Steve Jobs

The foundation of Apple

658 'Steve Jobs' stories February 2010 - October 2015

Steve Jobs was the co-founder and CEO of Apple. He also founded NeXT and was the majority shareholder of Pixar, both of which he was also CEO. Jobs is known as an icon of creativity and entrepreneurship. The prolific author Walter Isaacson released Jobs’ biography in October of 2011. Isaacson describes his major accomplishment as being a “creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.”

Jobs attended Reed College for a short period of time before dropping out in 1972. However, he continued to dabble with classes unofficially and came across a calligraphy course instructed by Robert Palladino. This course ended up being highly influential for Jobs as he attributed it to bringing multiple typefaces to the Mac.

Steve Jobs founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. After a drawn out power struggle Jobs was pushed out of Apple in 1985. He then founded NeXT in 1985 and also funded the move of Lucasfilm’s Graphics Group to become its own corporation, which became Pixar in 1986. Just over a decade later in 1997, Jobs returned to Apple as they acquired NeXT. His return marked the beginning of a new era of success. He took over as CEO in July of 1997 and continued on until handing the position to Tim Cook on August 24, 2011 after increasing health problems. Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011.

Isaacson describes his major accomplishment as being a “creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.”

Steve Jobs movie director declares Apple has ‘terrifying power’

Zac Hall Oct 7 2015 - 8:44 am PT

48 Comments

Director Danny Boyle with the cast of Steve Jobs

Despite the film being based on Walter Isaacson’s authorized Steve Jobs biography, the upcoming Aaron Sorkin-written biopic telling the story of the late Apple co-founder isn’t being totally welcomed by Tim Cook and company. As we’ve seen play out over the last few weeks, the Apple CEO called recent movies including Sorkin’s that depict Jobs in a not entirely positive light as “opportunistic”. A counter punch then apology from Sorkin followed.

The film’s director Danny Boyle isn’t softening his words, however, calling Apple a company with “tremendous, terrifying power” in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter promoting the film. Boyle believes artists should keep corporations like Apple in check, so to speak:
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Sculley says Steve Jobs movie is “extraordinary entertainment” but depicts only one aspect of the man

Ben Lovejoy Oct 7 2015 - 3:56 am PT

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Former Apple CEO John Sculley has told the WSJ that the Sorkin/Boyle movie Steve Jobs is “extraordinary entertainment” but depicts only one side of Jobs’ personality.

It’s extraordinary entertainment, [but] was really taking one aspect of Steve Jobs’s personality.

Part of his personality was he was a passionate perfectionist, but there were so many other parts […] The young Steve Jobs that I knew had a great sense of humor. He was on many occasions, when we were together, very warm. He cared a lot about the people he worked with and he was a good person. So, I think those aren’t the aspects that are focused on in this movie …

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Apple shows employees lighter side of Steve Jobs in wake of upcoming negative movies

Mark Gurman Oct 6 2015 - 7:20 am PT

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ABC published some out-takes from a video Apple provided it showing Steve Jobs in the run up to the iPhone launch and at other times later in his tenure at Apple that depict his lighter, more humanistic side. Apple has previously worked with ABC, providing Tim Cook airtime to discuss both Apple and Steve Jobs a year ago.

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In wake of unflattering movies, Tim Cook emails Apple staff asking to honor Steve Jobs on the 4th anniversary of his passing

Ben Lovejoy Oct 5 2015 - 5:44 am PT

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Tim Cook has emailed Apple staff on the 4th anniversary of the passing of Steve Jobs, thanking them for “remembering both who he was and what he stood for,” reports the Telegraph. Cook said that Jobs was “a brilliant person” who left an incredible legacy.

What is his legacy? I see it all around us: An incredible team that embodies his spirit of innovation and creativity. The greatest products on earth, beloved by customers and empowering hundreds of millions of people around the world. Soaring achievements in technology and architecture. Experiences of surprise and delight. A company that only he could have built. A company with an intense determination to change the world for the better.

