Steve Jobs on Computers as a New Medium (1983)
At 28, Jobs frames personal computers as a revolutionary medium of communication—like the shift from radio to television—and argues that design, education, and software distribution will determine whether this technology elevates or degrades society. He unveils Apple's long-term vision: shrinking powerful computers from $10,000 (Lisa) to under $1,000 within five to seven years, and calls on designers to help make computers beautiful rather than garbage.
What Is a Computer?
Computers are a new type of machine
Computers replace mechanical gears and pistons with electrons moving at high speed. The challenge is that electrons are invisible and billions operate in tiny spaces, making computers feel intimidating even though they execute only simple, mundane instructions (fetch data, add numbers, test conditions) at extraordinary speed.
Computers are exceptionally adaptive
Like the human brain, computers can reroute electrons differently based on the results of previous operations, allowing them to respond dynamically to changing conditions and learn from feedback.
Computing is a young field dominated by young people
The computer was invented in 1947; the first university degree in computer science was awarded in 1968 (UC Berkeley master's degree), making the oldest computer scientist only 39 years old in 1983. Apple's average professional age is under 30.
Speed creates the illusion of magic
Computers execute trivial instructions (move, grab, return) so quickly—about a million instructions per second—that the result appears magical, even though each step is elementary. The same principle applies to how humans build higher-level abstractions (e.g., 'get flowers') from simple commands.
The History and Revolution of Personal Computing
Electric motors show the path personal computers follow
Large electric motors (late 1800s) were only cost-justified for big applications. Shared motors via belts and pulleys (medium-scale) expanded use. The fractional-horsepower motor brought power directly to individual tasks, proliferating widely. Personal computers follow the same arc: mainframes → time-sharing → microprocessors.
Apple's competitive advantage: fractional-horsepower computing
Apple exists because it achieved personal computing—a computer on a chip surrounded by necessary peripherals—five years before competitors. The 13-pound Apple computer was so unfamiliar that people initially mistook it for a terminal, not realizing it was the entire computer.
Personal computer market explosion
The personal computer industry shipped over 3 million units in 1983 alone. By 1986, the industry will ship more computers than automobiles in the United States—a massive market inflection point.
Design is critical but neglected in computing
Most great product designers work on automobiles and buildings, not computers. Yet computers will soon occupy every workplace, school, and home—and people will spend 2–3 hours daily with them, more than with cars. Whether these machines are beautiful or garbage will shape society, and it costs no more to design them well.
America is losing industrial design leadership
Most consumer products—automobiles, televisions, cameras, watches, bicycles, calculators—are no longer designed in America but in Europe and Japan. Computing is a rare opportunity to reclaim design leadership and communicate something meaningful through the objects themselves.
Computers as a New Medium of Communication
Personal computers are a medium, like books, radio, and television
Each medium has unique boundaries and opportunities. Crucially, each medium shapes not just the content but the process of communication itself. For example, telephone requires both parties present simultaneously; electronic mail allows asynchronous, location-independent exchange.
New media recapitulate old-media habits before evolving
Early television was radio with a camera pointed at it. It took the 1950s to understand television as its own medium; the JFK funeral (1963) and Apollo landing showed what was uniquely possible. Videodisc technology is currently used for movies (old habit) but will evolve into interactive experiences over 5–10 years.
Aspen interactive videodisc experiment demonstrates future potential
MIT created an electronic map of Aspen using a camera truck and videodisc. Users can walk through streets on screen, choose directions, enter shops, and switch between four seasons. It's not yet practical but shows the interactive, exploratory nature of the medium emerging from passive movie-watching.
Personal computers are in the 'I Love Lucy' stage of development
Computers are still running old-media tasks: COBOL, business accounting. Only in the last four years have they begun breaking out into new possibilities (graphics, drawing, document creation). Society and computers are on a 'first date' in the 1980s; the next 15 years will determine whether this relationship is great or mediocre.
