Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/01/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I can see the roof of Steve Jobs' house out the window of my study where I am sitting to type this email. When I pass by in the evening I often see him washing dishes at his kitchen sink, under a window that looks out onto Santa Rita Avenue). In years past I used to see him often in the organic produce section of the local grocery store. Here's a Google Street View of his house: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1995+waverley+st&sll=37.445797,-122.157574&sspn=0.148825,0.21286&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1995+Waverley+St,+Palo+Alto,+Santa+Clara,+California+94301&ll=37.434641,-122.140766&spn=0.00243,0.003589&z=19&layer=c&cbll=37.43471,-122.140929&panoid=Xu0vtebUVWDmWWr7pO8wTg&cbp=12,84.53,,1,-4.52 He tried to recruit me a long time to come work for NeXT, and fed me breakfast at Late for the Train in Menlo Park and drove me there and back in his ancient black Porsche 911. (These days he drives an E55 AMG, at the speed limit). Two of my brothers have worked for him, one as a direct report. One of my daughters (an occasional LUG member) works for a group in Apple that Steve really cares about (Keynote). Through the years I've written half a dozen letters to him suggesting new products or radical changes to existing products. (I'll take credit for thinking up the Airport Express, if you please, except that I really wanted to put a modem in it). I respect his privacy too much to ever walk up to him on the sidewalk and interrupt him and try to pretend I'm his friend. But I see him frequently and I've talked to him a few times and I know a lot about him. He's real. He does not seek adulation. He seeks to change the world with technology, and he has discovered that if he receives adulation, he has more leverage for doing that. I respect him, I admire what he is doing, and I think the world is a much better place for him being in it. He really is changing the world in a way that people who receive less adulation aren't managing. And the famous RDF -- the Reality Distortion Field -- is absolutely real. When you are around him, in his presence, you will believe whatever he wants you to believe. Once you walk away you can't remember why you believed it, but you remember that you did. I've always thought that the RDF was him somehow sharing his ability to see into the future; when you're physically close enough to him and he's paying enough attention to you, you can also see into the future, though maybe not as clearly as he can.