Brushes with Greatness Series: Steve Jobs by R. Cane

Steve Jobs was my term project.

Back in the 70's I decided to go back to College on the GI Bill. I was about 30-ish years old and it was a fun experience, even though I felt like the 'old man' of the school, This was softened by my life experiences, which were interesting fodder for my classmates, and I became a sort of 'go to' guy for many of life's mysterious questions.

I was taking a lot of 'elective' type courses to ease myself back into the hectic schedule and discipline of tackling college, and I must say I am proud of how well I did adjust to the fast paced and demanding routines of furthering my education.

After one semester, I needed a certain type of class to move to the next level, and the choices were not so great, as they mostly consisted of complex science or mathematics or other rigorous disciplines, but I noticed a class that would give me the proper credit I needed, and after meeting with the instructor to get a feel for how complex the material was, I found that it would an interesting and not overly taxing course.

It was called 'Future Studies', and was designed for us to explore all the myriad new technologies coming out in the mid 70's - and explore how they might affect our future. This was a broad enough topic, and with so many new and wondrous developments in so many fields coming out, this was a fascinating opportunity – interesting, challenging, and memorable too as I was to find out. I signed right up.

We covered many interesting topics in our weekly meetings, but early on we were assigned a term project – which was about 70% of our final grade. I explored many possibilities, but all the good topics had been taken, so I met with the instructor to see what else I might be able to cook up.

The instructor told me about a friend of hers, that was building a computer, and would I be interested in doing something about how computers might affect our life in the coming years? There were no personal computers in those days, and I was picturing a pipe smoking guy at IBM who was piecing together old military surplus at home to make a 'brainiac' type main frame. It seemed interesting and curious, so I accepted when she asked if I wanted her to make an introduction to her friend, and then explore what he was doing.

Now to recap the technology of the 70's, computers did not exist outside of IBM mainframes the size of living rooms themselves, or some geeky science clubs that built radio shack devices for who knows what reason. Vinyl records were the main form or music media, although small portable cassette tape units were just becoming popular. If you wanted to make a phone call, you 1) used your home phone, or 2) used a Pay Phone Booth. The concept of mobile phones was still science fiction of the sort -found in comics like Dick Tracey's 2-way wrist radio.... or Sci-Fi TV – like Star Trek 'communicators'. Stereo shops – to play the vinyl - were all the rage, where you could go buy monster home sound and speaker systems. Digital watches were expensive and new, and people worried about kids not knowing what 'clockwise' meant. There were no digital calculators. Mechanical 'adding machines' were the best you could do. Word processing was a typewriter. The world of the1970's was a far different landscape than what we know today – technologically speaking.

It was arranged that I would meet the guy making the computer, so I got his name and number. I called and he was very gracious, liked the idea of helping me on my term project and assured me that none of the other students would be able to out do his presentation. So I was invited to his home – a houseboat in Sausalito.

When I arrived for the appointment, I had to walk the dock and pier to get to the right houseboat, which had a kind of covered porch all around the outside. This porch area was loaded with many boxes of – yep – army surplus electronic wire harnesses, bits and parts of card readers, and tons of mystery electronical stuff... enough to make the most hard core techie feel like he had found the pot of gold by the rainbow. I thought – well here we go!

Steve came out to meet me, and when he saw I was interested in all the surplus electronic stuff, he laughed and explained that was just stuff he had been collecting and using for a long time for parts in his prototype and experiments. He was younger than me, and had a lanky frame with a bushy head of hair, mustache, and chin whiskers bordering on a beard. He was quite hairy then. He was smiling, and immediately warm and engaging.

He was very nice, and extremely patient with me. I told him that the idea of a 'home-computer' was a mystery to me, and quizzed him on what he was actually doing. He explained that he and his partner were devising a personal use 'micro-computer' and that would be what he would present to the class.

I was fascinated, but still did not have a good grasp of what he was making. I still had visions of a room full of mainframes.

