Comment from E-mail:
I have been reading "Infinite Loop" and the author mentions several times the "Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field," or how Steve could, at least in his mind change the perceptions of others and most importantly himself to suit his own interests. In Infinate Loop the author makes it quite clear who the architect responsible for Apple was, being you. He brings up the RDF(reality distortion Field) when quoting Steve Jobs comment on meeting you, that Woz was "the only guy who knew more about computers than I did." This of course being a lie or a RDF. I have heard this phrase mentioned in several different sources. How Steve Jobs had an almost "Svengali" influence over people, how he convinced the PARC people to get access to their data. I guess my question is, is this charisma another Mac legend, a Myth, or did(does) Steve really have thatkind of cult of personality surrounding him.

Woz:
Steve has very strong belief in himself. He spends a long time thinking about products and directions in private, asking himself every question he can think of and formulating the answers. By the time he presents an idea, it is very well tested in his own mind and he has a big advantage over others. It's fair to call this a form of intelligence. It's even purer than some definitions of intelligence. Many of us are called intelligent if we have the same answers as everyone else. But Steve doesn't operate this way.

Many times Steve has very good thinking that doesn't take into account how things currently are. It's my opinion that this leads to conflicts with most other people. Even when they (or I) agree that he sees the future correctly, the path to get there is in dispute.

Many things that are said about Steve's dark side, where he offends good people in pressing them to do their max, I haven't personally witnessed but I believe. It's hard to comment on though without knowing a specific. Were the abused workers right or wrong? Were they smart or dumb? Were they open or closed? A lot of the answer can depend on this. I suspect that Steve rides people hard so that the poor ones can be dismissed.

Even our first President, Mike Scott, once fired a lot of people without proper (and politically correct) procedures. He was later fired because of this. He took it very hard, because, for the most part, he'd gotten rid of the right ones.

Comment from E-mail:
Another question I have is regarding the Zaltair prank you pulled, the book mentions it in part, and how is pissed of Steve, Could you tell me more?

Woz:
Steve was never pissed off. When I gave him the Zaltair sheet, framed, years later he actually laughed out loud. That alone was great to see. I'm so glad whenever anything makes me laugh. The laughter is wonth much more than any negative effects of jokes, in my opinion.