1
And with that movie 2001,
you're projecting us into the 21st century.
- I brought along my son Jonathan...
- Hi.
Who in the year 2001 will
be the same age as I am now.
Maybe he will be better adjusted to this
kind of world that you're trying to portray.
The big difference,
when he grows up...
In fact, if we wanted to
wait till the year 2001...
He will have in his own house
not a computer as big as
this, but at least a console
through which he can talk to
his friendly local computer
and get all the information
he needs for his everyday life,
like his bank statements,
his theater reservations,
all the information you need in the course
of living in a complex modern society.
This will be in a compact
form in his own house.
He'll have a television screen,
like these here, and a keyboard.
And he'll talk to the computer
and get information from it.
And he'll take it as much for
granted as we take the telephone.
I wonder, though, what sort of
a life would it be like in social terms?
I mean, if our whole life
is built around the computer,
do we become a computer-dependent society?
In some ways, but they
will also enrich our society
because it will make it possible for
us to live, really, anywhere we like.
Any businessman and executive
could live almost anywhere on Earth
and still do his business
through a device like this.
And this is a wonderful thing. It means
we won't have to be stuck in cities.
We'll be able to live out in the
country or wherever we please.
Screen says it's
an unimplemented trap.
But the error code is
wrong. It's a system error.
- So what's the upshot?
- It's not gonna say hello.
It absolutely
is gonna say hello.
- It's nobody's fault. It's a system error.
- You built the voice demo.
- The voice demo is flaky.
- Keep your voices down.
I've been telling you that
for... This thing is overbuilt.
It worked last night. It
worked the night before that.
It worked three hours ago.
- It's not working now, so just skip over the voice demo.
- Fuck you.
- Everything else is working.
- Shh.
Skip over the voice demo.
We need it to say hello.
- You're not hearing me. It's not going to say hello.
- Just fix it.
- Fix it?
- Yeah.
- In 40 minutes?
- Fix it.
- I can't.
- Who's the person who can?
I'm the person who can, and I can't.
- How bad are you saying?
- It's pretty bad.
- I don't know what that means.
- It means the demo is more than likely gonna crash.
You have to keep your voices down.
Joel Pforzheimer is
sitting out in the house.
I don't care if... Who's Joel Pforzheimer?
GQ.
He's been shadowing you
for a week. Did you notice?
Just look like everything's fine.
He's sitting out in the house.
Hey.
What are you guys saying?
Some kind of race condition, but we
haven't been able to track it down yet.
Is the synthesizer sampling fast enough?
No, so the rates are off
and it keeps crashing.
It's 20 seconds out of a
two-hour launch. Why not just cut it?
- We can't cut it.
- Yeah, you just cut it.
Two days ago, we ran a Super Bowl ad that
could've won the Oscar for Best Short Film.
There are more people who can tell you about
the ad than can tell you who won the game.
I understand, but the ad said
the Mac was gonna save the world.
It didn't say it was gonna say hello.
We open the house in five.
Don't open the house.
We're taking a quick break.
- Part of the problem is...
- What?
We can recompile, but if it's a hardware
problem, we can't get into the back.
Why not?
- Do you wanna tell her or should I?
- Don't start with me, man.
- Why can't he get into the machine?
- You need special tools.
What kind of special tools?
Just take a screwdriver.
He didn't want users to be able to open it.
You need special tools.
Is this for real?
There are a hundred engineers walking
around here. None of them have the tools?
In fairness, not many of
them were issued the tools.
- What about you?
- I left them at the office. It was 3:00 AM when I...
Oh, Jesus Christ.
- Cut "Hello."
- No.
- What's the first rule of a launch?
- It's not gonna crash.
It just did.
Andy!
Which one?
The other Andy. You're right
there. Why would I be calling out?
- He needs to talk to you.
- Yeah.
The exit signs need to be off or
we're not gonna get a full blackout.
- We've spoken to the building manager and the fire marshal.
- And?
There's no way they're gonna
let us turn the exit signs off.
I'll pay whatever the fine is.
The fine is they're gonna come
in and tell everyone to leave.
You explained to the fire marshal
that we're in here changing the world?
I did, but unless we can also change
the properties of fire, he doesn't care.
- Steve...
- If a fire causes a stampede to the unmarked exits,
it'll have been well worth
it for those who survive.
For those who don't, less
so, but still pretty good.
- Look, I...
- I need it to go black. Real black.
Get rid of the exit signs and
don't let me know how you did it.
Fix the voice demo.
You need special tools to open the Mac?
You knew it was a closed system.
I didn't know literally. Jesus.
And if you keep alienating
people for no reason,
there's gonna be no one
left for it to say hello to.
It's not for no reason.
We blow this and IBM will own the
next 50 years like a Batman villain.
Remember the phone company? That's what
Bell was called, "the phone company."
IBM will be the computer company.
Ten years later they'll
be the information company,
and that's very bad for the human race.
So we don't have time to
be polite or realistic,
'cause if we are, this
company's next product launch
will be held in front of 26 people
and a stringer from the
Alameda County Shopper's Guide.
We haven't advertised the voice software.
We could pull it out of the demo
and no one would be disappointed.
Do you want to try being reasonable,
just, you know, see what it feels like?
Okay. Pull the voice demo.
Thank you.
And then cancel the launch.
I see. You just tricked me a little.
You can tell me how unimportant it is,
but if the computer doesn't say hello,
then neither will John Sculley,
who I promise you agrees with me.
Sculley's not gonna cancel the
launch 'cause he's not insane.
He's also not a hack, and
when it comes to the Macintosh,
he's gonna do what I ask him to do.
- What's in this box?
- Nothing you need to worry about.
Don't even open it.
What the fuck?
Why is there a carton of... Who did this?
- Somebody thought...
- Who?
Doesn't matter. Thought it would be a good
idea to have copies of that Time cover
available at everyone's seat.
It was nipped in the bud and all the
copies are being taken out of the building.
So problem solved.
- This isn't a Macintosh.
- I understand.
Somebody thought it would
be a good idea to, like,
enthusiastically hand over copies of
Time with a not-a-Macintosh on the cover
at the launch of the Macintosh?
What are they handing
out at Hewlett-Packard?
A bushel of apples with my face on them?
I'm sure the thinking was that
since the computer is Man of the Year
that that's good for our business,
but like I said, I'm having
them removed from the building.
What I'd like you to do with them
is to take them, all 2,600 copies,
and stack them on Kottke's desk
and tell him Steve says,
"Happy New Year to you."
Okay.
I gave Time magazine full access.
The whole campus: Bandley, Apple II, Lisa.
I gave him Sculley, Markkula. I
gave him Woz. I gave him everybody.
What should I call the person who thought
it'd be a good idea to hand these out?
I'm not telling you who it was.
It was done without malice.
It's been taken care of.
You have a half hour and we
have things to talk about.
Like what?
Like a million
in the first 90 days.
- Joanna...
- 20,000 a month after that.
- Look. Those are the forecasts.
- I'm begging...
This is my field. I'm begging you
to manage expectations out there.
- I'm fanning expectations.
- We're not gonna sell a million in the first 90 days.
Everyone, everyone, everyone,
everyone is waiting for the Mac.
Maybe.
But what happens when they
find out that for 2,495,
there's nothing you can do with it?
We were competitive at $1,500,
but once you replaced the
Motorola 6809 with the 68000...
Which is what supports menus, windows,
point and click, high-res graphics...
Yeah, 'cause everyone needs
rectangles with rounded corners.
Coach lands on the runway at the
exact same time as first class.
I don't have the first
fucking idea what that means,
but this is how it got to $2,500,
which is the price point on
the PC, which can do a lot more!
Who's gonna want a PC?
What idiot is gonna want...
If I wanna tell you there's a spot
on your shirt, I point to the spot.
I don't say there's a spot 14
centimeters down from the collar
and three centimeters to the
right of the second button
while I try to remember what
the command is for club soda.
That's not how a person's mind works.
If the goal was ease of use, maybe
you should've given it some memory.
You can complain about memory
or you can complain about price,
but you can't do both at the same time.
Memory is what costs money.
I'm glad you're telling me
your feelings about the Mac now
because we have a half hour left.
We can redesign it.
I'm just asking you to manage expectations.
Look at their faces
when they see what it is.
They won't know what they're
looking at or why they like it,
but they'll know they want it.
Not instantly. When people
heard Rite of Spring,
they tore the chairs out of the theater.
They didn't buy the record.
Rite of Spring happens
to be the most revolutionary
and provocative symphony
of the last century.
Ballet. It was a ballet.
But Igor Stravinsky didn't say he
was gonna sell 20,000 units a month.
I don't know why we're
talking about Stravinsky
when what I care about is Dan Kottke
sodomizing me in Time magazine.
Look. Obviously...
Let me say this to you.
Obviously, Daniel didn't think
he was doing anything wrong.
- By talking to Time about it?
- Yeah.
I don't know what that means.
You said, when you told me the story...
You said you said to Dan,
"Did Time magazine ask you
if I had a daughter named Lisa?"
And Dan said, "Yeah."
My point was that he answered
you simply and honestly
because he didn't think
he'd done anything wrong.
Except, Joanna... Except I
don't have a daughter named Lisa.
And this story is now about how I'm
denying paternity and took a blood test.
And that's why there's a picture of...
I don't know what the fuck that is.
That's why there's a
picture of a PC on the cover
instead of a picture of me and the Mac.
I don't know what to tell you.
I was supposed to be Time
magazine's Man of the Year.
And then Dan Kottke was born.
- Well...
- What?
- She's waiting for you.
- Who?
- Chrisann.
- Brennan?
They're out in the hall.
They've been sitting in the back of
the auditorium since 7:00 this morning.
I'm not having a session
with Chrisann right now.
We issued 335 press
credentials for the launch.
Steve, you piss off Chrisann,
she's gonna stand in the
lobby and give 335 interviews,
and you, pal, will be longing for
the halcyon days of Dan Kottke.
Let me get this over with.
But don't leave. You're gonna stay here.
What? No. I'm not.
No. There's less of a chance of a
scene if you stay here. She'll be cool.
I find all this
excruciatingly personal and-and...
I-I'm... I'm not staying.
No. Come on.
I don't wanna be in a
room alone with Chrisann.
This is me and you.
Fine.
Hey.
Steve.
This is a surprise.
Why don't you come on in?
Thank you.
- You coming too?
- Yes, I'm not gonna leave her in the hallway.
Okay. It's a safe hallway, but anyway.
You remember Joanna Hoffman? She's
the head of marketing for the Mac.
Good to see you.
Nice to see you. Hello, Lisa.
We've met before, and you told
me you like the way I talk,
and that was my favorite
thing anyone's ever said to me.
- You're from Poland.
- Yes, I am.
- Do you know where that is?
- The top of the Earth.
I think you're thinking of the North Pole.
Well, we're a little
pressed for time, so...
- I'll leave you guys alone.
- Why do you wanna leave when you just said...
I'm gonna check in with Hertzfeld.
We're trying to get a
computer to say hello,
but right now it's being very shy.
Would you come help me? Is that okay?
Sure.
Thank you.
My dad named a computer after me.
