WEBVTT - The Story of Jony Ive - The Early Years 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.600 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.759 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.920 And how the tech are you? You know? Last week 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:24.640 I mentioned on a tech News episode that Johnny I've 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:29.640 a Sir Jonathan a k a. Jonathan Paul I've has 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.320 pretty much completely broken ties with Apple and that this 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:37.839 is a big deal at the very least, it's what 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:43.640 you would call an historic moment. So Johnny, who spells 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:47.480 his name j O n Y because of course he does, 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:52.920 first joined Apple way back in and had a hand 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:57.320 in designing tons of Apple products, from the iconic iPhone 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:02.280 to Apple's spaceship headquarters. He's had a hand in all 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:06.920 of that. His reputation is one of perfectionism and critical 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:11.720 attention to the smallest of details. He also earned a 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.800 reputation for being somewhat coddled by Apple. You know, you 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.760 could say that reputation might be unfairly earned, but he 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.039 has one, and some would even say he cared far 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.959 more about the form of a product than he did 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:30.000 for the function, and he certainly had issues with that 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.200 throughout his career. But today, I thought we would go 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.000 into a lot more detail on his life, In fact, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.759 so much detail that it's going to require more than 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.800 one episode. So this is part one. And before I 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:45.000 really get started, I want to shout out a book 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:49.200 that I used as a primary source for this episode 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:53.360 or these episodes. That book is titled After Steve, How 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.600 Apple Became a trillion dollar Company and Lost its Soul, 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:01.880 And it's written by Trip Michael. Now, as that title suggests, 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.000 the book primarily focuses on what happened at Apple in 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.400 the wake of Steve Jobs's death in two thousand eleven, 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:12.480 and how folks like Tim Cook and Johnny I've would 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:17.079 change the course of the company and somewhat kind of 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:21.160 battle against each other in that process. It's a good book, 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.440 and while the title does indicate a particular perspective and 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:29.200 narrative there, it is not just an opinion piece. In fact, 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.960 Michael cites more than four hundred fourteen sources. I know 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.040 because the PDF that comes with the audio book has 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:40.040 sixty two pages. That's just a list of all the citations. 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:44.359 He also includes a bibliography of works that complement his own. 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:48.080 Those works include books and movies and more. It's really 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:51.560 impressive stuff. Anyway, I don't know Michael personally. I have 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:53.880 no connection to him. I don't have any connection to 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.120 this book. I just thought I would give it a 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:58.760 shout out if you are interested, because the information I'm 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.840 going to be talking about here a lot of it. 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.880 There's a lot more detail in the book. But it's 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.040 not the only source I used, but it is a 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.280 prime source. And also, like I said, I got the 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:14.799 audio book, so it's available on platforms like Audible. So 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.040 let's get to Johnny I've and Apple. Johnny I've was 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:23.840 born near London in nineteen sixty seven. His father was 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.959 a teacher who taught design and technology at what we 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:31.559 would consider the high school level. His mother taught theology 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:35.880 and later on became a therapist, and I've's grandfather was 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:40.200 a machinist and Johnny's father, in addition to his teaching job, 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.720 had also tried his hand at silversmith ing. So Johnny 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:48.920 quickly was attracted to the process of creating things, not 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:54.120 just designing them, but actually fabricating them. And like a 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:58.240 lot of kids who would later get into fields like engineering, 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:02.000 Johnny would take stuff up heart to learn how it worked. 