Cook also made two references which which seem to indirectly refer to less flattering portraits painted of Jobs in biographies and movies …
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Laurene Powell Jobs tried to block the Steve Jobs movie, saying it painted him as inhumane [Updated]

Ben Lovejoy Oct 5 2015 - 4:14 am PT

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The WSJ reports that Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs repeatedly tried to block production of the Sorkins/Boyle movie Steve Jobs.

Ms. Jobs repeatedly tried to kill the film, according to people familiar with the conversations. She lobbied, among others, Sony Pictures Entertainment, which developed the script but passed on the movie for financial reasons, and Universal Pictures, which is releasing the $33.5 million production on Friday …

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Steve Jobs movie “deviates from reality everywhere” but “exposes deeper truths” – Andy Hertzfeld

Ben Lovejoy Oct 2 2015 - 5:55 am PT

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Andy Hertzfeld (R) with the actor who plays him, Michael Stuhlbarg (L)

Andy Hertzfeld, one of the key designers of the original Macintosh system software, has told Re/code that the Sorkins/Boyle movie Steve Jobs “deviates from reality everywhere” but “exposes deeper truths” about the man.

It deviates from reality everywhere — almost nothing in it is like it really happened — but ultimately that doesn’t matter that much. The purpose of the film is to entertain, inspire and move the audience, not to portray reality. It is cavalier about the facts but aspires to explore and expose the deeper truths behind Steve’s unusual personality and behavior, and it often but not always succeeds at that.

Hertzfeld said that Sorkin had convinced him that an impressionistic approach was valid …
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Sorkin: Three-act structure for Steve Jobs movie took two months of pacing, three minutes to be approved

Ben Lovejoy Oct 1 2015 - 6:56 am PT

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Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter of Steve Jobs, told Wired that he had no idea how he was going to turn the huge biography into a movie, and when he finally did come up with an idea for it, he didn’t think the studio would agree.

I didn’t know that much about Steve Jobs, and the idea of doing a biopic was daunting. I work very slowly, and the first couple of months are spent just pacing around, climbing the walls […]

[Finally,] I got this idea, and I wrote an email to Scott saying, “If I had no one to answer to, I would write this entire movie in three real-time scenes, and each one would take place backstage before a particular product launch” […]

Really, I was emailing Scott to get help: Take this thing that I really want to do and tell me what I’m allowed to do, because no studio is going to let me do this. Two or three minutes later, I got an email from Amy Pascal—Scott had forwarded my email to her—and she said, “I think this is a great idea.” I couldn’t believe it. They were going to let me do this thing.

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Eddy Cue: Company not fixated on immediate Apple Music numbers; working on addressing high roaming charges

Ben Lovejoy Oct 1 2015 - 4:25 am PT

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In an interview with London’s Evening Standard, Apple SVP Eddy Cue said that Apple is relaxed about how many Apple Music subscribers are immediately willing to pay for the service once their free trial ends.

Ultimately, you never know until it happens. But we’re pleased with the number of people who have tried. Everybody gets fixated on the short term but we’re in this for the long haul.

Though published today, the interview took place before the trial ended for early adopters, so doesn’t give any hint as to conversion rates …
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Sorkin apologizes to Tim Cook, says they both went too far

Chance Miller Sep 26 2015 - 3:02 pm PT

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Earlier this week, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin fired shots at Apple CEO Tim Cook, who last week on Colbert called films based on the life of Steve Jobs opportunistic. “I think a lot of people are trying to be opportunistic and I hate this,” Cook said. “It’s not a great part of our world.” Sorkin then shot back and said, “If you’ve got a factory full of children in China assembling phones for 17 cents an hour, you’ve got a lot of nerve calling someone else opportunistic.”

