Steve Jobs 1990: The Visionary Blueprint
In this rare 1990 interview, Steve Jobs articulates his philosophy of computers as tools that amplify human capability, traces the personal computer revolution from hobbyist clubs to mainstream adoption, and previews the networked, collaborative computing era he believes will define the 1990s. He discusses the Macintosh's design philosophy, the role of user interface, and NeXT's vision for powerful, interconnected machines.
Computers as Tools: The Bicycle of the Mind
Humans as Tool Builders
Jobs recounts reading a Scientific American article at age 12 comparing locomotion efficiency across species. While the Condor ranked first and humans ranked only a third of the way down, a human on a bicycle surpassed all species. This insight shaped his belief that computers are tools that amplify human abilities to spectacular magnitudes.
Computer as Bicycle of the Mind
Jobs defines the computer as a bicycle of the mind—a tool that takes humans far beyond their inherent abilities. He believes we are still in the very early stages of this tool's development, with far more transformative potential ahead.
The Two Major Revolutions in Computing
Spreadsheet Revolution (1977-1982)
The first major explosion in the desktop industry was the spreadsheet. VisiCalc (1977) drove the Apple II's success, and Lotus 1-2-3 (1982) propelled the IBM PC to prominence. These applications transformed financial modeling and gave ordinary people powerful computational tools.
Desktop Publishing Revolution (1985)
The second major explosion occurred in 1985 with the Macintosh and LaserWriter printer. For the first time, individuals could perform on their desktops tasks that previously only typesetters and professional printers could do, democratizing publishing.
Third Revolution: Interpersonal Computing
Jobs predicts the third major revolution will revolutionize human-to-human communication and group work using networked desktop computers, just as spreadsheets revolutionized financial planning and desktop publishing revolutionized publishing. This interpersonal computing will enable organizations to reorganize electronically and adapt rapidly to changing business conditions.
The Personal Computer Revolution
Early Computer Exposure
Jobs first encountered a computer at age 12 via a NASA terminal with time-sharing access. Around 1968-1969, he saw the Hewlett-Packard 9100A, one of the first desktop computers ever made, and spent every spare moment writing programs for it. This early exposure shaped his perspective on computing.
From Mainframes to Personal Computers
The computing landscape shifted from centralized mainframe power to distributed personal computing. Jobs notes that today there is three to five times as much computing power at the fringe (individual machines) than in the center, fundamentally changing how people interact with technology.
The Automobile Analogy
Jobs compares the personal computer revolution to the shift from passenger trains to automobiles. Just as cars gave personal freedom of transportation, personal computers gave individuals the ability to use computing power without needing organizational approval, allowing millions to experience computers decades earlier than they would have under the mainframe model.
The Homebrew Computer Club and Apple's Origins
Microprocessor Misunderstood
Intel designed the microprocessor for calculators and did not initially recognize it as a computer. It was the hobbyist community—particularly the Homebrew Computer Club at Stanford—that first understood the microprocessor could be the foundation of a personal computer, not a calculator.
The Homebrew Computer Club
The Homebrew Computer Club was the first gathering of computer hobbyists in the country. It was a dynamic beehive where breakthroughs happened monthly, with members sharing projects and ideas. BYTE magazine later enabled national communication among hobbyists.
Apple's Founding Philosophy
When Jobs and Wozniak started Apple, they were not trying to build a company—they simply wanted to build computers for their friends. They had previously pitched their early prototypes to both Atari and Hewlett-Packard, but were rejected by both. Starting a company was the only alternative left.
The Blue Box Project
Before building computers, Jobs and Wozniak collaborated on building blue boxes—devices that made free telephone calls. They built what they considered the best blue box in the world, which was entirely digital. This project demonstrated their collaborative engineering spirit.
