. -

Me: That's exactly my question, so I asked ChatGPT.

ChatGPT: If that actually happened, it would radically change the power balance between IBM, Microsoft, NeXT, and Apple within the personal computing landscape.

1. Microsoft - Microsoft's Windows will now face stiff competition vs NeXTSTEP OS. It will lose its monopoly in the OS industry. If IBM migrates to NeXTSTEP OS, Windows loses its dominance as the OS standard. This would have been a wake-up call to Bill Gates. Steve Jobs would have gotten his revenge
2. IBM - NeXTSTEP OS' GUI and object-oriented OS is clearly more advanced vs Microsoft Windows. The initial 'try' of IBM may result in full migration to NeXTSTEP OS, leaving Microsoft with diminishing buyers for its Windows
3. Compaq/Dell, et. al. - IBM's migration to NeXTSTEP OS is a green light for other computer manufacturers to follow suite. This breaks Microsoft's dominance in the market
4. NeXT - with NeXT hardware and NeXTSTEP OS licensed out, NeXT can dominate the market. NeXTSTEP OS runs on multiple hardware architecture (cross platform capability - NeXt, IBM, Compaq, Dell), positioning itself as a versatile and more sophisticated alternative to Windows or the MacOS. NeXTSTEP OS becomes a de facto standard in the same way Android became the de facto standard in smart phones
5. Apple - with Apple still being a closed system, the NeXTSTEP OS propagation (and all its clones) will further marginalize Apple

Overall, NeXTSTEP OS would have dominated the market, making NeXT the dominant industry standard. It could have been bigger than IBM, Apple and Microsoft.

Me: That's exactly my question. So I asked ChatGPT - why not?

ChatGPT: Developing an application software ecosystem from scratch is not easy and it takes time. It is best to outsource application software to a software company - they have the knowledge, skill and experience. Let them do it and save your time and resources doing your core specialty - hardware and OS.

e.g. Outsource to Microsoft the development of Excel and Word for NeXT instead of NeXT building up an application softward for a spreadsheet and word processing. Microsoft already has the experience and tenure in the software ecosystem to deliver that.

1. It takes time - hardware/OS might be ready but the application software may not be ready, delaying shipping date
2. Spreading your resources too thin - NeXT was a fledgling company to be taking on this much burden
3. Alignment with existing Excel and Word users - user migration to NeXT becomes easier because users are already familiar with the GUI
4. Vibrant software ecosystem - outsourcing also encourages other software developers to develop software for NeXT
5. Limited market - NeXT's target market was a niche market - university researchers. Developing a broad suite of application software for a limited market may not be cost effective
6. Stratetic alliance - Microsoft was the big player in the industry while NeXT was still a fledgling. Aligning with Microsoft lends prestige to NeXT as a serious platform

When the company becomes big enough with more resources, then they can embark on developing its own suite of application software. This is actually what happened when Apple bought NeXT. It developed its own software for its suite of products - iPhone, iPod, iPad

After reading a few books on powerful businessmen on top of the food chain like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, the roles of CEO, President, Chair and Board of Directors often overlap citing conflicts of interest and governance. Confused, I also asked ChatGPT:

"What are the functional differences between the Chairman of the Board, the CEO, the President, and Board of Directors? Can the same person occupy all positions without conflict of interest?"

ChatGPT:

1. Chairman of the Board is the head of the Board of Directors, and responsible for overseeing the company's management and ensuring that the company is managed in the best interest of shareholders. The Board provides strategic guidance, sets broad goals, and ensures that the company adheres to legal and ethical standards.
   
   Responsibilities:
   1. Presiding over board meetings.
   2. Setting the agenda for board meetings.
   3. management.
   4. Ensuring the board’s decisions are implemented by the company’s executives.
   5. Acting as a liaison between the board and shareholders.


2. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) - CEO is the highest ranking executive of the company who is directly responsible to the overall management and operations of the company. He implements the decision of the board and sets the strategic direction of the company.
   
