
Memories of Steve - zekers
http://donmelton.com/2014/04/10/memories-of-steve/
======
salgernon
Back in 1999 or 2000, shortly after Steve had rejiggered the cafeteria staff,
I was walking back to my office in another building with an "afternoon
doughnut" \- that is, one that hadn't sold in the morning at the coffee place
in the main lobby, and probably sold at a discount.

I passed Steve in the hall and he glared at me as I walked with my doughnut.
Steve was in great health in those days while I was pasty and obese. (Still
am, sad to say.).

But I was happy with my doughnut. Steve glared at me but didn't say anything.
I slunk away.

The next day, there were no more doughnuts at any of the cafés on the main
campus. I don't think it's a coincidence.

~~~
sscalia
salgernon, Please check out the Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. You can change
your life, get in shape, get healthy. It's so important.

~~~
CalRobert
If he's already aware of the idea that being fat and pasty is bad for him, he
probably doesn't need people on HN telling him that.

I used to be fat. I knew it was unhealthy. It was incredibly obnoxious and,
frankly, unhealthy, to hear people tell me that I needed to get healthy like I
didn't know better. What I needed was to get away from poisonous relationships
(I eat to cope with sadness) and hellhole suburbs that make it impossible to
walk or cycle anywhere. Moving to the city and going out more instead of
keeping a freezer full of crap made a world of difference. The assumption that
a stranger on HN knows more about health than he does is insulting and
counterproductive.

~~~
larrys
"What I needed was to get away from poisonous relationships (I eat to cope
with sadness) and hellhole suburbs that make it impossible to walk or cycle
anywhere."

Agree with this. In many (but of course not all)[1] cases there is a root
cause to overeating in order to mask pain or give you pleasure.

The unfortunate part though is that not everyone can make a lifestyle change
to remove the pressure or geography to allow them to make the needed changes.
For example someone might be in a relationship and/or have children and need
to work where they are or need a certain amount of $$. (But for sure that is
not everyone.)

[1] While it is definitely true that there are people that have body types
that prevent them from losing weight when this is not the case it usually
boils down to some other issue that is causing the overeating or lack of
control.

------
baldfat
I had to stop reading. I also worked for a micro managing CEO/President and I
HATED EVERY MINUTE. Knowing that if you did the slightest misstep or were
falsely accused you were fired and there was a morning meeting the next day to
tell everyone that so and so was no longer with the company. NO THANK YOU!!!

~~~
rbanffy
Slow down. Breathe. It's over. You no longer work there. You are safe now.

------
general_failure
It looks like some people like Steve are charismatic enough to get the
complete devotion of very talented people. It's a great personality trait to
have and pretty much guarantees success. We all know geniuses in our everyday
life like Wozniak, Bob, cook. But how many of us can get these guys be
terrified of us, make them change their lives for our visin and make them give
us their complete attention... That's the beauty of Steve. Despite flaws in
his character, people seem to be feel previliged working for him.

~~~
bitL
It's probably common in technology area that due to Dunning-Kruger effect many
super talented engineers have low self-esteem and real-life skills, and are
attracted by "magical" personalities, forming narcissist-codependent pairs. I
see it all around, it's sad, but unless engineers fix their broken "insides",
it's going to happen. It's then pretty logical that the narcissistic part of
the pair gets all the fame, spotlight, power, and the co-dependent part gets
used, squeezed, depleted and thrown away once not useful.

~~~
MarkTee
Dunning-Kruger is the opposite (when unskilled individuals think of themselves
as being much more talented than they actually are).

~~~
bitL
D-K goes both ways - unskilled think of themselves highly, highly skilled
lowly. I often wonder if this is the ultimate joke of the Universe embedded
deeply in the fabric of "matrix".

~~~
sp332
MarkTee is right - DK only goes one way. The other direction is called
"Impostor Syndrome".
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)

~~~
CamperBob2
I don't see how it's invalid to argue that they're just two sides of the same
coin. If no-talent hacks think they're better than they are, how could the
opposite not be true for the same underlying reasons?

Not logically ironclad, of course, but we _are_ talking pop psychology here.

------
adrianoconnor
I always love to read Don's stories, they're always pretty great, and this
post is no exception. The last few paragraphs are poignant, and not because
it's about Steve, but because the emotion is real and you can relate to it.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this, you should read the history of Safari posts he
did a while back, also a podcast he was a guest on one time, though I forget
who it was with -- ah, Debug I think -- that was really excellent and well
worth listening to.

