Spiral-bound guidebook for the Seybold Computer Publishing Conference, hosted from October 2-5, 1990, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, 187 pages, 8.75 x 11, beautifully signed inside in black ballpoint by Jobs as founder of NeXT, "steve jobs." The guide offers full-page biographies of the many guest speakers, plus abstracts for the various sessions, which included presentations, discussion groups, and tutorials broadly focused on the conference's theme: "The Evolving Process of Communication." The conference's opening session, "Publishing & Computing in the '90s," featured Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as speakers. The recipient of the autograph, Michael Astrachan, spoke at the conference as part of a panel on "Building Systems: Marketing and Advertising." In fine condition, with subtle foxing to the top edge. Accompanied by two magazines featuring Jobs on the cover-Wired from February 1996 and Fast Company from July/August 2010-the latter addressed to Astrachan.
Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance from Michael Astrachan, in part: "I obtained Steve Jobs' autograph, who at the time was CEO of NeXT, after the opening session…I recall that Mr. Jobs was more formally dressed in a suit and tie, as opposed to the casual black turtleneck and jeans of which he is often associated. At the conclusion of the session, I approached the lectern where Mr. Jobs was packing up his presentation materials. With my conference guide turned to his bio page, and pen in hand, I introduced myself, telling him how much I enjoyed his talk and asked if he would be willing to sign my guide. While I think he might have been a little surprised that I was asking for his autograph, he politely obliged and I thanked him before moving onto the next session. To many of us, Steve Jobs was viewed as a rock star of the computing world. He revolutionized the design and publishing world with the invention of the Macintosh computer and, in turn, created a whole new industry and class of careers."
These Seybold Seminars came at a transitional point in the evolution of modern communication, as many traditional printing processes could now be accomplished in the digital realm. Discussions ranged from color calibration and font formats to building efficient publishing workgroup environments. A seminar on color compression excitedly anticipated the introduction of the JPEG standard, which promised to "make desktop color systems a widespread phenomenon." The primary focus was still on print media, though the sessions included two panels on "publishing without paper"-one year before the introduction of the World Wide Web. This book is valuable not just for its rare Steve Jobs autograph, but as a time capsule from a moment of tech-driven upheaval in a centuries-old industry.
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