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.360 I don't know what his success rate was for putting 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:07.960 it back together again, but he certainly took it apart 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:11.600 to understand how things worked. His father would teach him 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:15.320 how to sketch out ideas before committing to build them, 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:19.080 and I gave Johnny an appreciation of design. He would 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.440 ask his father endless questions about how things were built 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:25.520 and why they were built the way that they were so, 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.159 not just how did they put this together, but why 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.400 did they choose this method over some alternative method. When 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.039 he was still a child, his family relocated to a 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:39.560 rural neighborhood about two hours north of London. Johnny enrolled 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.640 in a school called Walton High School, where he continued 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.040 to develop his skills in art and design. He also 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:50.080 became active in various social issues like feminism and things 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.320 of that nature. Uh he wasn't nearly as strong in 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.400 most of the traditional curriculum at school, but that really 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:59.400 didn't concern him very much because from the beginning, his 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:02.560 plan was to attend a technical college after high school, 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.080 and a technical college wouldn't require high marks in those 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:10.400 classic subjects. I've also attended a summer program that had 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:14.799 a focus on design with I've learning more advanced drafting techniques, 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:18.640 as in like draftsmanship. So it married his love of 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.719 art with his love of design and engineering. And as 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:26.280 a senior project I've said about designing a working portable projector. 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.320 Uh So, the projectors that were being used in his 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:33.080 high school were these big heavy things. They're very clunky 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:37.360 and cumbersome. You couldn't easily move them from classroom to classroom. 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.599 So I've thought, here's a challenge. Here's here's something that 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:44.200 I can solve. I can create a projector that is portable, 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.040 that's easier to move around. So he made a projector that, 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:51.599 when it was in its collapsed form, was like a briefcase, 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:56.000 you know, pretty heavy one. And when it opened, hydraulic 0:05:56.120 --> 0:06:00.279 arms would unfold the projector and it would immerge urge 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:05.039 into place as a fully working projector. And people who 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.880 saw it said that just watching it kind of unfold 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:13.440 itself was a very satisfying experience, like everything moved just so, 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.360 and it was like an early example of i've's attention 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:22.360 to detail and creating things that have a pleasing effect 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.240 on the person looking at them. Anyone who is familiar 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.200 with Apple products knows that that's a big selling point 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:30.400 for the stuff that's come out over the last couple 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:35.080 of decades. I've attended Newcastle Polytechnic largely thanks to a 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:38.320 scholarship that was provided by a guy named Philip Gray. 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.520 Philip Gray was a managing director for Robert's Weaver Group, 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:45.400 that's an architecture firm in the UK. And part of 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.440 this deal was that I've would agree to work at 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:52.560 Robert's Weaver Group as an intern while attending college, and 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:56.479 then would work there full time after graduation for some 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.359 amount of time. I'm not sure how much, but that 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.880 was all part the agreement. Now, one story Michael relays 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:07.840 in his book After Steve is particularly amusing. While he 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.120 was at college, I've was living on a pretty tight budget, 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:15.160 and he also had a long distance girlfriend whom he 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.040 would write to regularly. Now this is in, you know, 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.040 the mid nineteen eighties, before the real days of texting 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.560 and email, so we wrote letters to each other back 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:29.440 in those days, physical letters. Now I've decided to attempt 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.480 something somewhat cheeky. He didn't know if it was gonna work. 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:37.200 He drew the picture of a stamp on an envelope 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:41.880 and it was in all ways with a normal stamp 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:47.240 identical like he He copied it precisely and just drew 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.840 it directly on the envelope itself. Put a letter to 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.680 his girlfriend and there sent the letter off, and she 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.920 sent back a response which told I've that he could 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.640 sketch a convincing enough copy of an official stamp to 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:04.360 fool the post office into carrying the mail to its destination. 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.160 And I'm a little tickled that the guy who would 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.680 later be largely responsible for how popular certain apple products 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:14.920 would become was playing with counterfeiting back when he was 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.560 in college. There's more to that story, but I'm going 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.960 to leave that to Michael's book to flesh it out. 