Reality distortion field

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Reality distortion field (RDF) is both slang and computer industry jargon. The term was coined by Bud Tribble at Apple Inc.^[1] (then Apple Computer Inc.) in 1981 to describe company co-founder Steve Jobs' charisma and its effects on the developers working on the Mac project. By making them believe in what they were doing, enormous amounts of work were put in to bring the project to fruition. Later, the term was used to refer to devoted Macintosh users and others, and to several products launched by Apple, whose success has been largely inexplicable in technical terms. In essence, RDF is the idea that Steve Jobs is able to convince people to believe almost anything with a skillful mix of charm, charisma, exaggeration, and clever marketing.

RDF is said to distort an audience's sense of proportion or scale. Small advances are applauded as breakthroughs. Interesting developments become turning points, or huge leaps forward. RDF focuses less on outright deception and more on warping the powers of judgment.

The term is sometimes extended to other managers and leaders in the high-tech industry, who try to convince their employees to become passionately committed to projects, sometimes without regard to the overall product or to competitive forces in the marketplace. In many instances, RDF is considered more self-delusional than effective.

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Reality Distortion Field, Feb 1981, Andy Hertzfeld
The Macworld 2007 Keynote Address, an example of Steve Jobs’ charisma and, arguably, an example of his RDF.^[2]