The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs

Facing his own mortality, the tech icon Steve Jobs looks back at the triumphs and trials, breakthroughs and breakdowns, that shaped his life as a husband, father and industry leader.

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs is inspired by the life and creative spirit of Steve Jobs and does not purport to depict actual events as they occurred or statements, beliefs, or opinions of the persons depicted. It has not been authorized or endorsed by Apple Inc., the Estate or Family of Steve Jobs, or by any persons depicted.

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• PROLOGUE

  1965: The Jobs family garage, Los Altos
  Paul Jobs presents his son Steve with a workbench as a birthday present and calls it “a fine place to start.”

• SCENES 1–9

  SCENE 1
  2007: The stage of a convention center, San Francisco
  An adult Steve Jobs delivers a public launch of his company’s new product—“one device”—that will revolutionize technology. He ends his pitch noticeably weak and short of breath.

  SCENE 2
  2007, directly after: Corporate offices, Cupertino
  Steve retreats to his office. His wife Laurene chides him for not taking better care of himself and losing himself in his work. She asks him to return home.

  SCENE 3
  2007, later that afternoon: The hills around Cupertino
  Steve goes on a long meditative walk. He encounters Kōbun Chino Otogawa, Steve’s former spiritual mentor in Sōtō Zen Buddhism, who died five years before. Steve remembers something he once said: “You can’t connect the dots going forward. You can only connect them going backward.” As they gaze at the sunset, Kōbun prompts Steve to acknowledge his mortality.

  SCENE 4
  1973: A class in calligraphy, Reed College, Oregon
  A teacher discusses the significance of the ensō, a circle drawn in Japanese calligraphy. Steve is inspired by the aesthetic ideas of elegance and simplicity.

  SCENE 5
  1973: The garage of the Jobs family home, Los Altos
  Steve’s best friend Steve Wozniak has created a “blue box,” a device that allows the user to make free telephone calls. Steve and “Woz” celebrate the ease with which they think corporate giants can be toppled.

  SCENE 6
  1974: An apple orchard near Los Altos
  Steve and his girlfriend Chrisann take LSD. Steve imagines their surroundings coming to life as an orchestra, playing Bach. The two start to make love when Kōbun interrupts them.

  SCENE 7
  2007: The hills around Cupertino
  1975: Los Altos Zen Center
  Kōbun informs Steve that he cannot live at the Zen Center and hints that his destiny may lie elsewhere.

  SCENE 8
  1989: A lecture Hall, Stanford University
  Steve meets Laurene for the first time.

  SCENE 9
  1976: The garage of the Jobs family home, Los Altos
  Woz presents a new computer interface to Steve. Chrisann arrives and tells Steve that she is pregnant. When Steve demands that Chrisann end the pregnancy, she leaves in tears. Steve and Woz dream about the future of their invention, Steve remembering the orchestra in the orchard playing Bach and imagining the computer as “something we play.”

• SCENES 10–18

  SCENE 10
  1989: Steve Jobs’ home, Palo Alto

  Steve shows Laurene his sparsely furnished home. Photographs by Ansel Adams in Steve’s home prompt a brief discussion about artistic inspiration. Laurene and Steve go to the bedroom to make love for the first time.

  SCENE 11
  1980: Corporate Offices, Cupertino

  Steve severs ties with Chrisann and angers Woz by denying a fellow employee his pension. Chrisann and Woz lament the loss of the Steve they once knew.

  SCENE 12
  1981-1986: Corporate Offices, Cupertino

  Steve denies palimony to Chrisann for their child, Lisa, and offends Woz, who quits. Demoted by the board of directors, Steve bitterly leaves the company and has a breakdown.

  SCENE 13
  2007: The hills around Cupertino

  Kōbun reminds Steve that it was necessary for him to learn from his mistakes. He shows Steve a brief replay of his life after he fell apart, revisiting his first meeting with Laurene and the evening when he fell in love with her.

  SCENE 14
  2007: The hills around Cupertino 1989: A lecture hall, Stanford University

  The day when Steve and Laurene met.

  SCENE 15
  2007: The hills around Cupertino 1989: Steve Jobs’ home, Palo Alto

  The evening in Steve’s home when he fell in love with Laurene. Kōbun reminds Steve that Laurene also helped keep his ego in check.

  SCENE 16
  2007: Steve Jobs’ home

  Steve returns home after his walk to find Laurene waiting for him. She confronts Steve and gets him to accept his illness and mortality.

  SCENE 17
  1991: Yosemite National Park

  Kōbun marries Steve and Laurene in a Buddhist ceremony. Steve expresses his love for Laurene and his gratitude to her for teaching him the value of human connection. Kōbun’s 1992 death is revealed, prompting a meditation on mortality that segues into the next scene.

  SCENE 18
  2011: Stanford University Chapel

  Kōbun explains that Steve is witnessing his own memorial service. Steve protests a few production elements of the service, but Kōbun tells him to be still, to simplify. Laurene and Woz muse about Steve. Finally, Laurene is left alone and observes that while Steve will be both lionized and demonized, no one can deny his influence on the world.

• EPILOGUE (FULL CIRCLE)

  1965: The garage of the Jobs family home, Los Altos

  As Laurene looks on, Paul Jobs presents his son with a workbench on his birthday as “a fine place to start.”