Todd Grooms

I recently went back and read Becoming Steve Jobs by journalists Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli. I really enjoyed the book. While reading it, I shared a few excerpts with friends. I decided to post those here as well.

The first excerpt comes from the period of time when Steve was in negotiations to buy what would become Pixar from George Lucas:

“At one point,” says Barnes, who helped with the negotiations, “the delays went on forever and he [Steve] just went and told one of their executives to ‘fuck off.’ One of the Lucas team said, ‘You can’t say that to one of our EVPs.’ ‘Yes I can,’ he replied. ‘And fuck you, too.’”

During the post hardware time at NeXT, the company pivoted to selling software, which included government information servers. This anecdote from Ed Catmull amused me:

One day, Ed Catmull read a NeXT press release about, he says, “how NeXT is really happy to be selling software to control government information servers, or data centers, or something mundane like that. I read this and thought, Oh, shoot, this has got to be killing Steve. So I called him up. We met at a Japanese restaurant in Palo Alto, and I said, ‘This isn’t you, Steve.’ And he went, ‘Ohhhhh, I know! I hate this so much. I mean, CIOs are nice guys, but God is this awful!’”

This anecdote is from when Neil Young tried to send a few remastered LPs to Steve to make amends. Neil had criticized the compression of tracks sold on the iTunes Music Store and talked about how it rendered the music unbearably “compromised“:

“Fuck Neil Young,“ he [Steve] snapped, “and fuck his records.“

Lastly, the book touches on a conversation between Steve and Andy Grove (a founder and former CEO of Intel) about whether or not he should accept the CEO position at Apple after Apple’s board decided to dismiss Gil Amelio. I cannot recall if the book includes this full anecdote, but I’ve always enjoyed it:

“I knew Apple was a mess [at the time], so I wondered: Do I want to give up this nice lifestyle that I have? What are all the Pixar shareholders going to think? I talked to people I respected. I finally called Andy Grove at about eight one Saturday morning — too early. I gave him the pros and the cons, and in the middle he stopped me and said, ‘Steve, I don’t give a shit about Apple.’ I was stunned. It was then that I realized that I do give a shit about Apple … That was when I decided to go back.”

Finished reading: Mickey7 by Edward Ashton 📚

Thoroughly enjoyed this. I wanted to read the book before I see the movie. I had only become aware of this book with the release of the movie, Mickey 17.

🎧 The RFK Jr. Problem | Revisionist History

There are many reasons to be disappointed, concerned, or scared about our current situation. The appointment of RFK Jr. as the Secretary of HHS is, in my opinion, one of the most potentially dangerous actions taken by the current administration.

Finished reading: Becoming Steve Jobs by Brent Schlender 📚

There were so many good anecdotes and quotes in this book. I am glad that I finally got around to reading this one and regret that it took me so long.

Take a look at this pheasant.

Finished reading: A Series of Unfortunate Events #3: The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket 📚

Count Olaf can’t keep getting away with this!

Just because something is typed—whether it is typed on a business card or typed in a newspaper or book—this does not mean that it is true.

🔗 Daring Fireball: Did TikTok Swing the Election to Trump?

I worry that the liberal/left response to this will be to declare, with exasperation, that people shouldn’t be getting their news or forming their political opinions by what they see on TikTok. You need to meet people where they are, and craft messages for the media they consume.

Both of these things can be true: People shouldn’t be getting their news or forming political opinions by what they see on TikTok and you should meet people where they are.

📺 NeXTSTEP Release 3: A Demonstration with Steve Jobs

I never had the opportunity to use a NeXT machine. I really enjoy watching these demonstrations though, seeing how so much of what we take for granted today was groundbreaking back then.

Finished reading: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 📚

Ashley’s recommendation upon me revisiting classic works that I have never read. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I was surprised by how many laughs I got out of it.

Looking at the weather forecast, tonight will be one of those nights where I question why I choose to live here.

My slow progression into farsightedness has become very annoying. I have been very fortunate to not have vision problems throughout my life, but as I approach forty, farsightedness is catching up to me.

Happy Daredevil: Born Again premiere day, to all those who celebrate. Looking forward to watching the first episode this evening.

🔗 My Open Letter to Elon Musk - Democracy Docket

🔗 Here at DOGE, We’ve Streamlined Every Aspect of America’s Collapse - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

I promise, America will soon be the Cybertruck of countries—uglier than you could have imagined, built for rich chuds, borderline inoperable, and on fire.

Finished reading: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney 📚

🔗 The LBJ the Nation Seldom Saw

Any jackass can kick a barn down. But it takes a carpenter to build one.

Finished reading: If You Can’t Take the Heat by Geraldine DeRuiter 📚

Out of my wheelhouse, but I enjoyed the book. There is humor (and it hit me just the right way) and seriousness (that is thought provoking). I enjoyed the book.

Finished reading: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket 📚

I received a limited edition “Retro Record Player” Lego kit for Christmas. I started building the kit alone, but Adelaide joined me halfway through. We worked on the kit together while listening to the Louisville v. North Carolina basketball game. I had so much fun working on this kit with her.

🔗 An Unreasonable Amount of Time - Allen Pike

Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.

Apple paying respect to a real one.