I'm not your...
Actually, do you know what
a coincidence is, Lisa?
No.
Like if you met someone.
You made a new friend
and her name was Lisa too.
That would be a coincidence.
"Lisa" stands for "Local
Integrated Systems Architecture."
L-I-S-A.
It's a coincidence.
- You about done?
- Yeah.
Okay.
Come. Let's make that computer say hi.
Go ahead, Lisa.
So it was the other way around.
I was named after the computer?
Nothing was named after
anybody. It's a coincidence.
Come on.
What's the matter with you?
What's the matter with you? Why
are you telling her these things?
Why are you still telling
her I'm her father?
- A judge told her you're her father.
- No, he didn't.
Where the hell do you get off
telling Time magazine
I've slept with 28 percent
of the men in America?
- That's not...
- Where do you get off?
That's not remotely what I said.
It's right here.
First of all, can I tell you
something about Time magazine?
I believe it's a training
facility for paid assassins.
- "Jobs insists"... I am quoting...
- I didn't invent math.
"...twenty-eight percent of
the male population of the United States
could be the father."
I wasn't saying you've slept
with 28% of American men.
I was using an algorithm
based on the blood test
which said there was a 94.1%
chance that I'm the father.
You're trying to publicly
paint me as a slut and a whore.
Believe me, I'm not trying to
publicly do anything with you.
Two million people read
Time. How am I supposed...
It would be more if they put me on the cover,
but Dan Kottke decided to kidney-punch me...
- I applied for welfare yesterday.
- I'm sorry?
- Hello!
- I said I applied for welfare yesterday.
The Time article said your
Apple stock was worth $441 million,
and I wanted to ask you
how you felt about that.
Well, I feel like Apple stock
has been dramatically undervalued.
This would be a good time to get in.
Your daughter and her mother...
- Chrisann...
- are on welfare.
We're living in a hovel in Menlo Park.
We can't pay the heating bills.
She sleeps in a parka.
- Your daughter...
- She's not my daughter!
Because, as reported
by Time magazine,
- I've slept with 28% of the men in America?
- No.
All of them, exactly nine
months before Lisa was born.
I've got Andy here.
Excuse me.
We're there?
- Hey, Chris.
- Hey, Andy.
- How are you doin'?
- Terrible.
You guys caught up now?
Excuse me for saying hello to my
friend, who thinks you're a dick.
- I don't think you're a...
- We're there?
- No. It's got a one-in-six chance of working.
- Goddamn it.
Well, we're not a pit crew at Daytona.
This can't be fixed in seconds.
You didn't have seconds.
You had three weeks.
The universe was created
in a third of that time.
Well, someday you'll have
to tell us how you did it.
Here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna announce the names of
everyone who designed the launch demo.
I'm gonna introduce everyone
and ask them to stand up.
The bag was designed by Susan Kare.
The Macintosh font that's scrolling across
the screen was designed by Steve Capps.
The starry night and
skywriting was Bruce Horn.
MacPaint, MacWrite, Alice,
down to the calculator.
And then I'm gonna say the
voice demo that didn't work
was designed by Andy Hertzfeld.
Steve...
Five-in-six is your chance of surviving
the first round of Russian roulette,
and you've reversed those odds.
So unless you wanna be disgraced
in front of your friends,
family, colleagues,
stockholders and the press,
I wouldn't stand here arguing.
I'd go try and get some
more bullets out of the gun.
Do it, Andy!
Stop. You.
- What size shirt do you wear?
- Me?
Does anyone know what size shirt
he wears? What size shirt I wear?
Does anyone know where
the closest psychiatrist is?
The disk fits in your pocket.
I need a shirt with a breast
pocket. I can take it out onstage.
- A shirt?
- The disk!
I need a white shirt in my
size with a breast pocket.
Yes. Which one of the no
stores that are open at 8:45
do you want me to have someone run
to and return from in 15 minutes?
Go out in the lobby, find someone
my size who's wearing a white shirt.
Tell them I'll trade
them for a free computer,
and they get to keep my shirt.
Does it have to be a
white shirt? Is blue okay?
No. The Mac is beige, I'm beige, the
disk is blue, the shirt has to be white.
Andy?
Hello, I'm Macintosh.
Bring me the head of Andy Hertzfeld.
I tried to get it to
say hello, but it's shy.
Yeah.
So that's it?
That's it.
I don't get it.
I know.
What are people going to do with it?
Lisa, how old are you now?
- You know how old she is.
- How old are you, Lisa?
Five.
Come sit here for a minute.
Do you know what this is?
- It's a computer.
- It's a computer.
Can I borrow your hand for a second?
Point that arrow and click.
You don't have to, but if you
want, you can play with it.
Nothing you can do will break it,
so just do whatever you want with it.
What are you doing?
I'm paying you exactly what
the court ordered me to pay you.
$385 a month.
I'm not the one who decided on that amount.
And I'm asking you how you feel.
If you feel all right.
- If it feels all right to you that your daughter...
- She's not my...
That your daughter and
her mother are on welfare
while you're worth $441
million for making that.
I'm proud to say Apple donates
computers to underfunded schools,
- and we'll be doing more of the same with the Mac...
- What?
Apple donates millions of dollars'
worth of computers to schools.
What does that have to do with...
Imagine an underprivileged kid that has
their favorite teacher with them 24 hours.
We're minutes away from
being able to do that.
In your head, was that
an answer to my question?
Tell me the question again.
I wasn't the one who sued
you for child support.
- No, let...
- San Mateo County sued you.
No, let me explain what happened,
'cause I have plenty of time right now.
Excuse me. You have a visitor.
Just wanted to say good
luck. Hey, Chrisann.
- Hello, Woz.
- Hang on.
- Just wanted to say good luck.
- Thanks. You too.
- It's a big morning.
- Yeah.
You should see this crowd out there.
This crowd, it's like, um...
I can't really wait for you to
come up with a metaphor, man.
- Yeah. So, listen, I want to ask you a favor.
- Yeah?
- Can you acknowledge the Apple II team in your remarks?
- I cannot.
Just an acknowledgement.
Have them stand up.
- We're launching the Mac.
- It'd be a morale booster.
Just a mention so they could
get a round of applause.
- Just a mention.
- Can we stick a pin in this for a minute?
- Sure.
- Thank you.
Just talking about an
acknowledgement for the team.
I've got Chrisann in there.
I'll see you in a second.
Yep.
That.
What?
You asked me what people are gonna
do with it. They're gonna do that.
One of the engineers.
Thank you.
Do you like it?
I'm sorry?
It's an abstract.
You used MacPaint.
Push that key and the "S" at the same time.
Now type your name.
Do you know which box says "Save"?
Right. Go ahead and click on it.
I'll put some money in your account
and buy you a new house,
someplace near a decent school.
Thank you.
Woz wants a minute.
And Sculley's asking for you.
We're done?
Could you teach me more things?
On the computer?
Lisa, wait for me in the hall, please.
You can put your coat on in the hall.
Bye, Lisa.
- Bye.
- Lisa, in the hall. Now.
I wanna know, when you say you're
gonna put money in my account,
how much we're talking about.
It's a school day. She
needs to be in school.
I'm gonna give you whatever you need.
Woz wants me to acknowledge
the Apple II team.
You must be able to see
that she looks like you.
I don't want to insult Woz. I
just think it's backward-looking
at exactly the wrong moment.
- I know you heard what I said.
- I heard what you said, Joanna.
It's just we're about to do this thing.
At 9:41, the planet's gonna shift
on its axis nigh and forever.
Two most significant
events of the 20th century:
the Allies win the war and this.
This.
So maybe right now isn't the
very best time to scold me
for not being a better father
to a kid who's not my kid.
- The test said I...
- I don't care what the test said.
I don't care about 94.1%
or the insane algorithm you used
to get to 28% of American men.
Buying her a new house.
I'm giving her money.
There's a small girl who
believes you're her father.
That's all. That's all the math there is.
She believes it. What are
you gonna do about that?
God sent his only son on a suicide mission,
but we like him anyway
because he made trees.
We're gonna sell a million
units in the first 90 days.
20,000 a month after that.
So maybe you could give
me a break, Ms. Hoffman?
- Woz.
- Hey.
There's nothing in that vending
machine that won't kill you.
- Just browsing.
- Let's take a walk.
- Can I tell you something?
- Yeah.
After the meeting in Maui, the Apple
II team was upset and angry and down.
- Do you know why?
- Because the Apple II wasn't mentioned even once?
The Apple II wasn't mentioned ev...
Yes, that's it. You have it. Yes.
- That wasn't an oversight.
- They know that. They know it wasn't.
I don't wanna make a
big deal out of this...
That's entirely within your power.
- The Apple II is...
- The Apple II is what was, my friend.
The Apple II is what pays the bills
around here and has for seven years.
And if you embarrass these people,
you are going to see a brain
drain at this company, my brother.
Markkula took you off the Lisa, not
them and not me, so don't blame...
Markkula took me off the Lisa because of his
strong religious objection to making it good.
Now I gave you everything
you wanted on the Apple II.
You don't ask for a lot?
There wasn't a single fight you lost.
Do you concede the slots are the
reason for the success of the Apple II?
- We can't still be talking about the slots.
- I have a point.
It's been seven years. You're still
doing it. You're talking about the slots.
There's something wrong with you.
This argument started in the garage.
What are you talking about? Why
would you only want two slots?
A printer and a modem.
With eight slots, you...
This is a huge deal that we
were able to add eight slots.
I appreciate the engineering,
but it's not what we're doing.
- And thank God I won that argument...
- Woz.
Because the open system is what
people love about the machine,
and it's why it sold and still sells.
An open system. We're
not doing an open system.
Of course we are. That's what people want,
and the breakthrough on the Apple II...
People don't know what they
want until you show it to them.
Serious users want to customize. They
wanna modify. They wanna jack it up.
They want hardware engineers like
me to expand its capabilities, okay?
Keyboards for music, better sound board,
better display boards,
improved memory cards.
And it's why there are
3,000 people here right now.
The slots are what allowed the Apple II
to run, for just one example, VisiCalc,
which from my guess single-handedly sold
between 200,000 and 300,000 machines.
- They want slots.
- They don't get a vote.
When Dylan wrote "Shelter from the Storm," he
didn't ask people to contribute to the lyrics.
Plays don't stop so the
playwright can ask the audience
what scene they'd like to see next.
- Painters...
- Hobbyists...
We're on the verge of
a tectonic... Hobbyists?
A printer and a modem. Two slots.
The Apple II team has my affection,
but I'm not loving up a seven-year-old
product at the Mac launch.
- Computers aren't paintings.
- Fuck you.
I'm gonna say "fuck you" every time you
say that until you either die or stop.
- Steve...
- Try it.
- Steve.
- Say it.
- Computers aren't paintings.
- Fuck you.
Yes, they are, and what
I want is a closed system.
End-to-end control. Completely
incompatible with anything.
Computers aren't supposed
to have human flaws.
I'm not going to build this one with yours.
Steve!
Hey.
Today is about the Macintosh.
And the Mac is mine.
- I give you that.
- Thank you.
