350
TheBusinessWisdom
of
SteveJobs
TheBusinessWisdom
ofSteveJobs
250QuotesfromtheInnovatorWho
ChangedtheWorld
EditedbyAlanKenThomas
SkyhorsePublishing
Copyright©2011bySkyhorsePublishing,Inc.
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Introduction
OnBeginnings
OnBusiness
OnLeadership
OnInnovation
OnEveryoneElse
OnTechnology
OnDrive
OnLegacy
OnLife
Introduction
Evenindeath,peopleremaindividedoverSteveJobs,theco-founderofAppleInc.andknowntotheworldasthemanbehindtheiMac,iPod,iPhoneandiPad.
Tosome,Jobswasamanwhochangedthe
worldforthebetter,aninventorandentrepreneur
whoseimpactondailylifeisimmeasurable.Toothers,Jobswasafalseidol,thesymbolofeverythingwrongwithabusinessplayingitscardsclosetothechest.Everyonehadanopinionabouthim.
Buthewasn’talwaysthecenterofattention.
StevenPaulJobs,borninSanFranciscoin1955and
adoptedandraisedbyPaulandClaraJobs,wasinfactacollegedropoutwhofoundhislackofhigh-ereducationhinderinghispathintothetechnologybusiness.HeeventuallyfoundworkatburgeoningvideogamecompanyAtari,Inc.,anditwasaroundthistimethathemetSteveWozniak.
Itwasasmallhumblebeginning:Jobs,
WozniakandthirdpartnerRonaldWayne
foundedApplein1976.Ayearlaterthe
“AppleII”wasreleasedtosomesuccess,
butitwasn’tuntil1984,withaSuperbowl
adandthereleaseofthe“Macintosh”that
Applereallybeganthefirstoftwocreative
andfinancialascensions.
Byallaccounts,Jobswasabrilliantbut
difficultcreativethinker,someonemotiv-
atedbytheideathatthesimplerthedesign
andtheeasiertouse,thebettertheproduct.
Buthisunorthodoxideasandambitions
eventuallyforcedhisresignationfrom
Appleamidstpowergrabsoverthecom-
pany’sboardofdirectorsandexecutives.
Heleftin1985,andgiventhefullhis-
toryofthecompany,it’stellingthatinhisabsenceApplebegantostagnateininnovationandproducts,whileJobs’twonewven-
turesbecomethefoundationforthelater
yearsofhislife.
InthecaseofPixar,originallyasmall
graphicdesignoffshootofLucasfilms,Jobs
boughta$10millioncompanyandsoldit
lessthantwentyyearslaterfor$7.4billiontoDisney.Alongtheway,thecompanyrevolutionizedanimation,startingwithToyStoryand
releasingsuccessfulfull-lengthfea-turesalmostmosteveryyearsince.
AtNeXTComputer,Jobs’visionforthe
computerasaneducationaltoolwould
eventuallyprovetobetoocost-prohibitive
formasssuccess,butthe
technicalstrengthsofitshardwareandsoftwarewereyears
aheadofitstime,somethingthatevenApple
recognized,acquiringthecompanyin1997
andbringingJobsbackwithit.
Andsobeganthehistorythat
pretty
mucheveryoneknowsbynow:firstcame
theiMac,withitsuniqueone-piecedesign
andTechnicolorhues.ThenitwastheiPod,
turningthemusicindustryonitsheadand
markingthenewageandformatofdigital
musicsales.TheiPhoneandiPad,elabor-
atingontheiPod’sideaofportabilityand
accessibility,exceededallexpectations,so-
lidifyingtheJobs’legacyandthesecond
comingofApple,Inc.,somethingnotmany
peopleeveranticipatedoutofthecompany.
Thisbookwaswrittenandresearchedon
aniMac,withtextmessagesfromaniPhone
vibratingonthetablenexttome,agirlfriendtappingonan
iPadinthelivingroomandan
iPodupdatingoniTunesinthecomputer’s
background.Typingoutthatsentenceand
re-readingitstruckmeasodd—itmademe
seemlikeanerdyfan-boyobsessedwiththe
‘cultofMac.’Butthentwothingshitme:
one,thatanextraordinaryamountofmyday
isbuiltaroundproductsSteveJobsoversaw
themakingofandtwo,thatmycurrentsitu-
ationisnotoneconfinedtotheselectfew
technophiles.
It’sindisputablethatthelivesofpeople
acrosstheworldhavechanged(forbetter
orforworseisanentirelydifferentdiscus-
sion)withtheintroductionofthepersonal
computingexperience.Takeafullweekand
startarunningtallyonhowmanyhoursyou
spendusingacomputer,listeningtomusic
onadigitaldevice,operatingasmartphone.
