Unique Solutions by Apple:

Steve Jobs emphasizes the need for Apple to provide unique, compelling solutions that distinguish it in the market. If Apple cannot achieve this, the company risks losing market share to competitors offering similar or better products.

The Role of Developers:

Jobs acknowledges that Apple cannot innovate in isolation; it needs the creative input, market knowledge, and entrepreneurial energy of third-party developers. He cites the important role developers have played in the company’s past successes like desktop publishing with PageMaker.

Operating System Foundations:

Using the metaphor of a building, Jobs explains that the operating system sets the foundational ‘floor’ from which developers can build applications. He argues that with DOS, developers start from the first floor, but with Apple’s older Mac OS, they started from the fifth floor, enabling more feature-rich applications.

Challenge from Windows:

Jobs outlines the challenge posed by Microsoft’s Windows, stating that Microsoft caught up to Apple’s fifth-floor advantage. He mentions that Windows’ multi-threading and multi-tasking capabilities could potentially make it more appealing to developers.

The Next Steps: Advanced OS and OpenSTEP:

To regain the advantage, Apple needs an OS more advanced than Windows NT. Jobs introduces Mach OS with OpenSTEP, which would elevate developers to the ’20th floor’, allowing them to create more advanced applications faster.

Empowering Small Developers:

The technology aims to level the playing field, enabling small teams to develop feature-rich, reliable applications in a shorter timeframe. This democratization is part of Apple’s strategy to spark innovation and gain a competitive edge.

Operating System Details:

Jobs briefly touches on the technicalities of the new Mach OS. It is a Unix-based system with the Mach kernel, blending advanced features with maturity.

In this segment, Steve Jobs outlines Apple’s strategy for staying competitive through innovation and strong developer partnerships. The company aims to offer a superior operating system that would elevate the capabilities of developers, empowering both large and small teams to contribute to Apple’s ecosystem.

Advanced Operating System:

Steve Jobs talks about a mature, reliable Operating System (OS) they’ve been shipping for over five years. It is designed for mission-critical enterprise applications and offers advanced features like multitasking, multithreading, symmetrical multiprocessing, and virtual memory. The OS is robust enough to be used in demanding environments, as evidenced by 3 a.m. support calls when something goes awry.

Object-Oriented and Fast Driver Creation:

The OS employs object-oriented technology for writing drivers, significantly speeding up the development process. Object-oriented technology is not just a feature but a core attribute of their system, making driver creation faster by an order of magnitude compared to other systems.

Media and Cross-Platform Functionality:

The system is optimized for real-time media and is cross-platform. One can run an application from any client device with different processors, and the system will automatically load the right binary file. This functionality eliminates the need for multiple versions of the same app for different platforms, making the system efficient and versatile.

Networking Capabilities:

Jobs emphasizes the importance of networking, referring to his visit to Xerox PARC in 1979 where he initially missed the value of networking. The OS is designed to be a “networked citizen” right from the start, supporting various file systems and being internet-ready. Notably, Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web on Nextstep, a product related to their technology.

Robust Object Model and UI:

The system employs a robust, dynamic, distributed object model named OpenSTEP. Jobs also mentions the importance of user interfaces that can handle multitasking and transparent networking, describing their system’s interface as “extraordinarily internationalized” and user-friendly.

Future Plans and Goals:

The software runs on Intel processors today, giving them flexibility for future processor choices. They aim to offer compelling solutions to consumers, educational institutions, and enterprises, and plan to expand their customer base from thousands to millions in the next 12 to 24 months.

Real-time Demonstration:

Jobs demonstrates the multimedia readiness of the system by running multiple QuickTime movies simultaneously and using drag-and-drop features to send a clip via email. This demo illustrates the system’s capabilities to manage various tasks efficiently and in real-time.

By detailing these points, Jobs outlines the strength, versatility, and future potential of their software and systems.

Dynamic Object Model:

Steve Jobs discusses the use of a dynamic object model in application development. This model allows developers to create objects without pre-defining how they will connect to other parts of the application. The dynamic system enables these connections to be determined and altered at runtime, making it highly flexible.

Interface Builder Tool:

Jobs introduces Interface Builder, a development tool that simplifies the creation of applications. He demonstrates how to build a simple application using Interface Builder, featuring UI widgets, menus, and text fields. The tool allows developers to manipulate and connect objects directly, providing an intuitive interface.

Real-Time Communication:

Jobs emphasizes that these objects communicate in real-time and do not require code compilation. The objects “run themselves,” allowing developers to see immediate results as they adjust the interface and functionalities. This eliminates the need for written code for these tasks, making the process more efficient.

Eliminating Redundant Code:

Jobs makes a compelling argument for the value of this approach by pointing out that it can eliminate up to 80% of the code typically required for an app. This allows developers to focus on the unique, value-added 20% of the code, reducing both development time and potential errors. He summarizes by saying that the line of code that never breaks is the one never written.

Incremental Development:

Lastly, Jobs mentions that this approach supports incremental development. Developers can easily add new features, like text fields and graphics, then run the application to immediately see the results. The applications are built by connecting objects and stripping away unnecessary code, making the process quicker and more straightforward.

This segment highlights Steve Jobs’s vision of streamlining the app development process by utilizing dynamic object models, intuitive tools, and an emphasis on reducing redundant code.

Integration and Development Timeline:

The primary speaker, Steve Jobs, indicates that the next team looks forward to integrating with Apple. The intention is to develop a next-generation system within a year. Developers can start working on applications immediately, ensuring readiness when the system launches.