I give you that. Just publicly
acknowledge the Apple II team
'cause it's the right thing to do.
We'll know soon enough if you are
Leonardo da Vinci or just think you are,
but in the meantime, it would be great...
In the meantime, the Apple II is done.
Seven years. It was a great run.
You should go out in the
house and take your seat.
The Mac is Jef Raskin's.
Say it for me.
- Computers aren't...
- Fuck you.
All right.
Five, six...
- We're there?
- I need more time.
- You can't have it.
- 20 minutes.
- It's 8:58.
- We can start late.
Hear me. We're a computer
company. We can't start late.
- Then I have another idea.
- What?
It's deceptive and borderline unethical.
- I'm listening.
- It'll run on the 512.
- You tested it?
- Yeah.
- Wait. You're gonna demo a 128 computer on a 512?
- Nobody's gonna know.
And you think that's
borderline unethical?
Name my other choices, please.
Please. You have to tell me why it's
so important for it to say hello.
Hollywood. They made
computers scary things.
See how this reminds you of a friendly
face, that the disk slot is a goofy grin?
It's warm and it's playful
and it needs to say hello.
It needs to say hello because it can.
We're not committing fraud.
The 512 is gonna ship in under a year.
Will you absolve me of your
Eastern European disapproval?
The computer in 2001 said hello all the time
and it still scared the shit out of me.
Absolve me.
Just for this.
And just for now.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
founding board member Mike Markkula.
All right. Okay.
Go make a dent in the universe, Steven.
See you in a couple hours.
And I'm going to take us through
the formal part of the meeting,
the legal part, if you will.
Thank merciful God.
The cavalry's shown up.
I hear you've been worse than usual this
morning. I didn't think that was possible.
So I've been dispatched
as the "Steve Whisperer."
This is a '55 Margaux.
- It's 9:00 in the morning.
- This is a '55 Margaux.
Is it my imagination or have
you started to dress like me?
It was a bad idea to have Markkula
open with quarterly reports.
Instead we should have just
dropped water on the audience.
You know, just big 10,000-gallon tanks
of cold water, dropped from the ceiling.
Save Mike some money on index cards.
- Oh, just relax.
- Why?
I don't know. No one's
ever asked me that question.
There you go.
You're the only one who sees
the world the same way I do.
No one sees the world the same way you do.
I'm like Julius Caesar, John.
- I'm surrounded by enemies.
- No, you're not.
- The board...
- Oh, the board. The board's behind you.
Only because you see to it they are.
I think it's a good board,
but if you want me to push them out
one by one, we can talk about that.
I want you to push them out all at once...
through a window, if it's the nearest exit.
The look on their faces
when we showed them the spot.
I couldn't see their faces, 'cause they
were banging their heads on the table.
Yeah, yeah. Yesterday, the
day after it airs once,
the publisher of Adweek calls
it the best commercial of all time.
Of all time! And it is.
And if anyone does one better, it's gonna be
Chiat/Day, who the board wanted to replace,
and it's gonna be Lee Clow, who the
board thought was out of his mind.
Ladies
and gentlemen, "1984."
The first glorious anniversary
of the information
purification directives.
We have created for the
first time in all history
a garden of pure ideology
where each worker may bloom,
secure from the pests purveying
contradictory thoughts.
Our unification of thoughts is more powerful
a weapon than any fleet or army on earth.
We are one people...
Did we use skinheads as extras?
- A couple of people have told me that.
- Yeah.
We paid skinheads? I've
got skinheads on my payroll?
- They had a look you wanted.
- The skinheads?
- Yeah.
- Okay, let's keep that to ourselves.
We shall prevail.
On January 24th, Apple
Computer will introduce Macintosh.
- Who else knows?
- Who else knows what?
- That we paid terrorists to be in our TV commercial.
- John...
They were wrong about the ad, but
they're a good board. Good people.
Their only problem... Their
problem is that they're people.
People. The very nature of people
is something to be overcome.
When I was running Pepsi, we had a lot
of success focusing on 18-to-55-year-olds
- who weren't members of violent hate groups.
- I get it.
You're not surrounded by enemies.
We're almost there.
I'm back and forth on the Dylan.
I might quote a different verse.
What are the choices?
"For the loser now will be later to win,"
- which is what we have.
- Mm-hmm. Or?
"Come mothers and fathers
throughout the land
and don't criticize what
you can't understand.
Your sons and your daughters"...
"Are beyond your command."
I just lost a hundred
bucks to Andy Hertzfeld.
He said you'd change it to that verse.
We got 45 seconds. I want to
use it to ask you a question.
Why do people who are adopted feel like
they were rejected instead of selected?
That came out of nowhere.
"Your sons and your daughters
are beyond your command.
Your old road is rapidly aging."
So go fuck yourself, because
my name is Steve Jobs,
and the times, they are a-changin'.
I don't feel rejected.
- You're sure?
- Very sure.
'Cause it's not like the baby is
born and the parents look and say,
"Nah, we're not interested in this one."
On the other hand, someone did choose you.
It's having no control.
You find out you were out of the loop
when the most crucial events
in your life were set in motion.
As long as you have control.
I don't understand people who give it up.
What inspired Hertzfeld to make that bet?
He was warning me that being your
father figure could be dangerous.
Keep your 100 bucks. I'm
sticking with the first verse.
Good.
- What the hell does he mean?
- Nothing.
I'm proud of you.
Thank you, boss.
It's my pleasure to introduce
my friend and the CEO of Apple,
John Sculley.
John?
Yeah?
Lisa made a painting on the Mac.
The Macintosh,
Apple's near mythological home computer,
has gotten off to a rocky start in
its battle with industry titan IBM.
With sales originally projected to
be a million in the first quarter,
Apple has sold only 35,000
of the user-friendly machines
in the months since it's
been available to customers.
The insistence by Steve Jobs
that it have what's
called end-to-end control,
which is a way of saying that it's not compatible
with most outside hardware or software,
is the Shakespearean flaw in a
machine that had potential.
Apple Computers
closed two of its factories today
in the wake of disappointing sales.
Do you know how
many Macs were sold last month? 500.
In a move that
surprised some but not all on Wall Street,
the board of directors of
Apple Computers voted today
to fire its cofounder Steve Jobs.
Did he jump or
was he pushed?
His ex-boss, Apple CEO John
Sculley, refused to comment.
However,
in an exclusive interview,
Steve Wozniak has slammed the
integrity of his old friend Steve Jobs.
He calls Jobs an
insulting and hurtful guy.
Jobs is hitting back
with a new company and a new computer.
Apple has a new competitor.
Steve Jobs's black cube is
aimed at the education market.
Few people have
the ability to make the world wait,
but that is just what Jobs is
doing with his new company, NeXT.
Focus seems kind of sharp.
On the slide?
The floor. The pin spot.
I think we want a sharp focus.
Don't take it personally. Just
not a fan of the circus aesthetic.
All right, let's hold here. We're gonna
have to go up and refocus the instruments.
Just one. The 30 is fine.
While we're holding, there are
well-wishers in the VIP room.
And Woz is here.
Steve Wozniak. Yes.
Thank you very much.
And Andy Hertzfeld.
Andy Hertzfeld. Thank you.
John Sculley is here too.
It's nice that he's here.
Really? I don't
think it's very nice at all.
You have to see them.
They wanna pay their respects.
If they were respectful, we'd
all still be at Apple right now.
Look...
If they really wished me well,
they'd keep to themselves.
- Can I tell you something?
- I don't think they do wish me well.
But I'm all right with
that. I'm over Apple.
I got over the Mac and Woz and Sculley,
the same way you get over
your high school sweetheart.
Build a new one.
- Can I tell you something?
- Yes.
You said you wouldn't compete with them,
but you designed a computer
specifically for the education market,
which they putatively own.
So, I think it's cool they're here.
They're suing me.
Still.
It was nice they came.
They're not being magnanimous.
They want it to look
like an amicable divorce.
History doesn't remember Joe
DiMaggio kindly for dumping Marilyn.
Steve?
What's your problem?
I don't know, but I'm sure
it can be traced back to you.
You know, I'm the one who
has to explain you to people.
$100,000 to Paul Rand for a corporate logo
when we didn't even know
what our company made.
A $650,000 mold for the cube,
because God forbid the
angles be 90.1 instead of 90.
I forbid the angles to
be 90.1 instead of 90.
That box could be on
display at the Guggenheim.
Don't give them reason to say to the press
you have a chip on your shoulder.
Will you do that for me?
I don't have a chip on my shoulder.
Okay, okay.
But don't give them a reason to say you do.
I don't.
- That's the right attitude.
- That's not an attitude.
They're gonna call me back in
a minute to look at the light.
- Get one out of the way.
- Fine!
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
- One more thing.
- Sure.
No questions from the press after.
No... Why?
Until I have better
answers, no press avail.
Somebody asks where I am, you just
saw me, and I'll be right back.
Okay.
Who do you want first?
Bring me the face of Steve Wozniak.
Hang on.
- I thought you went to school.
- Hang on.
You were supposed to go to school
an hour ago. I thought you left.
I didn't wake up my mom
on time this morning.
It's happened before too.
I wake up with the alarm and then
I get dressed and eat breakfast,
but sometimes I forget to see
what time it is after that.
- Why doesn't your mom just set her own alarm clock?
- It's one of my chores.
I don't understand what that has
to do with why you're still...
Where's your mother?
She went to find a pay phone.
An hour ago, she said...
You don't have to raise your hand.
- You said it was off by a little.
- It is.
- I just measured it.
- Joanna...
Exactly a foot on all four sides.
There are six sides.
But you're not supposed
to be here right now.
We know if four of the sides
are equal to each other,
the other two must be equal as well.
The top, bottom, right and left
are about a millimeter shorter
than the front and back.
They're not. I measured them.
Lisa, I'm kind of an expert in design.
And that's a 20-cent ruler. You think
there's a chance it could be off?
If I had another ruler, I would measure
this ruler, but I really doubt it's off.
- When your mother comes back, you have to go to school.
- Because it's a ruler!
Why is it off?
- Did you hear what I just said?
- Yes.
Because sometimes it seems like
you just keep saying what you want
without listening.
I'm listening.
- Is there something you need?
- No.
Why isn't it a perfect cube?
- You've asked me before.
- I forget what it is.
It's an optical anomaly.
To the human eye, a perfect
cube doesn't look like a cube,
so we made it roughly a millimeter
shorter than a foot on two sides.
What's an anomaly?
You've asked me that before too.
I don't know why you keep doing that.
It's an exception. Something
that doesn't fit a pattern.
You have to go to school. Come in!
I think you two have met.
Hello, old friend.
- You look well.
- So do you. So do you.
And they're telling me George is
ready for you to look at the focus.
Take a walk with me.
- Is this Lisa?
- Yeah.
- This can't be Lisa.
- It is.
- Lisa's this big.
- They get taller. Come on.
- Do you remember me?
- She doesn't.
I'm your dad's friend Steve Wozniak.
I apologize. I don't remember you.
You're very polite.
- Woz?
- Yeah.
Chrisann's at a pay
phone. Would you find her?
Yeah.
Good turnout.
- Great turnout.
- Yeah.
