"Hide the Porsches": Randy Adams on Steve Jobs

Former NeXT engineer recounts adventures With Steve Jobs at NeXT.

[@omeletpants]

True story: My autistic son and I were at an Apple store in 2005 and while I shopped he played with a program they had called "Just for kids"., which allowed him to play games but not change settings. My son loved to come into my home office and randomly change the settings on my HP computer. So, I just guessed at Steve Jobs email and sent him a message on a Sunday. I asked if I could buy a copy of the software. 20 minutes later I get an email from Steve saying he would have 2 VPs call me the next day. Next day, they tell me that Steve wants me to have the program but due to licensing issues it would take 2 months to clear and that we would be the only ones in the world to have it except Apple stores. Two months later a new computer with the software shows up for my son. Steve put in a note saying not to tell anyone. Even though I'm now an HP retiree, I have been an Apple and Steve Jobs bigot since 2005

[@Derpderpson123]

Wow that's an amazing story, just goes to show his character

[@rokyericksonroks]

Cool story, omelet. Thnx for posting.

[@juingamboaalves3656]

Thanks for disobeying Steve Jobs and telling us. Big history

[@fauxhound5061]

Right.. Sure

[@chuanist]

Deep gratitude and appreciation to Randy Adams for sharing these intimate experiences of Mr. Jobs in this inimitable way.

[@123987username]

chuanist intimitable ?

[@enclave2k1]

Yeah, it was so intimate how Steve Jobs hid his Porsche to deceive a rich prospect. Can't have those investors knowing you're not an engineer, you don't make shit, you exploit others' work, and you drive a needlessly expensive car.

[@enclave2k1]

@tanon Oh the matter with me? I suppose I don't blindly fawn over a greedy, selfish man. _Despite accumulating an estimated $8.3 billion fortune through his holdings in Apple and a 7.4 percent stake in Disney (through the sale of Pixar), there is no public record of Mr. Jobs giving money to charity._

[@enclave2k1]

@tanon Uh, ok. Great response. So, he's a great person for accumulating 8 billion dollars by exploiting others (he never created one thing), then not helping the less fortunate? This relates to my charity, somehow? Sounds like someone's hero turned out to be an asshole. (edit) You want my tax documents, LOL...

[@enclave2k1]

@tanon In what way am I a hypocrite? What have I said that is counter to my actions? Interesting how you have passed judgment on me. Though in my case you formed an opinion after only a few comments; and, with nothing but hatred and bile to contribute. I've formed my opinion of Jobs' after hearing dozens of people he worked with talk for hours about him. So interesting.

[@Bruceskyy]

Every time I hear stories about Steve I hear the same thing, he was involved in so much. Constantly calling people, constantly focusing on what's to come, constantly remembering people's advice and opinions. He was far from perfect but you can't deny the man was passionate

[@ozzyfromspace]

I felt his pain at the end. To some people, Steve was more than a founder, he was that friend that made you a better person. He wasn't perfect, but you know what, I can deeply respect the impact he had on people. Great exposé, Randy.

[@miwiarts]

Steve Jobs was no saint.

[@SpewtGG]

@@miwiarts we know. but an innovator

[@markymark7803]

Steve jobs was a vile abusive evil man.

[@snakeoo7ca]

@@SpewtGG being an innovator does not absolve you of sin or poor character

[@XB10001]

He was a psychopath!

[@kevingriffith3801]

I used a NeXT machine in my undergrad calculus classes for sole use for Mathematica. The program couldn't run on a PC at that time ('91). It was a breeze to run closed form 3D plots using that machine. Thank you for your contribution! Steve's impact to society was special. He is watching.

[@christianclark1354]

His voice breaking at the end when he says, “it’s a little sad” is very telling. It’s really affected him more than he wants to admit. Years on, I think he’s right, there are few people with the intuition Steve had for user experience.

[@enclave2k1]

I nearly vomited.

[@brians9508]

OK - to be sure - his voice did NOT break when he said that.

[@unpeople]

@@enclave2k1 That's what happens when you're full of bile.

[@ibrarali9369]

Beautiful tribute from a genuine gentleman.

[@macarows4014]

It is just incredible how big MAGNET was Steve for highly skilled people.

[@AlexSchwartzATV]

for real. for this grown ass man to sit here and say he became a follower of Steve and that Steve made him feel like he could do anything and that when he died he lost that feeling says something. and hes definitely not the only credible person saying that.

[@enclave2k1]

He had to be, he had no skills of his own -- and he needed them porches.

