New CNN Film About Steve Jobs.
WHITFIELD: Steve Jobs didn't invent the personal computer, but he did change the world, bringing humans and technology closer. That's the subject of a new CNN film airing tomorrow. In "STEVE JOBS; THE MAN IN THE MACHINE", director Alex Gibney explores what drew people to Jobs, despite personal flaws.</s>ALEX GIBNEY, FILM DIRECTOR: It didn't matter. People didn't want to hear it. They loved this company, they loved its products, they loved the status symbol of having these things in their hand and looking at it all the time, and it just felt cool. And they'd stood in line for two days to buy one. And they didn't want to hear it. I was one of those people who had to have an iPhone. I didn't want to hear about other products and I believed against all reason that owning an iPhone made me part of something better. And when it was in my pocket, for every idle moment, my hand was drawn to it, like Frodo's hand to the ring.</s>WHITFIELD: Everyone has their personal experiences with these products. Sherry Turkle, author of Reclaiming Conversation; The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, well she appears in the film and she's joining us right now from New York. Good to see you.</s>SHERRY TURKLE, AUTHOR: Pleasure.</s>WHITFIELD: So what was your sense of the relationship people had with Steve Jobs? Was it, you know, the product? Was it something about him, you know, his ingenuity, his invention?</s>TURKLE: Well I think it's an extraordinary combination of people feeling a connection with the product, where they felt they were touching him, and really not caring if he was a nice guy or a bastard. What they cared about, is that he understood something about them, because he invented a machine that was made for them, that would capture them, that would be an imagination extender for them.</s>WHITFIELD: You know, and people have different reasons as to why they're attracted to, you know, geniuses. You know, sometimes it's they just admire them, you know, others are hoping a little bit of that genius will kind of rub off on them. Was that a combination, too, as to why some people, you know, were just attracted to Jobs, those who had the opportunity to perhaps work with him, or be in his inner circle?</s>TURKLE: His intensity was so great, the intensity that he brought, the perfectionism, because he had a vision. He had a vision that the computer wouldn't just do things for us, it would do things to us. And he had that vision at a time when people really didn't understand that, people didn't see it that way. Microsoft was building, you know, boxes that looked like machines, and Steve was saying, no, this isn't a machine. It's an intimate machine. It's a projection of the self. And that vision was hard to sell, but when people got it, they felt that he had touched something deep within them, because when they used his products, they were really touching him and his vision. And it inspired a deep, deep connection to him.</s>WHITFIELD: And sometimes, when people admire someone, they also want to like that person. But we know in this --</s>TURKLE: Not here.</s>WHITFIELD: Yeah? OK, tell me about that, because in this documentary, there is a space for conversation about the personal flaws and the disappointment, and -- or that he was kind of anti- social and not really a warm person. But why does all that matter, or what was your experience, or what did you find?</s>TURKLE: Well, my experience was is that people -- it's natural that people want to like someone they sort of adore for his creativity and vision. But people were willing to give that up, because you kind of couldn't. And --</s>WHITFIELD: You couldn't because why?</s>TURKLE: You couldn't because as the film depicts, he -- that was not his strong suit. The likability factor was not his strong suit. People knew about things in his personal life that made him unlikable. He was hard to work with, he was kind of dictatorial, he knew what he wanted and he was not afraid to kind of cut a clear path toward it. But people admired that tenacity and that drive, and wanted to be close to it. It was exciting.</s>WHITFIELD: Fantastic.</s>TURKLE: And in terms of the -- you know, it's funny, the movie makes the point, as it just showed, that people can want to be around these products, are compelled by these products, but at Steve Jobs' own dinner table, people and his children were not allowed to have iPads out and iPhones out. He insisted on conversation. So he also understood the power of these devices to compel us, and he knew how to put them in their place in his own family and in his own home.</s>WHITFIELD: Wow.</s>TURKLE: So that's also very interesting.</s>WHITFIELD: Yeah, it really is. It's a fantastic analysis, because it's just not, you know, cut and dried. It's very complex and that's what this hour is all about. And Sherry Turkle, we really appreciate your time today and we look forward to seeing you in this documentary. You don't want to miss this CNN film, "STEVE JOBS; THE MAN IN THE MACHINE". That's tomorrow night, 9 Eastern right here on CNN. We've got so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, right after this.