PBS announced today that ‘Steve Jobs – One Last Thing’ has been added to the primetime lineup following the premiere episode of NOVA “The Fabric of the Cosmos.”
Through interviews with colleagues and others who knew the creative genius whose innovations transformed the lives of millions, ONE LAST THING provides an inside look at the man and the major influences that helped shape his life and career. Titled as a play on the famous catchphrase used by Jobs at his product launch presentations, STEVE JOBS – ONE LAST THING premieres on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings). NOVA “The Fabric of the Cosmos,” a four-part series that takes viewers to the frontiers of physics with acclaimed author and physicist Brian Greene, debuts at 9:00 p.m ET.
“From the vast complexity of time and space to the genius of a man who put technology in the palm of our hands, these extraordinary programs explore the work of two visionaries in science and technology,” said John F. Wilson, Senior Vice President & Chief TV Programming Executive, in a statement.
‘Steve Jobs – One Last Thing’ takes an unflinching look at Jobs’s difficult, controlling disposition, and offers unique insights into what made him tick. While there has been near-universal agreement that Steve Jobs was a great innovator in business and technology, ONE LAST THING looks into why he was so great. What were the influences that shaped his character? What drove him from such humble beginnings to the heights of success?
Featuring interviews with, among others, Ronald Wayne, co-founder of Apple with Jobs and Steve Wozniak; Ross Perot, who invested in NeXT Computer when Jobs was running out of money; Walt Mossberg, principal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, who interviewed Jobs every year from 2003-2010; will.i.am, frontman and producer for The Black Eyed Peas, whose “I Gotta Feeling” currently ranks as the most downloaded iTunes song ever; Dean Hovey, designer of the original mouse for Apple; Robert Cringely, writer and host of the PBS series TRIUMPH OF THE NERDS: THE RISE OF ACCIDENTAL EMPIRES; Robert Palladino, calligraphy professor at Reed College, whose classes Jobs credited with inspiring his typography design for the Mac; and Bill Fernandez, who introduced Jobs and Wozniak in Sunnyvale, where the three hung out in his father’s garage and tinkered with electronics.
In a never-before-broadcast interview from 1994, Jobs expounds on his philosophy of life: “You tend to get told that the world is the way it is, but life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact; and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you … Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”
In his many successful Apple product launches, Jobs developed his own catchphrase to tease his audiences. Appearing to reach the end of a presentation, he would then announce to the expectant crowd: “Oh — one more thing,” before unveiling his latest design achievement. This documentary exploration of the life of one of America’s most successful innovators and entrepreneurs pays homage to his famous presentational skills and his unique talents.
STEVE JOBS – ONE LAST THING is a production of Pioneer Productions for Channel 4 (UK) and PBS. The film is funded by PBS, Channel 4 and Mentorn International.
Source: PBS
I hope they don’t air it during a fund drive.
Now that’s going to be good!
No fund drives during ratings and November is a tv ratings month so it will air with no annoying begging of money.
Without that “annoying begging of money” there would be no PBS and no alternative to the claptrap that passes for news on the major networks.
…and your point is? PBS news is just as full of BS and untruths as the rest of the media.
Then don’t watch it.
Only a certified moron would respond to my post with what you just said. Why are you wasting your time here when FOX Noise is on the air?
Most pundits, when they talk about Steve Jobs, automatically take a apologist tone (my following rant might be guilty of that as well). The little blurb on this PBS special, already promising an “unflinching look at Jobs’s difficult, controlling disposition, and offers unique insights into what made him tick,” might not be an exception.
When you look for it long enough, you’ll find weaknesses in every man. Steve Jobs had had his. Yes, in his twenties, before Apple, he may have swindled Woz by not telling him the actual amount Atari was offering for the challenge they had worked on. Woz had accepted Jobs’s offer then, and that should have been that, a closed business transaction. If the pundits are going to hold a grudge over Jobs for over 3 decades now, and Woz providing new soundbites on that while struggling with a false modesty (I was/am the most brilliant, humble engineer there ever was and I don’t mind Jobs stealing from me; no really), well, I say, the other Steve has certainly moved on to much better things and a life full of better accomplishments. No apologies offered, or needed. It’s been over 3 decades, give it a rest already; everything, including people, change, if you can believe that.
Yes, he had berated folks, employees, fired them even, didn’t mince with words and opinions. But it’s a business in a free society. From the sounds of the Jobs haters, it feels like people were forced to work in chains for him in a Turkish prison. If they didn’t like working for Apple or follow his philosophy, they should’ve moved on; and many did. Most of the bitter myths came from Mr. Raskin and other disgruntled ex-Apple employees, and legends were formed. Myths became axioms. Jobs became a mythical beast, a mean bastard. Even his wife had to offer to his biographer that Jobs can be difficult and requires careful studies.
In my book, Steve Jobs didn’t have a Monica Lewinsky issue, where he didn’t bomb two countries on the morning of his impeachment trial just because he couldn’t keep his trousers zipped. Harp on that!
Point is, these Cringely, Woz et al. hold the view that Jobs got lucky (accidental millionaires), a non-engineer getting away telling other geeks and engineers (who are infinitely smarter folks) on what to do and how to do it. Oh the nerve! And I say all this, as an engineer and scientist myself. Even Ive already starting, Jobs tended to hog credit. Well, Jony, why didn’t say so while the man was still breathing and could refute some of these claims? He was the CEO, his job was to find talents that would offer him ideas. Some of the ideas may come from him, but doesn’t mean he would have to share them outright. He would engage in alternate views, outlandish ones even, just to cover as much of the creative spectrum, and then finally settle on the best design based on trade-offs. That’s one of the roles of a leader. Lion’s share of the credit will be his, as it’s his job to pick a design, not the designer who offered the choices.
I think the only unflinching no nonsense view would come from Ross Perot. He liked Jobs, lived under his “RDF”, put up funds where his mouth is, and may have lost some money on the NeXT project.
PBS earlier work in the 90s on Jobs was mostly clueless, I don’t expect this one to be any better. I have a feeling, a real biography of Steve Jobs will come from the next generation of enlightened entrepreneurs, who will discover the man from under these false rubble of myths.
/rant.
First of all, many of those who have weighed in on Steve Jobs now that he’s gone just like to hear themselves talk and should really keep their mouths shut.
You are absolutely right: Everybody has faults. No one needs to apologize for not being “perfect”. In his tv interviews, Walter Jacobson said again and again that his yardstick for measuring Steve’s character has been to look at the outcomes. He built a great company full of fiercely-loyal employees. He had a close, loving family…
The gossip vultures are busy picking his bones clean before the body is even cold. But that doesn’t change the fact that all the armchair psychologists who are flapping their lips should just STFU.