Directlyorindirectly,SteveJobspushedtheworld
forcefullyinthedirectionhewanted
ittogo.Hemaynothavebeentheinventor
ofanyofthedevicesorprogramsthathave
cometobesynonymouslyassociatedwith
SteveJobs.Buthisgeniuswasinunder-
standingandanticipatingwhatpeople
wantedbeforetheyknewitevenexisted
(therearemorethanafewquotesinthiscollectionrelayingthatexactsentiment).
Jobs,battlingpancreaticcancerinthe
lateyearsofhislife,passedawayin2011,attheageof56.Hewasasuniqueashewas
private,bothasanindividualandasthepublicfaceofAppleInc.Youmaynotbesur-
prisedtofindthatthenumberofinterviews
hegrantedsince1976is
limited.Butwhat
touchedme,andhopefullyleaveitsmarkon
you,ishowmuchhewasabletoconveyin
suchashorttimespan.His2005commence-
mentaddressatStanfordUniversityalone
couldserveasastandalonepieceofliterat-
ureitself.
Asmanyhavepointedout,it’srarethat
onemanrepresentsthepublicfaceofacom-
panytotheextentthatSteveJobsdidfor
Apple.Maybethat’swhysomanytookit
soperson-allyuponhearingthenewsofhis
passing.Itwasn’tbecausehewasapartic-
ularlykindorgenerousman(asyou’llsee
hintsofthroughoutthisbook).Itwasn’tbe-
causeApple’sproductswereperfect(they
weren’t,andyou’llseesomeofthathere
too).Maybe,justmaybe,itwasbecausefor
thepasttenyearswe’veallreliedonSteve
toshowuswhat’snext,toletusknowwhere
we’reheadingandwhatwe’regoingtoneed
togetusthere.Itcouldbethatwe’reallsub-consciouslyfan-boys,whetherwewantto
admititornot.
StockinAppletookadipimmediately
followinghisdeathandI’d
liketothink,ro-mantically,thatforthefirsttimeinadecadetherewasabriefbutunifiedmomentasthe
world,suddenlyfacingavoid,wobbledasit
founditsbalance.
—A.K.T.,2011
OnBeginnings
“Westartedoffwithavery
idealisticperspective—thatdoing
somethingwiththehighestqual-
ity,doingitrightthefirsttime,
wouldreallybecheaperthanhav-
ingtogobackanddoitagain.”
—Newsweek,1984
“SiliconValleyforthemost
partatthattimewasstillorch-
ards—apricotorchardsandprune
orchards—anditwasreally
para-
dise.Iremembertheairbeing
crystalclear,whereyoucouldsee
fromoneendofthevalleytothe
other.”
—OngrowingupinSilicon
Valleyinthe
early1960s,SmithsonianInstitution,1995
“Thingsbecamemuchmore
clearthattheyweretheresultsof
humancreationnotthesemagical
thingsthatjustappearedin
one’s
environmentthatonehadno
knowledgeoftheirinteriors.It
gaveatremendouslevelofself-
confidence,thatthroughexplora-
tionandlearningonecould
un-
derstandseeminglyverycomplex
thingsinone’senvironment.My
childhoodwasveryfortunatein
thatway.”
—SmithsonianInstitution,
1995
“Whenwefinallypresented
[theMacintoshdesktopcomputer]
attheshareholders’meeting,
everyoneintheauditoriumgaveit
afive-minuteovation.Whatwas
incredibletomewasthatIcould
seetheMacteaminthefirstfew
rows.Itwasasthoughnoneof
uscouldbelievewe’dactuallyfin-
ishedit.Everyonestartedcrying.”
—Playboy,1985
“Usuallyittakestenyearsand
a100milliondollarstoassociatea
symbolwiththenameofthecom-
pany.Ourchallengewashow
couldwehavealittlejewel
that
wecouldusewithoutanameto
putontheproduct?”
—1993interviewaboutthefamousApple
logo
“‘Iwasintheparkinglot,with
thekeyinthecar,andIthought
tomyself,Ifthisismylastnight
onearth,wouldIratherspendit
atabusinessmeetingorwiththis
woman?Iranacrosstheparking
lot,askedherifshe’dhavedinner
withme.Shesaidyes,wewalked
intotownandwe’vebeentogether
eversince.’’
—Onmeetinghiswife,Laurene,TheNew
YorkTimes,1997
“ThepeoplewhobuiltSilicon
Valleywereengineers.They
learnedbusiness,theylearneda
lotofdifferentthings,butthey
hadarealbeliefthathumans,
if
theyworkedhardwithothercre-
ative,smartpeople,couldsolve
mostofhumankind’sproblems.I
believethatverymuch.”
