Steve Jobs 1990: The Computer as a Bicycle for the Mind
In this rare 1990 interview, Steve Jobs explains why computers matter as amplifiers of human ability, traces the personal computer revolution from hobbyists to the Macintosh, and previews the networked future of interpersonal computing and the NeXT machine.
The Computer as a Tool That Amplifies Human Ability
Bicycle of the Mind
Jobs compares computers to bicycles by referencing a Scientific American article measuring locomotion efficiency across species. The Condor was most efficient, humans ranked poorly—but a human on a bicycle surpassed all other creatures. Computers similarly amplify human capabilities to spectacular magnitudes, making them tools that extend our inherent abilities far beyond what we can do alone.
Early Stages of a Long Journey
Jobs emphasizes that despite enormous changes already visible, we are still in the very early stages of computing's potential. He predicts that what will happen in the next 100 years will dwarf what has already occurred, suggesting the technology is still in its formation phase.
Two Revolutions That Drove the Industry Forward
The Spreadsheet Explosion (1977–1982)
Jobs identifies the spreadsheet as the first major driver of personal computer adoption. VisiCalc (1977) propelled Apple to success; Lotus 1-2-3 (1982) did the same for the IBM PC. These applications gave non-technical users a compelling reason to buy computers.
Desktop Publishing Revolution (1985)
The second major explosion came with desktop publishing on the Macintosh and LaserWriter printer in 1985. For the first time, ordinary people could perform tasks previously reserved for typesetters and professional printers, democratizing publishing.
The Third Revolution: Interpersonal Computing and Networking
From Personal to Interpersonal Computing
Jobs identifies the emerging third revolution: using networked desktop computers to revolutionize human-to-human communication and group work, just as spreadsheets transformed financial planning and desktop publishing transformed publishing. This shift from isolated personal computers to connected collaborative systems will enable organizations to reorganize electronically in minutes rather than weeks.
Electronic Organization at NeXT
Jobs describes NeXT's implementation of interpersonal computing: teams create shared mailboxes for projects, with 20 people from different departments receiving 30 messages per day. This reduces meetings by 50%, increases decision-making participation, and gives managers visibility into organizational processes in real time.
Higher Education Leading the Way
Jobs notes that higher education has led business by about five years in using networked computers. DARPA's ARPANET, originally a military project, was given to universities for testing and evolved into a vital research network. This is why Apple initially focused on higher education—universities had the scale (5,000+ users on a network) that businesses lacked.
The Personal Computer Revolution: From Hobbyists to Mainstream
Hobbyists, Not Engineers, Saw the Computer Potential
Intel designed the microprocessor for calculators and didn't initially recognize it as a computer. It was the hobbyist community—gathered in clubs like the Homebrew Computer Club at Stanford—that first understood the microprocessor could be the heart of a personal computer. The hobbyists, not the semiconductor engineers, drove this conceptual leap.
Apple I and II: From Kit to Fully Assembled
Jobs and Wozniak made a crucial decision: unlike competitors, they offered the Apple I fully assembled rather than as a kit. The Apple II continued this approach. Jobs estimated that for every hardware hobbyist capable of building a kit, there were 1,000 potential software hobbyists who just wanted to use a computer. This design choice opened the market by an order of magnitude.
The Floppy Drive and Memory: Decisive Advantages
Apple's early success depended on two technical decisions: a reliable, inexpensive floppy drive (2–3 years ahead of competitors) and 48 kilobytes of memory (three times more than competitors). These advantages meant VisiCalc could only run on the Apple II, making it the killer app that drove adoption.
From Atlantic City to the West Coast Computer Fair
The first personal computer show was in Atlantic City in 1976, held in a basement so hot it was unbearable for more than 30 minutes. Nine months later, the West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco was far more professional, attracting 6,000–13,000 people and 100+ companies. This shows the rapid professionalization and growth of the industry.
The Macintosh: Designing for People, Not Experts
Computer for the Rest of Us
The Macintosh was designed for people who want to use a computer, not 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 care how it works; they care what it does. This philosophy drove the design of an intuitive graphical interface.
Xerox Park and the Graphical Interface
Jobs visited Xerox PARC in 1979 and saw the graphical user interface, larger screens, proportionally spaced text, and mouse—technologies invented by Doug Engelbart at SRI. It was instantly obvious this was the future. However, Xerox was focused on research 15 years out, not on building a product people could buy. Apple completed the research (only 50% done at Xerox) and solved the implementation challenge of making it affordable.
The Paradox of Ease: More Power Required
To make a computer easier to use, you need a more powerful computer because you burn many processing cycles on the user interface. The Macintosh was thus more powerful than less user-friendly competitors, yet 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 introduced typography, English-language interfaces, and visual metaphors (like the desktop) into computing. At the time, this was cataclysmic; looking back, it seems obvious. The integration of liberal arts and mathematics was central to the design philosophy.
Signing the Cases: Treating Engineers as Artists
Jobs had all Macintosh team members sign the cases because he considered them artists. In different times, these people would have been painters and poets, but computing is the new medium for creative expression. This gesture recognized their work as artistic contribution, not just engineering.