- "Insanely great."
- Insanely great.
This is the first time we
haven't played for the same team.
It's like you're releasing
your first solo album.
I, uh... I appreciate your
inviting me to the launch.
I just want to wipe the slate clean.
That's exactly what I want.
That's why I came backstage.
I want you to know, um,
I'll be out there with you.
Any chance I can get you to
go out there instead of me?
I love you, Steve.
I love you too, Woz.
You know, some things were said.
They were. They were said in public.
They were published. Were
you pressured to do it?
Was I what?
Check it out. It's the orchestra
pit for the San Francisco Opera.
Was I pressured to do it?
I once met Seiji Ozawa at Tanglewood.
A thunderous conductor.
Ungodly artfulness and nuance.
And I asked him what exactly a
conductor does that a metronome can't.
- Surprisingly, he...
- He didn't beat the living shit out of you?
That's right. No, he said, "The
musicians play their instruments.
I play the orchestra."
That feels like something that sounds
good, but doesn't mean anything.
Markkula, Sculley... Did they ask
you to slag me off in the press?
I had reason to be angry.
- Did they?
- Absolutely not.
But they asked you to talk.
Apple was under siege.
You'd just left the company.
Someone had to talk to the press.
I'm right here, Woz. The company left me.
I begged you. I begged you.
The Apple II accounted
for 70% of the revenue.
What did you think was gonna happen?
You didn't care enough about
the Apple II or the Lisa.
Let's be really clear.
I didn't care at all about
the Apple II or the Lisa.
I wasn't pressured to do it.
What I said to the press was an honest,
if tempered, reflection of what I believed.
- Woz.
- Yeah?
What the fuck is on your wrist?
- You wanna know?
- I literally can't wait.
Everyone's gonna be
wearing these in 10 years.
It's a Nixie watch, made using Nixie tubes.
This is actually
40-year-old technology.
Cold cathode tubes. They're
operating at 140 volts.
I tilt my wrist 45
degrees, it's right there.
Hours, minutes and seconds.
The way our minds work. Look at that.
Do me a favor. Set the watch
ahead like you're on a plane
and just changed time zones.
Not a problem.
Unscrew that. Just hit the button.
Excuse me. Flight attendant? The man next
to me would appear to be detonating a bomb.
You think this looks like a bomb.
Even right now, I'm not 100% sure it isn't.
- I think maybe once people get used to it...
- No.
I was angry.
You were saying things about the Apple II,
and the way you were treating the team...
Woz. You get a free pass for life.
I got to get back onstage. We got
two minutes of rehearsal time left.
Do you understand how condescending
that just was? Maybe you don't.
I don't want to see you get dragged
off an airplane in plastic handcuffs.
I get a free pass for life from you?
You give out the pass...
Y-Y-You give them to me?
You're gonna have a stroke, little buddy.
What did you do? What did you do?
Why has Lisa not heard of me?
Shit, man, how many
fourth-graders have heard of you?
You can't write code. You're not
an engineer. You're not a designer.
You can't put a hammer to a nail.
I built the circuit board.
The graphical interface
was stolen from Xerox PARC.
Jef Raskin was the leader of the Mac team
before you threw him off his own project.
Everything... Someone
else designed the box.
So how come 10 times in a day,
I read "Steve Jobs is a genius"?
What do you do?
I play the orchestra.
And you're a good musician.
You sit right there.
You're the best in your row.
I came here to clear the air.
- Do you know why I came here?
- Didn't you just answer that?
I came here because
you're gonna get killed.
Your computer's gonna fail.
You had a college and
university advisory board
telling you they need a powerful
workstation for 2,000 to 3,000.
You've priced NeXT at 6,500.
And that doesn't include the
optional $3,000 hard drive,
which people will discover isn't optional.
Because the optical disk
is too weak to do anything.
And the $2,500 laser printer
brings the total to $12,000.
And in the entire world,
you are the only person
who cares that it's
housed in a perfect cube.
You're gonna get killed.
And I came here to stand
next to you while that happens
because that's what friends do.
That's what men do. I don't need your pass.
We go back, so don't talk
to me like I'm other people.
I'm the only one that knows
that this guy here is someone you invented.
I'm standing by you because that
perfect cube that does nothing
is about to be the single biggest failure
in the history of personal computing.
Tell me something else I don't know.
- Back onstage?
- We're out of time.
They've got to mop the
stage and open the house.
If it crashes, it crashes, right?
You'll make a joke.
I'll make a joke.
If it crashes, it crashes.
It's a good slogan. "NeXT.
If it crashes, it crashes."
I'm not just talking about the demo, Steve.
If it tanks, we don't swallow cyanide.
- We go back to the drawing board.
- No more drawing boards.
Invent the Edsel twice, you
don't get any more drawing boards.
Tell me what the plan is.
You have to tell me the
plan, because I don't know.
You're walking around like
you've got "Can't Lose" cards.
The plan will reveal itself to
you when you're ready to see it.
Will I have to drop acid?
Couldn't hurt.
Is there a plan?
Have I ever let you down?
Every single goddamn time.
- Then I'm due.
- Is there?
Joanna, there's a plan.
I just don't wanna put you in a
position where you're lying to people.
Start 15 minutes late so Avie can
recompile and give us a fighting chance.
Jesus Christ. How many times
are we gonna have this con...
- We're not starting late, ever!
- Fine!
- We're not ever starting late.
- Late.
But where do you come
down on starting late?
Lisa's been doing this thing where she
asks me about stuff I've already told her.
She asks me questions, and I know
she already knows the answers.
What's that about?
Kids do that when they're scared one
of their parents is in a bad mood.
They try to get you talking
about something you like.
It's very common and can be treated by
talking to her about things she likes.
Do you have any experience
or training in this field?
No.
Tell them to open the house.
- Where's Lisa?
- She's around.
- What does that mean?
- She's running around the building.
An hour ago, you said you
were taking her to school.
She begged me to let her stay. There
are fathers who would so love...
It is wrong, okay? It is morally
wrong, it's parentally wrong.
It is wrong for you to use Lisa
as a way of getting money from me.
She will know, if she doesn't already,
that that is your primary use for her.
She will hate you for
the rest of your life.
She will see, if she doesn't already, that
her mother is a woman who stands up to men.
By living off of them.
By not letting myself be
imprisoned and degraded by them.
Imprisoned? I can't get rid of you.
I need a doctor and I need a dentist.
I dropped out of college after a
semester, but, okay, let's have a look.
You will support your
daughter and her mother.
Did you pay someone
$1,500 to bless your house?
- Did you hear what I said?
- Did you?
I don't remember how much it was, Steve.
- It was $1,500.
- Well, they don't do it for free.
They don't. They charge $1,500.
How I spend... Fuck. You
know, I'm not even gonna...
Were you about to say, "How I spend
my money is none of your business"?
I have a sinus infection and
I need to see a dentist too.
So you can see how your blessing
budget could have been better spent.
Like on a perfect cube?
- Look at me, Chrisann.
- What?
- You know who I am, right?
- Yes.
- And you know I know people.
- What are you talking about?
Look at me. And you know the
people I know, they know people.
What is this?
If I ever hear again that you've
thrown a cereal bowl at Lisa's head...
- What?
- my private line's gonna ring,
and a voice on the other end
is gonna say, "We're all set."
- That's how I'll learn that you're dead.
- Are you cra...
I threw the bowl on the floor.
I didn't throw it at her head.
She wasn't even in the room.
She was nowhere... I threw
the bowl on the floor.
She's a little girl. You're scaring her.
I'm a grown man. You're scaring me.
Taking out the garbage is a chore.
Clearing the table is a chore.
Waking you up in the morning
is just fucking creepy.
- Please teach me more about being a parent.
- We're all done here.
It means so much coming from
someone who won't admit he is one.
- Stop screaming at Lisa.
- I give her responsibilities.
- Got it.
- One day she's gonna thank me for it.
- Probably in your sleep.
- Fuck off!
Okay.
I never... I never threw
anything at her head.
Steve.
I never would.
Things don't become so because you say so.
There'll be more money in your
account by the end of business.
- Were you being nice?
- Oh, yeah.
- Andy's next.
- Hertzfeld or Cunningham?
Hertzfeld. He's playing with Avie
Tevanian on the computer backstage.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the house is now open.
- ...playing in front of thousands of people.
- Steve!
Can he do it later, Joel?
We go in eight minutes.
- Can I get a quick reaction to the press this morning?
- What about it?
- The size of it, the volume.
- I'll tell you on background...
- I was hoping for a quote from Steve.
- I'll tell you on background
that I've never seen anything
like it in the tech industry.
I called the Wall Street Journal
to take out a full-page ad for today,
and do you know what their sales guy said?
"Why bother? It'd be like notifying
Macy's that tomorrow is Christmas."
- You saw the Stewart Alsop newsletter?
- I did.
I'm sorry, Joanna, I need
to get Steve on the record.
The headline was "Dear NeXT,
when can I get my machine?"
- When can he?
- We'll announce the ship date in the next eight to 10 weeks.
Alsop's not talking about the ship date.
He wants to know when he
can get one to play with.
We have a lot of respect for Stewart Alsop,
and we want to get a machine into his hands
so he can tell his subscribers about it.
- And when will that be?
- Very soon.
Couple of days? A week?
Off the record.
- Off the record?
- Completely.
- We think...
- He'll get it when it's finished.
It's not finished?
It's almost finished.
- I've been watching you rehearse the demo for three weeks.
- Yeah.
- What's left?
- A little thing.
- What?
- I think that's enough.
We're off the record, and Joel's always
been good at understanding nuance.
What's left to finish?
I guess, in layman's terms, you'd
have to say we don't have an OS.
- An operating system?
- Yeah.
- What do you mean?
- Well, the OS is what runs the computer.
In fact, it sort of is the computer.
How has it been running? How's
it gonna run this morning?
What do you mean, you don't have an OS?
It's like this. Avie Tevanian
is our chief software designer,
and he wrote a demo program.
It's like we built a great car,
but we haven't built the engine.
So we put a golf cart battery
in there to make it go for a bit.
All this computer knows how to do
right now is demonstrate itself.
You're telling me the only thing
you've built is a black cube?
Yes. Yeah.
But isn't it the coolest
black cube you've ever seen?
Is this... We're off the record.
Is this a strategy or a
problem? If it's a problem...
Do not share proprietary
knowledge with that man.
It's not a problem.
I wouldn't understand it anyway.
I don't understand it either,
and my name's on the patents.
- It's got e-mail.
- Well, e-mail's not just for tech specialists anymore.
Well, it is, but it won't be.
And I assume an e-mail sent on a NeXT computer
can only be received by a NeXT computer?
Closed,
end-to-end.
The new trash can is wrong.
I wanna tell you I appreciate
all the hours you put into it,
but I can't because of how terrible it is.
Go back to the other one.
Why are we still giving
three options on the clock?
- How many options do you want to give?
- Two. Buy it or don't.
Can I talk to you for a second?
Abso-fruitly.
Uh, look, man. Avie's been recompiling,
but he says there may be
some glitches this morning.
If all there are are some glitches,
it'll be a triumph of miraculous magnitude.