—Wired,1996
“…oneofthethingsIdid
whenIgotbacktoApple10years
agowasIgavethemuseumto
Stanfordandallthepapersandall
theoldmachinesandkindof
clearedoutthecobwebsand
said,
let’sstoplookingbackwardshere.
It’sallaboutwhathappenstomor-
row.”
—AllThingsDigitalD5conference
“Fromalmostthebeginning
at
Applewewere,forsomeincred-
ibly
lucky
reason,
fortunate
enoughtobeattheright
placeat
therighttime.”
“IhaddinnerinSeattleatBill
Gates’houseacoupleofweeks
ago.Wewerebothremarkinghow
atonetimewewerethe
youngest
guysinthisbusiness,andnow
we’rethegraybeards.”
“SowewenttoAtariandsaid,
‘Hey,we’vegotthisamazing
thing,evenbuiltwithsomeof
yourparts,andwhatdoyouthink
aboutfundingus?Orwe’llgive
ittoyou.Wejustwanttodoit.
Payoursalary,we’llcomework
foryou.’Andtheysaid,‘No.’So
thenwewenttoHewlett-Packard,
andtheysaid,‘Hey,wedon’tneed
you.Youhaven’tgotthroughcol-
legeyet.”
“Ithinkthisisthestartof
somethingreallybig.
Sometimes
thatfirststepisthehardestone,
andwe’vejusttakenit.”
“Iwaslucky—IfoundwhatI
lovetodoearlyinlife.”
“[Apple
co-founder
Steve
Wozniak]andIverymuchlike
BobDylan’spoetry,andwespent
alotoftimethinkingaboutalot
ofthatstuff.ThiswasCalifornia.
YoucouldgetLSDfreshmade
fromStanford.Youcouldsleepon
thebeachatnightwithyourgirl-
friend.Californiahasasenseof
experimentationandasenseof
openness—opennesstonewpos-
sibilities.”
—Playboy,1985
“Yousawthe1984commer-
cial.Macintoshwasbasicallythis
relativelysmallcompanyinCu-
pertino,California,takingonthe
goliath,IBM,andsaying,“Waita
minute,yourwayiswrong.This
isnotthewaywewantcomputers
togo.Thisisnotthelegacywe
wanttoleave.Thisisnotwhat
wewantourkidstobelearning.
Thisiswrongandwearegoing
toshowyoutherightwaytodo
itandhereitis.It’scalledMacin-
toshanditissomuchbetter.It’s
goingtobeatyouandyou’rego-
ingtodoit.’”
—SmithsonianInstitution,1995
OnBusiness
“Youcan’tjustask
customers
whattheywantandthentryto
givethattothem.Bythetimeyou
getitbuilt,they’llwantsomething
new.”
—Inc.,1989
“Qualityismoreimportant
thanquantity.Onehomerunis
muchbetterthantwodoubles.”
—BusinessWeek
“Applehassometremendous
assets,butIbelievewithoutsome
attention,thecompanycould,
could,could—I’msearchingfor
therightword—could,coulddie.”
—TIME,1997,onhisreturntoAppleasCEO
“ThecureforAppleisnot
cost-cutting.Thecurefor
Appleis
toinnovateitswayoutofitscur-
rentpredicament.”
—AppleConfidential2.0:TheDefinitive
HistoryoftheWorld’sMostColorfulCom-
pany(2004)byOwenW.
Linzmayer
“That’sbeenoneofmyman-
tras—focus
and
simplicity.
Simplecanbeharderthancom-
plex:Youhavetoworkhard
to
getyourthinkingcleantomakeit
simple.Butit’sworthitintheend
becauseonceyougetthere,you
canmovemountains.”
—BusinessWeek,1998
“Youcan’treallypredictex-
actlywhatwillhappen,butyou
canfeelthedirectionthatwe’re
going.Andthat’saboutascloseas
youcanget.Thenyoujuststand
backandgetoutoftheway,and
thesethingstakeonalifeoftheir
own.”
—RollingStone,1994
“We’regamblingonourvis-
ion,andwewouldratherdothat
thanmake‘metoo’products.Let
someothercompaniesdothat.For
us,it’salwaysthenextdream.”
—InterviewforthereleaseoftheMacIn-
tosh,1984
“Beayardstickofquality.
Somepeoplearen’tusedtoanen-
vironmentwhereexcellenceisex-
pected.”
