How Steve Jobs' secret deal with the CIA shaped Apple's future

Details have emerged regarding the secret relationship between the NeXT computer company, founded by Steve Jobs following his dramatic departure from Apple in 1985, and US intelligence during the Cold War. According to documents published by the Wall Street Journal and a new book by Sharon Weinberger, the primary factor that kept NeXT afloat was secret orders received from the CIA.

A 20,000-COMPUTER ORDER FROM THE CIA

The story began in 1986 when officials working on the CIA's secret "Program B" initiative visited the NeXT office. Intelligence officials Joe Romello and Jeff Harris had recognized the potential that the computer revolution in Silicon Valley held for espionage activities.

Meeting with Jobs in New York, CIA official Romello conveyed that he wanted to place a large order on behalf of an undisclosed client. It is known that Jobs, who was sensitive about confidentiality, kept his distance by saying, "Don't tell me anything I don't need to know, because I can't remember to forget." During the meeting, the foundations of the deal were laid with Romello's direct offer: "I want to buy 20,000 computers."

The agreement was carried out with extreme secrecy. The produced computers were picked up from the NeXT warehouse in the early hours of the morning by unmarked trucks, and after special processors and hardware were added at a front company, they were shipped to secret facilities via military cargo planes.

SATELLITE IMAGERY AND INTELLIGENCE NETWORK

The primary user of these high-capacity computers was the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). NRO analysts used the high-resolution screens of the NeXT devices to examine images from spy satellites in detail. Through this, foreign military movements and new missile silos could be tracked.

One of the most revolutionary aspects of the system was that it allowed data to be shared over a network. Thanks to this early "wide area network," military commanders in different parts of the world were able to view raw satellite imagery directly instead of waiting for official analyses from CIA headquarters.

THE FOUNDATION OF MAC AND IPHONE WAS LAID

For NeXT, these military orders were a vital lifeline. Due to the perfectionist production process, the devices were too expensive for individual users, and the targeted university market failed to reach the desired sales figures. The cash flow provided by US intelligence agencies prevented the company from going bankrupt.

Steve Jobs returned to the fold in 1996 when Apple acquired NeXT. Rather than NeXT's hardware, the "NEXTSTEP" operating system it developed became its true legacy. This technology formed the architecture of Apple's new generation of systems, laying the technological foundation for the Mac computers and iPhones used today.

News Source: 12punto