| PART TWO New BeginningsSee The NeXT Step Verein tv te mati tope fr the best bu rr te wrt Se ob bad sae ltr efor er sice i test nee biog tts He wa snd pu own pl ae ven Tal he necked he sce Sted hae ada sie Nota hal or eats te Mona Simon wasaneping novela wha hd noting ith ‘titer advetire and on vant Georg Pipton ah eed Crary tal The rs Reve Though th fest New Yr an regina te ev cyt soar Pech capa) ‘Mona wa bor in Gren Bay, Whos and that er fae waa poli snes profesor ner mth pce roi Ee “thre herfathr die of sect apa nthe Nidal Ect When Ste vastrn. hsp were ot a. The inte 9S tthe cng eid std le ith the winds ofthe 1960, Uararied couples di ve tg, ad ‘nmaried young women dat hep the bbs By he ine Mons ‘atorn oranda yes the coupc lated Whence a hULr—esS—s—OOOO194 on they were moving to Los Angeles. Through their tens Steve and the ss terhe didn't know be had were both coming of age in California, “Mona attended the now-infamous Beverly Hills High and remem- bers itas a place of slot of money, lot of drugs, lat of insanity” It ‘vasa publi shoo! in an almost ly-white community, but, she std So many people in Beverly Hills had domestic servants, so their kids ‘went there, oo." As flamentingan age gone by, she added," was till time when a midle-las kid lke me could get in” ‘Steve was delighted with the discovery ofa sister. The two were com- rite to building a relationship and became very close. He said, "We're family. She's one of my bes friends in the world call her and talk to her every couple of days” Both ae reticent to speak oftheir relationship or their family history, but Mona acknowledged strong feelings. "My brother and Ire very close" she said. “I admire him enormously” ‘Atthe same ttt that he connected with hissiste, Steve also located his mother, Jootne Simpson, and made his peace with her. From that ‘ime until he death he remained in contact with her and included het aswell as hssistr in his Family gathering. ill even todays is ptt flare up if nyone refers to Path and Clara Jobs as his “adoptive” par~ cents from infancy he knew them as mesher and father, and though they are no longer alive, he continues to honor thera with those terms. Use the taboo word and he's able to snap, “They were my parents” “The stat of NeXT in 1985 was an ugly beginning for a new venture, though the ruckus only solidified Steve's determination. NeXT was ‘begun in haste and with ite planning, Worse, Steve hat reflected ‘on what his uilures at Apple meant; he was lind tothe lessons inthe problems that had led to his firing, He would launch an enteely new company, hie the best and the Drightest—a crew of superstars fom Apple—and show the word that, it really was Steve who was the heart and soul of Apple. Better stil ‘computer specifically tailored to the educational establishment would reassure Appl’ ruling junta that NeXT posed no ostensible threat. {At first, things seemed tobe unfolding Steve's way. financial sup- porter came forward for NeXT; Ross Perot, the maverick entrepreneur tnd ater presidential candidate, NEXT had been eaturedin a television documentary called The Enarprencurs. Prot happened hein front of Tenors 135 a television set, saw the show; and was impressed anew by Save’ initia tive and imagination. He remembered the brash yong man he had net shen General Motors was veting Appl a an investment and placed a ‘phone allo Jobsthe next day. He offered, “Ifyou ever need an investor, call me” Steve shrevily waited a week s0 that he wouldnt look too anxious before calling Perot back. He adrotly sde-stepped questions about [NeXT revenue and profit projetions and instead gave his usual com= peling performance about vision, value, and the contribution to tech- nology and society, Perot virtually offered Jobs a blank check. "How much do you want?"he asked. Steve oflered a 16 pereent share of NeXT for $20 million, ané erot accepted. To his crite, the diminutive Texas tycoon justified his seemingly emotion-based investment by insisting, "Lim investing in quality” Aspiring novelist Mona Sirapson became published novelist Mona ‘Simpson when the New York publishing house Aired Knopf breuht ‘out her ist book, Amohere but Here Just as there ate people who are always eager to seek out the newest restaurant and art patonsalays looking forthe lates styl, the lit cerary world there are people who seek out the work of first-time no lists. Partly it’ the appeal of hearing afresh voice: partly its being in the know; Keping up with what the cognoscent are reading—or if possible keeping ahead of them First-time authors with a special tl ‘nt sometimes find themselves picked wp and carried by a wave of unexpected praise. Mon was one of those, "The book was. gem, introduced tothe world at a launch party in the literary capital othe Usted States, New York City given by her for- rer boss, the socialite and literary hero George Plimpton. Mona ‘offered her own surprise that evening: she baought her mother and a youuig man she introduced to everyone as er brothes, Steve Jobs. (Up until that moment, Steve Jobs's discovery that he had a siser was closely guarded secret, shared with almost noone. Even Mona iter ary agent, Amanda Urban, had been told. Urban said “Thad known, ‘Mona for quite a while She had sid she ha a brother who worked in the computer industry. But that party was the ist time {earned that her brother was Steve Jobs”136 con Reviewers heaped praise on Anrwhore ur Here, one calling it" wonder: ig, complex, mastrflly written” and“an achievement that lands her inthe fomt ranks of ou best novelists” scommon fora novelist fal back on her own life experience in ‘creating characters for fition. Mona acknowledges that her work ‘draws more tha little from the people and experiencesin he life, So it’ interesting to note one particular passage from the book, She has the central character describe another character, Adele, with these words: “And even if you hate her, can't stand her, even if she’ ruining your lie, Uhere’s something about her some romance, some power She's absolutely herself No matter how hard you ty, youl never get 10 hee” Later in the book, she writes that its always the people like [Adele], who start the noise and bang things, who make you fee! the ‘worst: theyre the anes who get your love” Change the gender, and you have vivid descriptions ofthe way many people come to fee! after they have worked a while for Steve Jobs Her connection to Steve wast the time guarded by the people who had been at that party and was entirely unknown tothe public. The curiosity value could not have had any effect sles. I was the qual lity ofthe writing alone that accounted for the book sling remarkably swell for what in the trades referred to asalterary nove” a not realy snide term fora book that doesn't deal with spies, serial kilers natural lisaters, or the lke, but suecoeds because ofthe quality ofthe writing. ‘With her fe book, Mona Simpson had established herself a a ‘writer to be watched, had always been the box itself tha drove Steve Jobs, The tiny, band held blue box tone emitter that Woz eeated a ther fist product. The sexy consumer elezonics recon player-cumtereo by KLH, a fixture ‘of mos college dorm rooms, that was the guiding factor inthe design ‘ofthe Apple I. The oddly retangulas, vertical, and distinctive shape of the Macintosh—"no bigger than this phone