CNN is gearing up to showcase "Steve Jobs: The Man In the Machine" on Sunday, Jan. 3. The movie is one of the world's latest attempts to unravel the mysteries behind the late Apple founder, whose visionary way of thinking continues to inspire many.
"Bold. Brutal. Brilliant. CNN unravels the larger-than-life myth behind Steve Jobs. Sun. Jan. 3, at 9p ET," CNN touts on its official website. The movie aims to be the most accurate portrayal of the former Apple CEO.
CNN further emphasizes the complexity of this endeavor with what it calls "the 5 faces of Steve Jobs," highlighting key aspects of Jobs' background, life and personality.
"He was, as director Alex Gibney's film 'Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine' shows, whatever you wanted to see," CNN further points out.
Background
Steve Jobs grew up in the San Francisco suburbs and was an avid technology enthusiast even before the area became famous as Silicon Valley. He was only 12 when he saw his first computer, which was a huge thing back then. The pre-teen Jobs became part of the Explorers Club of Hewlett-Packard, the company founded in Palo Alto in 1939 and seen as the pioneering company of Silicon Valley.
The "Steve Jobs" biography written by Walter Isaacson describes how a young Jobs sat down with HP co-founder William Hewlett for about 20 minutes. Jobs was still a teenager, but he must've made quite an impression considering that Hewlett later found a place for him at an HP plant. Soon, Apple would become a pillar of the great success story of Silicon Valley, basing its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Jobs' First Business Success
Jobs's first successful business venture involved long-distance phone hacks with Steve Wozniak, with whom he later co-founded Apple. Wozniak was five years older, but the two nonetheless bonded quickly and became friends.
Back in 1971, Wozniak found an interesting article in a magazine, detailing what were called "blue boxes." At a time when long-distance phone calls were highly expensive, "phone phreaks" would use those blue boxes to illegally place long-distance calls for free. Of course, Jobs and Wozniak saw the great potential profit from this blue box scheme.
The two teenagers would build blue boxes and sell them. Jobs apparently handled the sales and financials, as Wozniak told Esquire in 2015.
"That was magical," Jobs recalls in "The Man In the Machine."
Bob Dylan's Influence
The documentary also features tracks from Bob Dylan, an artist Jobs was especially fond of.
"Throughout his life, Jobs tracked down Dylan bootlegs and obsessively listened to them," CNN notes.
Because he was such a big fan of Bob Dylan, Jobs played a great part back in 2006 when it came to creating a digital boxed set of Dylan songs for iTunes, including no less than 773 tracks. Dylan also served as inspiration for various Apple ads, including the famous "Think Different" campaign, and it was all thanks to Jobs' soft spot for Bob Dylan.
Spiritual Jobs
One of Jobs's favorite books was yogi Ram Dass' "Be Here Now," which focused on meditation and spirituality. He was greatly inspired by the whole concept of simplicity and this preference for minimalism is evident in the design of Apple devices. Jobs often made visits to India and Japan, seeking spiritual sustenance.
'Amazingly Inspiring,' Yet 'Remarkably Petty'
Although Jobs was great in some aspects, he was petty in others. Various stories surfaced throughout the years to show how Jobs was quite selfish and inconsiderate, even towards his daughter. Jobs denied paternity for Lisa, the daughter he had with former girlfriend Chrisann Brennan. After the paternity was proved, Jobs agreed to pay only $500 per month, although he was worth roughly $200 million.
Even if Jobs was involved in paternity mishaps or rumored about doing other inconsiderate things such as frequently parking in spaces reserved for handicapped people, there's no denying that he was a game changer. He turned computers into user-friendly machines, bringing them to the general public rather than just businesses.
Upon introducing the first iPad at a media conference, Jobs famously highlighted how "phenomenal" it was to "hold the Internet in your hand."
There are many faces to Steve Jobs, and not all of them are good, but CNN's "Man In the Machine" aims to offer an accurate glimpse into the man that Jobs was, without romanticizing him or turning him into a flawless ideal.
The movie is set to air on Sunday, Jan. 3. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.