Lisa and the Democratization of Creative Tools
Lisa enables non-artists to create and manipulate graphics
Lisa Draw lets anyone (even without artistic talent) create drawings, erase, move, resize, and texture elements. Users can combine pictures and text, then send finished work via electronic mail. This breaks the barrier between professionals and amateurs.
Typography and graphics are foundational to computing's future
Previous computers used non-proportional fonts (all characters equally wide) and could not embed graphics with text. Lisa features proportionally spaced text, 30–40 fonts at ~80 dpi on screen and ~300 dpi on laser printers. The goal is 600–800 dpi, injecting 'liberal arts' into computers so users can work with pictures, not just text.
Within 3–4 years, college students will expect computers for writing
Just as calculators are now standard in science classes, computers will become the default tool for writing papers. The goal is for users to think, 'Wasn't this the way it always was?'—seamless integration into daily life.
Computer Programs as Archetypal Experiences
Computer programs capture underlying principles, not just experiences
Television programming records and recreates specific experiences (e.g., JFK funeral). Computer programs encode the underlying principles that generate infinite variations. Pong follows laws of gravity and angular momentum; no two games are identical, yet all obey the same rules.
Hamurabi teaches macroeconomic principles through play
Seven-year-olds play Hamurabi, managing a kingdom's wheat, land, and population for ten years. Decisions about planting, feeding, and buying land have cascading consequences (starvation, immigration, crop failure from rats). It's a crude but interactive learning model that no previous generation experienced.
Future: capturing the wisdom of great thinkers in interactive form
If we can encode the underlying principles of how Aristotle or Plato thought, future generations could interact with a machine and ask, 'What would Aristotle say about this?' We might not get the right answer, but the possibility is profound.
Networking and the Future of Connected Computers
Personal computers will eventually network like people do
Currently, computers are stand-alone. Within five years, office networking standards will evolve; within 10–15 years, home networking will follow. Computers speak different languages now, but the goal is seamless communication.
Xerox PARC's local area network spawned unexpected communities
When Xerox PARC connected 100 computers, distribution lists emerged for work topics (November forecast, new products). But users also created lists for volleyball games and Chinese cooking. Before long, there were more lists than people—showing how networking facilitates unexpected social bonds and special-interest communities.
Apple's vision: portable computer with radio link
Apple's strategy is to design a computer that fits in a book, is learnable in 20 minutes, and has a radio link (no wires). This is technically impossible now, so Apple is building Lisa ($10,000, fits in a breadbox) as a stepping stone. The roadmap: Lisa → shoebox-sized ($2,500) → book-sized (under $1,000) within 5–7 years.
Software Distribution and the 'Software Radio Station'
Too many software programs create decision paralysis
Apple II has ~20,000 programs; IBM PC has ~2,000. Buyers don't know which to choose, and dealers can't help. Compare this to record stores: people know exactly what they want because radio stations provide free sampling. Software needs a 'radio station' equivalent.
Future: transmit software over phone lines with free trials
Instead of packaging software on magnetic media and shipping via truck, software will transmit electronically over phone lines. Users can try 30 seconds, five screenshots, or a full day free before buying via credit card. This eliminates inventory costs and enables sampling.
Entrepreneurial opportunity: 10% market penetration yields millions
If a programmer writes real estate software for Apple II users (1 million installed base at $2,000 each), and sells it for $100 (dealer takes $50, cost $25), capturing just 10% of the market yields 100,000 copies × $25 profit = $2.5 million in year one. This requires under $10,000 in equipment.
Young entrepreneurs are already succeeding in software
A 13-year-old and his 14-year-old friend started Aristotle Software and were earning $4,000 per week selling three game programs—demonstrating that the barrier to entry is low and the market is hungry.
Design and User Interface Strategy
Make computers easier to use AND educate users gradually
Two parallel strategies: improve interface design (Lisa) and raise technical literacy over time. Just as people learned reverse Polish notation on HP calculators and complex watch functions, users will gradually understand computers. But we must stop educating people on 'garbage devices.'
