To Steven Jobs on His Thirtieth Birthday
By Harry McCracken | Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 5:56 pm
On February 24th 1985, Steve Jobs turned thirty. His Apple coworkers helped him celebrate by creating a short film for him. They set it to the wonderful song “My Back Pages” by one of Steve’s idols, Bob Dylan, and filled it with images from Jobs’ first three decades. You know some of them, but only some. And they include many ones of a happy, relaxed, even silly Steve Jobs that most of us never got to see.
And here it is. The tribute must have been deeply moving for Steve and his colleagues at the time it was made, and if you can watch it today without getting at least very slightly emotional–particularly as you listen to Dylan’s lyrics–you’re reading the wrong blog.
For a film that doesn’t include NexT, Pixar, the iMac, the Apple Store, the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone, or the iPad, it does a remarkable job of summing up Steve Jobs; I don’t think a film that did tell the story that was yet to unfold could have improved on it.
The film includes so many memorable items I’d never seen before that I’m not even going to try to account for all of them, but I particularly like the boyhood photos, the ones of Jobs with Ella Fitzgerald, and the ending–presumably from an in-house video–with Steve as FDR. And I was happy to see a photo of Eliot Hall at Reed College, an institution which appears to have meant an awful lot to Jobs considering that he dropped out after one semester. (It means a lot to me, too: My dad taught there.)
“For the first thirty years of your life, you make your habits,” says the Hindu proverb at the start of the film. “For the last thirty years of your life, your habits make you.” It will be forever sad that Jobs only got a total of fifty-six years on earth, but boy, did he pack a lot of living into them. And his habits didn’t just make him: They changed our world.
Many thanks to Craig Elliott–Apple employee 8128, who worked there from 1985-1996–for sharing this gem, and to his fellow Apple veteran Tom Hughes for telling me about it.
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October 6th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Touching and heartwrenching.
Were the Ella Fitzgerald photos from the Comdex Lotus Jazz event?
October 6th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
I don’t know for sure–but Ella sang at a birthday party for Steve.
October 6th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I remember there was a very prominent, wonderful jazz performer at the Las Vegas Autumn Comdex shindig. Was it November 1984?. It was thrown by Apple and Lotus for Jazz in an old LV Airport hangar. I simply can't recall if it was her — I was still wet behind the ears and too enthralled from having just met Steve.
So, perhaps the Ella photos are from the LV event; they would've had to been taken prior to his birthday in order to be included in the film.
October 6th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
They might well be from another event: If Ella sang at Steve's thirtieth birthday, you'd think it wouldn't be in a video made for that birthday…
October 6th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
I love this film! God bless Steve Jobs with sweet Peace in the afterlife and may Christ Jesus show compassion and mercy on his soul and reward him for all the input Steve gave to humanity. REST IN PEACE.
October 7th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Please, don't. He was a Buddhist, respect his choice.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Serious question, does anybody know what Buddhists believe the time it takes to be reincarnated?
October 7th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
The Bardo can last, at most, 49 (7 x 7) days.
October 7th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
I think that Anna has freedom of speech. Please, respect HER choice.
October 8th, 2011 at 10:13 am
It's not that she can't, it's that she shouldn't right now.
October 8th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Whoa. I am sorry. We had a little missunderstanding. If you dont believe me go to my blog
allabootgeeks.blogspot.com
I thought you were talking about not letting her speak. I am sorry. But yeah i agree. Not the time and place to be dOing that
October 8th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Respect Anna.
October 6th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Rock on, Steve.
October 6th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Wow. Thank you for sharing such a personal film. As many of us are reflecting on the life of a man that we never had a chance to meet we can't help but want to know more about the person that we have looked up to for so long. We will never forget you Steve.
October 7th, 2011 at 8:39 am
Thanks for sharing this video. It's very touching. I am deeply moved.
October 7th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
That's beautiful.. Thanks
October 7th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Thank's to Craig Elliott for the video
Can you upload the video with a higher resolution and remove the fields?
Regards
October 7th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Good stuff Harry, glad you posted this — yet another side(s) of Steve.
October 8th, 2011 at 12:32 am
what's with the "co-worker" label? wouldn't they have been his employees at this point? In any case.. it just makes it that much more poignant.
October 8th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Well, employees are co-workers. But one thing people forget about Jobs’ first time at Apple was that he wasn’t the head of the company. John Sculley was CEO at the time the video was made.
October 8th, 2011 at 10:57 am
Have been feeling sad ever since I learnt of Steve’s death (on my iPhone), but watching this has made now made me cry.
In 1986, when I was 12 years old I won an Apple //c for myself and my school from Apple and have been an Apple fan ever since. I learnt Basic on the //c, and later studied programming at school and University. Became a web developer and had fun in the IT industry before starting my own small business. My life would probably have been very different without that //c.
Steve Jobs and Apple changed my life, and the lives of many others in so many ways it is hard to think of the world without what he brought to it.
RIP Steve Jobs.
October 8th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Made me shed a tear
October 8th, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Pure poetry. Like Steve’s life itself. To those who have ears for it
November 19th, 2011 at 3:39 am
The film includes so many memorable items I’d never seen before that I’m not even going to try to account for all of them, but I particularly like the boyhood photos, the ones of Jobs with Ella Fitzgerald, and the ending–presumably from an in-house video–with Steve as FDR.
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November 22nd, 2011 at 4:57 am
I was happy to see a photo of Eliot Hall at Reed College, an institution which appears to have meant an awful lot to Jobs considering that he dropped out after one semester.
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December 9th, 2011 at 8:21 am
he film includes so many memorable items I’d never seen before that I’m not even going to try to account for all of them, but I particularly like the boyhood photos, the ones of Jobs with Ella Fitzgerald, and the ending–presumably from an in-house video–with Steve as FDR.
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January 22nd, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Well, it seems I have to define a lot of good habits before I turn thirty. I can't get away with the excuse "I'm on my way to change the world", I should have already done it:-)