Steve Jobs and CNC Machining

It was common knowledge in the Silicon Valley that Steve Jobs was fascinated and respected CNC machining. At the top is an undated photo of Apple's machine shop with two Fadal machining centers visible in the background. In the early 2000's, Job's wife commissioned a San Jose CNC machine shop, owned by Gary Kidgell, to machine a chess set for her husband as a gift. He liked it so much he ordered several more. My colleague, Dr. Scott Smith of UNC-Charlotte, was consulted on the machining of the first iPod case. Scott and UNCC's Dr. Tony Schmitz have traveled to China to work on the machining of Apple products. Today, Apple is one of the world's largest consumers of CNC machining centers. A 1997 video of Jobs returning to Apple has been getting renewed interest on YouTube and LinkedIn. When I watched it I was struck how the language of machining was used by Jobs in his discussion of marketing. See for yourself in the clip below.