Steve Jobs Ponders His Legacy In Never-Before-Seen 1994 Video

MacRumors · Jun 18, 2013

EverySteveJobsVideo (via The Loop) today released a never-before-seen video of Steve Jobs in 1994, while he was at NeXT, pondering his legacy in the personal computer field and whether he thought he would be remembered for his work in the future.

While Jobs is primarily talking about his accomplishments with Macintosh and personal computing, his thoughts could easily translate to iPhone, iPod and iPad as well.

The video was provided by the Silicon Valley Historical Association and is a clip from a 60-minute documentary built around a 20-minute interview they had with Jobs back in 1994. The film, called "Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur" focuses on Jobs giving advice to young entrepreneurs:

Steve Jobs was asked to give advice to young entrepreneurs who wanted to go out and start their own businesses. He talks about risk and the willingness to fail, the role of building illegal blue boxes prior to founding Apple Computer, and his philosophy on how to approach life.

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, who hired Jobs to work at Atari, is also present in the full documentary and talks about both Jobs and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

"Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur" is available on the Silicon Valley Historical Association's website as a $14.99 download, a $24.99 DVD or a $4.99 audio track.

Article Link: Steve Jobs Ponders His Legacy In Never-Before-Seen 1994 Video

Jaredly · Jun 18, 2013

Jobs would be happy to know that the apple 1 is considered a piece of art and that somebody bought it for some obnoxious price (I forgot the exact amount).

GeekLawyer · Jun 18, 2013

Absolutely fascinating.

I may have to get a copy of this documentary/interview.

bacaramac · Jun 18, 2013

I wonder how many people in history have the logical insight that jobs had on technology. It's weird how you can watch a 20 year old clip and it still be relevant. This isn't the first clip where Jobs' statements have remained relevant years later.

unlimitedx · Jun 18, 2013

You will always be remembered for your vision and work, Steve!

cualexander · Jun 18, 2013

Interesting how he was incorrect though. In another 4 years, the original iPhone will be 10 years old, and while he was correct that it is not usable anymore, it will still go down in history as the phone that started the smartphone revolution. The same way the iPad revitalized the tablet market and the iPod revolutionized the portable music market.

iPadPublisher · Jun 18, 2013

I've heard that Steve was pretty amazing with analogies that would help you understand what he's saying... this sure is a good example of that.

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cualexander said:
Interesting how he was incorrect though. In another 4 years, the original iPhone will be 10 years old, and while he was correct that it is not usable anymore, it will still go down in history as the phone that started the smartphone revolution. The same way the iPad revitalized the tablet market and the iPod revolutionized the portable music market.

But I think that was his point exactly... he built the first major layer of "Smart Phone Mountain" but already his own company, and others, have contributed their layers on top, and that initial piece, anyway, isn't seen or used by anyone... he wasn't saying that it wouldn't be remembered or go down in history for its worth, but more that because the technology moves so quickly, the iPhone 1 is but a distant memory already, not even ten years later. Where an architect can be remembered for his amazing church for hundreds of years later, because it still stands, and is still a church to this day. :apple:

TMar · Jun 18, 2013

cualexander said:
Interesting how he was incorrect though. In another 4 years, the original iPhone will be 10 years old, and while he was correct that it is not usable anymore, it will still go down in history as the phone that started the smartphone revolution. The same way the iPad revitalized the tablet market and the iPod revolutionized the portable music market.

No it will not. Not outside the extremest Apple fan base. People in 30 years aren't going to look back with fawn memories of the original iphone. Old technology is lost on all the the geekiest of people.

cualexander · Jun 18, 2013

TMar said:
No it will not. Not outside the extremest Apple fan base. People in 30 years aren't going to look back with fawn memories of the original iphone. Old technology is lost on all the the geekiest of people.

I disagree. I think he's correct that most people in the tech industry won't be remembered, but love him or hate him, Steve Jobs has left a remarkable legacy for the world in general. The original Mac is almost 30 and people still remember it.