   Responsibilities:
   1. Leads the day-to-day operation of the company
   2. Formulates and executes the company's strategic moves
   3. Makes the major corporate decisions
   4. Liases between the board and the company management
   5. Represents the company to the stakeholders, shareholders, employees and the public


3. President - from the CEO, the President is the 2nd in command who usually looks after the internal day-to-day management and operations of the company. Often, the President is also the COO (Chief Operating Officer) while the CEO formulates strategies and takes care of external matters like meetings with other CEOs, press releases, forming strategic partnerships, etc.
   
   Responsibilities:
   1. takes care of internal management and operations
   2. implements strategies laid out by the CEO and the Board
   3. managing the company's top executives


4. Board of Directors - these are a group of people elected by the shareholders to represent their interests. The Board aligns the company's management and direction with shareholder interests. The Board is accountable to the shareholdlers.
   
   Responsibilities:
   1. Oversight across the full spectrum including the CEO, President and top executives
   2. Strategic decisions like long term goals, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, major change in policies
   3. Advisory role especially from their own experience if they are also representing other companies or industries - an outside director
   4. Risk management, ensuring that the company is not way over its head with major moves, anticipates 'worst case' scenario, approves budgets and major expenditures
   5. Hiring and firing top executives including the CEO
   

There are companies, however, where the CEO, the Pres and the Chair are micro-managed de facto by one person. This happens in small companies that are centralized or in closely held companies. As an exception, founders such as Elon Musk and Steve Jobs, run big companies where they control all aspects of management and operations.

Ensuing Problems:

1. Lack of oversight - the Chair is supposed to keep in check the CEO. But if they are the same person, the CEO is not accountable to anyone
2. Tunnel vision - decisions are made by one person with no diversity from multiple inputs from different perspectives
3. Autocratic power - this person becomes too powerful and can corrupt the system if there is no check and balance. This erodes shareholder confidence
4. Lame duck Board - if the Chair is also the CEO, then the CEO essentially controls the Board. For best governance, the Board should be left independent

1. ()
2. The last time a tablet cause so much excitement, it had commandments writtin on it. (The Wall Street Journal describing the iPad launch)
3. We screwed it 5 ways to Sunday (lifting it from the Elon Musk book, it means screwing it in every possible way)
4. He was looking exactly like your newly divorced uncle on his first date. (describing Amelio's attire at the MacWorld convention)
5. He was too busy to flush the toilet (Mona describing her Dad in the book, A Regular Guy)
6. It blends sci-fi shimmer and the kitsch whimsy of a cocktail umbrella (describing the iMac)
7. He threw himself into his work with a quiet diligence, silent stares and long uncomfortable pauses (describing Tim Cook)
8. The incestuous living arrangement by its hippie residents was worthy of a French farce (in Jobs' 4-bedroom Rancho Suburban house)
9. Even the most jaded psychiatrist would do a double take on it (Jobs naming the next computer, Lisa - the name of his child whose paternity he denied)

Copy Apple
There is probably no product out there that deliberated more on design and functionality than Apple. Every line on the Gui, every curve on a button probably went through countless revisions until it was finalized. Jobs was so obsessive with these things that he drove people up the wall. There is a reason why Apple became a cultural icon. So, when doing anything Apple has already created, why reinvent the wheel? Use Apple products as the grounding template and improve from there. You'll be way ahead of the project path.

This reminds of my days at Chapters Online as a web designer. Amazon was the industry leader, so, we essentially copied Amazon - what they were selling, the GUI of their website, the carry-out process, etc. Chapters became very successful that it was acquired by Indigo.

Flawed Genius
The public perception of Jobs is that he is a genius. True. Even top CEO who dealt with him are unison in saying that he is a true genius. At an IQ of 158, you have to be one. But what is not mentioned or written about are the flops that he designed. There were many. The Power Mac G4 Cube was a powerful high-end desktop for industrial/corporate use with the good looks of being a museum-piece. But it flopped. The top executives weren't keen on having a museum piece for a workhorse, and the average consumer would not spend twice as much than a simple beige PC. Same story with NeXT computer. Jobs later admitted that he overdesigned and overpriced both of them.