Why are you translating for Avie?
I-I didn't want him to find out the hard
way your position on glitches in a demo,
but it sounds like you've mellowed.
I've been growing, Andy. I've
been learning to love myself.
Hmm. I wouldn't have ever
dreamed that was a problem.
Fantastic burn.
You need to go to your seat.
How about Lisa, getting into
a school for gifted kids?
Yeah, she was tested and
it turns out she can fly.
- Seriously, it's a big deal.
- I know it's a big deal.
That's why I built the school a building.
- Well, I'm sure that's not why she got in.
- Really?
Uh, can I show you something
funny from Macworld?
- I can't think of anything I have to do right now.
- It'll make you feel good.
- Joanna! Look at this!
- Oh, Andy, he's only got a couple of minutes.
It's Guy Kawasaki writing in
Macworld. You're gonna like this.
Well, can we all enjoy it later?
He wrote a parody press release
about Apple buying NeXT for your OS.
He imagines a near future where Apple
needs your OS and has to buy NeXT,
and-and you come back as CEO.
He has Gates saying,
"There would now be more innovations
from Jobs that Microsoft could copy."
- You can read it later.
- Thanks.
She would've gotten in without
you donating a building.
Still, it's something to
talk about in the interview.
All right. Good luck.
Thanks.
Give that to me. I'll throw it out for you.
I'm gonna hang on to it.
What?
What?
You ready for Sculley?
Excuse me!
Lisa!
You can't shout!
Lisa?
You have to go.
It's dangerous up here. That's
why I make other people do it.
Who are you hiding from, me or your mom?
I'm not hiding.
Let's go.
What were you listening to?
I'm listening to two
versions of the same song.
Then when I get to the ends, I
rewind to listen to them again.
It's the same song, but
the versions are different.
- What's the song?
- Okay.
So it's a really old song, and
it's called "Both Sides, Now."
- "Both Sides, Now"?
- Yeah.
What's it about?
It's about... There are three
verses: Clouds, love and life.
And the person singing is singing
that they used to think of...
That they used to think about...
- Clouds, love and life?
- Right.
One way, yeah, but now they look
at them another way, and they...
They've come to the conclusion that they
really don't know clouds, love or life at all.
Those are the exact words.
Yeah, Joni Mitchell.
'Cause it's not a really old
song, unless I'm a really old guy.
You have to go to school now.
Do you want me to tell you the
differences between the two versions?
Right now.
The first version is the kind of
thing that you would call girlish.
I didn't mean I want to know
the difference right now.
I meant you have to go to school right now.
I can stay and watch.
You are truant. You're committing a crime.
I'm not gonna miss anything important.
- How do you know?
- I read ahead.
The Pilgrims make it to the New World.
Then the Declaration of Independence.
Yeah, you skipped a couple centuries.
Steve? Chrisann's out there.
Let's go.
Can I make my case for staying?
Nope.
- She was with me.
- Come on. Your dad doesn't want us to stay.
That's not true. That's not...
You have to be in school is all.
I'm committing a crime right now,
and I don't wanna get in trouble.
You're not in trouble. I was kidding.
Okay.
Hey. What was the second version?
You said the first version was
girlish. What was the second version?
I can't really think of the word.
Okay. Well, have a good day at school.
- Regretful.
- What?
Like wishing you could go
back and do things different.
You're too young to be regretful.
Not me.
The person singing the song.
Got it. Regretful. That
makes sense because...
I wanna live with you.
Six minutes.
- You want to see Sculley?
- No.
You know all those times I
told you you needed security?
Here's why.
I don't know how it is I've
gotten older and you haven't.
Some deal with the devil
I was never offered.
So you know what I've been
thinking for the last four years?
As it turns out, John, I've
never known what you were thinking.
No newborn baby has control.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
In '84, before the Mac launch. You said...
- Yeah.
- You said that being adopted meant you didn't have control.
We're starting in a minute, so...
Why do people think I fired you?
It's fine, John. It's all behind us.
Is it? Hmm?
Don't play stupid. You can't pull it off.
You came here to ask me why
people think you fired me?
Why do people think I fired you?
Just confirm something for me, okay?
You liked the ad, right?
The commercial... "1984." You liked it.
- When are you gonna get furniture?
- It's not an easy process.
It is. You buy a
couch, take it from there.
I'd be really surprised if you came
here to talk about interior decorating.
I liked the ad very much.
- You did?
- You know I did.
You're a lying son of a
bitch. You tried to kill it.
- It's time to take a hard look at the Mac.
- It's past time.
It's overpriced. We
need to drop it to 1,995.
We need to double the marketing budget,
put more bodies on an internal hard drive
and invest in FileServer.
- Where the hell did you get the idea I tried to kill...
- Lee Clow.
- Lee's wrong.
- He's lying?
- He's... mistaken.
- Where would the money come from?
It would come from finally
getting rid of the Apple II.
The Apple II is the
only thing making money.
- You agreed with the board.
- I understood the board's concerns, but I...
The board's concerns that
we didn't show the product?
- Among other things, but my question was...
- What other things?
I'm asking because I'm curious.
You said "among other things."
Among other things, it was
set in a dystopian galaxy.
It took place on a planet
where we don't live.
It was dark and the opposite of our brand.
And we didn't show the product.
People talked about the ad but most of
them didn't know what we were selling.
The Mac needs to sell for 1,995.
There is no market research telling us
the Mac is failing because it's overpriced.
It's telling us that people don't like it
because they think it doesn't do anything.
It's closed,
end-to-end.
We didn't know it wasn't what
people wanted, but it isn't.
They want slots, they want
choices, they want options.
The way we buy stereos...
mix and match components.
John, listen to me. Whoever
said the customer is always right
was, I promise you, a customer.
- It had skinheads in it.
- She was liberating them.
- Liberating the skinheads.
- The ad didn't have anything to do with fucking skinheads.
We used them as fucking extras.
Nobody even knows they were skinheads.
I'm just saying the board had concerns...
You invented lifestyle advertising.
And our brand was my brand.
My job is to make a
recommendation to the board.
We showed a lot of happy
people drinking Pepsi.
We didn't say the world was going
to end if you bought a Dr. Pepper.
Recommend that we drop the price
and double the marketing budget.
- I can't.
- And we showed the product.
We showed it being opened, we showed
it being poured, being consumed.
What are you gonna do,
recommend that we kill the Mac?
I already have, Steve.
What? When?
You think the secret to your success
was not assuming people knew
what to do with a can of soda?
I didn't kill the ad, Steve! I'm the
only reason it made it on the air.
Just now. An hour ago.
I'm coming from Markkula's house.
What did he say?
- What did he say?
- Invent something new.
I'll give you a team. You can sit in Maui.
The resorts come with couches.
Wait a minute. Are you saying you
recommended terminating the Mac
or you recommended taking
me off the Mac team?
We bought three spots in the
Super Bowl. Two 30's and a 60.
After we screened it, the
board wanted that money back
and they asked me to sell off the spots.
Chiat/Day sold off the
two 30's but not the 60,
and I let it be known to Lee Clow
that if he didn't try very
hard to sell the last spot,
I wouldn't be unhappy.
If we drop the price
and double the budget...
Drop the price or double
the budget.
The only way to do that is to
take money out of the Apple II.
The Apple II should embarrass
you. It embarrasses me.
It doesn't embarrass the shareholders.
I don't give a shit about the shareholders.
That's why I hired you, so I don't
have to hear about shareholders.
The shareholders are my problem, and
the board represents the shareholders.
That's how it works.
You sure it wasn't Lee Clow who
dragged his feet selling the 60?
At my direction, Steve.
You think he would have done that
on his own, taken it on himself?
Yeah. I think he would've done
what it took to save it from you.
- I was the only thing protecting it.
- You didn't want the ad
because you were trying to kill the
Mac two months before it launched.
You are fucking delusional.
- Can I mention something to you?
- Sure.
I have no earthly idea why you're here.
The story of why and how you left Apple,
which is quickly becoming
mythologized, isn't true.
- I'm gonna take this to the board myself.
- Don't do that.
- I am doing that.
- You can't.
Why?
They believe you're no longer
necessary to this company.
I get hate mail, death threats.
I get death threats.
My kids are getting taunted.
Why do people think I fired you?
Joanna's gonna call my name in a second.
- Steve?
- That was unrehearsed.
Yeah, I'll be there in just a second.
I gave you your day in court.
- You gave me?
- I gave the board a clear choice.
I said, "Do you want to invest in the Apple
II or the Mac?" They chose the Apple II.
The same people who wanted
to dump the Super Bowl spot.
And then I got on a plane to China.
Mr. Sculley. There's a
call for you on Line One.
Or I almost got on a plane,
because I got a call in the lounge.
- Who made that call?
- Doesn't matter.
It matters to
me. Who made the call?
John Sculley.
John? If
you get on that plane,
you'll have lost your
job by the time it lands.
Steve's been calling the
board. He wants you out.
I left my bags on the plane.
My shit's still somewhere in Beijing.
I took a car back to Cupertino in
the middle of the fucking night.
I know what time it is. I need a quorum
here in one hour and I want Steve here too.
You took me off the
Mac, and it was bad business.
- The quorum call was a homicide.
- Right there! Right there.
That's the part that's bullshit, my friend.
It was a suicide.
Because you knew your
cards and I showed you mine.
I showed you mine, and you did it anyway.
What did you think I was gonna do?
I'm okay losing, but I'm not gonna forfeit.
I'm not okay losing.
We're losing market share,
and the Mac is losing money.
Our only hope is the Apple II, which is stagnating
because of its soon-to-be-obsolete DOS.
Users are already rigging their machines
to run with a CP/M operating system
that's been built to run on Intel.
I can't put it more simply than this.
We need to put our resources
into updating the Apple II.
By taking
resources from the Mac.
It's failing. That's a fact.
- It's overpriced.
- There's no evidence that it's...
I'm the evidence!
I'm the world's leading expert on
the Mac, John. What's your rsum?
You're issuing contradictory instructions,
you're insubordinate,
you make people miserable.
Our top engineers are
fleeing to Sun, Dell, HP.
Wall Street doesn't know
who's driving the bus.
We've lost hundreds of millions in value.
And I'm the CEO of Apple,
Steve. That's my rsum.
But before that, you sold
carbonated sugar water, right?
I sat in a fucking garage with
Wozniak and invented the future.
Because artists lead and
hacks ask for a show of hands.
All right.
Well, this guy's out of control.
I'm perfectly willing to hand
in my resignation tonight,
but if you want me to
stay, you can't have Steve.
Settle him out.
He can keep a share of stock
so he gets our newsletter.
He'll have to sever his
connection to Apple.
I'm dead serious. I want the
secretary to call for a vote.
I fucking dare you.
You have done an outstanding job over
the years of cultivating the press.
And by that, I mean manipulating them.
Because none of them, none of their
editors, none of their editors' publishers
to this day know that you forced it,
that you forced the board.
Even after I told you
exactly what they'd do,
which is exactly what they did.
Unanimously.
I don't have any trouble
remembering that, John,
because of it being the
worst night of my life.
And I forced the vote because
I believed I was right.
