In 1995, Steve Jobs gave a rare interview to Robert Cringely for a PBS special called _Triumph of the Nerds _to talk about the genesis of the personal computer. Most of the hour-long interview had been cut down to a few minutes to use for the three-part special, and the original master tape was thought to have been lost after production. […]
During the interview, Jobs was “at his charismatic best—witty, outspoken, visionary,” according to Cringely. […]
To place the interview in context, it was taken about a year or so before Apple bought NeXT for its NextStep operating system, which became the basis for Mac OS X and later iOS. The acquisition also brought its estranged co-founder back to lead the company from near-bankruptcy to soaring profits and market share, with Apple becoming a leader in portable music players, notebook computers, smartphones, and tablets.
We watched the interview after it was posted to iTunes this week, and some readers wanted to know what kinds of things were included in the release. So here are a few of our favorite quotes and quips from the interview: [subheadings only]
- On the importance of the computer as a tool for advancing human abilities…
- On the importance of computer programming to cognitive ability…
- On the importance of having good product people running the company…
- On the importance of craftsmanship…
- On the importance of software to the computer industry from 1995 on…
- On the importance of the Web…
- On the importance of taste…