Overseeing Cost
Q: While designers, engineers and operations people work together to produce an integrated product, who overlooks the cost? What if the product becomes a cost overrun?
A: According to ChatGPT, cost is overlooked at various levels within Apple. At the product development level, the Product Manager works with designers, engineers and operations people to ensure the products are on specs, finished on time and within budget. At a higher level, you have the Finance Team who meets with Product Managers to talk about budgets and costs. At a higher level, you have the CFO, Chief Financial Officer who reports to the CEO. Ultimately, the CEO has to justify the cost to the Board.

Merging of Arts and Science
Jobs always blended art and technology seamlessly to produce stunning works of technological marvel and usability. His graphical user interface with extensive availability of different fonts and customized kerning were pervasive in the Mac product line. They were copied by Windows. The white minimalist look became iPhone signature.

Vertical Integration
The Mac was screwed by Adobe when it refused to write software for Mac. Without software, the PC was not that useful. Jobs has to develop software for Mac in-house for full control in his end-to-end philosophy. When os, software, computer, devise, Firewire are all integrated under the Apple manufacturing, solutions became seamless and Apple had full control of the user experience. Apple was the first to do this. Before, Microsoft made the OS, Sony made the gadgets, Dell made the computer, Adobe made the applications, etc. The plandemic disrupted the global supply chain causing many companies to fail to deliver - because they were reliant on a 3rd party for supplies. Elon was good in avoiding this by making most of his parts in-house.

How Jobs Should have Dealt with IBM/Microsoft
IBM open-sourced its x86 hardware architecture and spawned an industry of IBM-clones. Consequently, IBM took the market lead and became the industry standard. Microsoft sold its Windows OS to all IBM clones making Bill Gates the richest man at one point. Apple was left behind in market share. In hindsight, what could have Steve Jobs done for Apple to avert this and be the industry standard, the market leader and still be profitable?

Gigit:

1. Mac OS - instead of contracting for Microsoft to develop the Mac OS, Apple should have developed it in-house
2. Mac Chip - Apple should have developed its own chip instead of using the Motorola
3. Open-source the Mac hardware - license the Mac architecture to select and pre-qualified computer manufacturers under strict quality control and guidelines. This protects the brand and keeps the quality high. This also earns revenue for Mac which IBM did not (because the clone manufacturers were not paying royalties to IBM's intellectual property)
4. Vertical Integration - if Mac has the OS and the chip, if it licenses its hardware, the Mac-clone makers will likely buy the Mac OS and the Mac Chip as well, creating another revenue stream. This gives Apple a monopoly, making it an industry standard, the market leader and all the revenue while protecting its brand. Steve Jobs will be the richest guy - not Bill Gates
5. Licensing Revenue Only - if Apple can license its hardware, OS, and chip, it can even stop manufacturing these things and simply concentrate on research & development to enhance its existing product lines and create new products. It makes a lot of money just by licensing without manufacturing. This is what some franchisors do when they become successful - they stop building their own stores and just concentrate on franchising.

ChatGPT: The key would have been a balance of openness and quality control to ensure widespread adoption and brand differentiation. How?

1. Licensing the Mac OS to select computer manufacturers - by carefully selecting competent partners and strictly controling the standards, widespread adoption with high quality Mac-clones can be maintained, expanding the Mac ecosystem without diluting the Mac brand. These partners can also develop their own hardware (they are not dependent on Mac's hardware architecture). This creates a revenue stream from licensing fees.
2. Focusing on Software - Apple could create a robust software ecosystem by encouraging third-party software developers, under strict guidelines, to develop application software for the Mac OS. This expands the user/developer base, making Mac the industry standard. Apple can certify the softward to be "Mac-Certified" for high consumer confidence.
3. Focusing on Services - Apple could have developed a suite of services supporting the Mac ecosystem, further enhancing Mac as the industry standard - professional software, cloud storage, consultation, support infrastructure. This provides another revenue stream.
4. Developing modular components - Apple could have developed modular components to its hardware, making it 'tailor-fitted' to its customer base. It also widens its customer bases from professionals to consumers to tech enthusiasts. It can spawn new markets for high-tech and budget machines. e.g. upgradable GPU processors for games, graphics, videos and animation, expandable memory and storage (higher RAM, plug-and-play SSD), customizable ports (I/O ports to allow HDMI, USB, etc.), docking station, modular input devices like keyboards/touchpads/stylus, modular power supply, advanced cooling modules, wireless technology)



