Steve Jobs rallies the troops. Redwood City, California, 1988.
Steve gives a rousing pep talk to his employees shortly before the launch of NeXT Computer, while also indulging in a short rant about revenge on Apple and John Sculley. More inspiring pictures inside.
The day Ross Perot gave Steve Jobs twenty million dollars. Fremont, California, 1986.
Ross Perot invested over $20 million in NeXT after this lunch pitch on the site of the future NeXT Factory with the NeXT Board of Directors. Even then, Steve was a consummate showman who understood the power of compelling settings. Ross was blown away. But he later said it was the worst mistake he ever made.
Preparations for the demonstration are not going well. Las Vegas, 1992.
Steve Jobs explaining ten year technology development cycles. Sonoma, California, 1986.
The list. Sonoma, California, 1987.
A Steve Jobs “to-do” list made at a company brainstorming session, with a set of very difficult technical challenges remaining for his team to solve in order to complete the NeXT Computer.
Sunlight, NeXT. Sonoma, California, 1986.
Frustration. Sun Microsystems. Santa Clara, California, 1992.
Geek romance of boyfriend and girl friend. Adobe Systems, Mountain View, California, 1991.
Howl. San Francisco, California, 1988.
Steve Capps playing the Jaminator. San Carlos, California, 1993.Steve Capps, a modest, unsung hero in the Valley and co-designer of the Macintosh Finder plays The Jaminator, a digital guitar he invented that lets you play your favorite guitar solos to various hit rock songs, while working at home on the Newton software.
Steve Jobs is thinking. Santa Cruz, California, 1987.Steve had an artist’s intuitive mind with the ability to dream up new ways to combine existing technology to create something completely new. Here he is pondering a solution to a technical problem being discussed at a company offsite meeting.
Loose lips sink ships. Redwood City, California, 1988.
Shortly before the official launch of the NeXT Computer, Steve had the completed prototype computer, screen, printer, and peripherals covered in black velvet. Tech companies were extremely competitive and secretive, to the point where precautions were taken even inside closed doors.
On vacation. Adobe Systems, Mountain View, California, 1994.
An amusing scene carries a subtle subtext: don’t go on vacation. As Silicon Valley companies evolved from kids in garages to global technology behemoths, they began to adopt standard corporate practices like granting health insurance and paid vacations. Adobe Systems was very well managed as judged by their balance sheet and the apparent happiness of their employees. Still, the hours were long and competition fierce, so vacations were often deferred or delayed. And when someone did go ahead and actually take the vacation days they earned, they might return to find their office had been redecorated.
Evidence of an all night programming session. NetObjects, Redwood City, California,Morning finds empty Chinese food cartons left by engineers working all night to finish an important version of the software at the headquarters of NetObjects.
The painter David Hockney rests during a photoshop class. Mountain View, California, 1990.
As digital technology grew more powerful, Silicon Valley resembled what Paris in the twenties must have been like. Artists arrived from all over the world, eager to experiment. Musicians like Peter Gabriel and Herbie Hancock were early adopters. George Lucas was a pioneer, as was Francis Coppola, and there were many others. The cultural ground was shifting, with the avant-garde gathering to push new ideas into the culture. Here, British painter David Hockney, holding one of his beloved dachshunds, attends Russell Brown’s 1990 Adobe Photoshop Invitational, where he learned how to use the first release version of Photoshop.
Exercise break at Intel Fab 11X. Rio Rancho, New Mexico, 1998.Workers inside Intel’s largest chip fabrication plant exercise and stretch as part of their normal workday break time. They produce 5 chips a second, 24 hours a day.
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