Move away from programming toward generic templates
Most users don't want to program; they want to use. Strategy: write 90% of the program (word processor, database, spreadsheet), let users fill in the last 10%. Future: graphical programming (connecting dots) instead of text commands.
Voice recognition is a decade away
Voice recognition is possible now, but understanding language is much harder. Language is contextually driven; one word means different things in different contexts. Real conversation requires graceful interaction and level-of-detail negotiation. True voice interfaces need 10+ years of development.
Education and Social Responsibility
44% of new California jobs in the 1980s are high-tech
California's $300 billion economy depends on education infrastructure. The state is turning out nearly as many welders as computer scientists, yet welders have no jobs. Education is the biggest bottleneck to supporting high-tech growth.
Apple's 'Kids Can't Wait' program: one computer per California school
Apple proposed giving one free computer to every school in America (100,000 schools, ~$50 million cost). Congress rejected it (Bob Dole killed it), but California passed the same law. Apple is rolling out 10,000 computers to California schools, one per school, starting next month. This costs Apple 25% of its 1981 profits but exposes students to computing.
Information abundance without knowledge-distillation tools is useless
Society is drowning in data (congressional budgets, journal articles, books) but lacks tools to filter and synthesize it into actionable knowledge. Distributing personal computers with filtering and analysis tools is more important than worrying about centralized databases. Citizens need to understand congressional testimony on gun control, for example.
Retraining displaced workers is a critical but neglected challenge
Over half of GNP now comes from information businesses. Workers laid off from General Motors after 15 years on the assembly line cannot simply retrain as computer technicians. This retraining challenge is one of the biggest problems facing society and is not receiving enough attention.
Apple's Culture and Growth Strategy
Low turnover through stock ownership and shared mission
Apple's turnover is under 5% since inception. Every professional owns company stock, eliminating traditional labor-management barriers. No unions exist, but employees are united by economic incentive (stock appreciation) and deeper purpose: contributing to human experience.
Hire exceptional people who are better than the current role requires
Apple hires people overqualified for their current job so they're challenged within six months. This attracts independent thinkers and entrepreneurs. The company then gives them autonomy: 'Figure out what we need, come back and tell us, and go do it.'
Flat organizational structure: three layers of management
Apple maintains only three layers: president, division manager, then marketing/engineering manager. Even the Catholic Church (oldest large organization) has only four layers. Flat structure enables faster decision-making and keeps people connected to leadership.
Lisa represents a company-wide bet on the future
Apple gambled the entire company on Lisa. For 3.5 years, the best engineers worked on it with no backup plan. If it had failed, Apple would be just another computer company. The company hired top scientists from other firms who wanted to take risks; competitors wouldn't let them.
Computer people are artists, not nerds
Apple's engineers are creative, idiosyncratic, and fun—they play in punk rock bands, come in around 11 a.m., play Ping-Pong, work hard, play volleyball, have dinner, work until 2–3 a.m. They're closer to artists than to the 'computer nerd' stereotype.
Scale without losing culture: 5,000 people, under $1 billion revenue
Apple will cross $1 billion in sales with under 5,000 people worldwide (under 2,000 in manufacturing). This is phenomenal efficiency. The challenge is maintaining the culture of independent thinkers and preventing 'cover-your-ass mode' as the company grows.
Design and Advertising Investment
Apple and IBM will spend $100+ million on advertising in next 12 months
Apple alone will spend over $100 million on media advertising; IBM will spend at least as much. Combined, the industry generates tens of millions in brochures and posters—more than the auto industry. This advertising can be great or lousy; Jobs calls for designers' help.
Notable quotes
The computer will become the predominant medium of communication, just as television took over from radio. — Steve Jobs
It doesn't cost any more money to make it look great. We have a shot at putting a great object there, or one more piece-of-junk object. — Steve Jobs
We gambled the company on Lisa. If Lisa had bombed, Apple would be just one more computer company. — Steve Jobs