“Ifcopyrightdies,ifpatents
die,iftheprotectionofintellectual
propertyiseroded,thenpeople
willstopinvesting.Thathurts
everyone.”
—RollingStone,2003
“We’renotjustbuildinga
computer,we’rebuildingacom-
pany.”
—Esquire,1986
“Appleisacompanythat
doesn’thavethemostresources
ofeverybodyintheworld.The
waywe’vesucceededisbychoos-
ingwhathorsestoridereallycare-
fully…we’reorganizedlikea
startup.We’rethebiggeststartup
ontheplanet.”
—AllThingsDigitalD8conference,2005
“IfMercedesmadeabicycle
orahamburgeroracomputer,I
don’tthinkthere’dbemuchad-
vantageinhavingitslogoonit.I
don’tthinkApplewouldgetmuch
equityputtingitsnameonan
automobile,either.Andjustbe-
causethewholeworldisgoingdi-
gital—TV,audio,andallthat—
doesn’tmeanthere’sanything
wrongwithjustbeinginthecom-
puterbusiness.Thecomputer
businessishuge.”
—Fortune,1998
“Youneedaveryproduct-ori-
entedculture,eveninatechno-
logycompany.Lotsofcompanies
havetonsofgreatengineersand
smartpeople.Butultimately,there
needstobesomegravitational
forcethatpullsitalltogether.
Otherwise,youcangetgreat
piecesoftechnologyallfloating
aroundtheuniverse.”
—Newsweek,2004
“Ithinkthewayoutisnotto
slashandburn,it’stoinnovate.
That’showApplegottoitsglory,
andthat’showApplecouldreturn
toit.”
—Wall$treetWeek,1996
“Youcan’tlookbackandsay,
well,gosh,youknow,Iwish
I
hadn’thavegottenfired,IwishI
wasthere,Iwishthis,Iwishthat.
Itdoesn’tmatter.Andsolet’sgo
inventtomorrowratherthanwor-
ryingaboutwhathappenedyester-
day.”
—AllThingsDigitalD5conference,2007
“Thesystemisthatthereisno
system.Thatdoesn’tmeanwe
don’thaveprocess.Appleisa
verydisciplinedcompany,andwe
havegreatprocesses.Butthat’s
notwhatit’sabout.Processmakes
youmoreefficient.”
—Newsweek,2004
“Thesubscriptionmodelof
buyingmusicisbankrupt.Ithink
youcouldmakeavailabletheSe-
condCominginasubscription
modelanditmightnotbe
success-
ful.”
—RollingStone,2003
“I’vealwayswantedtoown
andcontroltheprimarytechno-
logyineverythingwedo.”
—BusinessWeek,2004
“Ithinkifyoudosomething
anditturnsoutprettygood,then
youshouldgodosomethingelse
wonderful,notdwellonitfortoo
long.Justfigureoutwhat’snext.”
—MSNBC,2006
“Justavoidholdingitinthat
way.”
—Personalemailtoacustomerwithcon-
cernsoveranantennareceptionissuewith
thenewlyreleasediPhone4,where
droppedcallswerecausedwhentheuser
graspedtheproduct’ssteel-bandedsides,
2010
“Iusedtobetheyoungestguy
ineverymeetingIwasin,and
nowI’musuallytheoldest.And
theolderIget,themoreI’mcon-
vincedthatmotivesmakesomuch
difference.”
—BusinessWeek,2004
“…Ithinkit’sreallyhardfor
onecompanytodoeverything.
Life’scomplex.”
—AllThingsDigitalD5conference
“Therearesneakersthatcost
morethananiPod.”
—OntheiPod’s$300pricetag,Newsweek,2003
“Well,youknowus.Wenever
talkaboutfutureproducts.There
usedtobeasayingatApple:Isn’t
itfunny?Ashipthatleaksfrom
thetop.So-—Idon’twannaper-
petuatethat.SoIreallycan’tsay.”
—Onanyinformationregardingupcoming
iPodreleases,ABCNews,2005
“Idon’tthinkintermsofmar-
ketshares,Ithinkintermsofus
makingthebestpersonalcom-
putersintheworld,andifwecan
dothat,Ithinkourmarketshare
willgoup.”
—CNA,1999
“Alotofcompanieshave
chosentodownsize,andmaybe
thatwastherightthingforthem.
Wechoseadifferentpath.Ourbe-
liefwasthatifwekeptputting
greatproductsinfrontofcustom-
ers,theywouldcontinuetoopen
theirwallets.”
“Itwasn’tthatMicrosoftwas
sobrilliantorcleverincopying
theMac,it’sthattheMacwasa
sittingduckfor10years.