Docking station for additional card reader, additional ports and audio interfaces


5. Developing 3rd-party hardware support with strategic partners - Apple could have cultivated strategic partnerships with 3rh-party peripheral manufacturers, further enhancing a wider adoption of the Mac ecosystem
6. Industrial solutions to corporate/educational markets - Apple could aggressively pursue partnerhip with corporate, healthcare and educational establishments to develop specific industrial solutions. This gives Apple a footholdn on the larger and established markets.
7. Openness and differentiation - Apple could have licensed parts of its architecture but retained criticals elements to protect its brand and foster wider adoption of the Mac brand.
8. Continue its operations - even with Mac-clones around, Apple can still continue manufacturing the Mac with its own OS, chip and proprietary hardward/software
9. Aggressive marketing - with the adoption of the above, Apple can then launch a new advertising campaign touting Apple as the new standard instead of IBM because it's user friendly, more beautiful, intuitive, more innovative features, and it's cool. The campaign would be a carry-on of the 1984 Superbowl commercial.
10. Continuous innovation - this keeps Apple ahead of its competition. Apple is nimble and forward thinking while the others act slow and complacent
11. Adopting emergent technologies - like networked computing, changes on the internet and personal computing.

Jobs died at age 56. It was too soon. He could have done more wonders to the world. Undoubtedly, he's a genius of the highest order (even those who don't like him attest to that). Moreover, he wasn't just bright - he used his smarts to innovate and change the world. And he did. But had he lived on, I cannot imagine how else he would have changed the world.

In terms of innovative genius who changed the way we live, I take solace that Elon Musk is still around. He is perhaps even greater (in terms of accomplishment) than Jobs. He is now 53 years old and still changing the world. So far, he has revolutionized the electric car, space exploration, the internet, artificial intelligence, solar energy, smart housing, and tunneling. I sincerely wish he lives for another 53 years.

We are lucky to be living in these times when human avatars walk amongst us - yes, I regard Jobs and Musk as human avatars because what they have accomplished is beyond the reach of every genius who came before them - beyond Newton, Einstein, Ford, Tesla and Bell. Why? Because the ones before them didn't have access to technology as we have it now. These kinds don't happen everyday, but we had 2 who overlapped - call it an abomination of nature, but Jobs and Musk are a category within themselves. In my lifetime, I somehow feel optimistic that Musk can pull off the greatest achievement of his life - send man to Mars and develop a Martian colony - not because I favor a Martian colony but simply to see if a human in my lifetime can actually achieve something that 10 years ago was pure science fiction.

Even before I read the book, I already heard the story from Woz, much later on in life when Steve and him were already household words and celebrated icons of Apple/iPhone, that he learned that early on, the corporate contract he signed up with Jobs stipulated that if shit hits the fan, Woz would be shouldering all the liabilities freeing Jobs free and clear. This shocked Woz and reduced him to tears.

That moment was poignant for me. Even as a reader, it hurt me. I have walked away from important relationships for much less.

Woz mentioned that when everybody was fumbling around for the right formula in making things work, Jobs already had it nailed down. Woz simply calls it good instinct. But to me, that's IQ. People with high IQ simply see things at a level normal people don't. Normal people might see an event as benign, but high-IQ people see opportunities. The Rothchilds are the world's wealthiest family. I was curious and tried to find their lineage. They are Ashkenazi Jews - and the have the highest IQ of any ethnic group anywhere else on the planet, higher than any other Jew sect - 115 IQ (world average is only 79 IQ).

