Last night, Pixar's Dr. Michael Johnson hosted the second-annual NeXTEVNT at San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum. One of the things on display at the event was the late Steve Jobs's personal NeXT Cube, on loan from Pixar for the event, shown in the image below.
Steve Jobs's NeXTCube
NeXTEVNT caters to multiple interests, but it is first-and-foremost a fundraiser for the Cartoon Art Museum here in San Francisco. Tickets are $200 per head and, as one would expect, the event has a very self-selecting crowd in attendance.
A contributing factor to that selection is the list of speakers that are involved, all of whom have ties to NeXT, most going back to the very beginning of the company. It's important to remember that OS X and iOS are all built on the core Objective C frameworks that began life at NeXT some 25 years ago. Were it not for that, Mac and iPhone developers wouldn't have the robust development platform that exists today and we (customers) wouldn't have the great apps they are able to develop on top of it.
Speakers this year included Wil Shipley, Andrew Stone, and Dr. "Wave" Johnson, and James Dempsey performed two songs from his catalogue of catchily-written, Objective C-focused tunes.
Andrew Stone and Dr. Wave
There was also some NeXT gear on display, and this year that included the NeXT Cube used by Steve Jobs mentioned above. While the folks on hand—many of whom knew and worked closely with Mr. Jobs—might have considered such an artifact old hat, I thought it was very cool and figured many of you would, too.
James Dempsey
I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the current exhibits from the museum itself, not the least of which is an amazing selection of original Superman comic artwork.
It all culminates in a fantastic mix of people – many of whom have known one another for decades – all there to remember the past and look towards the future.
TMO was a sponsor of this year's NeXTEVNT, and it's a good cause. Even though the event's over, I'm sure the Cartoon Art Museum would still gladly accept any donations you'd like to throw their way, if you're so inclined. :)