[@c.s1393]

@@enclave2k1 When will people realise leadership is a legitimate, real skill?

[@enclave2k1]

@@c.s1393 When it's accurately defined.

[@korwl540]

there's a fine line between a leader and a grifter, and that line is probably just success. i want to resent steve jobs for ushering in the era of the psychopathic tech CEO who'd sell his mother up the river for some seed capital but the sad fact is that it was the market that chose steve. steve didn't create the conditions required for his success, he was just the right psychopath in the right place at the right time.

[@DarkClosetOfTheMind]

Not what I was expecting, glad I clicked on this. Thanks for putting this short and insightful video together.

[@daniel.adeyemi]

I know he's looking down right now, wanting to fire someone! 😂

[@debean5670]

I doubt that down is the direction he's looking. He was a self-destructive, malignant narcissist who seemed larger than life to those who fell under his influence. But, at the core, he made incredibly stupid decisions...for someone who expected "perfection" in others. And, by the way, he died of AIDS, not pancreatic cancer.

[@NKWTI]

"I had a little extra cash, so I bought a 911 Porsche."

[@NKWTI]

@JBulsara A Me too, I bought a coffee

[@steveneumeyer681]

I went to chipotle

[@feliscorax]

I bought a stamp.

[@tashtant]

@@steveneumeyer681 Right, or decided to get a pack of paper towels. 🙄

[@johanponin1360]

the usual tuesday shopping

[@mikeras27]

Thank you Sir, for sharing.

[@tangomoon111]

I love to hear these personal stories about Steve. He gets a bad rap a lot of times because of his search for perfection and beauty. He gets short with others. I’ve watched everything I can get my hands on about Steve. This one had all the elements including how Steve was to be around. He was inspiring and reeked of the charisma we often hear about. Steve is my most admired person of this lifetime. As was said. There is no one like him. That is why all the inventive creative energy at Apple is sorely missed without Steve. As Steve said in his own words. I am a wizard. A great video! Much appreciated!!

[@rafaelvaldivia5912]

this level of honesty comes when someone gets really comfortable with himself/herself, thank you Randy

[@Cyb3riano]

I enjoyed this story. Very interesting and insightful. Thanks for sharing

[@leeanucha]

The positive energy of steve jobs gone away with him. I can only say wow! very spiritual.

[@jordan59961]

@@enclave2k1 that mindset towards successful people will get you nowhere

[@keller8100gmail]

very cool video. thanks for sharing that for us all.

[@pedrosttau]

What I loved about this segment is how honest and moving it was. Interesting how someone that could be so unreasonable and in a way extreme was able to touch people's lives in such a profound manner.

[@neilreid9005]

Fantastic stories. Many thanks for this vid. History.

[@leeanucha]

great stories man. very honest and something new about steve jobs.

[@sinhaanip]

Can never get enough of Steve Jobs...

[@tommyowen8583]

Wow... good stuff.. Thank you.

[@8enable]

yep, best line - Steve is up there wanting to fire somebody!

[@uwewalter2416]

Thanks for sharing your relationship and worship.

[@BenRangel]

2:23 love that he jumps straight from general life stories to mem swapping and hard disk thrashing

[@williammcdonald8426]

A nicely said tribute. Thanks.

[@mcd3379]

One of the few really honest appraisals of Mr Jobs - the good, the bad and the ugly.

[@copythat10_44]

Steve was like magic

[@sircoynie]

Making Bill Gates wait for an hour tells you everything you need to know about Steve Jobs.

[@TheEleatic]

Yes, the biggest asshole on the planet. Gates was second. Bezos has taken Jobs' place.

[@chicxulub2947]

GO FUCK YOURSELF

[@czechmeoutbabe1997]

White Rabbit yo, is everything alright?

[@markt9614]

Here's the real qyuestion, why did Gates wait? He knew Jobs was playnug a game. Gates didn't need Jobs.

[@Rondo2ooo]

@@markt9614 Gates is more patient and maybe less of an a**.

[@thefunkybassist9916]

I like the sense of humor of this guy :-)

[@CannedVideos225]

This is GREAT!

[@SuperMechguy]

hide the 911s lol

[@enclave2k1]

LOLOLLLLOLOLOLOLLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLO gotta get dem billionz and own tonz of housez 'n car! He very so smart.

