“cricket” worked at Apple from April of 1999 through July of 2011 and, after leaving their job at Apple, “cricket” visited Apple’s Cupertino campus for lunch one day. After lunch, “cricket” witnessed an interesting moment:
I was exiting the main building, Infinite Loop One, and just ahead of me was Steve Jobs, walking with the usual spring in his step that never seemed to go away even as he started looking more frail. Bumping into Steve was a surprisingly common occurrence for such a large company as Apple.
Steve was heading towards a car parked next to the curb with its door open, waiting for him. The car was idling. A family was standing near the Apple sign outside the building, a common site for people to take photos on their pilgrimages to Apple.
The father turned to Steve as he passed close by and asked, “Excuse me, sir, would you mind taking our photo?”
Steve paused for a moment as an iPhone was extended to him, realizing that they didn’t seem to know who he was. With a hint of enthusiasm, he said “Sure!” as he took the iPhone into his hands.
Steve took a great deal of care composing the photo, backing up a few steps several times, tapping the iPhone screen to lock focus, then said “Smile!” as he snapped the photo, grinning a little bit himself to encourage the family to follow suit.
He handed back the iPhone and they said “Thank you, sir” as Steve stepped into his car, closed the door, and was driven away. The family looked at the photo that Steve had taken and all agreed that it looked great. Then the iPhone was pocketed and they were on their way.
And that was the last time I saw Steve Jobs.
For sharing this story, please give “cricket” some feedback here.
MacDailyNews Take: The story is all the more poignant knowing that, at the time, Jobs only had a few months left to live.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jax44” for the heads up.]
That makes me tear up!
It’s good to know he had made peace with the coming of death. And probably considered to have achieved enlightenment in the purest way. Nemaste
It should.
Fantastic, poignant story.
Wonderfully touching story.
We miss you, Steve.
I wonder if the family that gave him the iPhone to take that picture will ever know who was the guy who took their family picture. I can’t imagine that story over the (i)photo album… “And this was taken on our vacation to California; we went to Apple headquarters and actually, this picture was taken by Steve Jobs himself…”
We did.
I merely wanted a great family photo which, due to
the animation of my family, is challenging.
When I turned around, to find anyone in the crowd
who could take a good shot, it was him.
My only other occasions near the man of steel
was passing him going into 1IL on a trip to a data
center and another time seeing him embrace Ives
at the end of one of their weekly Monday lunches.
I always regretted not going up to his office and
offering my tip (www.longevinex.com).
Stuart
Longevinex is now patented with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. W00t! I’ve been on it for ten years. Cheers and happy hacking everybody!!!!
Classic
It must have given Jobs great pleasure actually that they DIDN’T know him and then handed him the very device he helped to create to take the photo. All the while not asking him not for a picture with him, the man himself! It signified that Apple itself was the object of their affections and it’s devices. And I think that’s just as Jobs probably preferred it. Apple goes on in Steve’s legacy to even greater heights.
But yah know I’ll still miss Steve so much! (I’ve never teared up for a CEO before nor felt so much grief, even now, even into the future. Nor this much denial as if “nah, he CAN’T be gone… Just CAN’T!”)
We actually did know him. He was seven levels above me in the hierarchy at Apple. I actually joined Apple partly because of Jobs but mostly because of the security behind the devices which is recently evidenced here, in detail: http://images.apple.com/iphone/business/docs/iOS_Security_Feb14.pdf — it is because of some bad experiences with Microsoft Windows that I chose Apple.
Can you share his photo?
what a gentleman
he was the head master of one of the biggest companies, responsable for so many things, and yet had the time to take pictures to some people who was visiting the place.
He sure was unique. i miss him
Mr Jobs actually gave back to a father, likely without him knowing, a little bit of his vision, seen by his eyes, and the final judgement of what he would deem acceptable made by the CEO himself.
Wow, what luck!
At the time, I was 7 levels under Mr. Jobs. He did not see my badge. I assume he enjoyed the children’s Apple shirts. Also, they had been playing in the oval inside Infinite Loop on the grass, for an hour prior and he was having lunch at the time. When they play like this, it is pretty humorous.
Tongue and Cheek to follow:
What you didn’t see or hear was the following:
1. Steve berated the family for not having color coordinated clothing.
2. The dad was too tall while the son was too fat thereby ruining rule of thirds for the perfect photo which made steve mad.
3. Steve’s thumb repeatedly showed in the corner of the shot prompting Steve to get engineers involved to find out why this was happening which led to the media frenzy known as “Photogate”
4. After the photo was taken the family was quietly ushered in to a black Apple security van and the family was never seen or heard from again. Steve turned and smiled and walked away.
Or this:
0. Steve closely examined what was obviously an iPhone and, furrowing his brow, said, “What is this?” Upon being told that it was a cell phone, digital camera, GPS and Internet device, easily operated by even a child, he shook his head. “That’s impossible,” he said. “No one I know is brilliant enough to have thought of such a thing, much less engineered its functions and put it in such a beautiful case.”
Dammit, even YOUR post brings tears to my eyes. Here’s to the man who made the impossible possible.
