While I don’t have a story to tell about Steve Jobs and myself, I do have a personal story. Years ago, actually almost five years ago now, I posted that I had heard from a close source of mine that Apple was set to release an “all new” MacBook, and it was most likely the ultra-portable laptop that was rumored to be in the works. I got the information from someone close to me, and he got the information from someone with first-hand knowledge of the device. Basically, Apple had requested that a popular music group at the time play at its holiday party. The group wouldn’t be paid for its performance, but every member of the band would get one of Apple’s brand new laptops the company would be introducing at MacWorld. I also reported that the laptop would be available almost immediately after its unveiling. This came true, and that laptop ended up being the groundbreaking MacBook Air. A few days after publishing the scoop, I received a phone call from my source that it went something like this:
Him: Dude.
Me: What?
Him. Dude. I…
Me: What?
Him: That Apple post about the MacBook, Steve is pissed!
Me: Ugh.
Him: You don’t get it, he is so angry.
Me: How angry?
Him: He was on vacation, and as soon as he saw the story he called an emergency meeting at Apple to figure out how this happened.
Me: He came back from vacation over this post?
Him: He got on his private jet and flew back to Cupertino.
Me: Oh shit. Anything else?
Him: He called me a big-mouthed asshole.
I didn’t leak photos of this computer. I didn’t even leak details about it. I just wrote that it would be new, announced at MacWorld, and available weeks later. The information came from someone close to the holiday event, but that’s just how serious it seemed Steve took things, even things as small as this. It’s apparent to anyone who knew even the littlest thing about Steve Jobs that the small details were often the most important details. It was his desire for perfection, among other things, that enabled him to have such an impact on the world as we know it, and while this is just one tiny example, it’s one I won’t forget.