The NeXT Machine: The Fourth Platform Standard
Three Breakthroughs in NeXT Design
NeXT aims to deliver three key innovations: (1) much more powerful computing for about the same price as a PC, (2) integrated networking to enable interpersonal computing, and (3) a new software architecture from the ground up that lets developers build applications in 25% of the time required on a PC. Jobs spent four years with 50–100 of the best software engineers building this platform.
The Fourth Platform Standard
In the history of desktop computing, only three platform software standards have succeeded: the Apple II, the IBM PC, and the Macintosh. NeXT is attempting to create the fourth. The height that new applications can reach is limited by the platform software, so creating a new platform is essential for enabling a new generation of capabilities.
Seamless Docking and Undocking
NeXT's goal for the next five years is to enable seamless transition between standalone and networked computing. Users should be able to dock their computer into a network at home or office, but also undock and use it standalone—even in a cabin with no connectivity. This balance preserves personal freedom while enabling network collaboration.
Market Research, Innovation, and the Limits of Prediction
Market Research Cannot Predict Non-Incremental Jumps
Jobs argues that market research is useful for validating incremental improvements but cannot predict breakthrough innovations. No market research could have led to the Macintosh or personal computer in the first place. However, once a non-incremental jump is made, market research is valuable for checking instincts and verifying you're on the right track.
Doers Are the Major Thinkers
Jobs observes that the people who create transformative things in the industry are both thinkers and doers in one person. He uses Leonardo da Vinci as an example: Leonardo was the artist but also mixed his own paints, understood chemistry and pigments, and studied anatomy. The combination of art and science, thinking and doing, produces exceptional results. It is easy to claim credit for thinking, but the real innovators work through hard intellectual problems while also executing.
Adoption and the Role of Generational Change
Death as the Best Invention of Life
Jobs argues that the best way to change society is through the educational system, so new generations grow up with computers as second nature. As older generations who haven't adopted computers age and pass away, computer use becomes nearly universal—just as people who don't drive are now rare. This generational turnover is a harsh but effective mechanism for technology adoption.
K-12 Education Bottleneck
While higher education has embraced computers, K-12 has primarily used Apple IIs for computer literacy. The main bottleneck is the lack of sophisticated courseware. This represents a broader problem with the K-12 education system that extends beyond just computing.
The PC Revolution's Impact: Personal Freedom and Isolation
From Trains to Automobiles: Personal Freedom
The personal computer revolution is analogous to the shift from passenger trains to automobiles. Trains were centralized and efficient; automobiles gave individuals personal freedom of transportation. Similarly, mainframes were centralized; personal computers gave individuals the ability to use computers without convincing others they needed to. This allowed millions to experience computers decades earlier than they would have under the old paradigm.
The Paradox: Islands of Power
The biggest effect of the PC revolution has been to let millions experience computers and participate in controlling their own destiny. However, this has created a paradox: we now have very powerful tools, but we are still islands. The challenge of the next several years is to connect these powerful tools so we can rebuild a fabric of collaboration rather than isolated points of light.
Multimedia and the Future of Computing
Multimedia as a Means, Not an End
Many people mistake multimedia (integrating sound and video with computing) as the end goal, but Jobs sees it as a means. People won't buy computers for multimedia; they'll buy them for training or interpersonal communication. In that context, they'll want voice and video as additional channels for communication. The real market is improving communication and training, not multimedia for its own sake.
Computers Will Remain Computers
Jobs predicts that computers will not become televisions, radios, or stereos. Just as a phone is not a television and a toaster is not a radio, a computer will be a computer. It will have capabilities of other devices, but it will remain a distinct tool with its own purpose.
Building Apple and NeXT: From Friends to Company
Started to Build Computers for Friends, Not a Company
When Jobs and Wozniak started Apple, they had no intention of building a company. They approached Atari and Hewlett-Packard with early prototypes, hoping each company would hire them to do this work. Both turned them down, so they started a company as the only alternative left.
The Moment It Became Clear Something Big Was Happening
Jobs realized something very big was going to happen when he saw people who could never design a computer, never build a hardware kit, never assemble keyboards and monitors, and never write software using these machines successfully. When they reached the point where non-technical people could use and enjoy computers, he knew the potential was enormous.
Finding Key Partners: Regis McKenna and Mike Markkula
Jobs called Regis McKenna (Intel's advertising agency) after admiring their work. McKenna initially refused but eventually agreed to help. Jobs was introduced to venture capitalist Mike Markkula, who came on board around the time of the Apple II launch. These partnerships were crucial to Apple's success.
Manufacturing and Automation at NeXT
Automation for Quality and Speed, Not Just Cost
NeXT's highly automated factory is not primarily designed to lower costs (though it does). The real goals are to increase quality and reduce time to market, both critical in a technology-based marketplace. NeXT is already the lowest-cost producer in its class and one of the highest-quality producers, and automation helps maintain these advantages.
Competing with Corporations, Not Hobbyists
In the 1980s, Apple competed with other small companies. In the 1990s, NeXT must compete with Europe Inc., Japan Inc., and IBM Inc. To survive and prosper, companies must be world-class manufacturers. This requires automation, quality, and speed that only advanced manufacturing can provide.
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 people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person. — Steve Jobs