[@steve_seguin]

This story reminds me A LOT of my own experiences, especially the story about the thrashing drive. Virtually identical, down to the phone call years later. (minus the steve jobs and next, obviously. I just find it nice to have someone to relate to)

[@Mack-Le-DoN]

I agree with RANDY 💯

[@robertbrianheath1629]

Funny isn't it! I never met Steve But I miss him! And i'm Aussie! Gr8T Vid!

[@mgabrysSF]

They did offer an optional HD in the first Cube - but ya - without it write times to the MO was insanely slow for all of the caching involved - unless you populated all of the memory slots - which if you're doing that, you might as well spring for the HD. BTW even in the early 90s when the second and third gen NeXT computers came out - memory and HDs were insanely expensive for 200mb - not gb - mb. Fortunately - NeXTstep lives on as the core of OSX and iOS, which is pretty amazing for an OS that came out in late 1988. Not many kernals have a 30 year run.

[@aristideau5072]

pretty sure it's actually UNIX that lives on in those cores

[@5urg3x]

HAHAHA “hey Randy you were right” tells you that the other engineers there were yes men and didn’t want to tell Steve he was wrong

[@dancollins4755]

He made you feel like you could do anything as long as you were willing to sacrifice everything else. Ouch.

[@jackkraken3888]

Thanos: "I know the feeling."

[@FoxAboutTown]

Thats what it takes.

[@vineetpandey3886]

It would be like going for war, unless you like that game.

[@JoeFromCO]

5:34 ..key part is "if you're willing to sacrifice everything else"

[@samfonder7044]

Not many are willing tbh. Sacrificing free-time, friends, family dinner, health at some point, etc... Thats why the world are built by psychopathic geniuses like Jobs and Gates and Bezos because they dont mind sacrificing their life to building better world. Tough life i guess.

[@PabloNeirotti]

Indeed, that's the key. As much as Steve Jobs stories are inspiring, with time I feel like finding a more sane life/work balance is more important than making something 15% grander, a few years sooner. Not like you'll get to enjoy the praise after you're gone anyways.

[@randyadams531]

Correct!

[@d23bw]

" He wouldn't let a product go out the door unless it was perfect". Ask the Woz about that one.

[@wishingbottle]

When Steve Jobs died, a part of my love for Apple technology died as well.

[@mynamehaschanged]

Yeah, back then you could trust an Apple product was the best because Steve made sure it was, now it's not like that.

[@thsu8]

@@mynamehaschanged true

[@mynamehaschanged]

@TrashPanda Raccoon My iMac lasted 1 and 1/2 years before the power supply died, my iphone lasted 1 year before the battery bloated, my next iPhone 1 year before it had screen touch desease issue. Now I use Android and PC

[@elmo2001lou]

Does anyone know why Randy Adams does not a a Wikipedia page nor is he named on Steve Jobs or NeXT?

[@chicxulub2947]

It's sooooo SAD not having Steve Jobs around anymore. Now we just got buffoons on the Silicon Valley!

[@ravindertalwar553]

LIFE IS TO LOVE AND TO BE LOVED 💕 LOVE ALONE CAN CONQUER THE WORLD

[@marzstar3568]

interesting!

[@richardgray8593]

Steve Jobs ain't looking down. Looking up, maybe, but no way is he looking down.

[@syedjameelahmed66]

Oh Steve!

[@sutats]

Bill Gates also had a Porsche in those days; a Porsche 959.

[@campdavidsonfunctionaltrai8583]

cool

[@Rjpone]

I know one person like him,

[@amoghnath3330]

damn!

[@DawoodsiDeviceHelp]

if there was one person id love to meet, it would've been uncle Steve

[@raisingbarssince1978]

They parked NEXT to each other...get it? Get it? Wink wink!

[@Stef4n1988]

Makes total sence to hide those Porsches when the investor steps by

[@BijanIzadi]

Maps actually did get a lot better

[@ronaldxyz1001]

Wow

[@jackkraken3888]

Lots of naysayers like to say Steve is just a salesman, but I don't see too many Billionaire salesmen around after he died.

[@LemmingAttack]

I don't think he was only a salesman, but he WAS a hell of a great salesman.

[@jackkraken3888]

@@LemmingAttack Not only that but he managed to make money in one of the most competitive markets: the phone market and leave almost everyone else in the dust..

[@dantedt3931]

I had no little extra cash, i called 911.

[@bernlin2000]

Only Ross Perot would even blink an eye at a Porsche lol...that's a commoner car in DC nowadays XD

[@plica06]

Randy: "I'm not necessarily a cult follower". Steve Jobs: "Randy... Jump!" Randy: "How high Steve?!"