That’s
Apple’sproblem:Theirdifferenti-
ationevaporated.”
“IfIwererunningApple,I
wouldmilktheMacintoshforall
it’sworth—andgetbusyonthe
nextgreatthing.ThePCwarsare
over.Done.Microsoftwonalong
timeago.”
—Fortune,1996
“Toturnreallyinteresting
ideasandfledglingtechnologies
intoacompanythatcancontinue
toinnovateforyears,itrequiresa
lotofdisciplines.”
“Processmakesyoumoreeffi-
cient.”
—BusinessWeek,2004
“I’vealsofoundthatthebest
companiespayattentiontoaes-
thetics.Theytaketheextratimeto
layoutgridsandproportionthings
appropriately,anditseemstopay
offforthem.Imean,beyondthe
functionalbenefits,theaesthetic
communicatessomethingabout
howtheythinkofthemselves,
theirsenseofdisciplineinengin-
eering,howtheyruntheircom-
pany,stufflikethat.”
—Inc.,1989
“Customersthinkthepriceis
reallygoodwhereitis.We’retry-
ing
to
compete
with
pir-
acy—we’retryingtopullpeople
awayfrompiracyandsay,‘You
canbuythesesongslegallyfora
fairprice.’Butifthepricegoes
upalot,they’llgobacktopiracy.
Then,everybodyloses.”
“TheHDrevolutionisover,
ithappened.HDwon.
Everybody
wantsHD.”
—AppleSpecialEventkeynote,2010
“Inbusiness,ifIknewearlier
whatIknownow,I’dhaveprob-
ablydonesomethingsalotbetter
thanIdid,butIalsowould’ve
probablydonesomeotherthingsa
lotworse.Butsowhat?It’smore
importanttobeengagedinthe
present.”
—Fortune,1998
“IfIgiveyou20bricks,you
couldlaythemallontheground
andyou’dhave20bricksonthe
ground.Oryoucanlaythemon
topofeachotherandstart
build-
ingawall.”
“Wehirepeoplewhowantto
makethebestthingsinthe
world.”
“Technology
is
nothing.
What’simportantisthatyouhave
afaithinpeople,thatthey’reba-
sicallygoodandsmart,andifyou
givethemtools,they’lldowon-
derfulthingswiththem.”
—RollingStone,1994
“Andboy,havewepatented
it!”
—IntroducingtheiPhone,Macworld2007
“Doyourbestateveryjob.
Don’tsleep!Successgenerates
moresuccesssobehungryforit.
Hiregoodpeoplewithapassion
forexcellence.”
“Youmakesomeofthebest
productsintheworld—butyou
alsomakealotofcrap.Get
ridof
thecrappystuff.”
—AssaidtoNike
“…thereweretoomany
peopleatAppleandintheApple
ecosystemplayingthegameof,
forAppletowin,Microsofthas
tolose.Anditwasclearthatyou
didn’thavetoplaythatgamebe-
causeApplewasn’tgoingtobeat
Microsoft.Appledidn’thaveto
beatMicrosoft.Applehadtore-
memberwhoApplewasbecause
they’dforgottenwhoApplewas.”
—AllThingsDigitalD5conference
OnLeadership
“Myjobistonotbeeasyon
people.Myjobistomakethem
better.”
“WhenIhiresomebodyreally
senior,competenceistheante.
Theyhavetobereallysmart.
But
therealissueformeis,Arethey
goingtofallinlovewithApple?
Becauseiftheyfallinlovewith
Apple,everythingelsewilltake
careofitself.”
—Fortune,2008
“Thisisnotaone-manshow.”
—BusinessWeek,1998
“Mynumberonejobhereat
Appleistomakesurethatthetop
100peopleareA+players.And
everythingelsewilltakecareof
itself.”
—TIME,1999
“I’maverybigbelieverin
equalopportunityasopposedto
equaloutcome.Idon’tbelievein
equaloutcomebecauseunfortu-
natelylife’snotlikethat.Itwould
beaprettyboringplaceifitwas.”
—ComputerworldSmithsonianAwards,1995
“Wealltendtoreducereality
tosymbols,butSupermanwent
outalongtimeago.Thewayyou
accomplishanythingsignificantis
withateam.”
—Inc.,1989
“MymodelforbusinessisThe
Beatles.Theywerefourguyswho
kepteachother’skindofnegative
tendenciesincheck.Theybal-
ancedeachotherandthetotalwas
greaterthanthesumoftheparts.
That’showIseebusiness:great
thingsinbusinessareneverdone
byoneperson,they’redonebya
teamofpeople.”