~~~
vdm
[http://www.imore.com/debug-11-don-melton-and-
safari](http://www.imore.com/debug-11-don-melton-and-safari)

------
xcntktn
Stories like this one and Glenn Reid's essay[1] about working with Steve on
iMovie seem to be vastly more informative than any movie or book on SJ.[2] One
of the biggest takeaways from both of these essays is that working with Steve
was an iterative process. Pop culture always highlights "eureka" moments where
a problem is solved all at once in a brilliant flash of insight, yet when you
read these first-hand accounts, the story is the opposite: that making
something great is a slow and repetitive process, with lots of follow-up
meetings and gradual improvement towards the final product. Eureka moments
look good on TV, but in the real world, great things are built by long-term
focus and hard work from highly talented people with uncompromisingly high
standards. I have no idea how or even if that could be shown in a movie, but
I'm very thankful we have these accounts. I hope more people who worked with
Steve during his second tenure eventually put their thoughts down in writing
and share them so that we can all gain more of these types of insights.

[1][http://inventor-labs.com/blog/2011/10/12/what-its-really-
lik...](http://inventor-labs.com/blog/2011/10/12/what-its-really-like-working-
with-steve-jobs.html)

[2]There's also Andy Hertzfeld's folklore.org, however that is focused on
Steve's original tenure at Apple, not the "comeback" from the late-90s on.

------
exodust
This story says more about the insecurity of the Safari guy than it does about
Jobs.

Sounds like people at Apple spent too much time worrying about what Steve
thought of them, whether he'd remember their names or invite them to meetings.

While everyone is worried about what one man thinks, the man himself was
thinking about design and business issues, trying to solve problems.

Funny how bookmarks was never really solved in Safari. On my iPad, I hate the
bookmarks functionality, it confuses me pretty much every time. When I try to
find a bookmark, or add a bookmark, every time it seems I have to "figure out"
and remember how to do that. It's not intuitive or snappy. And now with iOS7
flat design, all your bookmarks and history appears as one big list - black
text on white background. The lack of interface delineation mean elements
bleed into other elements and make it harder to mentally remember where things
are found.

If Steve were still around, he'd be kicking someone's ass over the half-baked
iOS7 flat design.

------
ksec
I was reading and hoping there was an explanation why Safari for Windows
discontinued. It is the only popular WebKit browser ( after Chrome fork to
Blink ) on Windows.

Otherwise another great piece.

~~~
archgrove
Back in the iOS 1.0 days, the iPhone development platform was web apps. These
were pushed by Apple as the "right way", which negated the need for an App
Store. As the browser engine on iOS is basically identical to the desktop
WebKit, I always assumed Safari for Windows was a push to enable iOS
development on Windows.

With the release and success of the App Store, that became unnecessary. I
guess killing it was a function of its relative lack of popularity; Apple in
the Jobs 2.0+ era justifiably don't like keeping dead-weight projects around.

------
mildtrepidation
It's certainly interesting to read this sort of reflection. The author
discusses Jobs' mannerisms without either worshiping or demonizing him, which
is refreshing.

------
gdonelli
Don has always been such a positive person to be around. Great memories.
Thanks for sharing.

------
ghiculescu
Some great stories there. Wasn't sure on the Apple stores presentation joke
though, can anyone explain the reference?

~~~
WoodenChair
It's not really a reference - read it over a bit more carefully and I think
you'll get it. Basically, Phil is meant to believe that Steve actually was
serious about putting the slide in the presentation.

~~~
oxymoron
Here's the image, for anyone curious:
[http://c0la.s3.amazonaws.com/nice_cup.jpg](http://c0la.s3.amazonaws.com/nice_cup.jpg)

~~~
donmelton
Yep, that's it. :)

------
tareqak
I enjoyed the recollections. I probably would have been afraid of his shadow
if I was there.

On another note, it would be interesting to see if a website containing all
these memories of Steve Jobs ever comes about. A crowdsourced biography if you
will: storiesabout/stevejobs .

~~~
Uhhrrr
[http://www.folklore.org/ProjectView.py?project=Macintosh&cha...](http://www.folklore.org/ProjectView.py?project=Macintosh&characters=Steve%20Jobs)

------
SimHacker
At the National Air and Space Museum reception during Washington DC EduCom in
1988, I took a big bite out of one lobe at the bottom of a three lobed red
bell pepper so it looked like an alien's face, and held it up to Steve Jobs,
and said "Earthman, give me your seed!"

He looked at me funny, but I couldn't tell if he got the reference to Bizarre
Sex #10:
[http://silezukuk.tumblr.com/post/3151672333](http://silezukuk.tumblr.com/post/3151672333)
[NSFW]

------
hubtree
This part sums up why I quit using OS X for my personal projects: "And if your
software crashed, you didn’t make excuses. You just made damn sure that
particular scenario didn’t happen again. Ever."

In making sure nothing ever crashes, Apple has moved more and more to an OS
that is too restrictive for my taste.

~~~
jryle70
I fail to see how making sure your code doesn't crash is related to OS X being
restrictive. We've just experienced Heartbleed, a prime example of a poorly-
reviewed piece of software, in one of the most entrenched OSS libraries. I'd
certainly appreciate a stricter process of code review and testing,
considering the cost of patching it.

You being not a fan of OS X apparently clouds your judgement in this case.

------
mathattack
Great stories. It says a lot about Apple that time, in addition to Steve. The
personal side is good too.