He explained to me, that he did not have the working version or model to actually show me there at that moment, but he insisted over and over that I would immediately grasp what he was making when I could actually see it... but the only one available was the prototype which was still down by Stanford University. When I told him I was born at Stanford, and that my dad was a grad, that seemed to seal the connection and any doubts about me or my project. He was in.

He was patient and careful with his words, but he could see that I was struggling to grasp exactly what he was making. It definitely was not the main-frame thing, but I was unable to fully imagine what it was. He talked with his hands a lot ... showing me the shape of the unit and such.

He told me about all the possibilities the home computer would create for the world, and even in our first meeting, he was quite visionary about what his 'computers' would do for 'everyday folks'. He clearly was not designing for industry, but for the private home user. I asked him about who would buy or use them, and was curious how he was funding the production. He explained that he and his partner had borrowed some money from their folks and friends for the initial production run. He said 'everyone would be using a 'micro-computer' in the near future. This was the subject of my class. I was in!

As he walked me back to my car, he explained that he was writing the 'operating system' ... and I had to ask if that was like an instruction manual, and he grinned and had to explain that it was kinda what actually ran the machine. I had a vague image form of him at an IBM Selectric typewriter, banging off written instructions. I left with more knowledge than I had arrived with, but more confused and less sure about what he was creating.

We met and talked several more times to follow up - over the run of the semester, as I had to give progress reports about the status of my Term Project from time to time. Steve was very open and free with information, and answered any and all questions to explain as much as needed or I what I could absorb. By now the first machines were in production, and the first form fit molded plastic cases were being mass produced by a manufacturer. I was assured that the assembled unit was going to blow my mind, and be as beautiful and useful as promised. Up to this point he did not have any drawings, sketches of photos of the unit, so was left to my own imagination and the waving of his hands to make a picture of what was coming.

Well the first batch of cases and assembled guts did not fit together – the case was too small for the 'mother-board'. Steve was fit to be tied. There was nothing to do but get new cases made, since the hardware was all done. Back to square one on the cases, and a delay for the class presentation.

At this point though, I was running out of time to make the presentation. I called Steve several times pointing out my time crunch, and ever the trooper, he promised he would make the presentation – one way or another, but he REALLY wanted to show off the finished and complete first Apple Computer...in the case as promised. [First glimpse of the perfectionist?]

Alas, the semester was almost over, and finally I HAD to make the presentation. I told Steve that we just 'had' to do it... this was the last week of class and my semester grade was riding on this. He reluctantly agreed. He was expecting delivery of the new cases any day, but we were out of waiting time.

I went to pick him up, and we gathered up the proto-type Apple – at this point miscellaneous bits, bobs, n wires and lunked it all into two card board boxes. Everything was all just jumbled in ; wires, monitor, the keyboard and primitive mouse -- all jumbled into the open cardboard boxes. He was severely disappointed not to have the case – they were due any day. Oh well, and off we went to my class.

I vividly recall helping him carry the 2 boxes up the steps to the second floor class. Curiously, one of the other student presenters was arriving – riding on a recumbent bicycle – the kind where you literally lay down to ride - and Steve was just fascinated by it, and held the door so the guy could ride it in, and then he just continued up the stairs in front of us. I could tell Steven was clearly impressed, but he whispered to me that his presentation would still be a whole lot better than the bike!

We got to the class room , and he started to set up the gear ... monitor and keyboard, mouse and all the wires. Whilst he was doing all that, we heard all about the recumbent bicycle – built buy the student himself – and how it would become the next 'hot' cycling craze. He explained all the healthful and ergonomic reasons behind its design. He got a nice round of applause, and then it was time for Steve.

I made the introduction, and – typically he was wearing jeans and a tee shirt – he began explaining how he came up with the idea, what the general idea was, and how he saw computers in our future. He described how it would revolutionize home finance and budgets, accounting, planning and design – like CAD – he had lofty ideas that I suspect just kind of went over everyone’s head that day, but it was quite clear that he understood how these wires in the cardboard boxes were going to change the future! He was magnetic in his enthusiasm.