—60Minutes,2003
“Iknowpeoplelikesymbols,
butit’salwaysunsettlingwhen
peoplewritestoriesaboutme,be-
causetheytendtooverlookalot
ofotherpeople.”
—TIME,1999
“Somepeoplesay,‘Oh,God,
ifJobsgotrunoverbyabus,
Applewouldbeintrouble.’And,
youknow,Ithinkitwouldn’tbea
party,buttherearereallycapable
peopleatApple.Andtheboard
wouldhavesomegoodchoices
aboutwhotopickasCEO.”
—Fortune,2008
“Thepeoplewhoaredoingthe
workarethemovingforce
behind
theMacintosh.Myjobistocreate
aspaceforthem,toclearoutthe
restoftheorganizationandkeepit
atbay.”
“ThethingsthatIhavedone
inmylife,Ithinkthethingswe
donowatPixar,theseareteam
sports.Theyarenotsomething
onepersondoes.”
—CharlieRose,1996
OnInnovation
“Innovation
distinguishes
betweenaleaderandafollower.”
“Everyonceinawhileare-
volutionaryproductcomesalong
thatchangeseverything.It’svery
fortunateifyoucanworkonjust
oneoftheseinyourcareer….
Apple’sbeenveryfortunatein
thatit’sintroducedafewof
these.”
—Applepressreleaseforthe
releaseofthe
iPhone,2007
“EveryonewantsaMacBook
Probecausetheyaresobitchin’.”
—Appleshareholdermeeting,2006
“Webelieveit’sthebiggest
advanceinanimationsinceWalt
Disneystarteditallwiththere-
leaseofSnowWhite50years
ago.”
—Fortune,1995,onToyStory
“iMacisnextyear’s
computer
for$1,299,notlastyear’scom-
puterfor$999.”
—IntroducingthefirstiMaccomputer,
1998
“It’snotaboutpopculture,
andit’snotaboutfoolingpeople,
andit’snotaboutconvincing
peoplethattheywantsomething
theydon’t.Wefigureoutwhatwe
want.”
—Fortune,2008
“It’sreallyhardtodesign
productsbyfocusgroups.Alot
oftimes,peopledon’tknowwhat
theywantuntilyoushowitto
them.”
—BusinessWeek,1998
“Whatwewanttodoismake
aleapfrogproductthatisway
smarterthananymobiledevice
haseverbeen,andsuper-easyto
use.ThisiswhatiPhoneis.OK?
So,we’regoingtoreinvent
the
phone.”
“Innovationhasnothingtodo
withhowmanyR&Ddollarsyou
have.WhenApplecameupwith
theMac,IBMwasspendingat
least100timesmoreonR&D.It’s
notaboutmoney.It’saboutthe
peopleyouhave,howyou’reled,
andhowmuchyougetit.”
—Fortune,1998
“Itwasagreatchallenge.
Let’s
makeagreatphonethatwefallin
lovewith.”
“Thebroaderone’sunder-
standingofthehumanexperience,
thebetterdesignwewillhave.”
“Creativityisjustconnecting
things.Whenyouaskcreative
peoplehowtheydidsomething,
theyfeelalittleguiltybecause
theydidn’treallydoit,theyjust
sawsomething.Itseemedobvious
tothemafterawhile.That’sbe-
causetheywereabletoconnect
experiencesthey’vehadandsyn-
thesizenewthings.”
—1996
“And
[innovation]
comes
fromsayingnoto1,000thingsto
makesurewedon’tgetonthe
wrongtrackortrytodotoomuch.
We’realwaysthinkingaboutnew
marketswecouldenter,butit’s
onlybysayingnothatyoucan
concentrateonthethingsthatare
reallyimportant.”
—BusinessWeek,2004
“Takedesktopvideoediting.
Inevergotonerequestfrom
someonewhowantedtoedit
moviesonhiscomputer.Yetnow
thatpeopleseeit,theysay,
‘Oh
myGod,that’sgreat!’”
—Fortune,2000
“It’srarethatyouseeanartist
inhis30sor40sabletoreally
contributesomethingamazing.”
—Playboy,1985
“Peoplethinkit’sthisveneer
-—thatthedesignersarehanded
thisboxandtold,‘Makeitlook
good!’That’snotwhatwethink
designis.It’snotjustwhatit
looks
likeandfeelslike.Designishow
itworks.’’
—TheNewYorkTimes,2003
“Theproductssuck!There’s
nosexinthemanymore!”
—OnthestateofApplejust
beforehisre-
turn,BusinessWeek,1997
“Youknow,youkeeponin-
novating,youkeeponmaking
betterstuff.Andifyoualways
wantthelatestandgreatest,then
youhavetobuyanewiPodat
leastonceayear.”
