the lives of Jobs and Wozniak. Jobs
wanted to develop the idea further
to be a nucleus for a new company.
He suggested that the name should
be derived from life and nature in or-
der to be familiar to the public. At the
beginning, Wozniak objected saying
that it had to be related to science
and technology but Jobs convinced
him and ‘Apple’ was established.
The Blue Box’s parts cost about
$40 and Jobs decided they should
sell it for $150. Following the lead of
other phone phreaks such as Cap-
tain Crunch, they gave themselves
handles. Wozniak became “Berke-
ley Blue,” Jobs was “Oaf Tobark.”
They made a hundred or so Blue
Boxes and sold almost all of them.
“If it hadn’t been for the Blue Boxes,
there wouldn’t have been an Apple.
I’m 100% sure of that,” Jobs recalled.
Be Here Now
After finishing high school in 1972,
Jobs decided to go to Reed College,
a private liberal arts school in Port-
land, Oregon. It was one of the most
expensive colleges in America. His
parents tried to convince him to go
to Berkeley with his friend Woz be-
cause it was more affordable but he
refused. He responded with an ulti-
matum: If he couldn’t go to Reed, he
wouldn’t go anywhere. They relented
and he joined Reed which had only
one thousand students.
At that time, Jobs was deeply in-
fluenced by a variety of books on
spirituality and enlightenment, most
notably Be Here Now, a guide to
meditation. This was reflected on his
life and personality such as his focus
and simplicity. He enjoyed playing a
nineteenth century German variant
of chess called Kriegspiel, in which
the players sit back-to-back; each
has his own board and pieces and
cannot see those of his opponent.
A moderator informs them if a move
they want to make is legal or illegal,
and they have to try to figure out
where their opponent’s pieces are.
Reed College
Despite fighting with his parents to
join Reed, Jobs soon dropped out
because of the strict course require
-
ments that he did not expect. He also
began to feel guilty about spending
so much of his parents’ money on an
education that did not seem worth-
while. Yet, the dean of students,
Jack Dudman allowed Jobs to au-
dit the classes that he liked. Among
them was a calligraphy class that
appealed to him. It was yet another
example of Jobs consciously posi-
tioning himself at the intersection of
the arts and technology. In all of his
products, technology would be mar-
ried to great design and elegance.
After 18 months of hanging around
Reed, Jobs decided to look for a job.
He worked at Atari as a technician for
$5 an hour. The complaint about him
was that he smelled. Jobs believed
that his fruit-heavy vegetarian diet
would prevent not just mucus but
also body odor, even if he didn’t use
deodorant or shower regularly. It was
a flawed theory. Despite the com
-
plaints, Bushnell, Founder of Atari,
didn’t let Steve go because he be-
lieved in him. He asked him to go on
the night shift. It was a way to save
him.
Next issue:
•
Jobs improves Atari games using
electronic chips
23
January
2014
