Late last year, Robert X. Cringely released his hour-long 1995 interview with Steve Jobs in several theaters in the United States. Roughly ten minutes of that footage was used in the 1996 Triumph of the Nerds documentary, but the remainder had been thought lost until a VHS copy of the footage was discovered just after Jobs' death last year.

jobs lost interview
As noted by Cringely, the interview has now been made available for rent in the iTunes Store, although the title appears to be limited to the U.S. store [iTunes Store]. The rental is priced at $3.99, and as with other content in the U.S. iTunes Store, customers have 30 days from the time of rental to begin watching the title. Once the customer begins watching, the rental expires in 24 hours.

Cringely indicates with some annoyance that Apple has apparently refused to feature the interview in its iTunes Store, deeming it "too controversial" and "too sensitive" for such publicity.

Deeming the film “too controversial,” Apple has it on the site but they aren’t promoting it and won’t. The topic is “too sensitive” you see. It isn’t even listed in the iTunes new releases. You have to search for it. But it’s there.

Maybe I’m not even supposed to tell you.

Of course there is nothing controversial or insensitive about this movie, which everyone including the critics seems to like. It’s a different look at an interesting guy and some people seem to take away a lot from it. You be the judge.

For those still interested in seeing the interview in the theater, it continues to play from time to time in select theaters.

Top Rated Comments

BornAgainApple Avatar
169 months ago
Sorry Bob, you won't be getting my $2.79. Haven't you made enough off this venture?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drunken Master Avatar
169 months ago
PBS is not free. Just ask the Ford Foundation, the Knight Foundation or The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

OMG, you know what I mean.

Of course someone pays for it, mojumbo. But not the people watching, unless they choose to donate.

I swear with this forum sometimes. It's not enough that most of you don't have a sense of humor but now you have to be difficult too.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drunken Master Avatar
169 months ago
This really should be free, Triumph of the Nerds originally aired on PBS, not HBO for crying out loud.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samywamy10 Avatar
169 months ago
As a non-US iTunes account holder, it would be greatly appreciated if someone could put this on YouTube or Vimeo or whatever (screen capture it).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drunken Master Avatar
169 months ago
Just because something airs on PBS doesn't mean it falls into the public domain, even though it's obvious that Cringely is trying to milk this for all it's worth. I'm more pissed off that this is only a rental and you can't buy it to watch multiple times. Hopefully someone can rip it and put it up as a torrent or on usenet.
It's on YouTube (for free) already, just search 'Steve Jobs lost interview' and go about halfway down the page.

Someone inverted the image but it's there, I Airplayed it to my Apple TV the other night.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BornAgainApple Avatar
169 months ago
Just because something airs on PBS doesn't mean it falls into the public domain, even though it's obvious that Cringely is trying to milk this for all it's worth. I'm more pissed off that this is only a rental and you can't buy it to watch multiple times. Hopefully someone can rip it and put it up as a torrent or on usenet.

Actually, he's milking it for MORE than it's worth.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...