—MSNBC,2006
“We’retryingtomakegreat
productsforpeople,andweat
leasthavethecourageofourcon-
victionstosay‘Wedon’tthink
thisispartofwhatmakesagreat
product,we’regoingtoleaveit
out.’That’swhatalotofcustom-
erspayustodo.”
—AllThingsDigital,2010
“Whenyou’reacarpenter
makingabeautifulchestofdraw-
ers,you’renotgoingtousea
pieceofplywoodontheback,
eventhoughitfacesthewalland
nobodywilleverseeit.You’ll
knowit’sthere,soyou’regoing
touseabeautifulpieceofwood
ontheback.Foryoutosleepwell
atnight,theaesthetic,thequality,
hastobecarriedalltheway
through.”
—1985
“…innovationcomesfrom
peoplemeetingupinthehallways
orcallingeachotherat10:30at
nightwithanewidea,orbecause
theyrealizedsomethingthat
shootsholesinhowwe’vebeen
thinkingaboutaproblem.”
—Businessweek,2004
“Don’ttakeitalltooseriously.
Ifyouwanttoliveyourlifein
acreativeway,asanartist,you
havetonotlookbacktoomuch.
Youhavetobewillingtotake
whateveryou’vedoneandwho-
everyouwereandthrowthem
away.”
—Playboy,1985
“Wecookupnewproducts.
Youneverreallyknowifpeople
willlovethemasmuchasyoudo.
Themostexcitingthingisyou
havebutterfliesinyourstomach
inthedaysleadinguptothese
events.”
—CNBC,2007
“Sometimeswhenyouinnov-
ate,youmakemistakes.Itisbest
toadmitthemquickly,andgeton
withimprovingyourotherinnov-
ations.”
“TaketheiPhone.Wehada
differentenclosuredesignfor
this
iPhoneuntilwaytooclosetothe
introductiontoeverchangeit.
AndIcameinoneMondaymorn-
ing,Isaid,‘Ijustdon’tlovethis.
Ican’tconvincemyselftofallin
lovewiththis.Andthisisthemost
importantproductwe’veever
done.’Andwepushedthereset
button.”
—Fortune,2008
“ThedesignoftheMacwasn’t
whatitlookedlike,althoughthat
waspartofit.Primarily,itwas
how
it
worked.
To
design
somethingreallywell,youhaveto
getit.”
“Thereasonwewouldn’t
makeaseven-inchtabletisn’tbe-
causewedon’twanttohitaprice
point,it’sbecausewedon’tthink
youcanmakeagreattabletwitha
seven-inchscreen.”
“There’snoothercompany
thatcouldmakeaMacBook
Air
andthereasonisthatnotonlydo
wecontrolthehardware,butwe
controltheoperatingsystem.And
itistheintimateinteraction
betweentheoperatingsystem
and
thehardwarethatallowsustodo
that.Thereisnointimateinterac-
tionbetweenWindowsandaDell
notebook.”
“You‘vegottostartwiththe
customerexperienceandwork
backtowardthetechnology—not
theotherwayaround.”
—AppleWorldwideDevelopersConference,1997
“Thedesktopcomputerin-
dustryisdead.Innovation
hasvir-
tuallyceased.Microsoftdomin-
ateswithverylittleinnovation.
That’sover.Applelost.The
desktopmarkethasenteredthe
darkages,andit’sgoingto
bein
thedarkagesforthenext10
years,orcertainlyfortherestof
thisdecade.”
—Wired,1996
“There’sanoldWayneGret-
zkyquotethatIlove.‘Iskate
to
wherethepuckisgoingtobe,not
whereithasbeen.’Andwe’veal-
waystriedtodothatatApple.
Sincetheveryverybeginning.
Andwealwayswill.”
“Youknow,I’vegotaplan
thatcouldrescueApple.Ican’t
sayanymorethanthatit’stheper-
fectproductandtheperfect
strategyforApple.Butnobody
therewilllistentome…”
—Fortune,1995
“Theyreallythoughtthepro-
cessthrough.Theydidsucha
greatjobdesigningthesewashers
anddryers.Igotmorethrilloutof
themthanIhaveoutofanypiece
ofhightechinyears.”
—OnMiele,aGermany-basedmanufac-
turerofhigh-enddomesticappliances,Wired,1996
“Whowantsastylus?You
havetoget‘emandput‘em
away
andyoulose‘em.Yuck.Nobody
wantsastylus.”
