But Jobs’s team was the best around and he expected the
impossible from them. And, he convinced his team that they
were capable of building it. More than that he made them believe
that they were about to change the world. According to Mac team
member Trip Hawkins,
Steve has a power of vision that is almost frightening. When
he believes in something, the power of that vision can liter-
ally sweep aside any objections, problems, whatever. They
just cease to exist. The reason that Apple succeeded is that
we really believed in what we are doing. The key thing was
that we weren’t in it for the money. We were out to change
the world. 42
The Macintosh was a revolutionary machine. It was, according
to technology writer Leander Kahney,
Designed for ordinary people, not programmers, it dis-
pensed with blinking cursors and inscrutable instructions
for a child-friendly interface navigated by a simple . . . point-
ing system, the mouse . . . It played music, drew pictures,
and could speak for itself in a synthesized voice. As it booted
up, a friendly, smiley face shone from the screen. . . . The
technology was a good 10 years before its time. 43
And, just as Jobs envisioned, it brought ordinary people to
computing.
Jobs is Out
The Macintosh entered the market in 1984. Jobs spent over $1
million dollars advertising it, including a Superbowl XVIII com-
mercial. At first, sales were remarkable, but then they slowed.
Jobs predicted Apple would sell two million machines in the first
two years, but he was overly optimistic.
Industry wide, computer sales were poor and Apple was feel-
ing the slump.
The company was now a huge $2 billion corporation with
58 Steve Jobs