TMar · Jun 18, 2013

cualexander said:
I disagree. I think he's correct that most people in the tech industry won't be remembered, but love him or hate him, Steve Jobs has left a remarkable legacy for the world in general. The original Mac is almost 30 and people still remember it.

So most people remember the original mac? Again most people not just tech junkies. Plus we are not talking about people in tech being remember but the tech itself.

cualexander · Jun 18, 2013

TMar said:
So most people remember the original mac? Again most people not just tech junkies. Plus we are not talking about people in tech being remember but the tech itself.

I would say so. I personally grew up in school with early macs as the only computer. I guess it's different for different generations. But my overall point is that his personal legacy is much bigger than he made it out to be.

pgiguere1 · Jun 18, 2013

Reminded me of that meme

tbobmccoy · Jun 18, 2013

I still use my iphone original generation... Every time I sell my most recent iphone to upgrade, I'm on my old school iphone for a short amount of time

AlBDamned · Jun 18, 2013

TMar said:
So most people remember the original mac? Again most people not just tech junkies. Plus we are not talking about people in tech being remember but the tech itself.

I think you have a fairly narrow view of things.

A lot of people don't remember the original Apple 1 or Macintosh because it wasn't of relevance in their lifetime (1977...). However, when you speak to a lot of people who like technology, and that's not just uber geeks these days, about things that started major technology revolutions - PCs, the first mobiles, the first tablets etc - people are interested, do like talking about it etc. The first iPhone will go down in history as a pivotal point in technology, telco and cultural history. Sure it will seem archaic in 10-20 years, but it won't be forgotten, nor will people dismiss its relevance. It was huge, it remains huge 6 years later.

TMar · Jun 18, 2013

cualexander said:
I would say so. I personally grew up in school with early macs as the only computer. I guess it's different for different generations. But my overall point is that his personal legacy is much bigger than he made it out to be.

As did I but if you were to ask a large group of people to give you even one spec off it MOST would not know even that. It's our generation where most people might know it but my much older or younger cousins probably don't. That was kinda his point from the clip was that technology doesn't age gracefully. There's not going to be a museum of technology that MOST people are going to want to travel to see.

When everyone is dead and gone that was alive when the iphone launched, the remaining people are not going to be that interested in it. He will be remember for this contribution, his contributions will not be remember because they don't stand the test of time, that was his point.

cualexander · Jun 18, 2013

TMar said:
As did I but if you were to ask a large group of people to give you even one spec off it MOST would not know even that. It's our generation where most people might know it but my much older or younger cousins probably don't. That was kinda his point from the clip was that technology doesn't age gracefully. There's not going to be a museum of technology that MOST people are going to want to travel to see.

When everyone is dead and gone that was alive when the iphone launched, the remaining people are not going to be that interested in it. He will be remember for this contribution, his contributions will not be remember because they don't stand the test of time, that was his point.

http://techland.time.com/2011/10/11/apple-products-at-the-smithsonian/

I rest my case.

TMar · Jun 18, 2013

AlBDamned said:
I think you have a fairly narrow view of things.

A lot of people don't remember the original Apple 1 or Macintosh because it wasn't of relevance in their lifetime (1977...). However, when you speak to a lot of people who like technology, and that's not just uber geeks these days, about things that started major technology revolutions - PCs, the first mobiles, the first tablets etc - people are interested, do like talking about it etc. The first iPhone will go down in history as a pivotal point in technology, telco and cultural history. Sure it will seem archaic in 10-20 years, but it won't be forgotten, nor will people dismiss its relevance. It was huge, it remains huge 6 years later.

Again not my point of view per se but what his point in the clip was. The first HDD was huge, first use of the WWW was huge but again MOST people don't know or really care about the details of it. His point in the clip is most people will not glare at a phone 200 years later with awe like they would a piece of art.

