Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine Page #5

They said, "No, it's a person."

Wozniak had a technical article

on the Apple II.

He wanted us to try to get it

placed into a magazine.

Nobody could read it. It was

all technical jargon and so forth.

And so I told him

I'd have to rewrite it,

and he wasn't happy about that.

He said, "No one's going to rewrite

my stuff."

I said, "Well,

then there's nothing I can do for you,

so you might as well leave."

Steve called back,

and he pretty much convinced me

that he would be the person

that we'd be dealing with

and that Wozniak would be designing

and building things,

which is the way it happens

in most businesses.

The engineers are more back room

and you work with either the

entrepreneur or the marketing people.

Did you think early on

that Steve could be the guy?

Oh, definitely. You just had to spend

a few minutes with him and you knew it.

He had the ability

to talk about the possibility

of what this computer could be.

And I think the key is not just

talking about the product,

but giving you an idea

of what is possible using this product

and what the next generation

is going to be like.

So he gives people this feeling

of forward movement.

- How many calculators do you own?

- Two, maybe.

Right, and do you use

the automatic bank-telling machines?

- Sure.

- Life is already seducing you

into learning this stuff.

It's not going to happen at once,

and it's certainly not

a 1984-ish vision at all.

It's just going to be very gradual

and very human

and will seduce you

into learning how to use it.

Transitioning from a hobby

to a personal computer,

that whole idea was driven by Steve.

He was trying to say

we need to differentiate ourselves

and really move out

of this hobbyist realm.

It ended up

coming out of the room saying,

"We're going to call ourselves

the personal computer."

Industry experts say

we're no longer on the verge

of the personal computer revolution.

We're right in the midst of it,

thank you.

And it's gathering steam

with more and more people

jumping aboard every day.

I use my computer right now

for mostly word processing.

I use it for solar evaluation programs.

We put our entire accounting system

on it.

The wife can use it to store recipes.

To balance my checkbook for me.

We do the computer club's bulletin.

- Playing games.

- Shopping by mail.

- Budgeting.

- Bowling-league type scores.

- Electronic mail.

- A guy can be creative on it.

I mean, he can use it

for whatever he can dream up.

This is a 21st-century bicycle

that amplifies a certain intellectual

ability that man has.

The effects that it's going to

have on society

are actually going to far outstrip

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