A review of the Steve Jobs opera

Hello, it’s Priya in San Francisco. I attended the Steve Jobs opera so you don’t have to. But first...Three things you need to know today:• [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hello, it’s Priya in San Francisco. I attended the Steve Jobs opera so you don’t have to. But first... Three things you need to know today: • The iPhone 15 Pro got a [software update to fix its overheating issue]( • AI startup Anthropic is [in talks to raise $2 billion]( • Canva is taking on Adobe [with new AI tools]( Alto, soprano, iPhone If you thought the cult of Steve Jobs had reached its peak when someone [bought his old Birkenstocks]( for nearly $220,000, you were wrong. The San Francisco Opera is running a production called The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, “inspired by the life and creative spirit” of the Apple Inc. co-founder. How entertaining could a show about a guy who made computers and phones possibly be? This week I attended one of the performances, the last of which will take place Oct. 7, and discovered the answer to that question is: not very. The story line was lacking in theatrics. The scenery is mostly limited to a suburban garage or desks in an office. One series of tunes during the show described everything an iPhone can do for you: “Tap, stay in touch.” “Tap, talk to friends.” “Tap, stay in shape.” Sitting inside the beautiful, 91-year-old opera house and watching a production about how great our phones are was as bleak as it sounds. I found myself checking my watch — my Apple Watch, to be clear — at least three times throughout the 1 hour and 42-minute production and feeling relief when it showed we only had about 15 minutes left. The show offered small slices of drama, including a rapid-fire look at major events in Jobs’ life. It ran through how he and his co-founder Steve Wozniak crafted the beginnings of an Apple computer. It showed, albeit hastily, how terrible of a partner he was to Chrisann Brennan and his neglect and mistreatment of their daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, who wrote a [damning memoir]( about her father’s behavior. At the end, it tied up his life in a neat bow, depicting his love for, and relationship with, Laurene Powell Jobs and referring to the iPhone as a tool that helps connect people. The actor who played Powell Jobs concludes the show by singing about how Jobs would want us to be less glued to our phones and look up at the sky more often. Who knows? The organizers held afterparties following the performance and suggested attendees wear their favorite black turtlenecks. Some people obliged, despite the 75°F weather. The crowd was a mix of usual opera-goers neatly dressed for the occasion and techies in tees and jeans, some clearly on dates. Although the opera acknowledged some of Jobs’ monstrous behavior toward the humans in his life, its existence shows one particular thing: The cult of the founder is alive and well. —[Priya Anand](mailto:panand20@bloomberg.net) The big story A group of young people in the US and UK known as Scattered Spider was [linked to the recent hacks]( of Clorox, Caesars and MGM casinos. One to watch [Watch the Bloomberg Technology TV interview]( with NFX General Partner Morgan Beller. Get fully charged Meta has new AI tools for marketers that can handle [background image creation and the resizing of social content](. Google’s new virtual assistant on Android will be [powered by Bard AI technology](. Amp, Amazon’s live audio app, is shutting down [after a year and a half](. A South Korean robot company is poised to be the [country’s biggest IPO of the year](, raising $310 million. More from Bloomberg Live event: The Bloomberg Technology Summit in London will host top technology leaders, business executives, innovators and entrepreneurs on Oct. 24. The event will explore the rapid advance of AI, green technology, the escalation of cyber warfare and more. [Register here](. Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](