
Nightline Interview with Steve Jobs (1981) [video] - doener
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H-Y-D3-j-M
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jakobegger
What I find impressive is how confident Steve Jobs was in 1981 that soon
everyone would have a computer -- just like in 2007, he was confident that
everyone would soon have a smartphone. I wasn't around in 1981, but I know
that in 2007 that wasn't a popular opinion. People talked about the
"smartphone market" as if it would stay a fraction of the general phone
market.

In retrospect, it's pretty obvious that computers/smartphones would take over
the world.

What are the revolutionary things that are starting right now that will be
obvious in retrospect?

Best I can think of is that electric cars will become ubiquitous in a couple
of years, and they might partially drive themselves, but that's not really a
big revolution.

People who tried VR seem to be pretty optimistic about it's future, but I
don't see many uses except for games and maybe some specialised applications.

What am I not seeing?

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godzillabrennus
Hydrogen fuel cells. Elon Musk is talking them down like Steve Jobs talked
down native apps in favor of a web app.

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slackingoff2017
Hydrogen is a shitty fuel. Hard to contain, burns too easy, explosive.

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paulddraper
For pedestrian uses, yes. But it could be used in more specialized
applications that already require a lot of attention. E.g. commerical
airplanes.

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coldtea
That's not really life or industry changing though.

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paulddraper
Depends on your life or industry.

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theprop
"Are we becoming controlled by the computer..." "...our computer weighs about
12 pounds, you can throw it out of the window if the relationship isn't going
very well..."

And WOW, 6 minutes of discussion of privacy concerns with computers in 1981!

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DonaldPShimoda
Haven't watched the video just yet, but Jobs also once said:

"Man is the creator of change in this world. As such, he should be above
systems and structures, and not subordinate to them."

I think it served as part of Apple's internal mission statement in the 80s or
something.

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Udo_Schmitz
The Interview that starts at 5:50 seems to be the one where this pre-show clip
is from:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzDBiUemCSY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzDBiUemCSY)
CNN dates that video to 1978 though:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb9YTXmPolo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb9YTXmPolo)

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ccvannorman
Interview starts halfway through the video. The question of privacy is brought
up, and Jobs says (paraphrased) "privacy concerns will be mitigated by a
computer literate public".

As I watch this on my Macbook Pro while the NSA records the event, I can only
say that Jobs was right in some ways.

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bamboozled
The fears about citizens privacy being severely eroded came true! Steve was
speaking more like an ideaologist / optimist than a pragmatist, but I believe
his intentions were sound.

It seems generations (young and old), never became computer literate to the
level Steve anticipated. Personal computing access quickly outgrew computer
literacy in the time frame required to stop societal damage being done.

The majority of users have become passive consumers and not free spirited,
well rounded, democratically inclined, creative types that fit go with Steve's
vision and observations.

Hindsight is 20/20 though and one can't blame them, who could've predicted the
rapid PC uptake _plus_ the Internet of 2017 back then?

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extrastitial
Just as fascinating as Steve Jobs’ comments are the prescient privacy concerns
voiced by David Burnham. Incredible that over 35 years ago, the impact of
computers on civil liberties was already in public discussion.

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tim333
The impact of computers on civil liberties predates that by decades
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/mar/29/humanities.hig...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/mar/29/humanities.highereducation)

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fgrimes
Probably predates computers, if you look back far enough.

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raverbashing
The interview is the less interesting part of the video, at least the Jobs
part is "out there" and not really answering the questions.

Which Apple office was that? Bandley Drive maybe?
[http://www.cultofmac.com/128374/blast-from-the-past-
floormap...](http://www.cultofmac.com/128374/blast-from-the-past-floormap-of-
apples-original-bandley-1-headquarters/)

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du_bing
Good documentary videos to understand the history of computer as a tool for
humans.

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jerkstate
visionary

