Meeting Steve Jobs

Oct 6, 2011 quarter to noon

Several years ago I had the great pleasure and privilege of meeting Steve Jobs.

I had a meeting at Pixar and I heard that Steve Jobs might be there.  First thing I did was ask a good friend of mine that knew Steve Jobs what he was like and was there any advice she could give me.

She said that Steve Jobs is an incredibly intelligent and passionate person and the one piece of advice she had for me was: don't argue with Steve Jobs and everything will go fine.  Argue with Steve Jobs?  He's probably one of the smartest people in the whole world and someone I have unequalled respect for, why would I ever argue with him?

I arrived at the meeting and went into the conference room. John Lasseter was there (who I casually knew from when Pixar was part of Lucasfilm) and we chit-chatted.

A few minutes later Steve Jobs came in.  He sat right across the table from me and the first words out of his mouth where: "I don't believe you can tell stories in games."

Now...

Steve Jobs could have told me the sky was green, he could have told me that dogs gave birth to cats, he could have said just about anything and I would have nodded thoughtfully and probably been totally convinced, but he had to say the one thing in all of creation that I could not let go.

I spent the next hour arguing with Steve Jobs.

My advice to God: Don't argue with Steve Jobs.

Goodbye Mr. Jobs, you really did change the world and we will miss you.

Other people's comments:

Posted by Matt Charlton on Oct 6, 2011 quarter past noon

This made me chuckle.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that meeting.

i'm typing this on a macbook pro, saw the news on my iPhone 4, Steve Jobs shaped the tech world with a lot of the tech I use in my day to day life but he also had a hand in making Pixar what it is today - without which we wouldn't have such movies as Toy Story and Up!.  

RIP Steve, you were a great man and your work will continue to live on.  You made a difference.

Posted by Ben Sanders on Oct 6, 2011 quarter past noon

He obviously did't know The Secret of Monkey Island(tm).

Goodbye Steve Jobs, we miss you.

Posted by Tom on Oct 6, 2011 twenty five past noon

Did you convince him otherwise?

Posted by Omer on Oct 6, 2011 twenty five to one pm

Don't leave this story unfinished - what was his reasoning?

Posted by Peter on Oct 6, 2011 half past two pm

No, don't drag the story on beyond the punchline...

Posted by Integer Man on Oct 6, 2011 twenty five to one pm

Very interesting. What was his argument against stories in games?

Posted by seryu on Oct 6, 2011 five past one pm

Steve was simply playing the devil's advocate :-D

Posted by George on Oct 6, 2011 ten past one pm

I'd really like to know more on this story, since Job was obviously wrong on this.

Posted by JP on Oct 6, 2011 twenty to two pm

"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."

Posted by Adam on Oct 6, 2011 twenty five past two pm

That's fantastic.

Posted by Joe on Oct 6, 2011 twenty five to three pm

Steve Jobs Steve Jobs, LeChuck!

Steve Jobs Steve Jobs Melee Island Steve Jobs Steve Jobs arooo! arooo! Steve Jobs Steve Jobs Elaine Marley!

Posted by Fionna on Oct 6, 2011 quarter past three pm

Haha, that's hilarious. I hope Steve Jobs is getting a warm welcome in Heaven.
We'll miss you.

Posted by kingston on Oct 6, 2011 five to four pm

He was probably a man who loved to argue and liked to get a rouse out of people. He might have done it to learn more about why games are so good at telling stories.

Posted by clone2727 on Oct 6, 2011 ten to six pm

What I would give to have been a fly on the wall that day.

Posted by Spacehippy on Oct 7, 2011 half past midnight

Sounds like your friend may have played a cruel joke... You sure she didn't tell him to say that just to cause you to argue with him against your will? For someone with the knowledge as him that seems an incredibly ignorant belief.

Posted by Miesmuschel on Oct 7, 2011 ten to three am

"...and we will miss you."

Please don't speak in my name, since I do not.

Posted by blombo on Oct 14, 2011 five past five pm

"...and we, the people who will miss you, will miss you."

Get it?

Posted by StevenT on Oct 7, 2011 twenty five past three am

This doesn't sound too surprising. Steve believed in total control of everything, as evident from everything from the iTunes app store, to the industrial design of the iphone, to the look of MacOS, and so on.

It's no great logical leap to believe that he'd take the view that you can't tell a story unless you control all aspects of the story. That is, as soon as you add any interactivity, you loose control of the story, and it becomes imperfect and unworthy.

He was wrong, in my opinion, but at least he was consistent.

Posted by cill on Oct 7, 2011 five to one pm

And from the huge amounts of games ( ;) ) in macos platform its seems quite obvious that steve didnt understand gaming at all.. :)

Posted by cusman on Oct 7, 2011 twenty five to four pm

I would shut Steve down on the argument simply by asking if a picture tells a story. A thousand words better have some story to it.

Posted by Arnold on Oct 8, 2011 twenty five to two am

I am 40. I've been using computers and technology for more than 30 years. I use and enjoy Apple products. I admire Job's ideas and achievements. However I hold no emotional attachment to what he did (except, partially, for Pixar but it's not him I identify it with). Nor do I think he made my world a better place (except, again, for Pixar). Your Lucas work, instead, is a founding part of what I am today. Feel guilty.

Posted by mehrdad on Oct 8, 2011 quarter to three am

goodbye steve jobs i love you and i miss you
you stay in my mind for ever.

a guybrush lover from iran(persia)

Posted by Jon N/A on Oct 10, 2011 ten am

Huh ... And I thought I'm the only Iranian who frequents Ron's Website!
Glad to know there are some more Iranians who play Adventure Games and know of Monkey Island ... (Iran is the exact opposite of Germany in terms of the amount Adventure Game fans)

Posted by mehrdad on Oct 17, 2011 half past three pm

hi jon N/A .guys excuse me this post don't refer to the title precisely . i played monkey island first in amiga in sixteen years old and frequently played another title of adventure game but the monkey isalnd is the best
thank you Mr. ron gilbert

Posted by fgdfgd on Oct 8, 2011 five to three pm

what was his point?

Posted by Believer on Oct 10, 2011 quarter past ten am

He's probably listening to his iPod on an iCloud ;)

Posted by Bashar on Oct 11, 2011 twenty to one pm

Wait... what was the meeting about? You making game for PIXAR? Brave is coming.

But I take it from the ending advise that he didn't change his mind. But he's not there anymore. So give it another shot

Posted by Steve J on Oct 11, 2011 one pm

Use games to tell stories?! Let's see if you can open a sardines can with them first!

Posted by eobet on Oct 12, 2011 twenty five past five am

I think the most interesting question to ask is:

Did you convert him or did he convert you? :)

Posted by Mustafa K. Isik on Oct 12, 2011 twenty to noon

I really liked your post ... so much that I had to include and quote it at the end of my "The Golden Age of Indie" talk at droidcon UK in London last Friday ;)

http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/os-mobile-server/android-gaming

[The reference is at the end of the video.]

Posted by brawsome on Oct 12, 2011 twenty past six pm

Apparently Jobs thinks 1000 bytes == 1MB too.

Science? Pfft, let's just round Pi to 3, that would make things easier, right?

Posted by david on Oct 13, 2011 half past four am

Obviously Steve hadn't played any of your games yet.
Hope he found the time to play some.

Posted by Seth on Oct 17, 2011 quarter past noon

He was probably just trying to bait you into telling him what the secret of Monkey Island actually is.

Posted by Me on Oct 18, 2011 twenty five to eleven am

I bet his one regret was passing away before finding out what the secret of monkey island is...

Actually, we just need to get some Ash-2-life!  Ron, get on that!


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