I still believe I'm right. And I'm right.
Now I bled that night.
And I don't bleed.
But time's done its thing,
and I really haven't
thought about it in a while.
Now, I absolutely
understand why you're upset.
And I want people to
know the truth too.
It's time.
Got it.
You're gonna end me, aren't you?
You're being ridiculous.
I'm gonna sit center court
and watch you do it yourself.
Then I'm gonna order a nice meal with
a '55 Margaux and sign some autographs.
- Jesus Christ.
- You want some advice, Pepsi Generation?
Don't send Woz out to slap
me around in the press.
Anybody else... you, Markkula, Arthur Rock.
Anyone but Rain Man.
Don't manipulate him like that.
Whatever you may think, I'm
always gonna protect him.
Come on, Steve.
That's what men do.
We can't start late.
I don't think there was any way
to detect a chip on my shoulder.
Did you know, back at Bandley,
the Mac team gave an award every year
to the person who could stand up to you?
No.
- I won. Three years in a row.
- Cool.
This.
This... This Guy Kawasaki
in Macworld.
He accidentally got it right, didn't he?
You've been dragging
your feet on the NeXT OS
till you can figure out
what Apple's gonna need.
Even if that were true, it doesn't
sound that diabolical to me.
Hey. We're ready for you.
I'm your closest confidante,
your... your best friend.
Your thing... What do you call it?
Your work wife. The whole time.
The last three years.
When did you change your mind and start
building the Steve Jobs Revenge Machine?
House to half.
You remember Skylab?
It was an unmanned satellite NASA sent up in
the early '70s on a data gathering mission.
The thing is, when they sent it up,
they didn't know yet how
they were gonna get it back.
But they felt like they were close enough
that in the eight years it was gonna
be up there, they'd figure it out.
They're on their way now.
They didn't.
So after eight years, it came crashing down
in a thousand-mile swath
across the Indian Ocean.
A little to the left,
a little to the right,
somebody could have gotten hurt.
I really wanted to build
a computer for colleges.
The technology just didn't catch
up as fast as I needed it to.
You know we're out of money.
Ladies and gentlemen, the
program will be starting momentarily.
But then Apple stopped
innovating, and I saw something better.
Joanna, I know schools aren't gonna buy
a $13,000 dictionary with good speakers.
You know I know that.
But Apple will.
'Cause Avie Tevanian is gonna
build them exactly the OS they need.
They're gonna have to buy me too.
For half a billion dollars in stock
and end-to-end control on every product.
Ladies and
gentlemen, please welcome...
More than a year after it
was first unveiled to industry insiders,
the NeXT Computer is
finally available in stores.
And it appears to be
two strikes in a row for Steve Jobs.
Students and educators
are finding it difficult to
justify the machine's high cost.
So much for the black cube.
NeXT just sold its factory to Canon
and laid off half its employees.
In the world of computers,
it's kill or be killed.
Apple Computer has fallen on hard times.
It is laying off about 2,500 people.
Apple is
continuing to lose market share,
with no new innovations in the
pipeline except the Newton,
a pet project of CEO John Sculley.
If you really want
to be mobile, you want a Newton PDA.
But then again, maybe you don't.
It turns
handwriting into computer text.
Hey, Dolph, take a memo on
your Newton. "Beat up Martin."
Bah!
In 1980,
Apple had 30% of the market.
Today, Apple has only 3.2 percent.
That's it. John
Sculley has been fired from Apple.
What about this Internet
thing? Do you know anything about that?
It is the big new thing.
Rumors are flying around
Apple Computer once again
over who will take over the helm.
In the news at this hour, a
remarkable high-tech reunion.
Well, it's
happening. In a billion-dollar shakeup,
Apple is purchasing NeXT Computer's
operating system, which may mean...
- Is the prodigal son returning?
- Bet on it.
Guess what. Mac is back.
- Apple cofounder Steven Jobs...
- Steve Jobs...
- Steve Jobs...
- Steve Jobs...
- Steve Jobs...
Steve
Jobs is returning to Apple.
If you want to beam your digital
photographs from your digital camera,
it's built into every product.
We're going to the
new generation of I/O.
Twelve megabyte USB. Two ports.
We're leaving the old Apple I/O behind.
Stereo surround sound
built into every product,
a great keyboard and the
coolest mouse you've ever seen.
This time, we used actual mice.
We're opening the house
in 10 minutes. Steven?
Do you want to stop horsing around?
Bless my eyes. That's Steve
Wozniak sitting out there.
Give yourselves a treat and ask Woz
if he happens to have the correct time.
I have the correct time,
and we're running out of it.
- "A great keyboard"...
- A great keyboard and the coolest mouse you've ever seen.
This is what those things look like today.
Now, I'd like to show you what
they're gonna look like tomorrow.
This is the iMac.
That was cool.
Why did I like that
better than I usually do?
- I don't know.
- Something was different.
Hey, stupid.
I think she's talking to one of you guys.
- Did you notice a difference?
- That's what I'm...
The exit signs were off.
- Full blackout.
- You did it.
We wired all the exit lights to our board.
They go out with the cue for seven
seconds then come back on again. In theory.
- We think that's legal?
- No, we're very certain it's not.
- You want to see some quotes?
- Let's hold off on those.
No, he'll like 'em.
- I'll show 'em to you later.
- I'll take 'em now.
- I'm sorry.
- Pick it up from there, please.
We only have a couple of
minutes, so let's just do the 360.
We're gonna bring out a
wireless camera we stole from Panasonic.
I'll show you what this looks like.
The whole thing is translucent.
You can see into it.
How's that for a compromise, Woz?
- You still can't get into it, but you can see into it.
- Fair enough.
We put stereo speakers in
front, infrared right up here,
CD-ROM drive in the middle.
- Nice.
- Dual stereo headphone jacks.
All the connectors are inside
one beautiful little door here.
Ethernet. USB.
Even though this is a
full-blooded Macintosh,
we're targeting it for the number one use
the consumers tell us they
want a computer for, which is...
Let's hold it, please. Hold it.
The answer was "the Internet."
- Joanna?
- Yeah.
Stand in front of me. I want to look at these
quotes, but I don't want Joel to know.
They're all great.
"It is not only the coolest-looking
computer introduced in years
but a chest-thumping statement
that Silicon Valley's original dream
company is no longer somnambulant."
It's a word. It means "sleepwalking."
Steve? I'm sorry. We have to clear
the house if we're gonna start on time.
- We're gonna start on time.
- We're absolutely starting on time.
Here. Take this.
Everybody, that's it. They've got to
mop the stage, reset and open the house.
I love you guys.
Andy, come on back a minute.
- Which one?
- Hertzfeld.
Forbes calls it an
"industry-altering success."
Look here.
Why haven't we ever slept together?
We're not in love. Look.
- Sculley.
- Look what he said.
"He has implemented the same simple strategy
that made Apple so successful 15 years ago...
make hit products and promote
them with terrific marketing."
- It was nice of him.
- It was.
I meant it.
Sightings of J.D. Salinger are
more common than John Sculley.
I wasn't being sarcastic.
It was nice of him.
- Do you talk to him?
- No.
You haven't talked to him since '88?
I'd have told you if I did.
Doesn't matter.
I don't want people
thinking they can cross me
and then, boom, 15 years later,
I'm cool with it.
I was kidding.
What's wrong with you this morning?
Let's get off the stage.
"The only thing Apple's providing
now is leadership in colors."
Don't worry about it.
- What does Bill Gates have against me?
- I don't know.
You're both out of your
minds. Listen to me.
He dropped out of a better
school than I dropped out of.
But he's a tool bag. I'll tell you why.
Make everything all right with Lisa.
You know, Joanna? Boundaries.
You've come to my apartment
at 1:00 AM and cleaned it.
So tell me where the boundary is.
There. Let's say it's there.
If I give you some real projections,
will you promise not to
repeat them from the stage?
What do you mean, "real projections"?
- What have you been giving me?
- Conservative projections.
Marketing's been lying to me?
We've been managing expectations
so that you don't not.
What are the real projections?
We're gonna sell a million
units in the first 90 days.
20,000 a month after that.
- Holy shit.
- Yeah.
You see? You wait long enough and...
What's more, 32% of the sales
are going to go to people buying
a computer for the first time.
And 12% are going to people using
some kind of Windows machine.
That's what Bill Gates has against you.
And it'll be the fastest-selling
computer in history.
You brought the company
back from life support
after going through the misery
of laying off 3,000 people
and cutting 70% of the product line.
So, Steven, it's over.
You're gonna win.
- It would be criminal not to enjoy this moment.
- I'm enjoying it.
Make things all right with Lisa.
- You know...
- Come on.
I don't like having less
privacy than other people have.
- Does being a multi-billionaire take some of the sting off that?
- No.
- All Lisa did...
- All Lisa did was give her blessing.
- Chrisann sold the house and...
- And Lisa could have done what?
How was she supposed to stop her
mother from selling her own house?
That I bought for the two of them.
How was she supposed to stop her?
Voicing an objection would have
been a step in the right direction.
You don't think you're
having a bizarre overreaction
to a 19-year-old girl allowing
her mother to list her own house?
She could've tried.
Was she supposed to stop her
mother, that particular mother...
She gave Chrisann her blessing to sell
the house and she did it to spite me.
I don't care if she put a
pipe bomb in the water heater.
You're going to fix it, now.
She's been acting weird for
months. She's turned on me.
- Fix it.
- What the...
Fix it, Steve.
- Take it easy.
- Fix it or I quit.
How about that? I quit,
and you never see me again.
How about that?
Tell me what's wrong with you this morning.
What's been wrong with me for 19 years.
I've been a witness, and I
tell you, I've been complicit.
I love you, Steve. You know how much.
I love that you don't care how much money a
person makes. You care what they make.
But what you make isn't supposed
to be the best part of you.
When you're a father,
that's what's supposed to
be the best part of you.
And it's caused me two decades of
agony, Steve, that it is for you
the worst.
It's a little thing.
It's a very small thing.
Fix it.
Fix it now, or you can
contact me at my new job...
working anywhere I want.
I don't happen to think it is
a little deal. She knew that...
- No.
- I bought the house for the two of...
- No.
- What do you mean, "no"?
I mean no. The house has nothing
to do with why you're angry at Lisa.
I assure you, the house has everything
to do with why I'm angry at Lisa.
Have you ever heard the phrase
"reality distortion field"?
- Yes.
- As in "Steve's reality distortion field"?
I've heard it. I've read it.
It's been sung to me by Joan Baez.
What you call a reality distortion field,
and I'm pretty sure you're
the one who coined the phrase,
- is the reason we're here.
- I know that.
If I traded in my bank account for a dollar
every time somebody told me something
was impossible, I'd come out ahead.
- I know that too.
- What's the problem?
- My problem? It sure isn't the house.
- Jo, I...
It's that you told her you
weren't going to pay for Harvard.
That child.
That earnest, unironic kid.
She told you I wasn't paying her tuition?
I should have hit you with
something heavy a long time ago.
Lisa told you I wasn't paying her tuition?
- Andy told me that.
- Which one?
Hertzfeld.
How would Hertzfeld know?