Needless to say – he was quite chagrined and frustrated to have had to schlepp it all into the class via two cardboard boxes. When it was set up, it looked like the open back of an old tube TV set – wires all helter-skelter, the keyboard and mouse – still everyone was rapt and fascinated.

He described the molded cases and how all that stuff would fit into a single unit, and this unit would then be able to sit in the kitchen, or home office, help with homework, games, writing and endless other ways our life would be eased by using it.

Remember there was no internet or email or texting yet, but he saw all of that somehow, and shared his vision of the computer driven future, and the vast interconnection it would bring. I think that day it was lost on the majority of us, and none of us thought - I'm sure – that we had just seen the tip of our future.

He ultimately was responsible for creating major chunks of that future, and that these exposed wires and chips we were looking at were the actual seed of all that coming change. It was not elegant or easy to follow. Sounded a lot like Sci-Fi stuff to most folks, and I think there was a feeling that it – at best – might be a fancy toy for the home. I recall the sense that no one –– really saw what Steve saw, and that it was hard to embrace it as more than a gimmick by and for geeks. I had discussed enough with Steve in the build up to the presentation, to have a better sense of what was coming, and how computers could be a wonderful tool – although it was clear these would be stand alone units in everyone’s home. I'm sure even Steven, was surprised when they all got connected by the internet. That's when the vision all came together. But I digress.

If you recall the original Apple computers when they came out – were sleek one unit design, akin to an electric typewriter... those were the missing cases still being re-made. He must've apologized a dozen times, about the roughness of the presentation prototype. Oddly enough, his presentation was remarkably quite similar to the ones we see on the news, where he gets a twinkle in his eye when he explains and displays the new gizmo. He was just like that. But Bushy haired and bearded.

He demonstrated 'Pong' and some other similar games – he predicted that games would be a mainstay of the 'home mini-computer', he fired up a calculator function and demonstrated that. He showed us some simple word processing and a few other things. Remember this was 1976. There were not yet pocket electronic calculators. We used slide rules then. Word processing was still a typewriter!

He took some questions, and it was clear that folks were intrigued and fascinated, but they were not fully grasping the potential, and were lost in the mechanics of how it worked, all the wires, the keyboard and mouse and the physical system, but Steve kept redirecting the conversation away from the 'wires' and mechanical stuff, to what it could potentially do, and all the unknown things that would yet come from it becoming an everyday 'home' tool.

He got a nice round of applause and we gathered up the first Apple back into the boxes, chatted a few folks who lingered with more questions. He was really pleased about how it went and the reaction, and it was clearly one of his first – if not the actual first – demo to strangers -- of the first Apple computer!

I drove him back to the houseboat, and thanked him profusely – I chatted him once or twice after that by phone, to tell him that 'we' got an A. He was quite pleased for me, and he invited me to come by and see the – finally arrived – new computer in the correct case. It was quite nice and very compact... well lets face it, it was beautiful. I was duly impressed, thanked him again. We made plans to meet again later, as I was interested greatly in the project for myself, but alas, as fate would have it we never met again. That was the last time I saw him in person.

Whenever I tell folks today that I knew Steve Jobs a little – 'back in the early days', I think they shine me on ... like, "yeah, right ... you knew Steve Jobs.. sure you did" ... but I really did.

This has always been a very cherished memory, and certainly one of my most important brushes with greatness. He was 'our generations' Leonardo da Vinci, and true visionary. I have often reflected on his 'predictions' that day, and how many have actually been realized.

When I look back on my many achievements and experiences in life, I have always been amazed at this encounter with Steve Jobs. I have had many brushes with the famous. This was an interaction with a visionary genius.

I saw on the news that people were using a new phrase... I join in... iSad.


[Editor's note: This story was written by R. Cane]

Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011)

First Apple Computer Ad

First Apple Computer





First Apple Motherboard