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SSSSCENE 13CCCEEENNNEEE 111333

Reveal a “Holy

Shit” Moment

People will forget what you said, people

will forget what you did, but people will

never forget how you made them feel.

MAYA ANGELOU

E

very office worker has seen a manila envelope. But where

most people see a manila envelope as a means of distrib-

uting documents, Steve Jobs sees a memorable moment

that will leave his audience in awe.

“This is the MacBook Air,” he said in January 2008, “so thin

it even fits inside one of those envelopes you see floating around

the office.” With that, Jobs walked to the side of the stage, picked

up one such envelope, and pulled out a notebook computer.

The audience went wild as the sound of hundreds of cameras

clicking and flashing filled the auditorium. Like a proud parent

showing off a newborn, Jobs held the computer head-high for

all to see. “You can get a feel for how thin it is. It has a full-size

keyboard and full-size display. Isn’t it amazing? It’s the world’s

thinnest notebook,” said Jobs.^1

The photo of Jobs pulling the computer from the envelope

proved to be the most popular of the event and was carried by

major newspapers, magazines, and websites. The dramatic intro-

duction even sparked an entrepreneur to build a carrying sleeve

for the MacBook Air that looked like, you guessed it, a manila

envelope. See Figure 13.1.