Reality distortion field

Last updated

Reality distortion field (RDF) is a term first used by Bud Tribble at Apple Computer in 1981, to describe company co-founder Steve Jobs's charisma and its effects on the developers working on the Macintosh project. [1] Tribble said that the term came from the Star Trek [1] episode "The Menagerie", in which it is used to describe how the aliens encountered by the crew of the starship Enterprise created their own new world through mental force.

Contents

Steve Jobs

In the book Steve Jobs , biographer Walter Isaacson states that around 1972, while Jobs was attending Reed College, Robert Friedland "taught Steve the reality distortion field." The RDF was said by Andy Hertzfeld to be Jobs's ability to convince himself, and others around him, to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement and persistence. It was said to distort his co-workers' sense of proportion and scales of difficulties and to make them believe that whatever impossible task he had at hand was possible. Jobs could also use the reality distortion field to appropriate others' ideas as his own, sometimes proposing an idea back to its originator, only a week after dismissing it. [1]

The term has been used to refer to Jobs's keynote speeches (or "Stevenotes") by observers and devoted users of Apple computers and products, [2] and derisively by Apple's competitors in criticisms of Apple, for example a post on Research In Motion's official BlackBerry blog titled "RIM Responds to Apple’s 'Distortion Field'". [3]

Bill Gates talked in an interview about Steve Jobs using his reality distortion field to "cast spells" on people. Gates considered himself immune to Jobs's reality distortion field, saying, "I was like a minor wizard because he would be casting spells, and I would see people mesmerized, but because I'm a minor wizard, the spells don't work on me." [4] [5]

Other instances

The term has been extended, with a mixture of awe and scorn, to other managers and leaders in industry who try to convince their employees to become passionately committed to projects without regard to their overall difficulty or to competitive forces in the market. It is sometimes used with regard to excessively-hyped products that are not necessarily connected with any one person. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dilbert</i> American comic strip

Dilbert is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title character. It has led to dozens of books, an animated television series, a video game, and hundreds of themed merchandise items. Dilbert Future and The Joy of Work are among the best-selling books in the series. In 1997, Adams received the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Award and the Newspaper Comic Strip Award for his work. Dilbert appears online and as of 2013 was published daily in 2,000 newspapers in 65 countries and 25 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Adams</span> American cartoonist and author (born 1957)

Scott Raymond Adams is an American author and cartoonist. He is the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, and the author of several nonfiction works of business, commentary, and satire. Adams worked in various clerical roles before he became a full-time cartoonist in 1995. While working at Pacific Bell in 1989, Adams created Dilbert; by the mid-1990s the strip had gained national prominence in America and began to reach a worldwide audience. Dilbert remained popular throughout the following decades, spawning several books written by Adams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Wozniak</span> American electrical engineer and programmer (born 1950)

Stephen Gary Wozniak, also known by his nickname Woz, is an American technology entrepreneur, electrical engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, and inventor. In 1976, he co-founded Apple Computer with his early business partner Steve Jobs. Through his work at Apple in the 1970s and 1980s, he is widely recognized as one of the most prominent pioneers of the personal computer revolution.

Macworld/iWorld was an information technology trade show with conference tracks dedicated to Apple's Mac platform. It was held annually in the United States during January. Originally Macworld Expo and then Macworld Conference & Exposition, the gathering dates back to 1985. The conference was organized by International Data Group (IDG), co-publisher of Macworld magazine.

A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the creation or ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or services are widely consumed. Such individuals have been known by different terms throughout history, such as robber barons, captains of industry, moguls, oligarchs, plutocrats, or tai-pans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Hertzfeld</span> American programmer (born 1953)

Andrew Jay Hertzfeld is an American software engineer who was a member of Apple Computer's original Macintosh development team during the 1980s. After buying an Apple II in January 1978, he went to work for Apple Computer from August 1979 until March 1984, where he was a designer for the Macintosh system software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh 128K</span> 1984 computer

The Macintosh, later rebranded as the Macintosh 128K, is the original Macintosh personal computer from Apple. It is the first successful mass-market all-in-one desktop personal computer with a graphical user interface, built-in screen and mouse. It was pivotal in establishing desktop publishing as a general office function. The motherboard, a 9 in (23 cm) CRT monochrome monitor, and a floppy drive are in a beige case with integrated carrying handle; it has a keyboard and single-button mouse.