Well today, Sorkin has taken a step back and apologized for calling out Tim Cook. Speaking to E! News, Sorkin said that he probably went too far in his comments towards Tim Cook, but that Cook also went too far in his criticism of movies based on Jobs.

“You know what, I think that Tim Cook and I probably both went a little too far,” Sorkin said. “And I apologize to Tim Cook. I hope when he sees the movie, he enjoys it as much as I enjoy his products.”

Your move, Tim.

Sorkin’s ‘Steve Jobs’ movie gets riveting new 2+ minute trailer

Chance Miller Sep 17 2015 - 8:52 am PT

29 Comments

Universal today has shared the second official trailer for its upcoming Steve Jobs film. The movie debuted last week at the Telluride Film Festival and received almost universal positive reviews. Universal’s film stars Michael Fassbender as Jobs and is directed by Danny Boyle, previously behind hits such as Slumdog Millionaire.

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Woz expands on earlier praise for Steve Jobs biopic as he reflects on his co-founder’s personality

Ben Lovejoy Sep 9 2015 - 6:18 am PT

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After Steve Wozniak gave a thumbs-up to the upcoming Sorkin/Boyle biopic simply entitled Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder expanded on his comments in a lengthy interview with the BBC’s tech editor Leo Kelion.

Wozniak said that while the film didn’t always portray events in the way they really happened, it did capture the essence of its subject.

But when you see it portrayed dramatically, not the way it really happened but in a way that is emotionally graphic, it really conveys what Steve Jobs was really like inside… and what it was like to be around him.

Wozniak doesn’t, however, pull any punches when talking about Jobs’ personality …
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Review roundup: Sorkin Steve Jobs biopic receives high praise from movie critics, Wozniak likes it too

Benjamin Mayo Sep 7 2015 - 4:06 am PT

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The official Steve Jobs biopic, written by Aaron Sorkin, was shown at the Telluride Film Festival for a preliminary screening ahead of its cinema debut on October 9th. The reviews are in and seem to be very good indeed. Variety called it “a terrific actors’ showcase and an incorrigibly entertaining ride that looks set to be one of the fall’s early must-see attractions.”

The film is just over two hours long, with Michael Fassbender who plays Jobs, being a standout success. The Guardian described Fassbender playing the lead role as a transformative experience with others already lobbying Fassbender for an Oscar for the part. We’ve compiled some quotes from various reviews below. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak seems to like the film as well …

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Another working Apple I being auctioned, expected to sell for upwards of half a million dollars

Ben Lovejoy Sep 4 2015 - 6:21 am PT

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An original Apple I is being auctioned by Bonhams in New York in October, and is expected to sell for upwards of half a million dollars, reports Quirker. It has been authenticated as one of the first 50 constructed by Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs’ garage, and is said to be fully working and in fantastic condition.

Corey Cohen, Apple-1 expert and member of the Board of Directors for Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists Museum said: “It’s in incredible condition. It’s nearly 40 years old, next year. It’s one of the best condition Apple-1s we’ve ever seen – not just at auction, but at any physical place at all.”

The machine is believed to be one of only six original Apple I computers in working order, a previous one selling in 2013 for $671k. Owner Tom Romkey sold a previous Apple I in 2014 for a world record £564k ($857k).

This model was apparently traded in at a computer shop by the original owner, who had used it only once and didn’t like it. Bonhams auctioneer Cassandra Hatton described the trade-in as “probably the worst financial transaction in history” – though we’d have to disagree.

That would probably be the third Apple cofounder, Ron Wayne, selling his 10% of the company back to the two Steves for $800 – stock that would now be worth billions. Even the original founding contract for Apple Computer sold back in 2011 for $1.6M.

Via Gizmodo

Steve Jobs movies: Man in the Machine documentary opens today, Sorkin/Boyle biopic debuts tomorrow

Ben Lovejoy Sep 4 2015 - 5:08 am PT

4 Comments

Steve Jobs, the Universal Pictures biopic written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Danny Boyle, gets its debut screening tomorrow at the Telluride Film Festival. This is followed by a screening at the New York Film Festival on Oct 3rd, before its national release on 9th October.

