Steve Jobs Ponders His Legacy In Never-Before-Seen 1994 Video - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Steve Jobs Ponders His Legacy In Never-Before-Seen 1994 Video

by

EverySteveJobsVideo (via The Loop) today released a never-before-seen video of Steve Jobs in 1994, while he was at NeXT, pondering his legacy in the personal computer field and whether he thought he would be remembered for his work in the future.

jobs1994
While Jobs is primarily talking about his accomplishments with Macintosh and personal computing, his thoughts could easily translate to iPhone, iPod and iPad as well.

The video was provided by the Silicon Valley Historical Association and is a clip from a 60-minute documentary built around a 20-minute interview they had with Jobs back in 1994. The film, called "Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur" focuses on Jobs giving advice to young entrepreneurs:

Steve Jobs was asked to give advice to young entrepreneurs who wanted to go out and start their own businesses. He talks about risk and the willingness to fail, the role of building illegal blue boxes prior to founding Apple Computer, and his philosophy on how to approach life.

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, who hired Jobs to work at Atari, is also present in the full documentary and talks about both Jobs and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.


"Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur" is available on the Silicon Valley Historical Association's website as a $14.99 download, a $24.99 DVD or a $4.99 audio track.

Top Rated Comments

bacaramac Avatar
172 months ago
I wonder how many people in history have the logical insight that jobs had on technology. It's weird how you can watch a 20 year old clip and it still be relevant. This isn't the first clip where Jobs' statements have remained relevant years later.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
172 months ago
You will always be remembered for your vision and work, Steve!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
172 months ago
I've heard that Steve was pretty amazing with analogies that would help you understand what he's saying... this sure is a good example of that. :)

----------

Interesting how he was incorrect though. In another 4 years, the original iPhone will be 10 years old, and while he was correct that it is not usable anymore, it will still go down in history as the phone that started the smartphone revolution. The same way the iPad revitalized the tablet market and the iPod revolutionized the portable music market.
But I think that was his point exactly... he built the first major layer of "Smart Phone Mountain" but already his own company, and others, have contributed their layers on top, and that initial piece, anyway, isn't seen or used by anyone... he wasn't saying that it wouldn't be remembered or go down in history for its worth, but more that because the technology moves so quickly, the iPhone 1 is but a distant memory already, not even ten years later. Where an architect can be remembered for his amazing church for hundreds of years later, because it still stands, and is still a church to this day. :apple:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
172 months ago
Jobs would be happy to know that the apple 1 is considered a piece of art and that somebody bought it for some obnoxious price (I forgot the exact amount).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tbobmccoy Avatar
172 months ago
I still use my iphone original generation... Every time I sell my most recent iphone to upgrade, I'm on my old school iphone for a short amount of time :)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drunken Master Avatar
172 months ago
This has to be a record time for a thread devolving into a cheap argument.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Sunday August 16, 2026 8:24 pm PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. As usual, the event is expected to take place in the first half of September. Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to the...
apple camera airpods

Apple's Camera-Equipped AirPods Confirmed: See Them in Action

Monday August 17, 2026 6:21 pm PDT by
Apple is working on camera-equipped AirPods that appear to be nearly ready to launch, based on a video MacRumors found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate. In a short demo, a man holds a book up so the camera in the AirPods can see the title. "With Visual Intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later," says the voiceover text. Here ...
iPhone 17 One Year Later Thumb 1

Should You Buy an iPhone 17 Now or Wait for iPhone 18?

Friday August 14, 2026 12:15 pm PDT by
For the first time since Apple started selling standard and "Pro" iPhones, we're not going to get an entry-level iPhone model this fall. Apple doesn't plan to release an iPhone 18 in September, and will only launch the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone Ultra. The lower-cost iPhone 18 won't come out until spring 2027. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...