[@randyadams531]

Hahaha - Yeah, in retrospect it sounds like I drank the Koolaid!

[@randyadams531]

It was delicious!

[@ps3customgamer]

I can hear steve jobs when he quotes him

[@ddolde]

There is someone...his name is Prem Rawat

[@saskiavanhoutert6081]

I am a graphic technician who likes to work with several programms from Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. I just like working with computerprogramms and hope that I get that prospective again.

[@tyraelhermosa]

Great video. I miss steve's perfectionism, from a consumer point of view.

[@nikoma_]

wow

[@3dpixel583]

At a time when almost everyone thought Steve Jobs was a loser, a loose canon.

[@jeremykothe2847]

He was?

[@petehodge3460]

Bill Gates couldn't feel Steve's sparky charisma...

[@RSHekscher]

He could actually. In many interviews this normally unemotional man showed genuine emotion about the passing of a man whom he considered to be a friend. He just wouldn't let his business decisions be cluttered by it.

[@enclave2k1]

Agreed, Bill Gates actually created things. Steve had to manipulate others to do his work (Woz), because he was *so* thoughtless and uncreative.

[@gerryn2]

@@enclave2k1 That's certainly up for debate. They have both said that they were stealing shit from Xerox, and the movie Pirates of the Silicon Valley kind of makes the claim Bill bought DOS, not write it. I guess Bill Gates had a hand in BASIC but I mean, that's trivial compared to what they are know as today.

[@enclave2k1]

@@gerryn2 Fair points.

[@antigen4]

is he talking about WRITE NOW? was that his WP?

[@3monsterbeast]

"The hard disk wasn't fast"

[@jacariboboye]

RIP Ross Perot.

[@rokyericksonroks]

…and honorable mention to the 911.

[@cubaindy6700]

Witness!

[@HePrime34]

Im not a cult follower. - every cult follower ever

[@eazy-333]

few seconds later. Im a follower.

[@randyadams531]

God, you guys are harsh. I quit NeXT, not a follower. Haters gotta hate, Damn!

[@farukcarushi4983]

What happened with Maps?

[@williamp6800]

The original maps app on iOS was written by Apple but used Google map data. Google and Apple couldn’t agree on new licensing terms (Apple wanted vector based maps; Google wanted user data) so Apple went about creating its own map data from several sources: Garmin, Open Street Map, and other sources. When Apple released it in… IIRC 2012, apparently it was fairly good right around Apple headquarters, but for the rest of the world it was pretty much a disaster. And much inferior to the Google map data that iOS users were used to. Scott Forstall was in charge of iOS and Maps. The story is that it was so bad that Tim Cook wanted Forstall to make a public apology to iOS users. Forstall refused and was fired. Not so much just for refusing to make a public apology, but rather that it was the straw that broke the camels back.

[@y.t.a180]

The pizza box!

[@savedfaves]

I love the way he said Tim wouldn't fire anyone for Maps, but thereafter Tim fired the lead of the whole iOS team.

[@sammansen3596]

+savedfaves No he was saying Steve Jobs would fire someone OTHER THAN Tim Cook.

[@sidewinder3000]

What a frank and poignant account of Steve Jobs.

[@maribethcondrillon1079]

I hope he's okay

[@qweqqweq2090]

and apple paid you how much for this video?

[@randyadams531]

I have no affection for Apple nor did they every pay me any money.

[@sananto6896]

The vision and drive Steve Jobs had are like no other.

[@tbbaot]

Apple will eventually decline without Steve. He did his best to set things up to continue before he died. I've read they have about 4 years worth of Steve's ideas and guidance and once they blow through that it will go downhill

[@randomuser1687]

As someone here 5 years later, seems about right.

[@sk-lv1xk]

Apple's going the way exactly what you said 5 years ago. No innovation, no new business environment. Pretty sad.

[@qstunrr]

Talk about timing..

[@dynjarren7523]

Johnny Ivey just quit! I said five years ago after Jobs died that Apple was finished. Only Jobs knew how to steer that ship! He was incredibly demanding but he also got incredible results! I said they are going to run on whatever was in the pipelines and now they are running on fumes. Right about now, Jobs would have come out with something new and amazing but he’s gone. Tim Cook does not inspire anyone! He is dull and his presentations are boring! Jobs inspired people and people followed him like a Cult leader almost! He was amazing! Now Apple computer has no leadership or new ideas! Only maybe Elon Musk could save Apple. He’s the closest guy I can think of who inspires people and gets results and solves problems! But he’s got his hands full with Tesla so he’s not available. Too bad! Jobs lead the most amazing comeback and turn around of a company maybe in history. Apple was going bankrupt when he came in and he not only rescued it but made it into the worlds most valuable company. I wish I would’ve known ahead that he was going to do that. I would have invested in Apple stock and rode that rocket all the way to the top of the Hemisphere! But who knew that was going to happen? Nobody! It would take another genius to rescue Apple now! And Genius’s are hard to find! The incredible run is over!