He wrote Harvard a check for
25,000 to cover the semester.
Are you fucking... He paid her tuition?
Isn't that why you just asked to see him?
No, I asked to see him about something...
Did you tell her you weren't
going to pay for college?
- Yes, because...
- How could you do that?
Because her mother, who
is also her landlord...
Hertzfeld? I was ranting.
I was just, you know... I was
talking. You think I would...
I was pissed off because Lisa
was trying to piss me off, Joanna.
That was her intent. I don't know...
You obviously scared the hell out of her.
Hertzfeld wrote a check
to Harvard, pay for...
- Is she here yet?
- I'm sure she is.
Can you have someone bring her back?
Yes.
Thank you.
You know,
my grandmother always used to say to me...
I don't give a shit, Yentl.
- I'll have someone get Lisa.
- Thank you.
And if you see Hertzfeld...
It's Andy.
Speak of the devil's chief engineer.
Go.
Come on in.
You look great today.
- Thank you.
- Doesn't she?
She looks fantastic. Always does. Get out.
- Well, I think I know why I'm here.
- Do you?
Steve...
- Did you send the check yet?
- Yes.
So Harvard got a tuition check
from Andy Hertzfeld to pay for Lisa?
I don't think they look that carefully.
I don't think they'd notice
the check didn't come from you.
Close one. This was
almost embarrassing for me.
I understand how...
I'll wire you the money today.
I-I understand how you feel.
And I do apologize. I do.
But let me tell you my thinking.
I can't even think of an appropriate
analogy to describe what you did.
I knew you guys would
fix things. You always do.
But in the meantime, if the money wasn't
there, she'd miss a semester of school.
- Yeah.
- And she'd have to tell her friends why.
And she needed things. She needed socks.
- What?
- It's cold in Cambridge. She needed warm socks.
- You gave her socks?
- Well, I gave her money for socks.
You don't get to deputize
yourself as her interim.
You don't get to override my
decisions. Do you understand?
You don't get to act
like you're her father.
Somebody had to.
What the fuck did you just say to me?
I've known her since she was six.
I also consider...
Chrisann's my friend, outside of what
you and I... outside of our relationship.
- So you're like a family adviser.
- I'm a family friend.
Then you probably know that
Lisa's been seeing a therapist.
- Yeah.
- For many years.
- Yeah.
- Without my knowledge.
That really wasn't my business.
I'm fascinated by what
you think is and isn't your business.
Lisa's been going to a
therapist and she likes it
and would love for you and
Chrisann to go with her.
And the reason you know that is because
you're the one that recommended the therapist.
Well, I know a guy.
No, I mean you're the one who
recommended that she see a therapist.
You know what? It was a while ago,
and I don't remember how the whole...
You told Chrisann that
Lisa should see a therapist.
Steve, you're stigmatizing.
It's a perfectly norm...
It's not...
My thing was, how can it hurt?
Let's find out.
Chrisann is my friend.
- What was the reason you gave?
- You mean...
What was the reason you gave Chrisann
why Lisa should see a therapist?
I don't remember. We
were talking and I said...
It's pretty much what I just said,
that it certainly couldn't hurt.
You didn't say that Lisa
needed a strong male role model?
I did.
I think it's a miracle she's not robbing
banks with the Symbionese Liberation Army.
There's no reason in the
world why she should be nice.
But she is.
So I helped, because somebody had to.
I'll wire the money to you this afternoon.
You threatened me a long time ago.
Sorry?
A long time ago... You threatened me once.
People are attracted to people with talent.
People without it find that threatening.
Maybe you should see a therapist.
Certainly couldn't hurt.
I meant you literally threatened me.
At Flint, right before the Mac launch.
I was recompiling. I was
trying to debug the voice demo.
You said if I couldn't find a solution,
you'd call me out in front of the audience.
- Did it say "hello"?
- It did.
No need to thank me.
Why do you want people to dislike you?
I don't want people to dislike me.
I'm indifferent to whether they dislike me.
Since it doesn't matter, I always have.
Really?
I've always liked you
a lot. That's too bad.
- Knock 'em dead.
- Thank you.
What is remarkable, what's
hard to fathom but true,
is that for a given clock rate, a PowerPC
chip is twice as fast as a Pentium II chip.
In other words,
a 266 megahertz G3 chip
is twice as fast as a
266 megahertz Pentium II.
Or... a 266 G3
is equal to about 500 megahertz.
Do you know
what a coincidence is, Lisa?
Take a look at Byte
magazine's Byte Marks,
the gold standard for any...
Come in.
I sent someone into the lobby.
- They found her, and she...
- Where is she?
She said she'd rather not come back.
- Why?
- That was it.
- I'm going out there myself.
- You can't. You can't.
It'll be a scene out of
Hard Day's Night.
- Excuse me.
- Hey, Joel.
Andy said it was okay to come back.
- Which one?
- Andy Cunningham.
I can't do this forever. I need
one of them to change their name.
You call Andy Cunningham "Andrea."
It doesn't matter what I call them.
I know who I'm talking
about when I'm talking.
I need everyone else to
call them different names.
Give me one second.
Can you go get her for me, please?
I just talked to Andy.
Hertzfeld.
I'm just trying to scrub this
out of my brain with Drano.
But I do want to talk to Lisa.
Okay. Just...
- Stay cool.
- Okay.
Thank you.
Hey, Steve.
- How are you feeling?
- I'm feeling good, Joel. How about you?
I don't think I could be in your
business. It changes too quickly.
Well, I'd hang on, 'cause yours is about
to start changing pretty quickly too.
This is the third time in 14
years I'm writing about you.
What do you think so far?
Excuse me. Avie's looking
for you. He has a new shark.
- You wanna come backstage for a second?
- Sure.
- Who's this one?
- Alan Turing.
Single-handedly won World War II and,
for an encore, invented the computer.
- He won't be part of the campaign though.
- Why not?
'Cause you just had to ask me who he was.
Can I see new shark?
I like it better than the old shark.
- Sharks.
- Sharks.
- How many sharks did you go through?
- A couple.
- This is the 39th.
- We're on the record.
- Thirty-nine sharks.
- Okay.
- You know what's special about this shark?
- What?
No, I'm really asking, because it looks
exactly like the other 38 sharks to me.
Let me see it with
the cue, from the profile.
This is cue 92-B.
This is a profile here, and this
is what it looks like from the back.
And one more thing. It eats
Pentium notebooks as a light snack.
This is the shark.
I really like it.
Nobody gets it right the first time,
but I should have been shown
this shark 15, 20 fish ago.
- You probably were.
- Lock it in.
Ten minutes.
He killed himself by taking a bite
of a poison apple... Alan Turing.
Yeah.
There should be statues of that man.
His name should be on the
lips of schoolchildren.
The rainbow flag apple with a bite
taken out... That's where it came from?
No, we picked it off a list
of friendly-sounding words.
But wouldn't it be great if that
had been the story behind it?
Steve. Kinda liked the last shark.
Fuck you.
I wanted to ask you a favor.
My friend, a long time ago,
you asked me a favor before a
product launch, and I said no.
- You wanted me to acknowledge...
- Hang on.
If you're about to say you were wrong,
I want to prepare this journalist.
I was 100% right, and you
were spectacularly wrong.
But I still owe you a favor, so name it.
Steve...
- It can't be acknowledging the Apple II team.
- Acknowledge the Apple II team.
- How about in private?
- No.
- Is this a prank?
- No.
I'm trying to remember that
a 300 megahertz G3 chip...
Just the top guys.
Steve.
- Excuse me, okay?
- Yep.
One second.
- She said she'd rather not.
- What do you mean?
She's sitting with her friends, and
she said she'd rather not come back.
Okay. Tell her... Take her aside.
I don't want to embarrass
her in front of her friends.
But tell her I just scared
the shit out of Andy,
and this time, nobody's
paying her fucking...
All right. Don't say that.
But do your thing where
you sound old and wise
because of the broad, tragic
European canvas of your life.
You know I wasn't born in a
19th-century shtetl, right?
Please tell her it's important.
- Everything all right?
- Yeah.
- There are people around here, man...
- I know.
- Including a member of the press.
- I see him.
Woz.
Just the top guys, the ones
who are getting laid off.
Listen, okay?
Last year, Apple lost one billion dollars.
I don't even know how that's possible.
You were less than 90
days from being insolvent.
I had three different accountants
try to explain it to me.
The whole place has to be streamlined.
- Start with two of the accountants.
- I started with the...
- Joel, could you come offstage? We're gonna go backstage.
- Leave him right there.
I started with the Apple II team
because we don't make that anymore.
- Just acknowledge the top guys.
- Have a mimosa and relax.
You will not blow me off right now, Steve.
- The top guys deserve...
- There are no top guys.
All right? On the Apple II
team, there are no top guys.
They're "B" players, and "B"
players discourage the "A" players.
I want "A" players at Apple and not Dell.
They're not "B" players, and
I'm a better judge of that.
Less than 90 days from insolvency,
in part because somebody thought
the Newton wasn't a box of garbage.
- Joel, could you come offstage, please?
- Leave him.
I'm talking about...
You guys designed and shipped a
little box of garbage while I was gone.
I'm talking about the Apple II,
which is not just a crucial
part of this company's history,
it is a crucial part of the
history of personal computing.
For a time.
The least you can do, if you're
going to downsize these people...
They're gonna live in the biggest houses
of anyone on the unemployment line.
Is to acknowledge them. Acknowledge
them and the Apple II during this launch.
This is a new animal.
This whole place was built by the Apple
II. You were built by the Apple II.
As a matter of fact, I was destroyed
by the Apple II and its open system
so that hackers and hobbyists
could build ham radios or something.
And then it nearly destroyed Apple
when you spent all your money on it
and developed a grand
total of no new products.
- The Newton.
- The little box of garbage.
You guys came up with the Newton.
You want people to know that?
This is a product launch, not a luncheon.
The last thing I want to
do is connect the iMac to...
To the only successful
product that this company has ever made.
I'm sorry to be blunt, but
that happens to be the truth.
The Lisa was a failure.
The Macintosh was a failure.
I don't like talking like this,
but I am tired of being
Ringo when I know I was John.
Everybody loves Ringo.
And I'm tired of being patronized by you.
You think John became John
by winning a raffle, Woz?
You think he tricked somebody
or hit George Harrison over the head?
He was John because he was John.
He was John 'cause he wrote "Ticket
to Ride." And I wrote the Apple II.
- Everybody? I want to clear the auditorium.
- Nobody moves.
You made a beautiful board,
which, by the way, you were
willing to give out for free,
so don't tell me how you built Apple.
If it weren't for me, you'd be the
easiest "A" at Homestead High School.
These people live and die by your
praise, so here's your chance.
Acknowledge that something good happened
that you weren't in the room for.
- No.
- Steve.
Do it. It's right. It's...
It's right.
Sorry, but no.
Then let me put it another way.
I don't think there's a man
who's done more to advance
the democratization that comes
with personal computing than I have,
but you've never had any respect for me.
Now why is that?
I'd at least consider the possibility
that it's because you've
never had any for me.
What the hell is going on here?
Nothing. Thank you for your time.