Wouldn’t they have called it “Thumbgate?”
According to this story, the picture was taken sometime this spring. By that time, Apple has already surpassed Microsoft in market cap and was closing in on Exxon-Mobil. Having already been recently on the cover of Time, as well as several other magazines, I can’t imagine there are many people in America who hadn’t seen his face. Now, this family was apparently visiting Apple HQ (on an ‘pilgrimage’, as the article implies), which should mean they must have been familiar enough with the company to know its founder and CEO.
I would like to think, the father of the family knew very well who was the person he asked to take the picture, but chose instead to treat him like any other person. It takes some class to resist the urge to go the usual celebrity ambush: “OMG, it’s you! I love your work! I’m your biggest fan!!”. People of fame (entertainers, professional athletes and similar) usually feed their vanity through such ambush encounters, but more often than not, they would love to get ordinary treatment from ordinary people. When they do, they’re very appreciative. If the encounter with Steve was on such a level, it left both parties with a profound sense of gratitude.
I dunno if pilgrimage equals knowledge of Apple’s founder. I mean, back in 1983, I was driving from Stanford, where my sister had just graduated down to LA with a college buddy who lived there. On the way, we stopped at the Infinite Loop to see Apple HQ. The Mac didn’t even exist back then, but we had both used an Apple II. We didn’t know who Steve Jobs was back then. We just knew the Apple II was significant, back when we were using a VAX at school, and Xenix workstations.
we miss you STEVE
GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
r.i.p. steve
Steve the gentleman. Still with a spring and careful eye for composition after July 2011. The full story of his sheer courage and mind over matter will probably never be known on earth, but certainly is being celebrated in heaven. Miss you Steve, still crying.
That kind of humility is what we are sorely missing in this country everywhere and what made us greatly admired world wide in the past.
Exactly right breeze.
Stuart
Maybe SJ also made a complimentary picture of himself using the front VGA camera.
No front-facing camera picture. Sorry — just the witnesses to the event as proof!
I love it! Thank you for the story.
I love that Steve stopped to help a family remember outing.
Great story, thank for sharing.
I remember the last time I saw Steve. I was on Apple campus eating lunch when I walking back to caffe Macs to deposits my compost and recyclables. On my way back along one of the paths I look up and see Phil Schiller, my little geek heart started to pitter patter. About 10 feet behind Phil was Steve and Johnny Ives, both deep in conversations, my pitter patter just about turned into a heart attack. Then they walked on and proceed to meet up with Phil. Nothing more.
I understand that it doesn’t sound too exciting, but I was blown away seeing the Titans of Apple, let alone be in arms reach as we walked along the same path
I want to let you all know that I’m trying to organize an Honoring Steve event at BJ’s Brewhouse and Pizza Bar in Cupertino Ca. It’s in the parking lot to Apple HQ.
The basic idea is we all get together and honor the life of Steve with drinks and Apple talk (not the old networking protocol. HA!) .
I’m not expecting black suites or quite somber discussions on life. I want laugher, gadget and gizmo chat, conversation of great apple moments, and overall raising the geek level in Silicon Valley (that in itself is a tall order)
It’s going to be on October 19th from 11am-Midnight.
Please join if you can.
Let’s create something great.
https://www.facebook.com/HonoringSteve
Could be interesting to see that picture and ask that family if they knew who they ask to take the picture.
It is unusual.
The last times I can recollect a similar occurrence in
my life are the following humble inputs:
+ Harlan Ellison called me up and said the reason
he is not in the public phone directory was because
every person he knew who had “made it” went
into a cocoon and he was intent on that not happening
+ John Varley told me his great story
http://www.varley.net/Pages/Manhattan.htm
was composed at a Westercon in an extreme
fit of anger
+ Red Skelton punched an elevator blank wall
asking us occupants where to go (buttons on
the other side) with his Gertrude/Heathcliffe
+ Patrick MacNee entertained for one hour at a
dinner table one day (yes, he is just like John Steed
on The Avengers.)
+ Bumped into Ken Thompson at a computer event
Stuart
A correction on this: Harlan Ellison is in the public phone directory and said he would not cocoon from success and “cloister” like so many other successful people get “bank-ified”.
I read stories such as this over and over and it just confirms the statement I said in my Facebook
Steve Jobs has touched each and every person in someway on this plant
I don’t think in my life time we will see a CEO that has had the respect as we have with Steve ,
I thank his Parents. His family and of course Mr Jobs
For what he has done to change my life
Because if it wasn’t for him and his great company
I wouldn’t have my IMac , Mac book, iPad , iPod and iPhone
Thank you steve and rip
Jeff Carroll
Seattle wash
The last time I saw Steve Jobs
It was in Cupertino at that mall where the Apple store is located. A pregnant woman on a bench (not far from the Apple store) begins to go into labor, and her water breaks. She sits down and is obviously in enough distress that she cannot 911 herself. Being in Cupertino, a dozen people all simultaneously offer to help, and a number of 911 calls are placed. As people seek to make her more comfortable, the crowd parts and Steve Jobs strides through. Quickly assessing the situation, he rolls up the sleeves of his black turtleneck, and calmly asks (of anyone) to ‘bring some hot water, we’re gonna deliver this baby’.