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.600 So if you want to hear more about that and 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.640 the silly turn it took, you should check out the book. 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.360 While the style at the time, as Grandpa Simpson would say, 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.160 was to favor a chaotic collection of shapes and bright colors, 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:37.960 that wasn't i've's preference. Now, if you don't know what 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:41.360 I'm talking about, in the nineteen eighties, things went a 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.720 bit haywire in the design world. All you have to 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:47.800 do just go on a search engine and search for 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:50.880 nineteen eighties style that's all you have to put in, 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:53.200 and you will see what I mean. It was a 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:58.560 troubled time of different shapes and and neon colors in 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:05.200 no particular organized form, and I've hated all of that chaos. 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:08.560 He preferred the more simple linear style of an earlier 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:13.960 art movement within art and architecture, and and uh products 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.360 even called bow House. Now that's not the band with 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.000 Peter Murphy in which we would learn that Bella legos 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.800 he is dead. That is an amazing song and a 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.480 phenomenal band. And if you don't know it, well, I 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:28.800 think I just out of myself as a goth. Anyway, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.560 I'm talking more about an art and architectural movement that 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.840 originated in Germany. The focus in bau House was to 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:42.680 find a synthesis of aesthetic and function, and that's really 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:47.040 what I've preferred to just those weird shapes and colors 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:50.160 of the dominant nineteen eighties designs. He saw those as 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:56.400 being ugly and grotesque and superfluous and unnecessary. He he 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.479 felt that you really should have a product where everything 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:03.160 that is in that product is necessary for that product 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:08.680 in some way, that less is more. Meanwhile, I was 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:13.920 getting practical experience. As an intern at the Roberts Weaver 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:17.920 Group firm, he received assignments to create pitches for clients, 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:21.520 so he wasn't just you know, running errands or running 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:26.520 support for designers there. He was actually put in charge 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:30.000 of a few projects. I would bristle whenever someone would 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.480 ask him to compromise on his design, and he didn't 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.000 really like doing that. It was something that kind of 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:40.000 revealed to him that design consultant is a tough gig 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:44.840 because you are not the final voice on the approach 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:49.440 to design. Your your client has input, and that can 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:53.080 be a difficult thing. I could respect this because as 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.760 someone who is a writer, h there were times when 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:01.960 I would submit articles to an editor and received feedback, 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:08.480 and my first response was always to get angry at 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:12.640 the feedback. Not a mature response, but it was how 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:14.600 I would feel. I would think, like, oh, they don't 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.720 get what I'm going for here. Usually that wasn't really 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:22.040 the case, because I unlike I've am not brilliant. I've, however, 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:24.319 bristled because he felt that he really did have the 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.559 best idea and he hated having to compromise on that. 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:29.480 That also meant that some other folks over at the 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:33.439 Roberts Weaver Group felt that he probably wasn't a good 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.720 fit for the company because the secret to being a 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:41.120 great consultant is being adaptable and being able to, you know, 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:46.600 incorporate client feedback into designs. So they felt that maybe 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.000 this would not be the right fit for him. Now, 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.559 one thing that I've encountered around this time was an 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:57.920 Apple Macintosh computer. Those originally were launched in ninety four. 