Apple II: Design Decisions and Market Impact
Fully Assembled vs. Kit Computers
Apple made a critical decision to sell the Apple II fully assembled rather than as a kit, even though competitors offered kits. Jobs observed that for every hardware hobbyist capable of building a kit, there were roughly 1,000 potential software hobbyists. By eliminating the hardware assembly barrier, Apple reached a vastly larger market.
Memory and Performance Advantages
The Apple II could hold up to 48 kilobytes of memory—roughly three times more than competitors. This design decision enabled VisiCalc to run on the Apple II when no other computer could hold it. Jobs credits this and similar design decisions as crucial to Apple II's competitive success.
Floppy Disk Drive Innovation
Apple was the first company to offer a reliable, inexpensive floppy disk drive—two to three years before competitors. This was crucial to the Apple II's success and gave it a significant technical advantage in the market.
Atlantic City vs. West Coast Computer Fairs
The first personal computer show was held in Atlantic City in 1976 in a basement so hot it was like a steam bath, with only a few hundred hobbyists. Nine months later, the West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco was much more professional and attracted approximately 13,000 people. Apple introduced the Apple II at the West Coast fair, where it was a major hit.
The Macintosh and User Interface Philosophy
Xerox Alto and the Graphical Interface
In 1979, Jobs visited Xerox PARC and saw their research into larger screens, proportionally spaced text, and the mouse. He immediately recognized this was the future direction for computing. However, Xerox was focused on research 15 years out rather than building commercial products, leaving many issues unsolved like menus. Apple's challenge was to complete the research and implement it at a cost people would pay.
The Computer for the Rest of Us
The Macintosh was designed as a computer for people who want to use a computer rather than learn how to use one. Jobs emphasizes that the computer is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Most people don't want to learn computer mechanics; they want to accomplish tasks.
Paradox of Ease of Use
To make a computer easier to use requires a more powerful computer in the first place, because significant processing cycles must be devoted to the user interface. The Macintosh was therefore more powerful than less user-friendly competitors, though this paradox took people years to understand.
Art and Science in Design
The Macintosh was created by people who rejected the strict division between science and art. They believed mathematics is a liberal art and integrated typography, English-language communication, and visual metaphors into computers. At the time, this was cataclysmic; looking back five years later, it seemed trivial.
The Desktop Metaphor
Jobs humorously describes how a young girl encountering a command prompt asks her father where her desktop is—where's the metaphor? The adoption of the desktop metaphor fundamentally changed how people interact with computers, making them more intuitive.
Macintosh Launch and Emotional Impact
At the shareholders meeting where the Macintosh was introduced, approximately 100-150 people who built it sat in the front rows. When the computer was unveiled and gave its own introduction, the entire auditorium of 2,500 people gave a standing ovation. The Mac team members cried because from that moment forward, the product belonged to the world and could no longer be changed.
The NeXT Vision and Interpersonal Computing
NeXT's Computing Power
NeXT provides an order of magnitude more computing power than personal computers because people need to do many things simultaneously and require true multitasking. The company observed that the technology to build sophisticated networking had become available and created a software system approximately 10 times more powerful than PC software that could be developed in one-fourth the time.
NeXT's Three Breakthroughs
NeXT achieved three major breakthroughs: (1) providing much more powerful computing at roughly the same price as a PC, (2) integrating networking into the computer to enable interpersonal computing, and (3) creating a new software architecture from scratch that enables applications to be built in 25% of the time compared to PC development.
Platform Software as Foundation
Jobs explains that successful desktop computing platforms are rare. Only three have succeeded: Apple II's platform, IBM PC, and Macintosh. NeXT is attempting to create the fourth platform. The height that new applications can reach is enabled or limited by the platform software itself.
Interpersonal Computing at NeXT
NeXT deployed NeXT machines to every employee's desktop about 18 months prior to this interview, connected via high-speed networking. Jobs observed a revolution larger than the first two (spreadsheet and desktop publishing). Teams create shared mailboxes for projects, with members from different departments and locations receiving 30 messages per day and spending 20-30 minutes daily reading and responding. This reduced meetings by at least 50%, increased participation in decisions, and improved decision quality.
