Back in 2013, I suggested the story of Steve Jobs would best be told as a 5-act opera, with the most crucial part of the story being Act III.
Act III: The NeXT / Pixar years. Includes an initial period of Jobs not knowing what he wants to do. Then the remarkable story of NeXT, which is essentially a repeat of his failure at Apple (brilliant at product and vision, terrible at keeping a company going). Steve initially continues to believe he had done everything right and the “bozos” had killed everything great about Apple. But this repeat failure at NeXT proves to Steve that it wasn’t just a matter of betrayal that led to the Apple failure. It forces Jobs to look at himself and actually learn something. Pixar is essential here as well, as it’s where Steve learns a great deal about how to work with artists and how to negotiate with media bosses, which is a key component of his later success. Pixar also struggles for several years before taking off with Toy Story. And that almost didn’t happen. Plus, during this time period, Jobs meets Laurene, starts a family, and reconciles with his first daughter. This is the climax of Jobs’ life, and probably the most interesting part of his story, as far as drama goes.
All of the books and movies about Jobs up until now have been focused on either the early years (Macintosh and Apple founding) or the later years (iMac, iPod, iPhone). They’ve completely missed the boat on the most critical part of the narrative.
Perhaps 30-40 years from now, I suggested, we’ll get more information about this critical period in his life.
Looks like that time arrived sooner than I expected.
Steve Jobs in Exile looks to be covering this exact period in the Jobs story. I have no idea how good it will be, but this is an insta-buy for me.
Let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint.
