Pirates of Silicon Valley

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1

I don't want you to think

of this as just a film...

...some process of converting

electrons and magnetic impulses...

...into shapes and figures

and sounds.

No. Listen to me.

We're here to make

a dent in the universe.

Otherwise. why even be here?

We're creating a completely

new consciousness...

...like an artist or a poet.

That's how you have to think of this.

We're rewriting the history of human

thought with what we're doing.

Right. Well, Steven. at the moment

I'm more worried...

...about getting light on the actress.

You know what I mean?

Simon. Excuse me a second.

- Michelle.

- Yeah?

Michelle. walk--

Yes. walk towards lens slowly.

Like this?

Okay. Right. Right.

I always wondered what it

must have been like for Steve.

I mean. ever since we were kids.

everything he ever did...

...was somewhere between a religious

experience and some sort of crusade.

Like with this commercial.

It was practically a legend

from the time Ridley Scott filmed it.

Like the book, 1984,

with all the downtrodden masses...

...and that one huge spark

of rebellion...

---against the evil Big Brother

who ran everything.

Go. go. go.

Smoke it up. please.

And you three.

That's right, you'll come with me.

The rest of you stay in the back.

Is a more powerful weapon

than any fleet or army on Earth.

We are one people with one will.

One resolve. One cause.

Our enemies shall talk

themselves to death...

...and we will bury them

with their own confusion.

We shall prevail.

And then 13 years later...

...Steve has to stand up

on that stage in Boston.

Man. that was...

That was weird.

The era...

...of competition between us is over.

Thank you. Bill.

Thank you for standing with us.

The world's a better place

because of it.

Microsoft is gonna ruin Apple.

You can't trust them.

I know.

I realize that this news

may be shocking to some of you.

I mean,

Steve talking to Bill Gates...

...who's staring down

like he's Big Brother, and he was.

For years, Steve almost went crazy

over what Bill was doing to him...

...and now he's up there on that stage,

in front of the world...

...telling everybody he's practically

the Second Coming.

I mean, how do you get

from there to here?

There was a disturbance

on the campus...

...of the University

of California at Berkeley.

The Santa Barbara campus

reported a small-scale riot as well.

- The demonstrators said they were--

- More than 400 students...

...have taken part

in the demonstration.

In the morning, police began launching

tear-gas grenades to break up the crowd.

Student leaders are anxious

to meet with university officials...

...to express their views on Vietnam.

- What the hell are we doing here?

- Let's get out of here.

Stay back. Hold it.

Hold it there. Get back.

- Don't drop the box!

- I'm not!

Come on.

You okay?

Those guys think

they're revolutionaries.

- They're not. We are.

- We are?

You know. Steve was

never like you or me.

He always saw things differently.

Even then when I was in Berkeley...

...i'd see something and just see

kilobytes or circuit boards...

...while he'd see karma or the meaning

of the universe.

Steve and I found this weird guy

who was a hero around Berkeley...

...all because he found a way

to beat the system.

This guy was called Captain Crunch...

...because he figured out

this little whistle...

...that you found in boxes

of Cap'n Crunch cereal...

...had the same tones as AT&T's

long-distance equipment.

So you got free phone calls

anywhere in the world...

...with this thing I built

called the blue box.

And then we tested it out

by calling the pope.

- You talk to him.

- No. no. no.

They're putting you

through to the pope?

I totally figured it out. man.

I figured it out. I know what it's about.

You know what it's about?

It's about power.

Right on. man.

It's like those weird countries...

...where the army guys

overthrow the president.

The first thing that they take over...

...are the ways people communicate.

you know. radio. TV. newspapers.

Far-out. man.

Information is power.

I kept building the boxes,

and Steve kept selling them...

...until one day, we almost

got busted by some cops...

---who, thank God, didn't even

know what a blue box was.

You might wanna try a haircut. boys.

So I started trying to build something

that wasn't gonna get us in trouble.

- That's not a blue box.

- It's a computer.

Woz. we need blue boxes.

not computers.

- I got a reporter from Mercury News coming.

- What for?

My mom phoned. told them I was building

a computer. and they wanna do a story.

Woz. give me a break.

Hey. let me ask you something.

seriously. Look at me.

Do you wanna get stuck here

the rest of your life in this hellhole?

Look. this is where I grew up. okay?

It's not a hellhole. Shoot.

I know your newspaper will find

Steve's computer fascinating.

He's so ingenious.

He built it all from spare parts.

Steven. the reporter is--

Hi. It caught fire.

My first chance at fame.

and the computer catches fire.

Sorry.

When I was still at Berkeley...

...I kept making

weird electronic gadgets...

...that were basically just jokes.

But, hey. you know, jokes are important.

The problem back then was

me and Steve and his girlfriend...

...were pretty much broke.

So we ended up doing some pretty

nutty things just to make money.

I know where we can get a job.

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