Steve Jobs on Object-Oriented Programming: the next breakthrough
What Jobs talks about
Jobs argues that personal computers have only come a short way and that the real task is getting them to work together to do something more powerful. He frames that as the next stage after the early PC revolution.
He reflects on Apple and the Macintosh, saying he is still happy whenever a Macintosh is sold and that Apple should protect it and keep it successful. He also says he has a “crazy idea” about instant justice and being the kind of person you choose to be.
The most forward-looking part of the interview is his claim that the next major breakthrough is object-oriented programming. He says it will make software much faster to create and lead to far more software in the world.
An interviewer asks questions throughout; Jobs answers throughout.
In his words
“I feel like I'm actually doing the best work of my life right now.”
“We have the first big breakthrough since the Macintosh.”
“This next revolution is going to be for the programmer and it's called object oriented programming.”
“It's going to make software 10 times faster to create”
“So that there can be much, much more software in the world.”
Key points
- Computers are still in their infancy.
- The next step is getting computers to work together and do amazing things.
- He still cares deeply about Macintosh and wants Apple to keep it successful.
- He says his current work is the best work of his life.
- The next big breakthrough is object-oriented programming.
- Object-oriented programming will make software much faster to build.
- More software will mean more possibilities in the world.
Full transcript
What is my dream today? This is a very French question. I guess, think computers are just in their infancy today. So maybe they've come this far in the last thirty years. Everyone having a computer isn't enough anymore. We have to have them start to work together to do some amazing things. Let's show them why 1984 won't be like 1984.
On January 24, Apple computer will introduce Macintosh, and you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984. Now I'd like to show you Macintosh in person. But today, for the first time ever, I'd like to let Macintosh speak for itself. Hello. I am Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag. Steve Jobs, low margin that they don't do that.
Some people failures too. I think She knows how to You know, various people that I chose to do certain jobs worked out a little differently than I thought. So Do you think about John Schuyler? In general. Schuyler, do you see him again or not? No. I haven't seen him since I left Apple in 1985. Our paths haven't crossed again. What would you like to to say to him today? I think that he should just protect the Macintosh and keep making it successful. I'm still happy every time a Macintosh gets sold, makes me very happy.
It's a good computer for certain things, so I think Apple should just take care of the Macintosh and make sure it does well. And personally? Personally? Right. Yes. Oh, I don't know. You know, a lot of water under the bridge. Yeah. You know, when I was 12 years old, I had this crazy idea, which was that the universe has instant justice because you have to be you. In other words, if you're not a very good person, if you're a dishonest person or if you're a very deceitful person, you have to be yourself.
You have to live the life of a very dishonest person, which must not be very satisfying or enlightening. It must be almost... Must be like torture. Business week Can he do it again?
I feel like I'm actually doing the best work of my life right now. I feel that very strongly, much better than I ever had a chance to really do at Apple. But the time is not the same? No, the time is not the same, but that doesn't matter because in our industry, there's such very few real breakthroughs that when you have one, it doesn't matter what the timing is so much, over time it will become successful I think, and we have one now I think. We have the first big breakthrough since the Macintosh. The Macintosh breakthrough was for the end user. It made it very easy for the end user, user, but it made it very difficult for the programmer. And so to create programs for the Macintosh or the PC, very, very difficult.
This next revolution is going to be for the programmer and it's called object oriented programming. And it's going to make software 10 times faster to create so that there can be much, much more software in the world.
Transcribed from the audio by speech recognition (Deepgram). Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.