From the book:
"Jobs decribed the type of glass Apple wanted for the iPhone, and Weeks told him that Corning had developed a chemical exchange process in the 1960s that led to what they dubbed "gorilla glass". It was incredibly strong, but it had never found a market, so Corning quit making it. Jobs said he doubted it wasd good enough, and he started explaining to Weeks how glass was made. This amused Weeks, who of course knew more than Jobs about that topic. "Can you shut up," Weeks interjected, "and let me teach you some science?" Jobs was taken aback and fell silent. Weeks went on to the whiteboard and gave a tutorial on the chemistry, which involved ion-exchange process that produced a compression layer on the surface of the glass.
This turned Jobs around, and he said he wanted as much gorilla glass as Corning could make within six months. "We don't have the capacity," Weeks replied. "None of our plants make the glass now."
"Don't be afraid," Jobs replied. This stunned Weeks, who was good-humoured and confident, but not used to Jobs's reality distortion field. He tried to explain that a false sense of confidence would not overcome engineering challenges, but that was a premise that Jobs had repeatedly shown he didn't accept. He stared at Weeks un-blinking. "Yes, you can do it", he said. "Get your mind around it. You can do it."
As Weeks retold this story, he shook his head in astonishment. "We did it in under six months," he said. "We produced a glass that had never been made." Corning's facility in Harrisburg, Kentucky, which had been making LCD displays, was converted overnight to make gorilla glass full-time. "We put our best scientists and engineers on it, and we just made it work." In his airy office, Weeks had just one framed memento on display. It's a message Jobs sent the day the iPhone came out: "We couldn't have done it without you."
EDITED - any spelling mistakes are mine, as I've basically retyped (no c&p on iBooks).
"Jobs decribed the type of glass Apple wanted for the iPhone, and Weeks told him that Corning had developed a chemical exchange process in the 1960s that led to what they dubbed "gorilla glass". It was incredibly strong, but it had never found a market, so Corning quit making it. Jobs said he doubted it wasd good enough, and he started explaining to Weeks how glass was made. This amused Weeks, who of course knew more than Jobs about that topic. "Can you shut up," Weeks interjected, "and let me teach you some science?" Jobs was taken aback and fell silent. Weeks went on to the whiteboard and gave a tutorial on the chemistry, which involved ion-exchange process that produced a compression layer on the surface of the glass.
This turned Jobs around, and he said he wanted as much gorilla glass as Corning could make within six months. "We don't have the capacity," Weeks replied. "None of our plants make the glass now."
"Don't be afraid," Jobs replied. This stunned Weeks, who was good-humoured and confident, but not used to Jobs's reality distortion field. He tried to explain that a false sense of confidence would not overcome engineering challenges, but that was a premise that Jobs had repeatedly shown he didn't accept. He stared at Weeks un-blinking. "Yes, you can do it", he said. "Get your mind around it. You can do it."
As Weeks retold this story, he shook his head in astonishment. "We did it in under six months," he said. "We produced a glass that had never been made." Corning's facility in Harrisburg, Kentucky, which had been making LCD displays, was converted overnight to make gorilla glass full-time. "We put our best scientists and engineers on it, and we just made it work." In his airy office, Weeks had just one framed memento on display. It's a message Jobs sent the day the iPhone came out: "We couldn't have done it without you."
EDITED - any spelling mistakes are mine, as I've basically retyped (no c&p on iBooks).
