Around 2005, my 5 year old autistic son and I were in an Apple store in Schaumburg Il. My son was attracted to anything with lights and computers. I was a sales manager at HP and received free HP equipment for work so that's what we used. But my son had a habit of coming into my office and randomly adjusting settings on my MS based computers. It was becoming a problem
While in the store they had demo area called Just For Kids, where they had computers with games the kids could play while their parents shopped. The computers were restricted to being turned on or off but no settings could be adjusted. It was a Sunday and when I got home I decided to try and contact Steve to see if I could buy the software. I sent an email to steve.jobs@apple.com and described my request. 20 minutes later I get an email back from Steve. He says that one of his VPs would call me the next day to arrange something. People might say how did you know his email. Well, I just guessed. I already knew that people like Mark Hurd and Carly Fiorini CEO and other execs at HP just used their names in their email. Guess they want some contact with their customers without some executive secretary filtering content
Next day Apple VP calls me and says that Steve wants to help. Tells me that they would have to get license clearance from the game providers and that would take a few months. 2 months later a new apple computer shows up at my front door with the software, all free. I send a note to Steve thanking him and he says I'm not allowed to repeat the story, which I never did while he was alive. My son used it for 7 years. We became an Apple household that day. I eventually retired as an HP VP and and even now receive a yearly stipend for HP equipment a but just give it to relatives
I have heard all the good and bad stories about Steve, but in my book he is a great guy
While in the store they had demo area called Just For Kids, where they had computers with games the kids could play while their parents shopped. The computers were restricted to being turned on or off but no settings could be adjusted. It was a Sunday and when I got home I decided to try and contact Steve to see if I could buy the software. I sent an email to steve.jobs@apple.com and described my request. 20 minutes later I get an email back from Steve. He says that one of his VPs would call me the next day to arrange something. People might say how did you know his email. Well, I just guessed. I already knew that people like Mark Hurd and Carly Fiorini CEO and other execs at HP just used their names in their email. Guess they want some contact with their customers without some executive secretary filtering content
Next day Apple VP calls me and says that Steve wants to help. Tells me that they would have to get license clearance from the game providers and that would take a few months. 2 months later a new apple computer shows up at my front door with the software, all free. I send a note to Steve thanking him and he says I'm not allowed to repeat the story, which I never did while he was alive. My son used it for 7 years. We became an Apple household that day. I eventually retired as an HP VP and and even now receive a yearly stipend for HP equipment a but just give it to relatives
I have heard all the good and bad stories about Steve, but in my book he is a great guy