This interview was included in the anthology The Playboy Interview: Moguls, which also includes interviews with Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, David Geffen and many others.
Playboy: We lived through 1984 - computers did not take over the world, although not everyone can agree with this. You, the 29-year-old father of the computer revolution, should be primarily blamed for the mass distribution of computers. The boom that happened made you an incredibly rich person - the value of your shareholding reached half a billion dollars, right?
Jobs: When stocks fell, I lost $250 million in a year. [laughing]
Playboy: Do you find it funny?
Jobs: I won't let these things ruin my life. Isn't it funny? You know, the money question amuses me a lot - everyone is very interested in it, although over the past ten years many much more valuable and instructive events have happened to me. It also makes me feel old, like when I give a talk on campus and see how my million dollar fortune inspires so many students in awe.
When I was studying, the sixties were coming to an end, and the wave of utilitarianism had not yet arrived. There is no idealism in today's students - at least much less than in us. They clearly don't let current philosophical issues distract them too much from their study of commerce. In my time, the wind of the ideals of the sixties has not yet lost its strength, and most of my peers have retained these ideals forever.
Playboy: I wonder what the computer industry has made millionaires...
Jobs: Yes, yes, young madmen.
Playboy: We were referring to people like you and Steve Wozniak, who worked in a garage ten years ago. Tell me about this revolution you two started.
Jobs: A century ago there was a petrochemical revolution. She gave us available energy, in this case, mechanical. It changed the very structure of society. Today's information revolution also concerns affordable energy - but already intellectual. Our Macintosh computer is in its infancy—but it can already save you hours a day by using less electricity than a 100-watt light bulb. What will the computer be capable of in ten, twenty, fifty years? This revolution will eclipse the petrochemical revolution, and we are at the forefront of it.
Playboy: Let's take a break and define a computer. How does he work?
JobsA: In fact, computers are very simple. Now we are in a cafe. Let's imagine that you can understand only the most primitive directions, and I need to explain to you how to get to the restroom. I would have to use the most precise and specific instructions, something like this: “Slide off the bench by moving two meters to the side. Stand up straight. Raise your left leg. Bend your left knee to a horizontal position. Straighten your left leg and shift your weight three hundred centimeters forward," and so on. If you could take instructions like that a hundred times faster than any other person in this cafe, you would seem like a magician to us. You could run for a cocktail, put it in front of me and snap your fingers, and I would think that the glass appeared on the click - it all happened so quickly. That's how a computer works. It performs the most primitive tasks - "take this number, add it to this number, paste the result here, check if it exceeds that number" - but at a speed of, roughly speaking, a million operations per second. The results obtained seem like magic to us.
This is the simple explanation. The point is that many people don't need to understand how a computer works. Most people have no idea how an automatic transmission works, but they know how to drive a car. You don't have to study physics and understand the laws of dynamics to drive a car. You don't need to understand all of this to use a Macintosh - but you asked. [laughing]
Playboy: You clearly believe that computers will change our privacy, but how do you convince skeptics and opponents of this?
Jobs: The computer is the most amazing device we have ever seen. It can be a printing tool, a communication center, a super calculator, an organizer, a folder for storing documents, a means of self-expression - all you need is the right software and instructions. No other device has the power and versatility of a computer. We don't know how far he can go. Today computers make our life easier. Tasks that would take us hours, they complete in a fraction of a second. They improve the quality of our lives by taking on the monotonous routine and expanding our options. In the future, they will carry out more and more of our orders.
Playboy: What can be specific reasons to buy a computer? One of your colleagues recently said, “We gave people computers, but we didn't tell them what to do with them. It’s easier for me to balance manually than on a computer.” Why a person to buy a computer?
JobsA: Different people have different reasons. The simplest example is enterprises. With a computer, you can create documents much faster and much better, the productivity of office workers increases in many ways. The computer frees people from a significant part of routine work and allows them to turn on creativity. Remember, a computer is a tool. Tools help us work better.
As far as education is concerned, computers are the first invention since the book that interacts with a person without fatigue and without judgment. Education according to the Socratic method is no longer available, and computers can make a breakthrough in the educational process with the support of competent teachers. Computers are already in most schools.
PlayboyA: These arguments are suitable for businesses and educational institutions, but what about at home?
Jobs: At this stage, this market exists more in our imagination than in reality. The main reasons for buying a computer today are if you want to take some of your work home or install a learning program for yourself or your kids. If none of these reasons fits, then the only option left is a desire to develop computer literacy. You see that something is happening, but you do not quite understand what it is, and you want to learn something new. Soon everything will change, and computers will become an integral part of our home life.
PlayboyQ: What exactly will change?
JobsA: Most people will want to buy a home computer so they can connect to the nationwide communications network. We are in the early stages of an incredible breakthrough comparable in scale to the rise of the telephone.
Playboy: What kind of breakthrough are you talking about?
JobsA: I can only speculate. In our field, we see a lot of new things. We don't know exactly what it will look like, but it will be something huge and wonderful.
Playboy: It turns out that you offer buyers of home computers to shell out three thousand dollars, taking your words for granted?
Jobs: In the future, this will not be an act of trust. The most difficult problem we face is the inability to answer people's questions about specifics. If a hundred years ago someone had asked Alexander Graham Bell exactly how to use the telephone, he would not have been able to describe all aspects of how the telephone changed the world. He did not know that with the help of a telephone, people would find out what was going to the cinema in the evening, order groceries at home, or call relatives on the other side of the globe. First, in 1844, the public telegraph was introduced, which was an outstanding achievement in the field of communication. Messages traveled from New York to San Francisco in a matter of hours. Proposals have been made to put a telegraph on every desktop in America to increase productivity. But that wouldn't work. The telegraph required people to know Morse code, mysterious spells from dots and dashes. The training took about 40 hours. Most people would never have mastered it. Fortunately, in the 1870s, Bell patented a telephone that performed essentially the same function but was more accessible to use. And besides, he allowed not only to convey words, but also to sing.