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.680 He admired the sign of the computer, and he loved 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:06.200 the marketing campaign that launched the Macintosh. Now, in case 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.719 y'all don't remember, I'm sure a lot of you are 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.920 familiar with this commercial because it was a famous commercial 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:16.720 directed by Ridley Scott, of all people, and it played 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.080 during the Super Bowl in so it really got a 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.840 lot of eyeballs on it. But in case that's well 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.079 before your time you don't know what I'm talking about, 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.680 the commercial played off the oppressive themes of George Orwell's 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:35.240 Night four, the novel. So in this commercial, everything looks 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.800 very gray and dim, and you have this group of 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:42.800 drone like employees are clad in this baggy gray clothing 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:47.439 shuffling into a theater and they're a film is playing 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.640 that consists of a closeup of a man's face, and 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:56.600 that man is yelling out essentially fascist propaganda that also 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:01.400 stresses that conformity is key. Then a woman runs in, 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.720 this athletic woman holding a sledgehammer, and she does a 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:08.000 hammer throw. She twirls around and throws the sledge hammer 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.480 through the screen. And then you hear a narrator say, 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.800 quote on January, Apple will introduce the Macintosh, and you'll 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:22.440 see why nine four won't be like four end quote. 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.920 And the commercial is again one of the most famous 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:30.080 of all time. It implied that the PC industry was 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:34.120 one of forced uniformity and there was no personality to 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.600 the products, and the ad didn't even show the Macintosh 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.200 computer itself. The Macintosh is nowhere to be seen in 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.600 this original version of the commercial. The ad just claimed 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.440 that Apple was going to forge a new path all 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:53.440 on its own, and I've absolutely loved the advertisement. Now, 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:58.040 before he would graduate Newcastle Polytechnic, I've had to present 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.679 what the college referred to as a blue Sky project. 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:04.679 This was meant to show off a design without having 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:07.280 to worry about the constraints of actually being able to 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.240 make the thing, so students were given a lot of 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:13.960 leeway they could they could propose things that weren't necessarily 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:17.920 technically possible at the time. I've thought up of a 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:22.040 way to pay for items using a medallion like device 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:24.760 that could, when brought into close contact with a point 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:31.040 of sale register, transmit payment wirelessly. So he was essentially 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.480 thinking about a way to replace credit cards and to 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:40.720 have a more elegant means of being able to transfer funds, 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:44.560 and it was a predecessor to contactless payment that would 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:49.320 evolve many many years later. I'ves design intrigued, the judge 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.560 invited to score students submissions, to the point where, according 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:56.680 to Michael's book, that judge so impressed asked how high 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:01.880 a score he could give I've And traditionally a seventy 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:05.000 would be considered an A, and the judge was told 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.800 he could score it however he thought was appropriate, so 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:13.120 he gave I've a ninety, when usually seventy would be 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.400 the top result, which is a big old yell zam. 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:18.520 Al Right, We've got a lot more to say about 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.720 Johnny ives early days, including his move to Apple, but 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:33.280 before we do that, let's take a quick break. Okay, 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:37.560 we're up to nine and that was a year that 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:41.040 would bring a big change to Johnny I've's life. The 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:45.280 Roberts Weaver Group folded. There was a big financial crisis 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.720 in the UK, a recession, and one of the victims 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.200 of that recession was this consulting firm, the Robert's Weaver Group. 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.600 So i was no longer obligated to work at this 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:59.200 company because the company had essentially gone away, So instead 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:04.320 he joined a design consultancy company called Tangerine lowercase tea 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.120 kind of funny that he would take on a gig 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:09.360 at a company named after one type of fruit, and 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.720 then would become famous for working at a different company 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.760 named after a different kind of fruit. In fact, he 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.520 would make the transfer from one directly to the other. 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:23.600 Clive Grenier, who had met I've a couple of years earlier, 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:29.280 was largely responsible for recruiting I've to join Tangerine, and 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:33.120 I've quickly got to work on several different projects, including 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:37.920 one that was to design sinks sinc basins. Really, that 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:43.440 one didn't go so well because i'ves very um remarkable 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:49.200 pitch was one that the company just wasn't comfortable adopting. 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:54.240 It was a little too aggressive in its departure from tradition. 