Steve Jobs on Digital Librarian: Search the world in minutes
What Jobs talks about
In this 1988 TV feature, Steve Jobs argues that computer power is about to change how people search for knowledge and experience culture. He frames the NeXT computer as part of a larger shift in civilization, where information once buried in books can be found in moments.
Jobs demonstrates the idea of a digital library by searching for writers like Shakespeare, Orwell, and Lincoln Steffens, emphasizing how quickly ideas can be retrieved. He presents that speed as revolutionary, making the world's knowledge feel immediate and available.
He then turns to music, describing how computers can generate and play sound in ways that connect mathematics and art. The segment uses Bach and Stevie Wonder to show how computing can move beyond science into human creativity.
Jobs speaks throughout, with the TV segment introduced by Ted Koppel.
In his words
“I have seen the future.”
“It is working.”
“We can now keep the science of our civilization at our fingertips.”
“This would be revolutionary in human affairs.”
“What you are going to hear now is one that has been extracted from mathematics.”
Key points
- Computing power is becoming fast enough to reshape everyday life.
- A digital library can make searching books and ideas take less than a minute.
- The future of computing is not just technical; it changes art and human affairs.
- Music can be created and played with the help of mathematics and computers.
- NeXT is presented as a machine for knowledge, creativity, and culture.
Full transcript
In the history of the civilization of this planet, some discoveries or events have caused significant changes in our way of life. For example, fire or sugar. This year, in 1988, we have created supercomputers with a power of 2 billion calculations per second. We expect that power to double in the next year. We believe that it is impossible to travel at the speed of light. If we can achieve this and reach the stars in the distance, the comets will be able to do it. Hello, I am Steve Japs. I create comets. We humans are all comets. We create comets that excite the energy within us.
Comets such as meteor, asteroid, language, and math. But the most accurate comets we have ever created are comets. So far, comets have been used to cause revolutions in science and industry. But in 1988, comets have become so powerful that they have the same effect on art and human affairs. One of the two things I would like to share with you is the idea of digital journals. Even though we know that there is a science we are looking for in a big journal, we long to see it between the books. How would it be if we brought this journal into a journal and searched for it in one or two minutes? We did it in 1988. We can search for William Shakespeare's books in less than a minute.
Now, I am interested in the future. I would like to see what some people have said about this. I will come here and search for the future in a journal and see what George Orwell has said. If you need a movie about the future, imagine a statue that is always staring at a human face. This is not that realistic. Let's go a little further down and see. Here I saw Lincoln Steffens. I have seen the future. It is working. We can now keep the science of our civilization at our fingertips. This would be revolutionary in human affairs. But there is one more thing that is close to our soul as humans. It is now time to create music that can be played by an excellent violinist.
What you are going to hear now is one that has been extracted from mathematics. What you are going to hear is what was created a minute ago. This is by Johann Sebastian Bach. Concerto in A minor Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Heat, heat Hello, I am Stevie Wonder, a musician.
Song, music, voice. This profession has made many possible things possible. The touch of a petal. A sweet sync leap.
Transcribed from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.