We first saw a trailer for the movie back in May, with a longer one shown in July and a modified version shown on TV last month. A leaked screenplay draft confirmed that the movie is set around three product launches: the original Macintosh, the NeXT Cube and the iMac …
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Lawsuit against Apple, Google & others for ‘Do not hire’ agreements ends as settlement deal finalized

Ben Lovejoy Sep 3 2015 - 4:00 am PT

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A class action lawsuit against Apple, Google and other tech companies for agreeing not to poach each other’s employees has finally been settled. Steve Jobs, Google’s Eric Schmidt and others had agreed in emails not to offer higher salaries to each other’s employees in order to reduce the risk of losing valuable employees. When the emails came to light, the 64,000 employees affected successfully argued that this had limited their earning potential.

After Apple’s originally settlement offers were rejected by Judge Lucy Koh as inadequate, the company increased its offer to $415M, which the judge agreed was fair. Reuters reports that Koh has now granted final approval of this sum.

Koh did, however, reject the $81M cut the lawyers in the case had demanded …
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Tim Cook’s political savvy profiled as Apple joins Pentagon effort to build military wearables

Zac Hall Aug 28 2015 - 9:32 am PT

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Tim Cook’s efforts to influence policy in Washington DC in ways that better serve Apple have been hard to miss during his tenure as CEO. Pushing the company’s strong stance on privacy has been met with great pushback from the justice department and Apple was unhappy with how the ebook pricing case against it went so it’s no surprise its lobbying efforts have climbed in recent years. Now Politico, a news site focused on politics, has dedicated a lengthy 4,000+ word profile on Tim Cook’s relationship with Washington DC over the last four years.
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Kate Winslet talks new Steve Jobs movie as first official film poster is revealed

Jordan Kahn Aug 27 2015 - 9:29 am PT

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Following the first trailers for the upcoming Aaron Sorkin-penned Steve Jobs film landing online and TV in recent weeks, Universal has now revealed the first official poster for the movie (pictured above) as star Kate Winslet shares some thoughts on her role and the film in a new interview.

In a recent interview in New York Magazine, Kate Winslet, who stars in the Danny Boyle directed film alongside Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs and supporting roles for Seth Rogen and Jeff Daniels, shares some insight into how she got the role, what to expect from the film and her experience on set.

On preparing for the role and meeting the real Joanna Hoffman:

I spent a great deal of time with Joanna, and she herself has a softness to her. She came to America as a young woman and achieved a great deal. One thing that was unique about her as a figure in Steve’s life was that she didn’t need anything from him. She just needed for him to be the best version of himself. And that’s what really set their relationship apart from any relationship with all his other colleagues… She was an extraordinary, feisty Eastern European person who was pretty much the only person who could actually knock sense into Steve, and she was also kind of an emotional compass.

On what to expect from the film and Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue:

Sorkin makes it almost not about Steve Jobs at all. It’s about how that man has 100 percent dictated how we all live our lives today and how we function as people. The film is about all of us, and all of us today, not in ’84 or ’88 or ’98. I mean, look at us all — how we function. You look at a lot of toddlers today, they’ll pick up any screen of any kind, and they don’t push a button, they swipe. It’s horrifying but kind of extraordinary, and that is Steve Jobs…

The film is currently scheduled for release this October.

You can read more from the full interview online here and check out the recent TV trailer here.