Management Through Visibility
Jobs describes how managers can observe the thoughts, disagreements, and decisions of their organization by being part of project mailboxes. This provides a window into the organism of the company in a way previously impossible, enabling better coaching and oversight without requiring constant meetings.
The Future of Computing: Standalone and Networked
Seamless Docking Between Standalone and Network
Jobs envisions computers that seamlessly transition between standalone operation and network connection. While fiber optics and radio links will enable home networking, people will always want the ability to disconnect and take their computer to remote locations like cabins. The goal for the next five years is enabling this fluid transition without losing data or functionality.
Network as Home Computer Driver
Jobs predicts an interesting paradox: the network itself—not local storage or other features—will ultimately drive adoption of home computers. Being part of a network community and the inability to stay disconnected will motivate people to have computers in every house, just as telephones are ubiquitous.
Computers as Computers, Not Convergence Devices
Jobs argues that computers will remain computers, not converge into televisions or radios. While multimedia capabilities will be integrated, computers will have their own distinct purpose, just as phones are not televisions and toasters are not radios. Multimedia is a means to better communication and training, not an end in itself.
Manufacturing and Competition
Automation for Quality and Speed
Jobs explains that NeXT's highly automated factory is not primarily designed to lower costs but to increase quality and reduce time to market. In a technology-based marketplace, speed and quality are critical. NeXT is already the lowest-cost producer in its class while maintaining high quality—both essential for competing with Europe Inc., Japan Inc., and IBM Inc. in the 1990s.
Education and Computer Adoption
Higher Education Leading the Way
Higher education has been on computer networks longer than almost any other sector. DARPA funded ARPANET for military purposes, then gave it to universities to test and improve. Universities created a separate educational version that has tied together the research community for about a decade and is vital to higher education. Higher education is about five years ahead of business in using computers in powerful new ways.
K-12 Education Challenges
Computer use in K-12 has been primarily Apple IIs, with slower-than-desired migration to Macintosh. The primary purpose has been computer literacy, but a major bottleneck is the lack of sophisticated courseware. This is identified as a significant problem for K-12 education overall.
Generational Adoption Through Education
Jobs argues that the best way to drive computer adoption in society is through the educational system. As generations of people who grew up with computers enter the workforce, computer literacy becomes second nature. Just as people who don't drive are now rare, people who don't use computers will become rare as the generational wheel turns.
Thinking, Doing, and Innovation
Doers Are the Major Thinkers
Jobs observes that the people who create transformative things in the computer industry are both thinkers and doers in one person. He uses Leonardo da Vinci as an example—Leonardo was an artist but also mixed his own paints, understood chemistry and pigments, and knew human anatomy. The combination of art and science, thinking and doing, produces exceptional results.
Thinking vs. Doing Credit
It is easy for people to claim they thought of something years ago, but when examined closely, the people who really made contributions were also the people who worked through the hard intellectual problems. Doing is more concrete than thinking, and true innovation requires both.
Market Research Limitations
Market Research for Incremental Improvement
Market research can tell you what customers think of something you show them or what incremental improvements they want. However, it rarely helps predict non-incremental jumps—things customers don't even know they want yet. No market research could have led to the development of the Macintosh or personal computer.
Verification After Innovation
Once a non-incremental innovation is made, market research becomes valuable for verification. Before or after a product launches, checking instincts with the marketplace confirms whether you're on the right track.
Early Market Research at Homebrew Club
In Apple's early days, market research was simple—Jobs could go to Homebrew Computer Club meetings and see his entire market. He could show them products, get feedback, and because products were simpler then, change them completely within a few months and return with something new.
Notable quotes
A computer has always been a bicycle of the mind. — Steve Jobs
The whole idea of the Macintosh was a computer for people who want to use a computer rather than learn how to use a computer. — Steve Jobs
The doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create things are both the thinker and the doer in one person. — Steve Jobs