#743
At a recent Computer History Museum event, attendees gained rare insights into Steve Jobs’s “wilderness years” through a compelling book talk with Geoffrey Cain, author of Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary. Joined by NeXT veterans Dan’l Lewin, Rich Page (via video), Avie Tevanian, and Bud Tribble—(A few moved to Apple too) who each knew Jobs for nearly 37 years—the panel illuminated how this turbulent decade transformed the tech visionary.
After his dramatic 1985 exit from Apple following a power struggle with John Sculley, Jobs founded NeXT with a handpicked team of Apple talent. Driven by ambition, he aimed to create the ultimate “3M” computer for education: one million instructions per second, one megabyte of RAM, and a one-megapixel display. The sleek black NeXT Cube embodied his design obsession, while NeXTSTEP software—led by Tevanian and Tribble—introduced object-oriented tools and networking that later became the foundation of Mac OS X and iOS. A NeXT Cube even powered Tim Berners-Lee’s invention of the World Wide Web at CERN.
Yet commercial reality struck hard. The Cube launched late and overpriced at $6,500, leading to near-failure. Panelists described how Jobs deployed his famed “reality distortion field” to its fullest, pushing teams through intense, marathon efforts amid lavish spending on factories, logos, and custom designs. Failures forced painful pivots, teaching Jobs operational discipline and better delegation.
A standout insight: Jobs’s marriage mellowed him significantly. The brash perfectionist evolved into a more introspective leader capable of building sustainable teams. Pixar's experiences complemented NeXT’s technical lessons, preparing him for Apple’s 1997 return after acquiring NeXT for $400 million.
Far from wasted time, NeXT’s bold ideas, breakthroughs, and humbling lessons forged Apple’s modern empire. As Cain and the panel emphasized, true innovation often emerges from spectacular failure and personal reinvention. The discussion reminded me of (how Apple acquired NeXT at 400Mn$ and created an ecosystem for flourishing when it had nothing) how Allied Signal, a behemoth, purchased an unknown entity called Honeywell and rechristened itself to work an image makeover and reached new heights!!) ( I was with Honeywell 2006-12)
Thank you Shravan for working on this, which is part of apple@50 event. Link for the book.
28/5/26
5am PDT Foster City.
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