book "that was aleays part of the Mac’ distinctiveness and appeal. Later, it would be the sleek, handsome shirt-pocket musi player, the Dod. Fitingly, it would be the slek black cube of the NeXT computer a the heat ofthe fail ‘ure that changed him. ‘The site of Steve Jobs's personal Armageddon doesn ook like much today A pat of two-story, off-white buildings with green glass, bard up ‘against the bay in nondescript Redwood! City, along the peninsula ‘perween San Francisco and San Jose. Today bath buildings honse dot- om start-ups, and few ofthe employees realize, a they climb the le sgantly curving fre-standing staircase inthe heat of it that they are walking on a million-dollar piece of architetueal majesty craied by M. Paina others indstnctive Silicon Vly cookie-cutter building From the mi £980 on, ths was the corporate headquarters of the company that Steve created to show Apple and the world the genius that he knew he was. At that time, ensuring aesthetic perfection in everything he did was more important than substance—hence the ‘milion-dllar staircase, Steve didnt want to break up the space with support beams, I was an apt metaphor not only for the organizing, principle of the company, but for everything that was wrong with Steve atthe time, [NeXT spent thousands of dollars with Pau! Rand, famous graph: ies designer, for ¢2ogo— multicolored cube that resembled a chil’ building block, with an odd font treatment: NeXT, The irony was that the original NeXT machines were black and white only because af the ‘complexity ofthe graphics they were designed to display. The machine was also housed ina slck cubelie box—another vast design effort driven by Steve to his tune of col. The money spent on design dt do any good, however, because the computers were delayed, and even universities balked at buying specialized computers when cheaper alternatives were available from a company ike Sun Microsystems ‘The early years of NeXT were filed with glowing pronouncements fom the young prince of technology. Another rauch-promoted issue ‘was the NeXT factory state-of the-art robot-drven factory that Steve built It got an enormous amount of attention. Hundreds of NeXT ‘computers could be built everyday, with hardly any human interven: tion. Ie wasa model of just-in-time manuficturing, designed to reduce «ost by forcing suppliers to deliver component within hours of being needed. It was never use however, because the demand never mater- alized. As Steve discovered during the Macintosh era, delivering real products was much hase than talking about them,138 on In the 1980s, Steve's head had been turned bythe sophisticated, wordy ‘women of New York, (On one occasion, friend had set Steve up t0 have drinks witha woman named Diane, Steve called to arrange the date and was struck by how much the woman seemed! to talk like a characterina Woody Allen movie. As they were about to hang up, Steve asked, "By the way, what's your last name?" She answered, "Keaton”) Then he met a California graph designer striking enough to be mistaken fora movie sta. Except fr her considerable intelligence and her beauty, Christina Redse, “Tina” wasnt a woman whom Steve's friends would have expected him to be deawn to. Tru, they tended to Ares ale in jeans and a black T-shirt or turtleneck. In some ways they were both earthy: Steve with his Zen and his rip 0 India Tina ‘with her underplayed beauty that made her even more stunning when, she went, as she mos often did, without makeup. There was sexual chemistry between them that yas abvious—sometimes a obvious—to Steve's fiends The surprising part had to do with the way they related 9 each other. Usually, Steve seemed to be comfortable around people who ‘woulda challenge his authority. It was okay to challenge his ideas as Tong as you could make a good case for your poin of view, you could even argue with him. But when the dust settled, it would be his deci- sion. With women, to, Steve wanted tobe in cage. ina was strong-willed, She waso't going to be pliant, yielding, oF ‘humble ust so she could be ser onthe arr of Steve Jobs. She moved nit him fora while, decided she dda’ like it, and moved out agin, But he kept seeing her Tina Redse ic seemed, had found a place in Steve’ heer. In 1987, Steve attended birthday partyin Geongetown for Katharine GGrahasy, the woman who had transformed the Washington Pst nto a newspaper of national statute and guided it through the crises ofthe Pentagon Papers and the debacle of Watergate that had ended in fre- ing Richard Nixon out of the White House “Apparently because of his connection with Ross Perot, Steve had been invited to this Washington social event of the yea. Is accepted in Washington that politicos get business dane over drinks Steve needed no encouragement to pay that game, and he made two Teneranp 139 conquests before the end of the evening. He harangued King Juan Carlos of Spain, afterward claiming that he'd talked the gentleman into buying a computer. He had buted a king into a sie! Tt was like meeting Miche Eisner ata party and selling him your screenplay. Or running into Britney Spess at a restaurant and convincing her to record your song. Steve also met someone who for him was the incarnation of the archenemy: Not Bill Gates but almost as bad: John Akers, the CEO of BM. It wast asf they were facing cach other ove a conference table. Steve showed his gracious human side and dropped hintsabout a nest- generation operating system that would surprise the industry. “The hints he dropped percolated through IBM, and one day Steve's sdministrativeassstane hazed him to say that an executive from [BM was on the phone. The company was interested in opening discussions about the perating system Me. Jobs had mentioned to Me. Akers. Steve wasnt easily intimidated, Stil he had never had much taste for dealing with companies larger and more powerful than his ow, BM had always been a prominent member of that more-powerful, group, but he agreed to negotiations. Quite possibly he was thinking, along the same lines that Howard Hughes had been, years eater, Hughes had been approached by’ consortium interested in purchasing the comersone of his empire, the Hughes Tool Company: He agreed to entertain the proposal. The prospective buyers spent months on due Aligence—examining the books, poring over the assets, evaluating the fature prospects, and interviewing the executives. Finally they returned ‘o Hughes with an elaborate proposal. He thanked them warmly and ‘aid he would let them knows. That was the ast they ever heard ofthe ‘matter, and they finally realized they had been played for fools, Hughes had just been interested in somebody else closely scrutinizing every aspect of the company—the assets, the financials, the processes, the quality ofthe executives —and telling him what they thought the whole business was worth “Maybe Steve had something equally mischievous in mind. What- ‘ever his true motives, IBM examination ofthe operating system soft ‘ware, which Steve was now calling NeXTSTEP, convinced them that this was indeed powerful enough to enhance the IBM products. One day an IBM executive showed up at Steve's office for a meeting, Theworl!’ preeminent computer company was prepared to make a deal for the rights to use NeXTSTEP, and the details were splled out inthe one hundred-plus page contract that the IBM executive shoved across the table, Steve picked it up and dropped tin the trash can, IETBM wanted to deal with him, he told the man, they would have to come up with the kindof contract that Steve ked—simple and short, something ike five or six pages TBM went through some internal gyrations—you can just imagine, ‘The company representatives got back in touch and suggested that, ‘Stowe draw up a contact of his own liking. He id, and that got the deal, back on track ‘This was sil early enough inthe history of NeXT that Steve could think he would have the word beating a path t his door Even so, he had to recognize that a deal with IBM would bring credibility like nothing let would crown him with a alo of approval, practically a ‘guarante of invincibility. Even rumors thatthe two companies were talking set the business reporters on fire, begging for confirmation of ‘what was going on. ‘The negotiations continued. By 1989, with NeXT bruised and bleeding from lack of sles forthe Cube, Steve's own executives were arguing that the company should get out ofthe hardware business and concentrate on making 2 ran for it with the software. Then, seemingly justin time, ISM signed the dal with Steve, under terms that would pump inthe millions that would rescue NeXT from sinking ‘The story didnt have a happy ending. The IBM executive who had ‘been the visionary driving the maerage, Bill Lowe, the man who had brought life tothe IBM personal computer, lft the company to take 3 position with Xerox, posilynot the best carer decision he could have ‘made, For NeXT, the lss of Lowe was practically a death knell The project was eft in the hands of people who didntsce the potential that Lowe had seen TBM paid the up-front amount required by the terms ofthe con: tract, then stopped returning the call from NeXT and never did any- thing with NeXTSTEP. Only much ater would Steve recognize the ‘opportunity he had so narsowly missed out on. At the time, IBM and Microsoft were in the midst of a wrestling match over competing TenecTsep 4 ‘operating systems: Microsoft battling to establish dominance for its ries and had essentially run out of options for producing income at ‘ther of them. At leat, not enough income to make the companies viable for the long term. Yet Steve intuitively understood that he reded to speak up to Tf Katzenberg as if they were bargaining from equally styong postions ‘Steve insisted that Disney would be funding production work onlys ‘the deal would not involve Pisarslling the rights fo any technology Jefvey acted as f Disney "was the be-all and end-all, and isa just, 4 gnat” said former Pisar executive Pam Kerwin. All the revenue from video sales would go to Disney he told Steve. Pixar would not participate. Stil he wasnt just talking about one film, he was talking bout vee Jefiey nov led Steve onto the main battlefield the discussion ofthe ‘production budget and how the pie of profits would be sliced. Pixar would reccise 12.5 percent of the net, Jffey said. I's doubeful that ‘Steve or Fd Catmll even knew what a reasonable number was. Tis ‘was Hollyvood insider sti, information you couldnt find in any book. Only a anaful of people a the top ofthe studio structure, and thie lawyers knew whether 12.5 percent represented a royal screwing. Steve mist have been holding his breath The size ofthe production ‘budget was key. Big enough, and it would mean the survival of Pixa ‘Steve, Ed, and John had gone over the numbers thoroughly, but its not Tike « math problem on the SAT:°If 13 people can create a S-minate animated fil in 3 months, how many people wilt take to create a 90- ‘aiute film in 3 years?” There are so many intangibles. ‘Worse, whole elements of fmmaking were complete unknowns to these nervous neopttyas, How much do you nee to budget fora musi ‘alcove, orchestration and recording sessions? Flow much foreach of the A-list movie stars to record the voices? aw much forthe comple- tion bond—the insurance policy that protets against some indspen- sable member of the production team falling victim to a terrible ailment partway through? ‘One published account describes how Jeffrey forced Steve to announce a production budget figure, then std Disney wouldn't spend that and seduced Steve into accepting a much lower igure whe all the aero coemonies 191 sme the original figure Steve had named was significantly under what the studio ad been spending per picture tsa good story, burro the way the cards were played, according to am Kerwin. Disney understood th he Pixar guys didn’ know how to budget an animated feature, she said. "We figured out the cost in collaboration with Disney” Iewasin the common interest of eth sides to arrive ata budget that made sense all around, For Steve, the important part was that Disney would put up the full «ost of production fPixar stayed within budget, Steve would not have ‘reach into his own pocket. Ifthe picture went over budget, he would bbe on the line for as much as $3 milion. He would remain on edge bout that $3 milion commitment during most ofthe time it took to produce helm, demanding reportsand assurances at frequent inter: vals thatthe cost remained inline But that was all ahead. On the day of the Katzenberg meeting, Steve walked out with a handshake commitment for » dhrce-picture deal With the most prestigious company i the history of animated film, 3 deal that would save him and his company. A deal tht would eventu- ally lead to his becoming succesfl even beyond his dreams. "Now all he ad todo was wat forthe Disney minions to work out ‘the nitty-gritty details and call to say they were ready to negotiate the specifics. While Disney and Pixar were just beginning to dance together a the executive level, the two companies had been busy for some time in other areas that had already born rut, Before Alyy Ray's painfel departure, he and. Lem Davis of Disney had come up withthe ide of doing 2 joint research projet, which ‘eventually led to a software package called Computer Animation Pro> ‘duction System oF CAPS. ‘Traditionally animators drew thei images on paper. Each image ‘was then transferred to cellloid sheets (cls) and given to ink-and- pint workets in white gloves who added the edge lines and painted in the color. With CAPS, the computer takes over this work: the paper Jimages ate scanned into the compute, then digitally inked an painted onscreen, From thee, the aft can be digitally composited, using as many layersas desired.182 eon [Acconling to Dylan Kohler, one of the software engineers who worked on the development, the CAPS project was considered highly nfidential. The studio was obsessive about not wanting anyone to Know that some ofthe Disney animation was being done with comp rs instead of al by hand, “They were affad if word got out, the luster fof the Disney name would be tarnished. Everyone involved with the project ad to sign a nondisclosure agreement” Kor said “I didnt ‘even tel my family about CAPS. We developed this great thing, we got through the hell of geting Rescuers Down Under out, and then we were sill under these very strict [nondisclosure agreements] so we couldnt tsven celebrate what we had dane with other people. Rescuers Down, Under came ino the theaters, and we couldat say to anybody, "This is the fist feature in history © be produced entirely in the digital