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.520 And that's another case where i was getting a little 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:04.560 frustrated that as a consultant he couldn't necessarily design something 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:09.520 and have it stay his design and have it remained unchanged, 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:14.280 that he would have to bow to client wishes. So 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:18.320 he then was brought in on a project called Juggernaut, 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.880 and Juggernaut was a project that involved Grenier. It also 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:26.320 involved one of the co founders of the company and 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.440 I've and the client in this case was a tiny 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:35.159 little computer company called Apple. Juggernaut was a project aiming 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.280 to create some novel computer and tablet designs. I think 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:43.159 there were four devices in total, including a tablet with 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:47.360 a separate keyboard, a couple of portable computers, a couple 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.199 of desktop computers that kind of thing. I've was in 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.840 charge of, mainly working on the tablet concept, and he 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.760 was also given the task to pack up and ship 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:01.240 the prototypes which they made out of a phone, and 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:05.240 send those to Apple. So I've took meticulous care and 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:10.439 packaging these prototypes. You know, he wrapped each one very carefully. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.679 He packed them into the box so that there'd be 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.080 no chance of them being damaged unless you know, something 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:21.280 crazy happened to the box. He even included some folded 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:26.040 Tangerine branded shirts in the box as well, And this 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:29.159 was a very early example of making the process of 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:35.320 unboxing a Johnny I've designed project a real experience. That 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.879 that it would show that there was an incredible amount 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:42.639 of consideration in just the packaging of the product, but 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.119 let alone the design of the product. This would be 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.840 something that Apple would embrace after I've would join the company, 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.920 largely really after I've joined the company and Steve Jobs 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:56.720 would return to it. Apple was impressed with this presentation 0:18:56.880 --> 0:19:00.480 and the designs, and they invited the Tangerine t to 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:04.119 come out to California and to present their ideas in person. 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:06.760 So Johnny I've got to go to California. I think 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.960 that at that point it was his second time traveling 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.720 to California. He had already been there once and found 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:17.199 it really appealing. Well, while he was there, I've was 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:21.480 taken aside a couple of times by Apple executives and 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.360 essentially told that he had a job with Apple if 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:27.040 he wanted one, that he could come over and join 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:31.760 their team. His colleagues over at Tangerine would tell him 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:35.480 back in the UK that really he had no options. 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.040 He had to take up that offer. They were very 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:42.160 generous in saying, this is an incredible opportunity. You will 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:46.040 do amazing things there. You should take the job. So 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:50.680 in the fall of nineteen, I've would relocate, he would 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:56.080 change his home address from London to San Francisco and 0:19:56.119 --> 0:20:02.399 he would join Apple. Now, the Apple of nineteen was 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:07.160 very different from the Apple of today thirty years later. 0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:10.359 In fact, it was really different from the Apple of 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:13.440 two thousand seven, that's when the iPhone debut, or even 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:16.480 the Apple of two thousand one, when the company unveiled 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:21.399 the iPod. The Apple of n while founded by some 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.919 somewhat rebellious techno anarchist types, which might be going a 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:29.359 bit far, but Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniac both enjoyed 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:33.200 thumbing their noses that respectability and authority back in the day. Well, 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:35.560 now that company was in the hands of a different 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:39.879 set of leaders altogether. So it's probably a good idea 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:43.240 to do a quick rundown on what had happened at Apple, 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:47.479 because that's a very important component of this overall story. 