 _Yes, Steve could be intense at times. But he was also a real person. He had
to deal with the ordinary and mundane aspects of life like everyone else.
Maybe even enjoy them._

------
ZeroGravitas
If after working with him for a decade you have to take a deep breath before
you can give him your honest opinion on something, then he's not a busy
executive who prioritizes efficient information exchange, he's an asshole.

~~~
noir_lord
I honestly can't think of anything I've ever read about the guy that doesn't
make me think that.

I also don't get the hero worship on HN for the guy, there are other actual
hackers for worthier (in my opinion of course) of respect (as an aside I think
Wozniak is worth far more respect than someone like Jobs).

Pretty trinkets combined with aspirational marketing and a form always beats
function attitude and somehow this guy is a hero, never could figure it out.

~~~
edanm
Well, many people who _actually_ worked with him disagree with you. I'm not
sure what that means, there are definitely a few possibilities, but I think
it's worth at least acknowledging that maybe you're wrong.

------
throwaway7548
According to Wozniak, Jobs told him that Atari gave them only $700 (instead of
the offered $5,000), and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.[65] Wozniak did
not learn about the actual bonus until ten years later, but said that if Jobs
had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have
given it to him.[66] \---

End of story. Before continuing celebrating Jobs, ask yourself a question, do
you want to promote that kind of behavior in the Valley?

~~~
lightyrs
I agree with you on principle, however, the story does not end here. Woz
himself said the following:

"What Steve does on the good side — like the music scenario [in which] we
didn't bring just a music device called the iPod, we brought a whole music
system: a store that sells it, a computer that manages and organizes it. And
an iPod is just a satellite to your computer. Plug it in and it works. You
don't have to do anything. You've got to admire Steve for that kind of
thinking. Nobody's perfect. [Everybody is] going to have cases where they did
something bad to somebody, said something nasty to them and maybe regret it
later."

Specifically:

"[Everybody is] going to have cases where they did something bad to somebody,
said something nasty to them and maybe regret it later."

I think that's a more enlightened point of view.

Source: [http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/steve-wozniak-
on-...](http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/steve-wozniak-on-apple-
steve-jobs-and-the-value-of-a-good-prank/)

~~~
throwaway7548
I agree with you absolutely. If you are _yourself_ encountering lies and
nastiness from your partners, an enlightened way would be trying to understand
them. And forgive.

But my point was different. We just can't afford to _celebrate_ lies. It is
very very very harmful.

~~~
jballanc
If you think Steve is the only person in the Valley to have lied to a business
partner...I have a bridge that might interest you.

As for the specific event in question (the Atari money), do we know what Steve
did with the extra money? Seems to me, maybe he really _did_ need it (for
rent/food/etc.) and was too ashamed to ask Woz for the extra. Maybe he figured
he would re-invest it, and that it was easier to do behind Woz's back than to
try and explain his plans.

Steve was no saint, but in my experience he was generally a nice guy. He also
thought he knew better than everyone else, and so it would not be unusual for
him to leave out explanations, make snap judgements, and be rather brusque in
general (when dealing with business decisions). Why should he have to explain
himself when he was obviously right?

I'm sure it didn't help that the world so often (especially toward the end)
only reinforced the notion that he knew better than everyone else...

~~~
kaoD
> If you think Steve is the only person in the Valley to have lied to a
> business partner

So, if someone else did it too, it's somehow not that bad?

Great world to live in.

------
luser
Alternative title: Hagiography of a Dead Psychopath CEO

~~~
luser
Hilarious! Every comment critical of Steve Jobs has been downvoted. Groupthink
methinks!

~~~
noir_lord
I suspect a lot of it has to do with Self identification with Steve Jobs and
people like him, so an attack on Jobs is an indirect attack on them.

Personally I think Jobs was an over hyped marketing manager (with perhaps a
true gift for getting talented people to do the work).

There are dozens of people in the computer industry that I respect far more
who will never get 1/100th of the adulation (and I'm not sure most of them
would want it).

Look at the contributions of people like John Backus, Edgar Codd or Maurice
Wilkes and of course Kernighan and Ritchie, those people (to me) are worth far
more respect.

------
theRhino
this is hilarious

------
jayvanguard
Sounds like you have to be a sycophant to work for him.

------
jmnicolas
Am I the only one fed-up with Steve Jobs stories ?

~~~
jholman
I am absolutely bored of Steve Jobs stories in general, and I'm quite
surprised at myself that I bothered to read this one.

This one in particular, though, was a human enough perspective that it would
have been interesting to read if every single mention of the particular
terrifying-and-respected-CEO were redacted. So I'm glad I read it.

------
normloman
Why are we still talking about this guy. I'll bet my life savings that when
Woz dies, we'll talk about it for around 2 months.

~~~
jotm
Or not at all. "Jobs' sidekick died. The end of an era. That's it"

------
misingnoglic
Lol, some of it seems a bit stockholm syndrome-y, but hilarious nonetheless.

------
pskittle
Thanks for posting this!

