But there are dissenting voices. NeXT is not a breakthrough but simply a packaging of technologies, some say. Bill Gates of Microsoft, the most important figure in the world of software, who before the I.B.M. deal had called NeXT the most beautiful computer he had ever seen, emerged to blast it. It was nothing innovative -merely an assemblage of off-the-shelf technology. Gates has his own ax to grind: sales of Microsoft's software for I.B.M. machines could suffer if I.B.M. aggressively supports NeXTStep. Gates also doubted that NeXT would ever become commercially viable. Many others agree with Gates's assessments.

It is not a criticism that bothers Jobs.

''We spent a lot of time rummaging through laboratories,'' Jobs acknowledges. They were looking for the best new technologies. The sum of the parts, Jobs's defenders say, is greater than the whole. Even though he wishes Jobs has gone further technologically, Alan Kay asserts that ''the NeXT machine will push others to innovate.'' Whether NeXT succeeds or fails in establishing itself as a practical industry standard like the I.B.M.-PC or Apple Macintosh, it has already become a standard of excellance - an esthetic model to aspire to.

FOR NOW, NeXT IS STILL A small player in a world of big ones. If it weren't for Jobs's reputation, one industry analyst says, NeXT would be just another start-up company. I.B.M., Digital Equipment and others are introducing new machines that, like NeXT, bridge the gap between PCs and workstations. Sun Microsystems has nicknamed its new Sparcstation computer a ''NeXT killer.''

The question, says Jonathan W. Seybold, publisher of a leading newsletter on desktop publishing, is whether NeXT can grow into a billion-dollar company without the crises even the best-run start-ups in Silicon Valley have faced. ''So far,'' says Seybold, ''I've been impressed with the way they listen, and the quality of the decision making.''

Now that the creation of Jobs's new machine is finished, he will be managing instead of developing, and that is where he got into trouble at Apple. NeXT machines at last are in retail stores, where people can see and touch them. And Steve Jobs, having made his connections, will now have to get along with his allies. He will have to depend on others to create the programs to fill his black box. NeXT is now able to boast that some 80 firms are writing programs for the machine. ''Emotionally, programmers wanted to develop for NeXT,'' says Seybold. The Businessland deal, he says, gave them ''rational justification.''

When Alan Kay looks at the NeXT box, he sees something new about Jobs. It is, he says, a machine that reflects not just Steve Jobs but ''a whole team behind him,'' and an ability to connect with other computers. Says Kay: ''Steve has finally discovered networking.''

By contrast to the Macintosh, a look at the back of the NeXT computer shows all sorts of connectors, neatly arranged. They represent what may be Jobs's solution to resolving his conflicting needs: an esthetic of connections.