[@TunjungUtomo]

that's the bad side having someone so otherworldly brilliant as your leader : it'd very hard to duplicate once he's gone

[@themightyjuju]

Gold dust. Only 145K views, criminal. Left wanting much, much more.....

[@checkscache2701]

he's up there looking down wanting to fire somebody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@thinline8504]

I just read the chapter on NeXT hahahah.. Bill gates knew Steve wasn't busy! 😂😂 made him wait like fifty minutes.

[@sfdwilly]

Which book?

[@danfuerthgillis4483]

Hate Bill Gates or not, it was Microsoft buying Softimage from a French software firm that turned the entire PC industry around. This purchase was critical to get high end 3D into Windows NT, after Softimage was ported to Windows NT, Maya ( Alias - Wavefront) then had no choice and also ported Maya to Windows NT. The upcoming Nvidia and Direct X were the end of SGI. Next was a joke compared to what the Softimage purchase did to modernize computers as better hardware could now run on normal PC's.

[@kneel1]

i worked for a company who outsourced IT to Perot Systems. they were kinda lame

[@smilebot484]

The world is way less interesting without Steve!

[@BOZ_11]

you never knew the world with him in it. Most of the people posting were like 20 when he died EDIT: and younger

[@joeykeilholz925]

@@BOZ_11 so let's just assume the person who commented is 20 or whatever incorrect age? Jeez, what a boomer shitty cancerous fucked up stupid thing to say

[@BOZ_11]

@@joeykeilholz925 what are you whining about little Joey?

[@Wayne--O]

@@BOZ_11 You nailed it. Everyone here is under 30 and doesn't know anything.. fuck off

[@BOZ_11]

@@Wayne--O that's right sweetie

[@maribethcondrillon1079]

wow 😳 haha

[@jedics1]

Forget the maps fiasco, look at what Cook has done to their laptops...

[@jessekauffman3336]

Sounds like jobs respected you unlike his attitude towards most people

[@Systems1]

I have to laugh at the peeps saying that Elon Musk has supplanted Jobs. Elon is, at best, the little finger of Jobs. Now, thats not to say Jobs wasn't an asshole, or had his faults.

[@brians9508]

paraphrasing here - you could feel the electricity coming from him and he made you feel like you could do anything and that you could leave everything else behind . . . . but he was not a cult leader. WHATTTT????? you just perfectly described a cult leader

[@randyadams531]

I didn't say he wasn't a cult leader, I said that I'm not a cult follower.

[@andrefecteau]

yeah I can see how this guy would piss Steve off...engineers and visionairies ? Oil and water...world needs both however

[@apointtomake1517]

Steve was a sociopath, and that "electricity" he mentions when Steve talks to people is because sociopath's, really great ones know exactly what to say to get people to do what they want.

[@randyadams531]

I'm not sure what experiences you had with him that makes you feel he is a sociopath because that certainly was't my experience.

[@elhadjiamadoujohnson4166]

🤣🤣🤣

[@massivecumshot]

I met Steve Jobs for 45 minutes back in 1988 while working at AT&T. After that, I vowed never to buy an Apple product as long as I live. Still proud to honor that commitment.

[@youmothershouldknow4905]

Just wait. Some dude named Elon brings back the inspiration.

[@ifeelfantastic8956]

I think Steve had a thing for bald men.

[@PAULDANIELLIPSCOMB]

Wouldn’t let a product go out the door unless it was perfect *steve changing products like a girl changes clothes*

[@jimdavis8391]

Who is Steve Jobs?

[@greglarry11]

He created the walkman.

[@harryhirsch8527]

He invented emplyoment.

[@roshanreddy2429]

U dont know him, omg! He invented 3rd law of motion

[@truu-dl8rp]

He's with the others.

[@Kier4n99]

@@harryhirsch8527 jobs were named after him

[@Rondo2ooo]

I recently heard about the first iPhone, which was very tough for teams working on it. I think if you want to give up everything else (incl. marriage), you can work in Steve's way, otherwise enjoy your own life. Time will fly.