Sometimes the best jokes are the ones that take the longest to tell.

Let's test that theory. Because, I think I may have stumbled on a joke that Steve Jobs spent years and years writing before he reached the punchline.

Much of the story here comes from digging through something called the Steve Jobs Archive, and it starts back in 1983, or maybe even earlier. But in '83, anyway, Jobs spoke at a design conference in Aspen. Here's part of what he said:

OK, remember that theme, because we're going to hear it again—and in almost the exact same language. Here he is two years later, in a wide-ranging magazine interview:

Fast-forward a bit. There are so many but we only have so much space, so we'll go all the way up to about 2008 or so, when Jobs was quoted by Walter Isaacson at the end of his authorized biography, Steve Jobs. Same theme, same language:

OK. Now. Finally. We're about to get to the punchline.

Jobs had a habit of emailing notes to himself. Why? Well, maybe to remind himself of things—or possibly in the hope that someday, somebody might do exactly what you and I are doing now: combing through the things he wrote and finding value.

So we turn our attention to the evening of September 2, 2010, 11:08 p.m.

This was three years after the introduction of the iPhone, and a few months after Jobs unveiled the iPad. By now, he knew that the pancreatic cancer that would eventually rob him of his life had returned. Here's what he wrote. I'll edit it slightly again for space, but here's the most important excerpt:

It's those last four words: "Sent from my iPad." They've probably appeared in tens of millions of emails, but they take on a different meaning when it's a message sent by Jobs himself.

For decades, he'd been talking about this feeling that he was living in a time when you could create something meaningful—and that doing so was how people express gratitude for all who came before.

Near the very end of his life, he repeated it all, but with this auto-generated coda that proclaimed that yes, in fact, he really had contributed as he set out to do.

Was it intentional? I choose to believe that it was. Because it's a heck of a punchline. I wish I could write something like that. Even better, it's 13 years later that people like me are finally getting it.

Written on my MacBook Air

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7 other things worth knowing today

• Israel’s military has pledged to step up its bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip in the next stage of the war, vowing to continue to attack targets that could be considered a threat to its ground forces. Israel is widely expected to launch a major ground offensive into Gaza to “demolish” the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Palestinians say they have received new warnings from Israel’s military to move from north Gaza to the south, Reuters reported, with the added warning they may be identified as sympathizers with a “terrorist organization” if they stay put. (CNBC)
• As told to: "I spent 4 hours running for my life at the Nova festival. A man in a white pickup truck rescued me, but I never learned what happened to him after he returned for more people." (Natalie Sanandaji is an American who attended the Tribe of Nova music festival on October 7. She and her friends spent four hours running through the desert before they were rescued.) (Insider)
• Six months ago, $20 million (Canadian dollars) in gold bars and cash disappeared from a warehouse at Toronto Pearson International Airport. But now a new lawsuit is giving people a glimpse into what might have happened. (National Post)
• (Some) teens to parents: Please track my movements everywhere. Gen Z respondents to a recent survey from Life360 said they share their location [with parents] when they drive, when they go on dates and when they attend concerts and other large gatherings. Many keep location sharing on at all times. (WSJ)
• Get comfy, new homeowners: It can take up to 13.5 years to break even on your purchase, according to Zillow. Context: Historically, experts have said you need to stay in your home at least five years to break even. But with mortgage rates inching toward 8%, new homeowners will need to stay put longer to avoid going underwater. (Axios)
• Since as far back as the 1970s, Canada has flirted with the idea of a basic income program. Now that there’s movement within the Canadian Senate on studying basic income as a real possibility, here’s a rundown of what guaranteed basic income is, how it works and what it might look like. (The Star)
• A used car dealer from Spain can now breathe a multi-million dollar sigh of relief, having been absolved of criminal liability in a case involving the violation of Ferrari’s intellectual property rights by driving a replica based on a Ford Cougar. The Spanish judge ruled in favor of the dealer, sparing them from a €2.1 million (or US$2.2 million at current exchange rates) penalty. (Carscoops)

Thanks for reading, and a special welcome to the 126 new readers who subscribed to Understandably since the last edition of this newsletter! I wrote about some of this before at Inc.com. See you bright and early tomorrow.