realm, (om fade in to fade out” "Toe secret came out after Besuty and the Beast reached theater sercens, witha bllroor® scene that to the trained eye had clearly reaqired the use of computers. At that point, “Jeffrey Katzenberg started bragging to the press that computers were now in fact part of very sequence” and the developers ofthe software were at lst fee 10 talk about their work CAPS was used on every Disney 2-D animated eature from that time on including Beauty andthe Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Pocahontas. “This eaty collaboration between Pixar and Disney but confidence among the folks in Burbank toward their brethren up north. As E& Cat ‘ull described it, Pixar had “performed on time and on budget and. five them more thn they bargained for” and asa result, "Disney eal= Jned they had something special” "The project paid off handsomely, not only in establishing the Pixar ‘bonafides wth Katzenberg, bu in another important way aswell The 1992 Academy Awards included a technical award to Pixar for CAPS. [Asa beateditony, Alby Ray Smith, who had already made his painful ‘departre frm Steve Jobs company, wasone ofthe recipients sharing inthe award, “The following year the same lightning struck gain another Oscar to Pinar this time for the RenderMan software, Pixar's only marketed soft- ware prodoct RenderMan has continued to provide a revenue stream ‘through the Yeats and even today isthe most widely used rendering soft Mane emanie 83 ware, not only on animated films, but also on computer-based visul fet forive-action features. (In act, 38 of 2004, RenderMan ad been used in thirty five ofthe last thirty-nine lms nominated for an Oscar in the best visual effects category} ‘On March 18,1991, Steve Jobs gave up his bachelorhood, ‘Asshole army of people thought they would receive an invitation to the wedding, but it wasn't going tobe that kindof function. Steve and Lautene invited almost na one. Maybe i was because Steve was feling the financial pinch so severely that even for this comerstone event i theielives—the fist marriage for both of them—he wast wiling to spend the money for a large, splashy eople magazine sor of function. (Or maybe it was just the minimalist, iid-back Steve Jobs doing ‘things his way. Tt certainly wasnt any young womar’lifelong dream of ‘ceremony. ‘The wedding was tobe at Yosemite National Patk- The smal group didn't fl there but climbed into one of those lavish pivate-party buses steve had rented forthe drive rom Silicon Valley Lauren’ parents st together, trying to get comfortable with Steve side ofthe family—-his mother, Joanne Simpson, and hs novelist sister, Mona, Steve must have sorely missed his adoptive parents, Paul and Clara Jobs, to who he ‘owed so much, “The ceremony ite could not have been simpler or more austere. “Zen had meant so much to Steve over the years and now it dictated the style of the ceremony. Incense was burnings the guests an the bridal sroup entered the room, and the Buddhist monk whom Steve had ‘worked with for years—Kobin Chino—presidd. Instead of wedding bal the small group heard the boing ofa Buddhist gong, as thirty-six year-old Steve sarted twenty-seven-yearold Lauren. The usually rliabie Forbes carted an item saying that Steve had ‘opposed the idea of exchanging wedding bands. “But just days before the ceremony" the magazine reported, "he was spoted at Tiffity’s in San Francisco shopping for a ring in the balf-mition dollar neighborhood. ‘Tall appearances, Steveand Laurene have since had a table, satisy- ing marrage. But the wedding almost dda’ happen. Thi Bist child, son named Reed, was born on September 22 si months afer te cere ‘mony. When Laurene told Steve she was pregnant, his back went up just194 eon asitbad years earlier when Chris-Ann became pregnant, Lauren, nat rally enougln wanted to get marred, Steve refed, It was the same scene boing played out al rer again, with a diferent female lead. Thistime the outcome was ifferet. One of Ameria’ most promi- rent bachelors had renounced his bachelothood, but che celebrating was brie. Laurene had to get back to the lassroom and her studies and Steve who had sill not heard from Jeffrey Katzenberg about moving lead, went back to looking for some way to dig himself out of the worst financial ole he had ever been in—with the business press ready to write about his ulate disgrace. Finally, Disney got in touch to say twas ready to move ahead with the ‘contract negotiations. Steve went on a hunt for an appropriate enter= tainment attorney to advise him inthe deal-making. Afer considering leading talents like the esteemed Ira Epstein, a founding partner of ‘Cooper, Spaein, Hurwitz, he decided on Harry Britenham, whose lien roster incioded people like Harrison Ford and the leading inde- pendent flm producers in Hollywood, Bob and Harvey Weinstein of ‘Miramax. Brittenham, known as Skp,sa short, thin man described as low-key” by people who know him personay and as having “an out sized personality" by others. Ina town fled with big-ticket attorneys, heb ranked among the ify highest earners and is considered one ofthe {op two oF three powerhouses among entertainment lawyers ‘1 turned out that Disney hadn't been ignoring Pixar but had been | busy ll long with the legal department drafting terms and key exec ‘tives reviewing and calling for changes. Because this was breaking new ground for the studio asthe first-ever animation production to be outsourced," proceeding with due caution made sense. For Steve, Ed, and John, though, it would have been a less aot less anous ime if the Disney people had kept them posted with progress reports "Now that negotiations were moving ahead Steve Hew to Burbank from time to time to si down with Jeffey Katzenberg and go over details of the contract. On a chartered aircraft? No ways he wasnt ‘spending money fivolously at this pint. He flew Southwest, standing in ine like any tourist or businessman on a bud. Pam Kerwin says the Piar people rode Southwest from Oakland to Burbank so often that they nicknamed it “the Southwest bus” She recalls one later acer occas 195 ‘occasion when Steve decided aftr their meetings that he wanted to experience the fun of the jurassic Park ride on the Univers Studios tour. He made a phone call that got them to the font ofthe line an onto the ride."We went tothe airport soakiag wet” she recall Inthe deal that was finally put on the table, Disney, in addition to picking up the production cost, would aso fund the promotion and. the distribution Pixar would develop al the creative aspects—charac- ters, character appearance, screenplay, dialogue, casting of actors for the voices, and soon, Disney would, of course, retain approval power ‘overall erative decisions, bu that Was fine with the Pixar team. Who. ‘would complain about having the expertise and the creative sensitivity ‘of seventy years of animation heritage as a sounding hoard? ‘The overall terms followed the lines that had been lad down by Katzenberg in the initial meeting, along with two items that hadn' yet come up. John Lasseter would have to sign along term contrat, bind- Jing him to stay on board forall tree ofthe pictures covered by the agreement, Katzenberg was adamant. After the Tin Tay Oscar, he had tried to entice John back to Disney, promising creative freedom on his ‘wn productions John had