So if you think I have a narrow view of things, then you believe SJ does too because I'm just agreeing with him.

dec. · Jun 18, 2013

cualexander said:
http://techland.time.com/2011/10/11/apple-products-at-the-smithsonian/

I rest my case.

I'll add a

http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=22559

TMar · Jun 18, 2013

cualexander said:
http://techland.time.com/2011/10/11/apple-products-at-the-smithsonian/

I rest my case.

Kind of a week point to rest on. Again MOST people are not that interested in it. Never did I say that nobody was interested in it. They have always had old technology, from Edison to IBM to Motorola and people will look at them. It doesn't mean people at any real interest in it.

cualexander · Jun 18, 2013

TMar said:
Kind of a week point to rest on. Again MOST people are not that interested in it. Never did I say that nobody was interested in it. They have always had old technology, from Edison to IBM to Motorola and people will look at them. It doesn't mean people at any real interest in it.

Apple is not MOST technology. The whole point of Apple is bringing tech to the masses, there are 400 million iOS devices sold. That's not insignificant.

EDIT: 600 million. I was watching an old keynote the other day.

kbfr08 · Jun 18, 2013

Never before seen? I guess that's true if you've never seen it, but the SVHA has been selling the video for months now

wlow3 · Jun 18, 2013

Not a never-before-seen-video

Evidently this company marketed this before under the title "Steve Jobs - Secrets of Life." Under the new title it had been posted at Amazon and someone wrote a rather scathing review of it because Jobs only takes up about 15 minutes of the total runtime and the rest is filler, so buyer beware. You can find the interview part sans filler under the original title online (I'm not going to give a link because I don't want it taken down) and it shows probably the same 15 minutes worth of the Jobs part. Also know that mostly he does not say much that you have not already heard (blue box story, etc.) except that starting young is easier for an entrepreneur because you have less on balance to risk and that you have to be willing to fail and you have to be willing to pick up the phone and ask for what you need of people (i.e., cold call).

TMar · Jun 18, 2013

cualexander said:
Apple is not MOST technology. The whole point of Apple is bringing tech to the masses, there are 400 million iOS devices sold. That's not insignificant.

EDIT: 600 million. I was watching an old keynote the other day.

Depending on where you get you statistics the was over 1 billion computers in use at the end of 2008.

I believe this conversation has come to and end with you believing that Apple's technology is somehow more valuable that any other in the world just because it.. has a fruit on it? Your fanboyism is hanging out, please put it away. Apple doesn't posses breathtakingly head of the pack technology, the brand following by the masses is a fad. The things with fads is that they fade overtime and Apple will be back to being just another tech company just like the rest.

kalsta · Jun 18, 2013

Interesting clip! But then again, I don't remember seeing a clip of jobs speaking that wasn't interesting.

What jumps out to me here is how little nostalgia Jobs shows for his past achievements, looking back at the Macintosh (which was his baby project). I suppose his unceremonious departure from Apple might have something to do with that, but I think that was also part of his personality and a factor in his successhis ability to leave the past behind and focus on the next great thing.

Little did he know that in two or three years his NeXTSTEP OS was about to breathe new life into the Macintosh brand!

cualexander · Jun 18, 2013

TMar said:
Depending on where you get you statistics the was over 1 billion computers in use at the end of 2008.

I believe this conversation has come to and end with you believing that Apple's technology is somehow more valuable that any other in the world just because it.. has a fruit on it? Your fanboyism is hanging out, please put it away. Apple doesn't posses breathtakingly head of the pack technology, the brand following by the masses is a fad. The things with fads is that they fade overtime and Apple will be back to being just another tech company just like the rest.

Yeah, they are pretty insignificant. They are only the second largest information technology company in the world...That's not fanboyism, it's fact. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_information_technology_companies

Samsung beat them, but go ahead and try to get ANYONE on the street to tell you who founded Samsung. This is a pointless conversation because the facts stand behind me.

Steve Jobs Ponders His Legacy In Never-Before-Seen 1994 Video

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