The grateful woman posed for cell phone pics with her smiling newborn and thanked the kindly man for his help. When asking his name, stating she would like to name the baby after him, he replied:
“Jobs. Steve Jobs.” and coolly walked away.
You had everything but the obligatory Bond girl in that tall tale.
The guys who make the James Bond movies see this post and their eyes light up: “Hey!…’Jobs. Steve Jobs’! That works too! Somebody load up the script software!
Let’s see… ‘iPads Are Forever’…. Podfinger’ ….’Thunderbolt'(heh)… ‘Dr. NoFlash’…’You Only Click Twice’…. ‘Macraker’…’The Man With the Golden App’… ‘The App Who Loved Me’ …’OctoSiri’… ‘For Your iPhone Only’
‘In His Macintosh Secret Server’… ‘From Cupertino With Love’
Actually that last one should be “From Redmond With Love”
Some people just can’t resist adding their trash a nice article.
I wonder if he took one of himself with the front camera first, then switched to the back camera, and took one of the family.
He didn’t. He was probably either doing a good job
on the family photo or private or both.
If the person who make up this anecdote, then where is the photo in order to make this story credible?
It’s all true.
An addendum: If you have missed this all this time, and I pardon myself to those of you who know macdailynews.com well, just click on my name in the above, and you’ll see the picture the man of steel, as we called on-campus, took. I am on the far left in the picture and my family is on the right. There is a lot of construction going on at Infinite Loop at the time, nothing like what is going on at The Ring now.
To be much more blunt: https://www.flickr.com/photos/100100912@N05/sets/72157635303853863/
Hi all,
I do not have a lot of good pictures of myself and my family.
I simply turned around, saw someone who was probably
competent with a camera, and handed him the iPhone 4.
I look forward to getting my iPhone 4S on Monday.
–Stuart
I think it was…yes, I remember now, about 18 months ago that time when the Cupertino Home for Orphans and Wastrels caught fire. The staff and fire dept got all the kids out, but one little moppet was loudly bemoaning the fate of her box of kittens. Up zooms a shiny silver AMG coupe, and bounding out came a familiar bespectacled black and blue and New Balance shod figure. Heedlessly he rushed onward through the flames, into the core of the searing inferno. A minute later, as the upper floors began to creak before collapsing into the roaring embers, a dark form leapt from a
third floor window bearing what looked like a dresser drawer. Landing on his springy white sneakers, he reunited the little orphan girl with four happily mewling kittens.
Preparing to depart in his sleek coupe, the hero turned to the crowd and declared. “One more thing: Back to Infinity!”
That was the last time I ever saw him. A few weeks later – on a former HP campus – ground was broken for a new children’s home. Abandoning the Dickensian terms of the old and uncool, an anonymous donor offered a sleek newly designed name and even built a glass cube base to place the sign he had constructed on:
Silicon Valley iKid.
Final note:
The iPhone 4 SJ took the picture of my family with was soon thereafter covered with a case from the corporate store by my wife to protect it (the original intent of the visit of my family to the campus that day) and coincidentally his fingerprints no doubt preserved for posterity.
I suggested my wife put it in the Wells Fargo safety deposit vault and upgrade to an iPhone 4S instead since my first job was at the Artificial Intelligence Center at SRI International, where Siri was invented, so I am extra proud of that association, but she likes to carry it around for good luck.
Our kids will just have a picture to hand down to their children and grandchildren and dimly recall a kindly older man with a white-greyish beard snapping a photo before turning down a similar photo request after and then getting into his car and whisking away, with the true story that a Thomas Edison / Albert Einstein / Leonardo da Vinci – the overwhelmingly inventive founder and leader of a creative team at a great American company, kindly stepped over when asked, and took a photo of an “all-American” family one day in summer 2011 in front of his company in front of everyone.
The experience reminds me of the ending of one of my ten favorite books, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells:
But to me the future is still black and blank—is a vast ignorance, lit at a few
casual places by the memory of his story. And I have by me, for my comfort, two
strange white flowers—shriveled now, and brown and flat and brittle—to
witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual
tenderness still lived on in the heart of man.
Stuart Cracraft
Steve Jobs took our family picture. It was one of the highest honors ever!! Thank you, Steve ! Carry on the great work, Apple
Annetta Cracraft
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-iphone/iphone5s
The 5s is a magnificent device.
I waited one month for my ivory plus champagne/gold
from China by way of Korea, Alaska, Kentucky and California.
Worth the wait!
Wish they could have made it in Kansas though!!!!
I have my 5S now for 1 month, exactly.
It is a great device and I have no complaints.
I like the A7 and the LTE.
I wish there was a pure black version though…
She has the iPhone 6+ now for our 26th anniversary.
The children are about to get the iPhone 5C’s and only
for good behavior!
They have received the 5C’s and the home is alive with music and singing and very right-brained activities. Very happy for Reed College and non-overemphasis of left-brain by the man himself.
Ok.