replied that at Disney he could make ‘movies, at Pixar he could make history. If Katzenberg couldnt have John, this deal was at last a guaranteed way to acquit his talent So a ‘commitment fom John was a deal-breaker: he would commit t0 stay the course or the deal was of Toho agreed: If ts nice to be wanted, is even nicer to be fought “The second new term sid that Disney would keep the income from merchandising royaltie—ioys, games, fast-food tie-ins, and all the rest, When Steve late saw how mush this added up t,he Figured outa way to cut Pixar in on subsequent films. With John Lasseter in the controlling role as director and head writer and Ralph Guggenheim ( colleague rom the original New York Com- puter Graphics La days) as producer, Piar launched into the daunt- ing, totally unfamiliar task of developing a feature-length motion picture that came tobe called Toy Story John had alwaysbeen drawn to ‘buddy pictures, and he had won an Oscaé for his three-minute short {eaturinga smal baby and its toys Those themes came together inthe196 con concept of two toys ina youngsters collection struggling with their ‘vn competitiveness until they mus join together against an outside adversary. Typical buddy film stuff, of sours, but never done before swith toysas the heroes. (Over period of months, they developed the story tothe poin that John fli was ready tobe presented to Disney. Member of tne Pixar team assembled the pencil sketches they had prepared and transferred ‘them to vdeo. John tok the video to Burbank, where he an it for Fe frey Katzenberg while proving alive narration and a soundtrack by ating ovt all he roles. (Lasseter can captivate an audience so effec tively inthis kind of session that some claim he could ave had a suc- cessful career a8 an actor) After John let, Katzenberg told another Disney executive tht it was“ wondesful tervfic—the best pitch I ever heard” (A while later, he went around telling everyone how much work swig nceded to fix problems in the tory.) "From that germ of an ide, Join and is writing associates spent the better part of ull year developing script John took one long week: end to lear the basic tois af th? Hollywood screenwriter’ craft by signing up fora cram course in Los Angeles—the same one that’s par~ ‘died in the movie Adaptation. Though some people ridicule the ‘course forts st of hidebound rules and prosciptive do's and dons, Lasseter’ writing clearly didnot suffer from the experience. Toh chose one scene fom the story withthe two central characters, astronaut Buze Lightyear and Woody, cowboy, and set the animators “nd the technical crews to work on producing a thirty-second demo inmended t capture the briliantly realistic look thatthe finished film ‘would have. All ofthe top Disney executives knew what 3-D animation Tooked lke but none of then hal seen itbefore in footage beng devel ‘oped fora picture that would carey the studio's name. Peter Schneider, ‘who had prevailed in his drive to have the project under his control, ‘watched the clip and was astonished In mid-January 1993, Pixar finaly received thumbs-up from Jffeey Katzenberg on the plot concept ‘While the ret of Pixar—the folks not working on the movie, the software developers, the business types, and so on—suffered from penny-pinching and bean counting, the production side ofthe house ‘grew fiom a handfal of people © more than a hundred, eventaally including thirty technical directors and nearly as any animators Maceo caenans 197 Screentiters often turn to fle cards when they work out a storys structure, writing a bref description ofeach sene on a car, pinning, up all the cards on a pegboard, and then moving them around to find 1 better order. Flm animators often do the same but use sketches instead of file cards. If you had visited Pixar in the early 1980s, you Would have found hallways enlivened by an impromptu at show of sketches for successive moments in a scene, with story editors and snimvaross tossing out ideas on how to make the seen flow. {AS you stood in th hallway examining those rough Dut engaging hand-drawn art pieces you might have seen John Lasseter hurrying past As director ofthe film, John was commander in chit, charge of every cteative aspect. Everyday be worked his way through the large bullpen where the animators had thei individuslcareels. Meticulously ‘detailed, the drawings allowed John to look ata series of images and esion every aspect ofthe action, then rate of sting of sugges tions from which way a character's toes are pointed or how he's grip ping the objec in his hand, to how quickly he tens, where his eyes are Focused, and ow he shows reaction to what he es. John had sensed ear in his career that ites ore than drawing still tbe a superior animator For Pisa he insisted on animators who ‘would be “more actor than artist” Cresting animated characters that spring to life onscreen, he std, requires acting ability more than any= thing else. Late on, the company would help develop that ability by requiring incoming animators, modelers, and shaders to attend “Pixar University a course of several week that even includes sessions in the a of impros, ‘When a scene involved dala, the animators initially worked 19a “scratch track” recorded by various Faar employees no acting experi- ence required. Later in the process, the big-xame actors and their lesser-known brethren showed up at recording studio Los Angeles, here Lasseter guided them through the performance line byline. For ‘Tay Story, John had his heart ston Tom Haak forthe wice of Woody, ‘because, John sai, Tom has “the ability to take emotions and make them appealing” Before Hanks came in to discuss the project, Lasser prepared athrty-second reel showing abit of ation with the Woody190 oe character toa soundtrack of Hank's voioe from the movie Turner & “Hooch. Hanks, watching the clip, threw back his head, roared with, laughter and then asked, “When do we start” ‘Others inthe voice cast were Wallace Shawn, comedian Don Rickles, and magician Penn jill of Penn & Teller. The role of Buzz Lightyear ‘was woied by Tim Allen, (lly Crystal ad originally been ofered the role but tuned it down—a decision he later eget "it wasthe biggest mistake I ever made in my life” he said. “Only thing lever turned down, that [felt bad aboat.” He managed to make up for it by taking a voice roleina later Pixar fil the 2001 production Monster, ac) “Asanimators worked o a character fora particular sene, they ot only listened tothe dialogue track but also watched videos of the voice talent reading the dialogue, reviewing the footage and the dialogue repeatedly until they had command of every nuance. Staring to work fon the scene, they animated the movements of the character's body fist, then added the facil animation and movements of the mouth and the lps in sync withthe recording Facial animation makes use of ‘pull pointe” thatthe animator creates for the faial muscles; the ‘Woody character had eight contzols for his eyebrows alone, “John has a working knowledge of everything,” said visual effects supervisor Tom Porter, who also worked asa shader. "He well knows when you can do something bette” and is’ che least bit hesitant about calling on people to tr again, Yet he ineaiahly manages to give these orders in @ way that makes people fel challenged instead of scolded or put down, ‘After