Former Apple Employee Rediscovers Photos from Steve Jobs' First Day Back at Apple

MacRumors · Mar 27, 2013, 07:09 PM

Former Apple employee Tim Holmes recently discovered a set of photographs taken on an Apple QuickTake camera -- one of the first digital cameras made -- from the night Steve Jobs returned to Apple after it purchased NeXT.

Holmes notes in the description that the colors are incorrect in the photos because of the poor quality of digital cameras in 1996, and that Jobs' jacket was actually black, not purple.

Quote:

Working late on a Friday on December 20th at Apple Computer as Mac OS Evangelist, my manager came rushing past my office door saying to come with him to Town Hall, Apple's theater for announcements, company meetings and the like. It was clearly not a company meeting...

Joining Jobs' in the image above was Satjiv Chahil, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing at the time.

Article Link: Former Apple Employee Rediscovers Photos from Steve Jobs' First Day Back at Apple

SamGabbay · Mar 27, 2013, 07:12 PM

Might as well be black & white....

WatchTheThrone · Mar 27, 2013, 07:17 PM

It was taken with an iPhone which gave it the infamous "purple hue"!!

John.B · Mar 27, 2013, 07:19 PM

From Tim Holmes' Flickr page:

Quote:

"I tend to take a camera everywhere, so I had my Apple QuickTake camera, which Steve Jobs killed within the year. The colors are way off due to the poor quality of digital cameras in 1996, Steve's jacket was black in real life."

Makes you wonder why Steve Jobs would kill off a digital camera that rendered black as a vivid shade of purple.

tevion5 · Mar 27, 2013, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamGabbay

Might as well be black & white....

...why?

LimeiBook86 · Mar 27, 2013, 07:19 PM

A the QuickTake... I admire him going through the trouble to download the photos off of the camera itself!

Andy-V · Mar 27, 2013, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tevion5

...why?

Because the colour is all wrong in the original. The B&W is far less garish and your head can fill in the right colours.

Macrolido · Mar 27, 2013, 07:24 PM

Gil Amelio on the right.

Arcady · Mar 27, 2013, 07:27 PM

I have a QuickTake camera, new in the box. I have no way to use it. Now I don't care if I can.

turtlez · Mar 27, 2013, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WatchTheThrone

It was taken with an iPhone which gave it the infamous "purple hue"!!

iPhone didn't exist back then. Screw Samsung.

mikeheenan · Mar 27, 2013, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcady

I have a QuickTake camera, new in the box. I have no way to use it. Now I don't care if I can.

Sell it on ebay or something... some fanboy collector (I don't mean that in a bad way) would buy it I'm sure.

chumawumba · Mar 27, 2013, 07:33 PM

At least he has hair

John.B · Mar 27, 2013, 07:37 PM

For anyone else old enough to remember, the purple lends kind of a Bagwan Rajneesh flavor to these pictures.

caliguy · 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamGabbay

Might as well be black & white....

Or make the jackets black.

macs4nw · Mar 27, 2013, 07:46 PM

Steve looks like a happy camper.....ready to clean house.....

jaw04005 · Mar 27, 2013, 07:49 PM

This event was quickly followed by the most awkward Macworld keynote ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhhFQ-3w5tE

towg · Mar 27, 2013, 07:50 PM

I dont believe for one second that Apple sold a camera that made purple into black. And thats from a photographers point of view.

medazinol · Mar 27, 2013, 07:57 PM

I met Gil Amelio in Toronto when he was doing a tour for Apple dealers shortly before they bought NeXT. He was a bit of a bozo, he didn't know what he was really doing.
The good thing that came out of the luncheon though was his quote that I still use today: "Software is not like wine. It doesn't get better sitting on a shelf".

ArtOfWarfare · Mar 27, 2013, 08:35 PM

The wall in the background looks like a fairly dark color, but we know it couldn't have actually been black because then it would look bright purple. What color should that wall be?

Edit: What color is Gil wearing on the right? His jacket came out black...

4TheLoveOfTech · Mar 27, 2013, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtlez

iPhone didn't exist back then. Screw Samsung.

How exactly did you get the "Screw Samsung" from the article?

They never had the Purple Haze syndrome...

He must have taken the picture wrong.

turtlez · Mar 27, 2013, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4TheLoveOfTech

How exactly did you get the "Screw Samsung" from the article?

They never had the Purple Haze syndrome...

He must have taken the picture wrong.

Sorry, I thought both things I stated would be obviously humorous

----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliguy

Or make the jackets black.

Image

I personally like the purple version more

liavman · Mar 27, 2013, 09:00 PM

"..From September 1988 to February 1997, Mr. Chahil served in various capacities, including Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and the Founding General Manager of the New Media, Internet and Entertainment division.."

Interesting Mr. Chahil who is seen with Jobs in that picture left Apple at the low point and missed out on all the upside and all the fun. Just an observation!!

Bubba Satori · Mar 27, 2013, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtlez

iPhone didn't exist back then. Screw Samsung.

It's not an act, is it?

SoAnyway · Mar 27, 2013, 11:20 PM

I went through the set and seen what appears to be other [former] employees posting comments. I'm wondering if these were meant for the public as a whole or for those in the Apple inner circle. Either way, good to have seen these before they're private.