Burrell Carver Smith is a retired American computer engineer who created the first wire wrap prototype of the motherboard for the original Macintosh at Apple Computer. He became Apple employee #282 in February 1979 as an Apple II service technician. He designed the motherboard for Apple's LaserWriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dashboard (macOS)</span> Discontinued feature of macOS

Dashboard is a discontinued feature of Apple Inc.'s macOS operating systems, used as a secondary desktop for hosting mini-applications known as widgets. These are intended to be simple applications that do not take time to launch. Dashboard applications supplied with macOS included a stock ticker, weather report, calculator, and notepad; while users could create or download their own.

Guy L. "Bud" Tribble is a software technologist known for his work on the original Apple Macintosh.

Steve Capps is a pioneering American computer programmer and software engineer, who was one of the original designers of the Apple Macintosh computer and co-designers of the Finder in the 1980s. He also led development of the Apple Newton PDA and designed music software such as SoundEdit, before developing user interface (UI) designs for Microsoft's Internet Explorer and online/mobile payment systems.

<i>iCon</i> 2005 biography by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon

iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business is an unauthorized biography by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon about the return of Steve Jobs to Apple Inc. in 1997. It was published in 2005.

Joanna Karine Hoffman is a Polish-American marketing executive. She was one of the original members of both the Apple Macintosh team and the NeXT team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Jobs</span> American businessman and inventor (1955–2011)

Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar. He was a pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with his early business partner and fellow Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

RDF may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tosca Musk</span> South African filmmaker (born 1974)

Tosca Jane Musk is a South African filmmaker. She is an executive producer and director of feature films, television programs, and web content. Her work includes K. Bromberg's Driven, Rachel van Dyken's Matchmaker's Playbook, and her web series, Tiki Bar TV. Tosca is the younger sister of Elon Musk and Kimbal Musk, and daughter of Errol Musk and Maye Musk. She co-founded the streaming service Passionflix.

<i>Steve Jobs</i> (film) 2015 film directed by Danny Boyle

Steve Jobs is a 2015 biographical drama film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin. A British-American co-production, it was adapted from the 2011 biography by Walter Isaacson and interviews conducted by Sorkin. The film covers fourteen years in the life of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, specifically ahead of three press conferences he gave during that time - the formal unveiling of the Macintosh 128K on January 24, 1984, the unveiling of the NeXT Computer on October 12, 1988, and the unveiling of the iMac G3 on May 6, 1998. Jobs is portrayed by Michael Fassbender, with Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, and Jeff Daniels as John Sculley in supporting roles.

Robert L. Belleville is an American computer engineer who was an early head of engineering at Apple from 1982 until 1985.

Robotic governance provides a regulatory framework to deal with autonomous and intelligent machines. This includes research and development activities as well as handling of these machines. The idea is related to the concepts of corporate governance, technology governance and IT-governance, which provide a framework for the management of organizations or the focus of a global IT infrastructure.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hertzfeld, Andy (February 1981). "Reality Distortion Field". Folklore.org.
  2. ↑ Dudrow, Andrea (October 16, 2000). "Notes from the Epicenter: Exploring the Reality Distortion Field". CreativePro.
  3. ↑ "RIM Responds to Apple's 'Distortion Field'". Inside BlackBerry. October 19, 2010. Archived from the original on October 20, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  4. ↑ Clare Duffy (8 July 2019). "CNN Exclusive: Bill Gates calls Steve Jobs a 'wizard' who saved Apple". CNN. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
  5. ↑ Grothaus, Michael (2019-07-08). "Bill Gates thinks Steve Jobs was a wizard". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
  6. ↑ "The Ajax Reality Distortion Field". davidtemkin.com. April 12, 2005. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010.
  7. ↑ Ferriss, Tim (November 21, 2010). "How It Works: Clinton's "Reality Distortion Field" Charisma".
  8. ↑ Darrach, Brad (1972-08-11). "Bobby is Not a Nasty Kid". Life. p. 40. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  9. ↑ O'Brien, Timothy L. (2016-06-16). "A Peek Inside Trump's Smoke and Mirrors Tour". Bloomberg View. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  10. ↑ Richard Waters. Elon Musk, billionaire tech idealist and space entrepreneur. Financial Times .
  11. ↑ Wiedeman, Reeves (2020). Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork (First ed.). New York. ISBN   978-0-316-46136-8. OCLC   1175677200.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ↑ "Dilbert comic strip for 2010-09-23". The official Dilbert comic strips archive.
  13. ↑ Makabenta, Yen. "Duterte has his own 'reality distortion field'" . Retrieved 2020-11-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.