It's done. She's coming back.
You came a half-inch from putting
this company out of business.
Now who do I see about that?
I'm letting you keep your job.
You get a pass.
You know, when people used to ask me
what the difference was
between me and Steve Jobs,
I would say Steve was the big-picture guy
and I liked a solid workbench.
When people ask me what
the difference is now,
I say "Steve's an asshole."
Your products are better
than you are, brother.
That's the idea, brother.
And knowing that, that's the difference.
It's not binary.
You can be decent and
gifted at the same time.
He didn't mean it.
Yeah, he did.
He's a temperamental guy.
No, he's not.
It's like five
minutes before every launch,
everyone goes to a bar, gets drunk
and tells me what they really think.
She's coming to your dressing room.
I told you to make
things all right with Lisa.
I didn't say you had to settle
every blood feud you have.
Last time blood feuds weren't
settled, I lost the cover of Time.
Though for the life of me, I still don't know
what the hell Dan Kottke was mad at me about.
- Kottke didn't lose you the cover of Time.
- Of course he did.
Would you like me to demonstrate
your capacity to be wrong
when you're certain you're right?
Dan Kottke told Time
magazine that I was denying...
Do you remember the cover?
- Of Time?
- Yes.
- Yes.
- What was it?
- What are you talking about?
- What was on the cover?
- A computer.
- No.
It was a sculpture of a computer.
It was a sculpture.
Time would have had to have
commissioned it months in advance.
You were never in the
conversation for Man of the Year.
Nobody lost you anything.
...picture
of me and the Mac.
So what else are you sure about?
I don't know how I could've missed that.
- Reality distortion.
- No, seriously.
Seriously.
Don't try to win an argument with Lisa.
Just say you were wrong.
Come on in, honey.
- It's not "honey."
- John.
Get in. Get in. Get out of the hall.
I was taken in a side entrance.
I'll go out the same
way. No one will see me.
- How are you, Joanna?
- I'm good, John.
I'm just surprised to see you.
Everyone here really appreciates
the quote you gave to Forbes.
- You didn't have to do that.
- My pleasure.
If you want, I can slip you in
the back once the house lights go out.
- I'm just here to say "good luck."
- Okay.
You just have a couple of minutes.
- Would you try to find...
- Yeah.
You're a good man, John.
So I brought you a present.
A Newton.
Don't take it out of the box, you'll be able
to sell it, which is more than I can say.
Everything all right there?
Uh, no...
Just something Joanna pointed out to me.
I missed something so obvious about...
Doesn't matter.
Look, Wall Street's gonna sit back
and wait to see how you do as CEO,
so don't let any fluctuation
bother you for the first 12 months.
Day traders are gonna respond.
I don't need to school you.
This your way of telling me I
shouldn't have killed the Newton?
The most efficient animal
on the planet is the condor.
The most inefficient animals
on the planet are humans.
Well, you shouldn't
have killed it for spite.
That's bad business. Don't do that.
But a human with a bicycle
becomes the most efficient animal.
And the right computer...
a friendly, easy computer
that isn't an eyesore
but rather sits on your desk with
the beauty of a Tensor lamp...
The right computer will
be a bicycle for the mind.
Do you like it?
I was giving back.
And what if instead of it
being in the right hands,
it was in everyone's hands?
Everyone in the world.
We'd be talking about the most
tectonic shift in the status quo since...
Ever.
I don't know why you've always been
interested in my adoption history,
but you said it's not like someone
looked at me and gave me back.
But that is what happened.
And you're telling me you
have the right computer.
It's called Macintosh.
A lawyer couple adopted me first,
then gave me back after a month.
They changed their mind.
Then my parents adopted me.
My biological mother had
stipulated that whoever took me
had to be college-educated,
wealthy and Catholic.
Paul and Clara Jobs were
none of those things,
so my biological mother wouldn't
sign the adoption papers.
What happened?
There was a legal battle
that went on for a while.
My mother said she refused
to love me for the first year.
You know, in case they had to give me back.
You can't refuse to love someone, Steve.
Yeah, it turns out you can.
What the hell can a one-month-old do
that's so bad his parents give him back?
Nothing. There's nothing
a one-month-old can do...
Have you ever thought about trying
to find your biological father?
I've met my biological father.
For that matter, so have you.
It's called Macintosh.
- Mr. Steve Jobs.
- Jandali.
Say hello to John Sculley.
Jandali owns the place,
and John's the CEO of Pepsi,
but I'm trying to get him to move to
Cupertino, put a dent in the universe.
You eat vegan as well?
You're kidding me.
No, I'll eat anything.
Why don't you start off with the Mediterranean
lettuce salad with purslane, mint...
My sister found him.
- Does he know?
- No. In fact, he bragged to Mona
that Steve Jobs comes in
the restaurant all the time.
- You don't want to...
- No.
Don't you think
you should talk to him?
He'd probably find a reason to sue me.
Oh, Steve...
John, if you're here about your legacy,
you need to form a line behind Wozniak.
Wozniak's gonna be fine.
I'm the guy who fired Steve Jobs.
Rich, college-educated and Catholic.
Steve? It's time.
I've gotta go.
Did I do this? Screw it up?
Let's let it go now.
Has to be time.
Come be our CEO.
Yeah. Okay.
It was the stylus, John.
- What?
- I killed the Newton because of the stylus.
If you're holding a stylus, you can't use the
other five that are attached to your wrist.
Things we could have done together.
God, the things we could've done.
I'm paying your tuition.
Are you crazy? Of course
I'm paying your tuition.
I must have misunderstood you when
you said you weren't paying my tuition.
You and your mom selling the
house was a hostile thing to do.
She needed the money.
She always needs the money.
She needs a doctor. She
has a sinus infection.
She's had the same sinus
infection since 1988.
I'm gonna take care of my mother.
I'm sorry if that angers you.
It does anger me, because you're a kid
and it's not your job to
take care of your mother.
Is that how yours died?
Guys, step away, please,
and give them some room.
When your mom is 90 and can't feed herself,
you can take care of her.
But right now, she's 45, perfectly
healthy and can't feed herself.
You're supposed to work hard at
school and be 19, and that's it.
- I'll take care of your mother.
- Keep up the good work.
- What the hell do you want from me?
- I was sent for.
I bought her a house for $400,000.
It's worth twice that much today.
She sold it for two magic
rocks and a bowl of soup.
It was her house.
She used that money to
travel through Europe.
Money which you make her beg for.
- Steve...
- Don't even start with that.
Going to Andy and asking for the money?
That was so off-the-charts
over the line...
I did not do that. Andy came to me.
Everybody have an opinion on this?
I'm sorry, guys. In 30 seconds,
you're going to be late.
She spends the money on antiques and then
sells them for a fraction of what she paid,
and she does it with money
I gave to her for you.
Steve...
You came to me hysterical when you were 13,
- asking if you could live with me...
- I was not hysterical.
Because your mom was
screaming at you every day.
Thirteen was the second time I asked you.
The stress of her life
as a spiritual healer.
I don't believe I said you're a
bad guy. But if I did, I'm sorry.
Hey. Something happened to you at school,
some first semester core class that
all freshmen are required to take...
- I read Time.
- What?
I have Internet access at school.
I read an old copy of Time,
and I asked my mom some
questions about my family history.
That was...
Time wrote a
mangled piece of journal.
You were never supposed to read that.
I had two different Harvard statisticians
try to reverse-engineer the
equation that you came up with
to prove that 28% of American
men could be my father.
Honey, I...
You know, my mother might be a
troubled woman, but what's your excuse?
That's why I'm not impressed
with your story, Dad.
It's that you knew what
I was going through,
and you didn't do anything about it,
and that makes you an
unconscionable coward.
And not for nothing, but
"think" is a verb, all right,
making "different" an adverb.
You're asking people to think differently.
And you can talk about the Bauhaus movement
and Braun and "Simplicity
is sophistication"
and Issey Miyake uniforms and
Bob Dylan lyrics all you want,
but that thing looks like
Judy Jetson's Easy-Bake oven.
Hey.
You're gonna start late.
- You know what Lisa stood for?
- What?
The computer. The Lisa.
You know what it stood for?
I'm sorry I said that about the
iMac. It's not what I really think.
Behind my back, at the office,
you know what it stood for?
Local Integrated System
Architecture. I was five.
- Why couldn't you just lie?
- I did.
Of course it was named after you.
Local Integrated System Architecture
doesn't even mean anything.
Why'd you say it wasn't all those years?
I honestly don't know.
Why'd you say you weren't my father?
I'm poorly made.
- It's after 9:00. You're gonna be late.
- I don't care.
- You're writing for the Crimson.
- What?
The Apple chapter of the
Harvard Alumni Association
tells me you're writing
for the Crimson.
Oh. Yeah, a little bit. Essays.
- I'd like to read one.
- Sure.
No, I mean now. I'd like to
read one of your essays now.
Come on. You've got to go on stage.
The iMac will not be launched until
you give me one of your essays,
so the world is waiting for you.
I'm really sorry, guys.
Good luck.
I'm gonna put music in your pocket.
What?
Hundred songs. A thousand songs. 500 songs.
Somewhere between 500 and a
thousand songs right in your pocket,
'cause I can't stand looking at
that inexplicable Walkman anymore.
You're carrying around a
brick playing cassette tape.
We're not savages.
So I'm gonna put a thousand
songs in your pocket.
- You can do that?
- Mm-hmm.
We'd get
soaked right through
We used to tell them
I was staying at yours
Sheltered in our own world
You want to watch from backstage?
Okay.
We grew up at midnight
Go cue one.
We were only kids then
Loving woman, loving man
Here for you, doing
the best we can
Hard to figure, hard to bear
Hard to think knowing
how much you care
It's the strangest thing
through thick and thin
All this time kept
the promise you made
If you're telling,
I'll be told
I'll come running and be
there as soon as I can
Outside of the window,
I was stuck on you
We were only kids then
I was staying at yours
You remember that painting
you did on the original Mac?
I do.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Steve Jobs.
We grew up at midnight
We were only kids then
We grew up at midnight
We were only kids then
Woz.
But that night we knew
Whoo!
'Twas in another
lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue,
the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness,
a creature void of form
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"
And if I pass this way
again, you can rest assured
I'll always do
my best for her
On that, I give my word
In a world of
steel-eyed death
And men who are
fighting to be warm
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"
Not a word was
spoke between us
There was little
risk involved
Everything up to that point
had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where
it's always safe and warm
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"
I was burned out
from exhaustion
Buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes
and blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile,
ravaged in the corn
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"
Suddenly I turned around
and she was standing there
With silver bracelets on her
wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to
me so gracefully
And took my crown of thorns
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"
Now there's a
wall between us
Something there's been lost
I took too much for granted,
I got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all
began on an uneventful morn
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"
Well, the deputy
walks on hard nails
And the preacher
rides a mount
But nothing really
matters much
It's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker,
he blows a futile horn
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"
I've heard newborn babies
wailing like a mourning dove
And old men with broken
teeth stranded without love
Do I understand
your question, man?
Is it hopeless and forlorn?
"Come in," she said, "I'll give
you shelter from the storm"