Pixar, Oracle and the Steve Jobs connection at D10
Join CNET for live, ongoing coverage of Pixar's Dr. Ed Catmull and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaking at the D10 conference.
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Hey folks! Rafe Needleman here at the D10 conference. Larry Ellison is getting grilled by Kara over HP and Google. When this is done, he'll be on stage with Ed Catmull from Pixar, and they'll be talking about Steve Jobs.by Rafe
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To those 88 of you watching, thanks for your patience.by Daniel Terdiman
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We're in the middle of some Q&A from the audience, so it's still
wrapping up.by Josh Lowensohn -
As a friendly reminder you can catch all of our coverage from the D10 conference here. Earlier today we had talks from Sean Parker, Reid Hoffman, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, and Zynga's Mark Pincus.by Josh Lowensohn
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Q&A still going, Ellison just answered a question about Workday.by Josh Lowensohn
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Ellison answering audience questions.
by Josh Lowensohn -
There's a lot of love for Steve Jobs here at D10. But talking about him is dangerous. Someone asked the Spotify guys if they thought they had Jobsian qualities. Right answer: "There is no replacement for Steve Jobs." Which they said. But then they went on when they should have just stayed quiet.by Rafe
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Ellison wrapping up a Q&A. Someone had asked about bringing jobs back to the U.S. Ellison mentions a conversation with Steve Jobs about a shortage of engineers. He suggests the U.S. needs a "more balanced immigration policy" to fix that.by Josh Lowensohn
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We get a little movie before Walt Mossberg interviews Larry Ellison and Ed Catmullby Rafe
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It's a little movie showing Jobs clips from previous appearances at D conferences.by Rafe
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It's nice to be able to showcase such a set of quotes from your own event.by Daniel Terdiman
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It's showing Steve as a really upbeat, product-focused guy. I had forgotten how infectious his enthusiasm was.by Rafe
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Steve quote: "There's nothing that makes my day more than getting some email from someone... who says the iPad is the coolest product they've ever bought."by Rafe
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Ok, Walt is on stage now. Talking about how lucky D had been to have Jobs as a frequent guest. Was at D 6 times.by Rafe
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That'll be fun.by Daniel Terdiman
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Walt: Ed Catmull and Larry Ellison were very close to Steve. Here they come.by Rafe
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Catmull and Ellison
by Rafe via mobile -
Walt: Why was Steve so successful at Pixar?by Rafe
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The best ones, with Gates and Jobs, are on YouTube. Some magic moments there.by Paul Sloan
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Catmull: He went through some very distinct phases. In the first phase, people misunderstood him. But he was learning from those mistakes. The way he negotiated didn't work very well. But he was so incredibly smart that he changed his behavior.by Rafe
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Already up apparently.
by Josh Lowensohn -
By the way, here's the story I wrote on how Steve Jobs helped change the film industry at pixar: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20116912-37/with-pixar-steve-jobs-changed-the-film-industry-forever/?tag=mncol;4nby Daniel Terdiman
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Catmull: The Steve that I knew in the last few years was very kind. There was a notion of fairness. That wasn't there in the early years.by Rafe
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Catmull: Steve tested boundaries. He built a building (Pixar). And it was very cultural. He thought about what it meant to say that people were the best.by Rafe
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Don't forget that Pixar would never have been Pixar if Jobs hadn't been willing to buy the company from Lucas, and then be patient enough for tech to get to the point that Catmull and John Lasseter could finally make a feature film (Toy Story)by Daniel Terdiman
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Catmull: Other CEOs didn't see his deep understanding.by Rafe
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And when Jobs bought the company (for $5 million, if I recall correctly), he also put in a bunch of additional money to prop its operations upby Daniel Terdiman
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Ellison: Steve had a singlemindedness and an attention to detail unlike everyone I've ever seen.by Rafe
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Ellison: He was a bit of a control freak. A little bit. He wanted to control every aspect. Including how you pay for an item in a store. Or what it looked like in a box.by Rafe
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Ellison: Or how you bought an app, or connected to the Net. Every excruciating detail. Edison said genius was 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. Steve was a god. He worked tirelessly.by Rafe
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Walt: Was there something different about his ability to focus?by Rafe
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Announcement: Walt says the whole collection of Steve Jobs interviews from the D conference series will be on iTunes for free.by Rafe
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Ellison: Let's talk about Pixar. We met when we were neighbors in Woodside. His peacock had wandered into my property and woke me up.by Rafe
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Ellison: Then Jobs said, "I'm gonna tell her [girlfriend] how much you hate this peacock, so we can get rid of it. You gotta back me up."by Rafe
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Nice understatement from Ellison, calling Jobs a control freak.by Paul Sloan
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First world problem.by Daniel Terdiman
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Any story with a rogue peacock is a good one.by Josh Lowensohn
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Ellison: Steve would just not let go of a problem until it was solved. I would tell him, "I'm not coming over to watch Toy Story again." I said, I know that Renderman is now 4% better, but I don't care. And Steve would say, "But the shadows are so much better!"by Rafe
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Has there ever been someone in charge of two companies at the same time when both were so clearly at the top of their games?by Daniel Terdiman
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Okay, Rafe, you must follow up: What happened to the peacock?by Paul Sloan
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Ellison: That was Steve, until it was perfect. And then once it was perfect [sigh of relief.] And then he moved on to the next problem.
Working incessantly until it was done, that was Steve.by Rafe -
Paul, I don't think the Peacock made itby Rafe
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Ellison: There are a lot of good ideas. Translating a good idea into a great product is unbelievably hard. There are so many details. Finishing the Alto and turning it into the Mac was enormously hard. Steve would translate good ideas into a finished product unlike anyone in the industry.
Henry Ford didn't invent the car, but he made it affordable.by Rafe -
Seems like Catmull isn't getting to say much during this "panel."by Daniel Terdiman
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Catmull: Steve never came to a story meeting at Pixar. It was actually amazing, but it was the agreement. He trusted people with things he didn't know.
Steve was a master storyteller. Steve would come up with an idea and he would commit to it. And people would say, "Oh, the great Steve has spoken." But what he really wanted was pushback.
He understood that that's what directors did.by Rafe