Lasete’s morning visit tothe animators bullpen, he usually hustled to sreening session with the lighting team, where they sera tinized scenes that were readj—or almost ready—for final approval and transfer tof, Here, Joho the director became Jon the perfec- tonis at his most ardent. Changing the character of the lighting, even subtly could reshape the mood of the entre scene, redirect the viewers attention, or convey a diferent messige. What did John originally want the scene to exprest—what sory point or character revelation? ‘Would that goal be better achieved by shifting the key light ofthe scene to come from hee insted of there? Or by adding a Gil ight from the ‘det Or could the scene make an even stronger point than the one he ‘orignaly had in mind? | Maratea 199 ‘here is no nsed to rebuild a setand reassemble the actors in this new world, ls one of the continuing miracles of computer-based filmmaking that these changes can be achieved with hardly more effort shan the wave of a magicians wand even if there isa lot of | ‘computer horsepower behind it, The director his so many more ‘options that he becomes a Metlin, able to reshape reality with asim- ple command, A visitor to one ofthese sessions watched as Laster and hislight- {ng team studied a scene in which the viewer looks outa window cos- ‘ered with raindrops. "Each drop is lens” Joln coached, "and should reflect everything thats going on ouside. Lets add fy more 50 peo- ple won't miss he effect” Lasseter els that an animated film needs to convey the same sense of blievability tothe eye asa live-action film. That extonds tothe small- est details his teams ereated a dozen diferent “ith bares?" for things such as giving haseboardsin a bedeoom marks that made itlook sculfed by kicks fom children’s shoes. Few people would ever notice but tis kind of thinking extended 10 camera moves a5 well Layout supervisor Craig Good explained, "We wie to do what we could do ona set with real tripods and cranes. We Aelberately borrowed shots from live-action directors” All this was dane by calling on equations and algorithms stored inthe computer, mathematical statements that were developed and refined over the years, some tracing their roots al the way back to the ‘Alex Schue days and eater, becoming more powerful but also more ‘complex. As an example, technical divector Bill Reeves explains that, “Ws amazing how big ous shaders are. They used to be afew lines of «code. Now some of them are tn to twelve pages.” (A shader is a Block ‘of software that describes a surface and defines how te surface reflects and bounces light.) ‘Oncea scene received John's inal benediction, i was ent off tothe “eenderfarm” a fatary of three hundred Sun Microsystems worksta- tions, whete the complex information for each scene is rendered into pinks, frame by fame, ready to be transated onto motion picture film. ‘hirty-five-malimetrflm speeds through the projector of your local ‘multiplex at the rate of 24 frames per second, and there were some 116,000 frames inthe completed Toy Stery. The rendering proces can200 on take as muchas fve hours foreach frame of lm, which explains why the Pixar rendrfarm has so many computers. While Steve had plenty of reasons tobe happy about the progres being ‘made at Pisa hisather company, NeXT, was on a roller-coaster. Steve "thought he might have a solution tothe problems when he manage to entice away from Microsoft Mike Slade, a marketing whiz witha spec tacular success record to pump some life into NeXT’ sales as its new rector ofmarketing With the hard-drving Slade onboard, employee morale picked up dramaccaly an so did sles, mliplyng fourfols Ws incredible to think that a fourfold leap in sles wouldn't be enough, bu it wasn. In all of 1992, NeXT sold only twenty thousand computers. IF Pixar had eve sold that many, everyase would have been popping champagne cork. For NeXT, it was pathetic. Apple was selling ‘more computers than that every week Steve wast in position to pour in any more money af his own— not without jeopardizing his entire future By January, though, the picture was more encouraging. NeXT had reported anal sls of $140 millon, and Steve was making aggresive statements: “We entered the commercial workstation market several ‘years ago, and our market shae is about haf of Sun's and growing ‘Watch for us to continue taking marketshare away from Sun” In fc, the picture was only atl brighter Steve's prediction came move fom his blind sel-deceiving optimism than it did from the elites ofthe rarketplace. The people at Canon, however, impressed by the sales increase at NEXT and not eager to see their hundred ilion-dollae Jvestment go down the drain, decided to put in another $30 million 10 keep the company afloat, The promise of new money came with @ demand. Canon sas by now convinced that Steve was 2 large pat ofthe problem sad made it ‘condition ofthe new contribution that hehand overa large measure ‘of control toa new executive of Canon's choosing, For Steve it was a painful choice. Tis was almost like a repiay of John Seulley taking Apple Computer away fom him, bu the alternative was closing the oor, throwing alot of people at of work, and suffering humiliation from the ridicule the press would heap on him. He agree. "No one would ever argue tat Steve Jobs wasn't a nightmare to work Maser of cemonee 201 for, fom time (0 time. Yer his remarkable charisma, the mysterious atvaction that drew people to him even when they knew he might attack at any moment created a degre of loyalty that few executives ever ‘match. Having a new co-chief of NeXT might have looked ikea good idea om paper from a management perspective, but it wast exactly a svn withthe taf. Key people began to hand in ther resignations. ‘The vie president of marketing ef then the vce president of sles, then the chief of hardware—the ast remaining cofounder of the company This ranked among Steve's darkest moments but ie was to get even Canon's $30 milion was soon gone. The Japanese company poured Jn still more, possibly as much 2s another $70 million, for a tot! of $200 million, according to Wired. By 1993, Steve had to face the reality: ‘he only way to keep NeXT afloat any longer was by shutting down the hhardware business. reporter who interviewed hire when the decision ‘became public foun! him “agile, depressed, and withdrawn.” Ross Perot became disillusioned with Steves management syle, bailed out, and wrote off his investment, Steve could hardly have known at this dark moment that what remained of NeXT—the impressive NeXTStation operating system software based on dhe Mach Kernel from Camegie Mellon—wvould prove tobe the springhoard for his greatest triumph. Joba Lasseter knew he was blessed to have the Disney tration and ‘experience behind him. He was good-—great, even—and the Disney animated pictures had been faltering lately, but Disney was still unquestionably the industry giant, with an acquired sense of what audiences would respond to Still, the attitude of some of the Disney people toward their north- ern partner wasn't so much paternalistic as patronizing. That wes reflected in remarks by animation present Peter Schneider. “We act like partners are supposed to ae” Schneider sid." We lok very day at ‘what they're doing, we demand, we push, we tall” which, he insisted, Jed toa better product. Being