Anonymous Freak · Mar 28, 2013, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John.B

From Tim Holmes' Flickr page:

Makes you wonder why Steve Jobs would kill off a digital camera that rendered black as a vivid shade of purple.

Wow, yeah.

Although mine still works, and it has never done that. Maybe an early firmware version?

----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtOfWarfare

The wall in the background looks like a fairly dark color, but we know it couldn't have actually been black because then it would look bright purple. What color should that wall be?

Edit: What color is Gil wearing on the right? His jacket came out black...

If you look at "black" clothing under *VERY* bright light, it will often have a tint to it - blue and brown are the most common.

Likewise, they have tint in infrared. That tint is generally much greater than the visible-spectrum tint.

Early digital cameras generally did not have good IR filters. With no IR filter, you see into the infrared, so the IR tint shows up *WAY* more prominently than you would possibly see in real life. In real life, these probably had a very slight brown tint. The sensor doesn't quite know what to make of the extra (infrared) light coming in, so it overloads one or more of the subpixels. In this case, the blue and red ones - causing a purple tint.

Amateur astrophotographers (people who take pictures of stars,) sometimes remove the iR filter from their new/fancy digital camera because it increases the sensitivity - and stars emit IR quite well, too. I've never tried it (my IR-filter-removed camera died last year,) but I would wager that a camera so-modified would take similar pictures.

Mar 27, 2013, 07:12 PM	#2
SamGabbay macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2011	Might as well be black & white.... Attached Thumbnails
	9

Mar 27, 2013, 07:19 PM	#6
LimeiBook86 macrumors 604 Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hanging around in NJ with his cutie. :)	A the QuickTake... I admire him going through the trouble to download the photos off of the camera itself! __________________ My 'How to Draw Fun Animals' iBook is now on iTunes "Just you try and stop me..." My Site Thrift Fails Tech Blog
	0

Mar 27, 2013, 07:27 PM	#9
Arcady macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2002 Location: Louisville, KY	I have a QuickTake camera, new in the box. I have no way to use it. Now I don't care if I can. __________________ "The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a 'mouse.' There is no evidence that people want to use these things." -John C. Dvorak, SF Examiner, Feb. 1984.
	3

Mar 27, 2013, 07:37 PM	#13
John.B macrumors 68030 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Flyover Country	For anyone else old enough to remember, the purple lends kind of a Bagwan Rajneesh flavor to these pictures. __________________ Google Maps for iOS: "Directions may be inaccurate, incomplete, dangerous, or prohibited."
	2

Mar 27, 2013, 07:57 PM	#18
medazinol macrumors member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Toronto	I met Gil Amelio in Toronto when he was doing a tour for Apple dealers shortly before they bought NeXT. He was a bit of a bozo, he didn't know what he was really doing. The good thing that came out of the luncheon though was his quote that I still use today: "Software is not like wine. It doesn't get better sitting on a shelf". __________________ Have owned too many Apple machines over the years to list...
	3

Mar 27, 2013, 07:17 PM	#3
WatchTheThrone macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2011	It was taken with an iPhone which gave it the infamous "purple hue"!!
	5

Mar 27, 2013, 07:24 PM	#8
Macrolido macrumors regular Join Date: May 2012 Location: Monterrey, Mexico	Gil Amelio on the right.
	0

Mar 27, 2013, 07:33 PM	#12
chumawumba macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: USA	At least he has hair
	1

Mar 27, 2013, 07:46 PM	#15
macs4nw macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2010	Steve looks like a happy camper.....ready to clean house.....
	1

Mar 27, 2013, 07:49 PM	#16
jaw04005 macrumors 601 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: AR	This event was quickly followed by the most awkward Macworld keynote ever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhhFQ-3w5tE
	3

Mar 27, 2013, 07:50 PM	#17
towg macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Cardiff	I dont believe for one second that Apple sold a camera that made purple into black. And thats from a photographers point of view.
	0

Mar 27, 2013, 08:35 PM	#19
ArtOfWarfare macrumors 68040 Join Date: Nov 2007	The wall in the background looks like a fairly dark color, but we know it couldn't have actually been black because then it would look bright purple. What color should that wall be? Edit: What color is Gil wearing on the right? His jacket came out black... __________________ Battery Status - On the Mac App Store The only app that'll estimate when your wireless devices will need their batteries changed. Like it on Facebook!
	0

Mar 27, 2013, 09:00 PM	#22
liavman macrumors 6502 Join Date: Sep 2009	"..From September 1988 to February 1997, Mr. Chahil served in various capacities, including Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and the Founding General Manager of the New Media, Internet and Entertainment division.." Interesting Mr. Chahil who is seen with Jobs in that picture left Apple at the low point and missed out on all the upside and all the fun. Just an observation!!
	1

Mar 27, 2013, 11:20 PM	#24
SoAnyway macrumors member Join Date: May 2011	I went through the set and seen what appears to be other [former] employees posting comments. I'm wondering if these were meant for the public as a whole or for those in the Apple inner circle. Either way, good to have seen these before they're private.
	0

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