http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/25/scitech/pcanswer/main3753762.shtml

Well-known among Apple watchers, the phrase “reality-distortion field” was first uttered 26 years ago, according to Andy Hertzfield. On Folklore.org, he credits Bud Tribble, Hertzfield’s manager at Apple at the time, with creating the phrase in 1981 to describe how Jobs can “convince anyone of practically anything.”