Peter Schncider,e couldnt resist a dig “Who gets the credit really is never the sue for ws although I know sometimes itis for Steve [Jobs]” (One of his fellow executives thought that Schneider was now202 Kon conticted over new concern about Toy Soya Pitt fhe had orig inaly opposed the project and it trned out fo Be a sucess it would rake him look ike poor judge of people and of materia. fit failed, hed be just anther Disney animation executive backing projects that reached the screen and couldn't find an audience. Toy Story was John Lasseter’ baby, but John knew he had to keep Schneider and Katzenberg happy. At regular itera, John and his team assembled the rough art sketches foran upcoming sene and put them under the camera to cteate @ rude filmed storyboard. John ‘would hop ona fgh to Burbank and play the footage for Katzenberg and Schneider, while acing out the roles and providing a running description of the action John respected Katzenberg fr his experience and insights Katzen- berg respecte Lasseter fo is obvious alent al creative genius. With Steve to, the relationship was soli, and it went beyond merely profes Sona. Katuxnberghad evn developed enough respect and admiration forthe Pixar CEO that he invited Steve this home fr dinner But now leffey Kovenberg was troubled. Something about the story simply was working for him. He knew what hed ikejust nothow to fit. On small point when the story was dragging, eey| had remarkable antennae for sensing something was wrong, and he'd spring one of his fort lines “They're going for popeorn"=-meaning “you're boring them.” ‘Yet what they now struggled with wasnt something small Lasseter Anew the Psat animators were breaking new ground achieving things ‘no one in the field had thought posible The work looked great. [e lowed, He was exited about what they were achieving. But Jey Katzenberg was unhappy and it wast jus alitle popcorn problem. ‘The peeblem was one that Katzenberg couldn't put his finger on and Lasete couldn’ yet recognize, because it wasS fundamental. The cones forthe entre story had sprung fom Lasseter’ fascination with the idea of bringing tyst life through animation theme that had run through hisawacd-winning demo rela Pixar beginning with the lamps in Lazo J, which he had treated as playthings. Starting from ‘there, John and his writing eam had orginal fashioned tory about in soldier le behind at a highway est stop, and the hazards and the ventures he faced in trying find his way home, eo Camas 203 Screenwriter Andrew Stanton, one ofthe writers on the film, said that over a period of months, the writers conceived Buzz and Woody as the two main charactes—Woody, the old-fashioned cowboy, and ‘Buzz, the with- i aesonaut withthe spaceman's gadgets. “They would fight over who would be the favorite” Stanton said. “Then the two ‘would gt lost and have to learn to work together to get back home” ‘But the writing team had gone astray onthe character development. ‘Woody and Buzz needed diferent personalities good drama demanded that, Their personalities or goals would have to clash—again, as required for dramatic conflict but even more as abasic element ofthe formula for buddy Slms—before they joined forces to overcome a com sion thret or enemy: In tying to meet those essentials, though, the srrters had been too influenced by moves ik Lethal Weapon, with its serew-you attitude of the Mel Gibson character—not exactly te right Inspiration for Woody and Buzz. The script didn't convey afar mood for an audience of childcen, even if their parents might enjoy the sharp sige amor and Woodys bloated ego Ithad been an ening landmark when Jerey Katzenberg wes the picture to advance from sriptto production in mid-1993, but now, ‘moths later, he all wasnt happy John kept coming back with new ‘das, but none of them offered a solution to what bothered efirey. Like the early Hollywood mogul, efrey was incredibly astute about ‘what audiences would connect with and warm to, He could tell you in an instant i there was.a problem, The dificult was thathe could tll you how to ix it ‘On November 7a date that the Pixar team cam to call"Black Fi ay? Pisae was officially notified thatthe Wak Disney Company was shutting down production on Toy Story. The studio had decided that the script was too "juvenile" Lasseter said, and had pushed to make it “ryote edgy, more adult” Tom Schumacher, Disney's executive vice president of animation, accepted some of the blame on behalf ofthe tui. “We pushed them too fa" he sai. “They interpreted us wrong, And made the flm too abrasive It lst alot ofits charm.” Accepting some ofthe blame didn't helps the proguction was ata standstil. ‘Steve Jobs once the cover boy of the computer industry, was being lambasted in the pres over the problems at NeXT, Fallen heroes make ‘great copy, Steve could expect the business press to heap vdicule on‘him, but that waset the worst part. The demise of Toy tory was secret and hidden in private communications, but once it was publi, all, pretense would e over. Steve was fur, "The empire of Steve Jobs was in tatters and seemed unlikely ever to "Ten years alter the launch of the Macintosh and the dazzling 1984 Super Bowl commercial, 1994 was the year from hell for Hisner and Disney. as wll as for Steve and Pixar ‘An Easter ski vacation came tan abrupt and deadly endingin April with the crash of helicopter. Frank Well, Eisne's number two andthe president of Disney, was one ofthe four who perished. The giant lossto Disney’s leadership would not be recovered by any stopeap replace ‘ment. Frank Wellshad been the quintessential go-to guy for Eisner who hha given Eisner the luxury of sharing agnt portion ofthe burden in running the increasingly complex combination of Disney enterprise Wells was the filer and the interpreter who allowed Eisner’ raw business sense 1 become practical realty. Many Hollywood armchair ‘quarterbacks believe that had Frank “the Rock” Wells survived—as Some ofthe others had in that fateful crash—the waters ofthe Disney ‘ean would have remained calm the company would have avoided the myriad problems that created such turmoil inthe following year. The task of finding the right man to take Frank Wels place would prove to be far more lengthy, cost, and comple than anyone could ‘have signed Least of all Michael Finer, For months after rank Wells's death, Eisner strugled to manage the company on his ovn,ll the whi ating about for someone with the intelligence, the deve, the knowledge, the experienss, and the abil- ity with people that Wells had had in such abundance (One person he dda'rconsider at ist was, curiously enough, a close fiend: Michael Ovitz, head ofthe talent firm Creative Artists Agency, and one ofthe most powerful men in Hollywood. vit had a different set of qualifications, chief among them his lose tes to almost everyone of importance in town and his determined, almost cutthroat drive to put deals together to benefit his clients. He was at the top ofthe pyr- rid of agents in toven ‘Once Eisner started to think about Ovite as a Wells replacement, tl se cleans 205, ‘however had to be subtle about negotiations. The infamous industry gossip mil could spoil any deal before it ever got to the table, In a curious sense, the dealings that Michael Eisner now entered into with (vite would be like a rehessl fr his later desings