Playboy: That is?
Jobs: He allowed words to be filled with meaning through intonation, and not just by simple linguistic means. They say that to increase productivity, you need to put an IBM computer on every desktop. It won't work. Now you need to learn other spells, /qz and the like. The manual for WordStar, the most popular text editor, is 400 pages long. To write a novel, you need to read another novel, which for most looks like a detective story. Users won't learn /qz the way they didn't learn Morse code. That's what Macintosh is - the first "telephone" of our industry. And I think the coolest thing about the Macintosh is that, like a phone, it lets you sing. You don't just pass words, you can type them in different styles, draw and add images to express yourself.
Playboy: Is it really remarkable or is it just such a new "trick"? At least one critic has called the Macintosh the world's most expensive Etch A Sketch magic screen.
Jobs: This is as remarkable as the telephone that replaced the telegraph. Imagine what you would have created as a child with such an advanced magic screen. But that's just one aspect: With a Macintosh, you can not only be more productive and creative, but you can also communicate more effectively with pictures and graphics, not just words and numbers.
Playboy: Most computers receive commands by pressing keys, while the Macintosh uses a device called a "mouse" to do this - a small box whose movements on the table control the cursor on the screen. For people accustomed to the keyboard, this is a major change. Why a mouse?
Jobs: If I want to point out to you that there is a stain on your shirt, I will not resort to linguistics: "The stain on your shirt is 14 centimeters down from the collar and three centimeters to the left of the button." Seeing a stain, I'll just point to it: "Here" [indicates]. This is the most accessible metaphor. We've done a lot of testing and research showing that a range of actions, such as Cut and Paste, are not only easier, but also more efficient, with the mouse.
Playboy: How long did the development of the Macintosh take?
Jobs: The creation of the computer itself took two years. Prior to that, we had been working on the technology behind it for several years. I don't think I've ever worked more intensively on anything than on the Macintosh, but it was the best experience of my life. I think all my colleagues will say the same. At the end of development, we no longer wanted to release it - as if we knew that after the release it would cease to be ours. When we finally introduced it to the shareholders' meeting, everyone in the hall rose from their seats and applauded for five minutes. The most amazing thing I've seen in the forefront is the Mac development team. None of us could believe that we had finished it. We all cried.
Playboy: Before the interview, we were warned: get ready, you will be "processed" by the best.
Jobs: [smiles] My colleagues and I are just enthusiastic.
Playboy: But how can a buyer see the real value of a product behind this enthusiasm, multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns and your ability to communicate with the press?
Jobs: Advertising campaigns are essential to stay competitive - IBM ads are everywhere. Good PR gives people information, that's all. It is impossible to fool people in this business - the products speak for themselves.
PlayboyAside from the popular complaints about the inefficiency of the mouse and the black and white screen of the Macintosh, the most serious accusation against Apple is overpriced products. Would you like to respond to critics?
Jobs: Our research proves that the mouse allows you to work with data or applications faster than traditional means. Someday we will be able to release a relatively inexpensive color screen. As for overcharging, a new product costs more at launch than it will in the future. The more we can produce, the cheaper...
Playboy: That's the point of the claim: you attract enthusiasts with premium prices, and then change strategy and lower prices to attract the rest of the market.
Jobs: It is not true. As soon as we we can lower the price, we do it. Indeed, our computers are cheaper than a few years ago or even last year. But the same can be said about IBM. Our goal is to provide computers to tens of millions of people, and the cheaper these computers are, the easier it will be for us to do this. If a Macintosh cost a thousand dollars, I would happy.
Playboy: What about the people who bought the Lisa and the Apple III that you released before the Macintosh? They were left with incompatible, obsolete products.
Jobs: If you want to put the question in this way, then remember those who bought PCs and PCjr from IBM. Speaking of Lisa, some of its technologies are also used in the Macintosh - Lisa can run Macintosh programs. Lisa for Macintosh is like a big brother, and although sales were low at first, today they have skyrocketed. In addition, we still sell more than XNUMX Apple IIIs every month, more than half of them to repeat customers. In general, what I'm saying is that new technologies don't necessarily replace existing ones—they by definition make them obsolete. Over time, yes, they will replace them. But this is the same situation as in the case of color TVs that replaced black and white. Over time, people themselves decided whether or not to invest in new technology.
Playboy: At this rate, will the Mac itself become obsolete in a few years?
JobsA: Before the Macintosh, there were two standards, the Apple II and the IBM PC. These standards are like rivers cutting through the rocks of a canyon. This process takes years - Apple II "erupted" seven years, IBM PC - four years. The Macintosh is the third standard, the third river, which managed to break through the stone in just a few months thanks to the revolutionary nature of the product and careful marketing of our company. I think that today only two companies are able to do this - Apple and IBM. It may not be very good, but such a process requires a herculean effort, and it seems to me that neither Apple nor IBM will return to it for another three or four years. Perhaps by the end of the eighties something new will appear.
Playboy: What now?
Jobs: New developments will focus on increasing the portability of products, the development of network technologies, the spread of laser printers and shared databases. Communication options will also be expanded, perhaps by combining a telephone and a personal computer.
To be continued
Source: habr.com