Architosh Staff (info@architosh.com)

15 Aug 00

Apple History: Jobs' 1988 Newsweek intro for NeXT

A Mac website called The Fly on the Mac has a copy of the NeXT Computer introduction story featuring a youthful Steven Paul Jobs on the cover of Newsweek magazine on October 24th, 1988.

The entire article, with pictures, is reproduced and it is a really interesting read from our current point of view. For example, Gates is quoted as being the biggest critic of the NeXT Cube machine. Oh, isn't that surprising? When Jobs asked Gates to write software for NeXT Gates declined saying there wasn't a big enough market out there for college computers. How wrong he really was. The real threat was, with IBM and major universities falling in line behind Jobs, UNIX posed a very real threat to Gates and his future Windows monopoly. It's interesting how this story continues to be played out today, with Microsoft either dismissing or sharply criticizing Linux, the other UNIX posing a threat to Windows.

Also of interest in the article is the emphasis on Jobs' new 'matured attitude', as compared to the early Apple days. And of particular note is the manner and style in which Jobs labored over a major product introduction, fussing over every single little detail until it was just right.

The press may make Jobs into a maniacal, perfectionist-wunderkid, but love or hate him personally, you can't deny that Steve Jobs is a brilliant visionary and packager/marketer of digital fun. And as this very neutral story suggest, "Steve Jobs puts the 'Wow' back into computers".

To read the article click here.