with Steve Jobs. Both relationships would be badly marrd by a gant cash of personalities In their frst conversation on the subject, Ovtz responded with, “Tm ready fora change” and “We would make an unbeatable team.” Fisner sensed that they'd passed a threshold, Then Ovitz floated his version ofthe arrangement betwsen them: “We should be co-CEOs” Eisner immediately understood that his vision of Ovite as a replace- ment of Feank Well asa numb evo instead ofa co-equal, wasnt the same role that Ovit saw for himself Shortly after, sner began 1 ave pans that landed him inthe hos- pital, facing immediate hestt surgery. He told his wife, Jane, who should succeed him as CEO of Disney in case he wasnt able to con- ‘inue ater the operation He named two men: Barry Dill, who had ‘been chairman of Fox when Eisner was president, or Michael Ovi. He also std that he wanted to be interred aboveground. The fear was real Jane called Ovi, as ¢ close family friend, told him about the impending surge, and asked him to come tothe hosptal—Cedars Sinai Los Angles to take charge and give orders as might be needed, hich was understandable enough, given the emotional sean any’ wife would be under at such atime. After the quadruple bypass, completed without a problem, Ovitz ordered that no one be allowed at Eisnee’s bedside with the exception of his immediate family his psychotherapist, ann hs lawyer. When Disney general counsel Sanford Litvack arrived to have press release approved by the recovering Eisner, Ovtz—thoughh hhe was nota Disney employee and had no authority to make corporate decisions—infurated Litvaccby refusing him acess to Finer. Instead, ‘Orit took it upon himself to approve the release, His takeover was @ help to Jane but ka already sown seed of dissent among the Disney ‘executives that would come back wo haunt him in the near Future, ‘Stove Jobs didn't want to believe that Toy Stary was dead, He had a «contract. Disney had poured millions into the production In Hollywood, Steve was learning, studios from time to time shut down a troubled production, Ofte, they would start it backup againWinen the kinks were worked out. Disney wasn't happy with he script? Lean on the writers to come up witha solution Te wast as if the writers weren't already trying. As usual with such things, when thy found the answer, it seemed obvious. The challenge was that they could change Woody’ character so much that itwould take away all the edginess. But they finally realized that they ddnithave to. They wrote some new scenes forthe erly part of the pictur, setting up Woody as a good guy, helpfl tothe other toys, generous with is preview audience ad the reaction started a small panic, Maybe Ovitz, ‘vas right, afterall While the viewers had warmed tothe picture asthe story unfolded, the frst big laugh moment was greeted with sence, A chagrined John Lasseter st his writing crew to work on figuring out something that would captivate the audience from the stat ‘Sill within the Disney hierarchy there werea few who thought Toy Story would win the hearts of audiences, among them Dick Cook, the studio's matketing chief. He put together « promotion budget that astounded teve,lohn,and Ed Catmull—reportedy,a whopping $100 milion ‘A hundred million! More than three times what i had cost 19 produce the picture! ‘But with the studio sending eut distinctly conficting messages, it ‘was hard to knove whom to believe or what to expect. Allthe uncertainty was soon tobe reseed. The Ty Story premiere ‘was held on a Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving in 1995 atthe lavish 1920s movie palace the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. A Hollywood premiere—even one held t middsy—is a thing of legend, ike stepping into the pages of Vity Fair. Ye this ‘one was a remarkably casual affair. Tom Hanks, the voice of Woody, looking almost overdressed compared to the rest ofthe crowd, came in a sports jacket over « plain white T-shiet. Buzz Lightyear's Tim Allen wore the Hollywood uniform of black leather jacket over a biack shirt, Michael Eisner looked asi he had specially dressed down {or the occasion as he sauntered by looking just abit rumpled, the ‘ultimate in nonchalance ina blue-gray golfing shirt his hands thrust, inhis pockets. AL the end ofthe picture, as the credits started to rll, the audience applauded enthusiastically, But what did that realy mean? This was an20 koe industry audience, by nature inlined to be polite and encouraging even if everyone hated te movie "The Pixar team walked aroun in a daze uni the reviews started to appear. The Washington Post Sele sete piled on the praise:"Must- see, must-talk-about, must plan-to-see-again” ht esn' get mach bet- ter than that. Variry, the industry newspaper thats s important because its read by everyone in Hollywood and therefore shapes opin- ions that can affect people's careers, offered a prediction that made pulses racein Emeryill: "The film sportsa provocative and appealing story that’s every bit the equal ofthis echnical achievement I's hard= to-beat combination that will translate into bountiful box office returns and provide [Disney] with a whole new stream of animated product with mass-market appeal” By the time those reviews appeared, Steve Jobs had held his own premiere. For the occasion, he rented the Regency, a San Francisco _movie theater that was a throwback to the elaborate movie palaces of the thirties and fortis. He invited od friends, associates, and a who's ‘who of high-tech movers, shakers, and CEOS, in what seemed ike a reversal of roles forthe infamously casual Steve, the invitations said “creativeblack ie” Quite afew people dressed formally, but some took the phrase as an invitation to show thet in-your-face response tothe suggestion that Steve, who hardly ever showed up anywhere in an thing but his standard uniform of black T-shirt, jeans, and New Bal- ance running shoes, could expect them to get dressed up. Steve suprised them al by putting ona tuxedo, offset by what one observer described as“ beige sik waistcoat" In fic, he and Laurene looked like the kind of Hollywood beautiful people whom the paparazi alk She was magnificent ina classic, simple Black evening dress, her blond naichauging down her back, her skin tanned and glowing, as radiant as any supermodel. She's brilliant besides. It was enough to ‘make any ofthe high-tech billonaees in the crowd sick with envy Ed Catmall took the risk of inviting his onetime closest compan= jon the man who had been his sidekick ia laying the groundwork that made Toy Story possible: Alyy Ray Smith, who came to share in the ‘moment despite his sil panfal animosity toward Steve Jabs. ‘Along withthe rest ofthe audience, Avy gota full dos ofthe Jbsian ‘behavior that had made him le the company, When the screening was en 9 cover Steve took the tage. A reporter who was thee Tlie ita of Forbes, ‘described the moment to author Alan Deutschman: “This was Steve's return 0 center tage and, my did hog it. Steve was onstage by him- ‘lf and Silicon Valley was thereto pay im homage. He was not going to share the stage with John Laseter, who was kept very much in the background” Te was easy to edicule Steve. Buta that moment, he became what he had always imagined for himself, what he had once been, in his cover ‘oy days, but had lost. Steve Jobs was an icon.