FAYE MOSS:
Welcome to my new smash hit, Superstars in History. Superstars in History
I'm your host Faye Moss—the only talk show host in the world with access to history's biggest stars.
Each week I interview people from the past who've changed history in unique ways.
They love sharing their personal stories with me—oh, and with you too!
You're going to be absolutely fascinated by my conversation with today's guest.
He started a famous company, dramatically left it, and made a huge comeback later on.
He's a computer pioneer who changed the world again and again.
Straight from history, here's the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs!
Hello, Faye! STEVE JOBS:
Hi, Steve! Thank you for being my guest on Superstars in History. FAYE MOSS:
Superstars in History
Kids today will never know a world without smartphones or tablets.
I certainly don't know what I'd do without all my smartphones and tablets!
But you didn't have these devices when you were a kid.
Tell me, what was your childhood like?
STEVE JOBS:
Well, I had a pretty normal childhood.
I was born in 1955 and grew up in California, in a place that would become known as Silicon Valley.
I hung out a lot with my dad, who loved working with his hands, building things and fixing cars.
He wasn't great with electronics, but he knew the basics from working on cars and taught me.
Did your dad teach you any . . . secrets that helped you succeed? FAYE MOSS:
secrets
I don't know if they were secrets, Faye, but my dad thought craftsmanship was really important. STEVE JOBS:
Whenever he built something like a fence or a cabinet, he paid close attention to parts that wouldn't even be seen, like their backs.
Later at Apple, I paid close attention to the design of each product too, making sure that everything looked sleek and was truly well made.
I've heard that you had a wide range of interests in school—literature, philosophy, and music. FAYE MOSS:
How did you become interested in technology?
STEVE JOBS:
Even in the 1960s, Silicon Valley was a big technology center.
The Hewlett-Packard Company was already there making electronic devices.
Plus, I went to school with kids whose parents were engineers, and my friends were really into electronics.
Do you know Steve Wozniak, who—
Of course, I know Woz. He was your co-founder at Apple, right? FAYE MOSS:
Yes, but that came later. STEVE JOBS:
Woz was already a genius when it came to electronics, and the two of us liked playing pranks.
Once Woz made a device that interrupted TV signals, which used to frustrate people so much!
Eventually we figured out how to make a blue box too.
This tricked phone lines into making expensive long-distance calls for free, illegally.
Those devices sound pretty complicated. FAYE MOSS:
How old were you at the time?
I was in my senior year of high school. STEVE JOBS:
After high school, I tried going to college but dropped out after a semester.
I didn't like taking the required courses.
Eventually I moved back home and got a job at a video game company.
I also joined a club with Woz for computer hobbyists.
By now Woz had designed his own computer, and I realized it could sell really well.
This machine became the Apple I, and in 1976 we founded the Apple Computer Company in my parents' garage.
We made two hundred Apple I computers and sold most of them within ten months.
What was special about the Apple I? FAYE MOSS:
I mean, it doesn't look anything like a computer. Where's the monitor?
Actually, no computers at the time had monitors, as you know them today. STEVE JOBS:
With our Apple I, we just sold the computer, and people could use their own TVs for monitors.
Soon Woz started working on the Apple II.
The Apple II was one of the first home computers, and when we started selling it, our company took off.
In the early 80s, I developed the Macintosh, a great new computer that showed pictures onscreen and used a mouse.
This technology was all pretty new at the time.
I bet it was a huge success! FAYE MOSS:
It wasn't a failure, but it wasn't the success we had hoped for. STEVE JOBS:
By then other computers were available, and Apple lost its share of the market to competitors.
The board of directors had grown unhappy with my performance as well.
I left Apple and started another company called NeXT.
Wow. How did it feel to leave Apple—a company that you founded? FAYE MOSS:
You must have felt angry and betrayed.
I was upset but later realized that I benefited from the change. STEVE JOBS:
I was young when Apple started, and I became rich and famous quickly—too quickly.
At NeXT I was able to start over, learn new lessons, and make new mistakes.
Meanwhile the NeXT computers were too expensive, but the technology was exciting, and we were developing software that Apple wanted.
So Apple bought NeXT, and soon I was back at Apple.
FAYE MOSS:
Apple wasn't very profitable when you returned in 1997.
In fact, many people were expecting it to shut down.
But it grew into one of the most successful companies in the world.
How did you ever turn things around?
When I went back to Apple, the company was working on a lot of different projects. STEVE JOBS:
There wasn't much focus or vision. I decided we should work on a few core projects that we could do well.
In 1997 only 37 percent of households in the US had a computer.
There was also a new technology called the internet.
How could we make both computers and the internet easier for people to use?
In 1998 we released our answer to that question:
the iMac.
It was an all-in-one computer, ready to use almost right out of the box.
And it had a friendly design that made technology less scary for many people.
Within five months we sold 800,000 of them, and 32 percent of those buyers were purchasing a computer for the first time.
Obviously, your early work at Apple was ahead of its time. FAYE MOSS:
But by the 2000s, you were in the right place at the right time, producing innovative new products.
And now people like me can't imagine life without them.
Thank you for being here, Steve. We'll let you get back to history now.
Good-bye! STEVE JOBS:
And thank you, everyone, for watching my exclusive interview with Steve Jobs. FAYE MOSS:
you
As you might know, the last major product he launched at Apple was the iPad in 2010.
He had cancer at the time, but he kept on working.
Finally he became too ill to work and resigned from his day-to-day duties in 2011.
Sadly, Steve Jobs died on October 5 of that year.
He was only 56 years old, but he certainly made a huge impact on technology, as well as our everyday lives.
That's all for today, but I'll be back soon with another exciting interview.
You've been watching Faye Moss, the talk show host with exclusive access to history's biggest stars!