Swatch grabs ‘One More Thing’ trademarks as apparent poke at Apple, now pending opposition

Jeremy Horwitz Aug 21 2015 - 7:21 am PT

28 Comments

Swatch, apparently threatened by Apple’s recent forays into watchmaking, has taken another legal step seemingly aimed at tweaking Cupertino: registration of two “One More Thing” trademarks, a catch phrase famously associated with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote speeches.
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Flash’s demise continues as Amazon stops accepting Flash ads due to browser settings

Zac Hall Aug 20 2015 - 8:31 am PT

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Amazon may have been Apple’s target when it unveiled its iBooks Store alongside the iPad in 2010, but the digital retail giant’s latest move is helping fulfill Steve Jobs’ vision of a web without Flash. Amazon Advertising issued an update to its technical guidelines today declaring that it will stop accepting Flash-based ads starting next month. Adobe cited “recent browser setting updates from Google Chrome, and existing browser settings from Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari” that interfere with displaying Flash ads.
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New TV trailer gives another look at upcoming Aaron Sorkin Steve Jobs movie

Benjamin Mayo Aug 7 2015 - 5:35 am PT

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In the runup to the movie’s release on October 9th, Aaron Sorkin’s “Steve Jobs” film is currently airing a new trailer on TV. The trailer shows Michael Fassbender, who plays Jobs, pedantically setting up product launches interspersed with scenes of him criticizing others and others criticizing him. A big storyline of the film appears to be Steve Jobs relationship with his first daughter, Lisa. Watch the 60 second video below.

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‘The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs’ opera to debut in 2017

Chance Miller Aug 5 2015 - 4:40 pm PT

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Joining the increasingly growing lineup of Steve Jobs biographies, the Santa Fe Opera announced today that it will debut a new opera centered around the life of the late Apple CEO. The show is entitled “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” and is composed by Mason Bates with librettist Mark Campbell. The opera is currently scheduled to debut in 2017 (via LATimes).

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New York Film Festival screening Sorkin’s ‘Steve Jobs’ biopic on October 3 ahead of its premier

Zac Hall Jul 28 2015 - 7:44 am PT

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Attendees of the 53rd New York Film Festival in October will be treated to an early screening of Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming ‘Steve Jobs’ biopic. While the Hollywood version of Steve Jobs biography is set to debut in theaters on October 9th, the NYFF announced today that it will screen the film to attendees on October 3rd:

We are pleased to announce that Steve Jobs, written by Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Charlie Wilson’s War) and directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours), has been selected as the Centerpiece for the 53rd New York Film Festival. The film will screen for audiences on October 3.

The film, which is based on the authorized Walter Isaacson-written biography of the late Apple co-founder, stars Michael Fassbender in the lead role with Seth Rogen portraying Steve Wozniak. Universal has shared both a teaser video and an in-depth trailer for the movie ahead of its early October premier.

First trailer for former Gawker COO’s ‘Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine’ documentary released

Chance Miller Jul 24 2015 - 2:08 pm PT

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Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films today debuted the first trailer for the upcoming biographical film centered around Steve Jobs. “Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine” was originally premiered earlier this year at SXSW and is spearheaded by director Alex Gibney and executive producer Gaby Darbyshire, who is the former Chief Operating Officer of Gawker Media.

Darbyshire headed up Gawker legal when the media company’s subsidiary Gizmodo bought the iPhone 4 that was “left at the bar” and would have been at the center of the controversy that surrounded the subsequent firestorm with Apple and then CEO Steve Jobs.

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Facebook’s security exec pushes Steve Jobs’ call for Adobe to kill Flash

Zac Hall Jul 13 2015 - 9:06 am PT

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Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, echoed a message first delivered quite memorably by Steve Jobs in 2010: it’s time for Adobe to kill Flash. Addressing Apple’s position of not supporting the plug-in on iOS and instead pushing HTML5, security was just one key point in Jobs’ epic Thoughts on Flash essay when the iPad launched.

We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now.

Five years later, our dependence on Flash has greatly diminished on the desktop, but security issues continue to be an issue with the plug-in. In 2010, Jobs used more than 1600 words to explain Apple’s reason for not adding Flash support to iOS. In 2015, Facebook’s security chief pushed the message in less than 140 characters:
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