I asked ChatGPT what people of different IQs would do if a volcano erupted on a small isolated island they all lived in. The ones with low IQ would panic, feel scared, and be completely reliant on advisory from the authorities. The high-IQ people would plan on immediate evacuation procedures plus supplies and contingencies.
Sure, Jobs is credited for being artistic, grounded in values and work ethic even though it entails ruthlessness. But his ~160 IQ is hardly mentioned. Early on, even his parents already realized he was smarter than the rest.

Woz learned FORTRAN computer language at the get go. In hindsight, my first school-mandated computer language was also FORTRAN. I like programming and even found myself a natural for it. But I didn't pursue it. Perhaps could have made a career in tech with programming as a base. I missed out. I never had any career guidance after my high school graduation - this was not deemed important during my time (1976). My parents weren't really career people - just folks who had jobs. My school didn't offer career counseling either. I didn't have a clue where to set my direction to. I ended up taking Business Adminstration - after my Dad's advice (he had good intentions but he didn't have a clue). After 4 years of that in college and 10 more years trying to be a businessman, I finally realized I wasn't cut out for business. So after 14 years pursuing a business career, my final realization was, "What the fuck am I doing here?"

In hindsight, knowing myself and the world a little better now, I should have taken architecture or finance or computer science during my university days and then have taken AI beginning in the 2000s. This is not regret...just looking at forks on the road I missed out.

I find it interesting how Jobs and Musk are very similar (assholes, geniuses, innovators, reshaped the way we do things, etc.) yet I've become a fan of Musk but not of Jobs. I see Jobs as an interesting conversation piece who redefined computing, music and publishing, but again, he didn't move me - not after he treated Woz and Hertzfeld. While Elon will use people like disposable tools with no empathy, there is no meanness. Jobs on the other hand is just plain mean. Meanwhile, I continue to root for Musk and eager to see what else he can accomplish in his life and if he can truly send a successful manned voyage to Mars. Just the same, I find them more similar than different.

Having read the book, having filtered its contents to 'lessons learned', and given my current situation of not having any current project, is there any compelling 'call to action' to all this? I can't think of one - perhaps to read up more about fascinating lives and continue to be inspired. At some point, I'm sure I'll have my Aha Moment.

This book gave me a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in the hidden world of high-flying CEOs. We mortals read about them through their public releases and epidermal podcast coverages. But Isaacson took me inside the intimate conversations of these CEO - conversations that affected millions - employees, suppliers, competitors and the public at large. Yes, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are all smart. But amongst these smarts, some stick out as smarter than others. The backdoor negotiations with white-knuckle toughness, precision timing, sleight of hand, clever deception all made for a riveting breath-hold.

I was aghast and appalled by Jobs' inaction in providing for a life-long friend who was with him since the inception of Apple. It doesn't matter what category Kottke fell in whether he as just a salaried worker, founding member or stakeholder, but denying him even a drop of the IPO largesse was just cruel and an utter lack of empathy (that's why despite my admiration for Jobs, he didn't win me over). I suspect Jobs harbored a deep seated animosity to Kottke. What I find equally surprising is that Kottke chose to remain friends with Jobs. I've walked away from family for much less.

While Jobs is highly regarded as an asshole genius, which he is, not much is said about his corporate boo-boos - which is significant. In hindsight, he bulldozed his vision through, overriding the wise counsel of his engineers for more functionality, higher performance and realistic delivery dates. If you take out the marketing hype of the product launches, it becomes evident that the products from Mac to NeXT were severely flawed - slow performance, underpowered, not enough input slots, no back up drive, expensive, etc. That's why NeXT and Power Mac G4 flopped. This is what happens when a designer overpowers the engineer. I think a more wholesome balance would be the Elon-approach of housing the engineers, designer and operations people under one roof and have them talk to each other. Of course at Apple, Jobs overwhelmed everyone. Perhaps a 25% voice from woz, 50% voice from Jobs and 26% voice from the engineers would produce a balanced product - beautiful, functional, high-performance and less damaged souls in its wake.