Transcript (en)

Just the top guys, the ones who are getting laid off. Listen, okay? Last year, Apple lost $1 billion. I don't even know how that's possible. You were less than 90 days from being insolvent. I had three different accountants try to explain it to me. The whole place has to be streamlined. Start with two of the accountants. I started with the Apple... Can you come off stage? We're gonna go backstage for a moment. I started with the Apple II team because we don't, you know, make that anymore. Just acknowledge the top guys. Have a mimosa and relax. You will not blow me off right now, Steve. The top guys deserve... There are no top guys, all right? On the Apple II team, there are no top guys. They're B players, and B players discourage the A players. And I want A players at Apple and not Dell. They're not B players, and I'm a better judge of that. 90 days from insolvency, in part because somebody thought the Newton wasn't a box of garbage. Joe, could you come off the plate, please? Leave him. I'm talking about- You guys designed and shipped a little box of garbage while I was gone. I talking about the Apple II which is not just a crucial part of this company history it is a crucial part of the history of personal computing For a time The least you can do if you going to downsize these people They gonna live in the biggest houses of anyone on the unemployment line Is to acknowledge them. Acknowledge them and the Apple II during this launch. This is a new animal. This whole place was built by the Apple II. You were built by the Apple II. As a matter of fact, I was destroyed by the Apple II and its open system so that hackers and hobbyists could build ham radios or something. And then it nearly destroyed Apple when you spent all your money on it and developed a grand total of no new products. The Newton? The little box of garbage. You guys came up with the Newton. You, like, want people to know that. This is a product launch, not a luncheon. And the last thing I want to do is connect the iMac to the... To the only successful product that this company has ever made. I'm sorry to be blunt, but that happens to be the truth. The Lisa was a failure. The Macintosh was a failure. I don't like talking like this, but I am tired of being Ringo when I know I was John. Everybody loves Ringo. And I tired of being patronized by you You think John became John by winning a raffle Waz You think he tricked somebody or hit George Harrison over the head He was John because he was John. He was John because he wrote Ticket to Ride. And I wrote the Apple II. Everybody, I want to clear you up for you. Nobody moves! You made a beautiful board, which, by the way, you're willing to give out for free, so don't tell me how you built Apple. If it weren't for me, you'd be the easiest day at Homestead High School. These people live and die by your praise. So here's your chance. Acknowledge that something good happened that you weren't in the room for. No. Steve, do it. It's right. It's... It's right. Sorry, but no. Let me put it another way. I don't think there's a man who's done more to advance the democratization that comes with personal computing that I have. But you've never had any respect for me. Now why is that I at least consider the possibility that it because you never had any for me What the hell is going on here Nothing Thank you for your time It's done. She's coming back. You came a half-inch from putting this company out of business. Now, who do I see about that? I'm letting you keep your job. You get a pass. You know when people used to ask me what the difference was between me and Steve Jobs, I would say, Steve was the big picture guy, and I liked a solid workbench. When people ask me what the difference is, now I say, Steve's an asshole. Your products are better than you are, brother. That's the idea, brother. And knowing that, that's the difference. It's not binary. You can be decent and gifted at the same time.