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:51.880 So we're gonna give a cliffs notes version of Apple's 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:55.520 history leading up to nine and a little bit beyond. Actually, 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:59.080 so back in the nineteen seventies, Steve Jobs and Steve 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:04.040 Wozniak created a partnership and then later brought in another 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:10.520 person named Mike Markola to turn that partnership into Apple Incorporated. Now, 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:13.920 the first Apple model was really more of a hobbyist 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:17.840 kit than a out of the box computer. And while 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:22.200 hobbyists were interested in the Apple One, that really wasn't 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:24.800 a suitable product for the mainstream. And that would change 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.919 dramatically with the introduction of the Apple two line, a 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.880 fully built computer system, and ultimately the Apple Too line 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:34.440 would include numerous offshoots. You know, you'd be like the 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:37.000 Apple to see, the Apple to E, the Apple to G, 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:40.680 and the list goes on. The Apple Too would be 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:45.679 a truly enormous success for the young company. So Jobs 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:49.320 and Wozniak founded Apple, but neither of them would be 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:53.240 the person to lead the company. Mike Markola, who I 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:55.919 said earlier he was a primary investor in Apple. He 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:59.800 owned like twenty of Apple in the early days. He 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:03.640 brought in a guy named Michael Scott, not that one, 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:08.720 to serve as the first CEO for Apple because Markola 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:11.840 felt that neither Jobs nor Wozniak really had the experience 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:16.159 to lead a company. They they had the vision, but 0:22:16.240 --> 0:22:19.439 not the know how, so Michael Scott would serve as 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:24.400 CEO until by then he had made some serious waves 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:27.600 in the company and and some pretty pretty big enemies 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:32.679 as well. In early one, he famously fired about half 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:36.639 the team responsible for designing the Apple Too because he 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.440 said they were redundant. He said, we don't need all 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:43.400 these people because the folks that we've got, like, we've 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:45.119 got twice as many as we need. Let's get rid 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:48.560 of them. He also made some pretty harsh comments about it. 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:50.679 He at one blind had said that as soon as 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:52.919 it stops being fun working for Apple, he was going 0:22:52.960 --> 0:22:55.360 to quit, and instead he said, you know what, I've 0:22:55.359 --> 0:23:00.520 rethought it now. I figure I'm going to keep firing people, uh, 0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:02.760 in order to make it more fun to work at Apple, 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:08.119 Which that's pretty brutal like that. I'm sure it was 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:11.320 kind of an off the cuff, humorous remark, but it 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:14.240 comes across as as pretty nasty when you consider this 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:18.240 is the livelihood of people we're talking about here. So 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:21.880 he was effectively removed from power after making that statement, 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:24.439 though he would actually stay on for several more months 0:23:24.480 --> 0:23:30.800 before officially retiring. Mark Coola would take over as CEO 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:33.159 duties for the time being, which would actually stretch on 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:35.199 for a couple of years, at which point in the 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:38.960 company would then bring on a man named John Scully 0:23:39.000 --> 0:23:42.480 to be the new CEO and president, and it was 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:47.040 Scully's involvement that would lead to Steve Jobs leaving Apple. 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:51.359 So Jobs was already proving to be a marketing genius. 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:55.480 He was known more for his feel for design, his 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:59.320 vision of what could be popular, and his ability to 0:23:59.440 --> 0:24:03.679 sell the designs, rather than as say an engineer or 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:06.520 a computer scientist. So he wasn't really thought of as 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:09.600 the person who can make stuff work. He was the 0:24:09.640 --> 0:24:15.480 person who could see how a particular presentation of technology 0:24:15.560 --> 0:24:20.480 could have a really powerful impact on customers. Jobs had 0:24:20.520 --> 0:24:24.159 seen designs at the Xerox Park facility that's p a 0:24:24.400 --> 0:24:28.000 r C. And those designs convinced him to incorporate some 0:24:28.080 --> 0:24:31.440 of those ideas into Apple products. You could say that 0:24:31.720 --> 0:24:35.639 Steve Jobs effectively he stole ideas like you know, the 0:24:35.680 --> 0:24:39.760 computer mouse and the graphics user interface from things that 0:24:39.840 --> 0:24:42.560 he saw at the Xerox Park facility, or you could 0:24:42.560 --> 0:24:44.480 just say he was inspired by it. Really just depends 0:24:44.480 --> 0:24:47.919 on your point of view and his work to to 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:51.600 do this, like his work to make this computer a thing, 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:55.960 made Jobs something of a target for Scully, who had 0:24:55.960 --> 0:25:00.320 come over from PepsiCo in order to lead Apple. Jobs 0:25:00.320 --> 0:25:02.720 had a reputation of being very difficult to work with, 0:25:03.280 --> 0:25:07.320 and as he spearheaded projects that would evolve into a 0:25:07.440 --> 0:25:10.680 very unsuccessful computer platform called Lisa. It was a very 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:14.960 expensive computer, didn't sell well at all, and was considered 0:25:15.040 --> 0:25:18.720 a flop, an expensive flop at Apple. He also had 0:25:19.640 --> 0:25:23.760 a real direct hand in the much more successful Macintosh platform. 0:25:23.800 --> 0:25:27.639 But jobs involvement with Macintosh was really disruptive too. You 0:25:27.760 --> 0:25:32.160 had the existing Macintosh team that had been working on 0:25:32.280 --> 0:25:36.960 the computer system before Jobs essentially invaded and took over 0:25:37.040 --> 0:25:40.760 the project, and this caused an enormous amount of disruption 0:25:40.920 --> 0:25:44.159 within that team. Uh, those stories are pretty fascinating on 0:25:44.200 --> 0:25:46.000 their own, but you know, it goes beyond what we 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:48.679