OnEveryoneElse
“TheonlyproblemwithMi-
crosoftistheyjusthavenotaste,
theyhaveabsolutelynotaste….I
guessIamsaddened,notbyMi-
crosoft’ssuccess—Ihavenoprob-
lemwiththeirsuccess,they’ve
earnedtheirsuccessforthemost
part.Ihaveaproblemwiththe
factthattheyjustmakereally
third-rateproducts.”
—PBSDocumentary,TriumphoftheNerds,1996
“ItoldhimIbelievedevery
wordofwhatI’dsaidbutthat
I
nevershouldhavesaiditinpub-
lic.”
—OnapologizingtoBillGatesfordispar-
agingMicrosoftinadocumentary,TheNewYorkTimes,1997
“Nobodyhastriedtoswallow
ussinceI’vebeenhere.Ithink
theyareafraidhowwewould
taste.”
—BusinessWeek,1998
“Withourtechnology,with
objects,literallythreepeople
ina
garagecanblowawaywhat200
peopleatMicrosoftcando”
“BillGates‘dbeabroaderguy
ifhehaddroppedacidonceor
goneofftoanashramwhen
he
wasyounger.”
—TheNewYorkTimes,1997
“Unfortunately,peoplearenot
rebellingagainstMicrosoft.They
don’tknowanybetter.”
—RollingStone,1994
“I’veseenthedemonstrations
ontheInternetabouthowyoucan
findanotherpersonusingaZune
andgivethemasongtheycan
playthreetimes.Ittakesforever.
Bythetimeyou’vegonethrough
allthat,thegirl’sgotupandleft!
You’remuchbetterofftotakeone
ofyourearbudsoutandputit
inherear.Thenyou’reconnected
withabouttwofeetofheadphone
cable.”
—OncompetitionbetweentheiPodand
Microsoft’sZune,Newsweek,2006
“TheproblemwiththeInter-
netstartupcrazeisn’tthattoo
manypeoplearestartingcompan-
ies;it’sthattoomanypeople
aren’tstickingwithit.That’s
somewhatunderstandable,be-
causetherearemanymoments
thatarefilledwithdespairand
agony,whenyouhavetofire
peopleandcancelthingsanddeal
withverydifficultsituations.
That’swhenyoufindout
whoyou
areandwhatyourvaluesare.”
—Fortune,2000
“It’slikegivingaglassofice
watertosomebodyinhell!”
—OniTunesbeingoneofthelargestsoft-
waredevelopersforWindowsOS,AllThingsDigital,2007
“Theyareshamelesslycopy-
ingus.”
—OnthedevelopmentofMicrosoft’sVista
operatingsystem,CNETNews,2005
“They’reallputtingtheir
dumbcontrolsintheshapeofa
circle,tofooltheconsumerinto
thinkingit’sawheellikeours.
We’vesortofsetthevernacular.
They’retryingtocopythever-
nacularwithoutunderstanding
it.’’
—OncompaniesmakingiPodlookalikes,
TheNewYorkTimes,2003
“WhentheInternetcame
alongandNapstercamealong,
peopleinthemusicbusiness
didn’tknowwhattomakeofthe
changes.Alotofthesefolks
didn’tusecomputers,weren’ton
e-mail—didn’treallyknow
what
Napsterwasforafewyears.They
wereprettydoggoneslowtoreact.
Matteroffact,theystillhaven’t
reallyreacted.”
—RollingStone,2003
“Theengineeringislonggone
inmostPCcompanies.Inthecon-
sumerelectronicscompanies,they
don’tunderstandthesoftware
partsofit.Andsoyoureallycan’t
maketheproductsthatyoucan
makeatAppleanywhereelse
rightnow.Apple’stheonlycom-
panythathaseverythingunder
oneroof.”
—Fortune,2008
“Sowhenthesepeoplesell
out,eventhoughtheygetfab-
ulouslyrich,they’regypping
themselvesoutofoneofthepo-
tentiallymostrewardingexperien-
cesoftheirunfoldinglives.
Withoutit,theymayneverknow
theirvaluesorhowtokeeptheir
newfoundwealthinperspective.”
“Prettymuch,AppleandDell
aretheonlyonesinthisindustry
makingmoney.Theymakeitby
beingWal-Mart.Wemakeitby
innovation.”
“Thisisastorythat’samaz-
ing.It’sgottheft,it’sgotbuying
stolenproperty,it’sgot
extortion.
I’msureit’sgotsexintheresome-
where.Somebodyshouldmakea
movieoutofthis!”
—Onthecircumstancessurroundingan
iPhoneprototypethatwas
discoveredina
barandpublishedinanonlinetechnology
blog,Gizmodo,AllThingsDigital,2010
“Ourfriendsupnorthspend
overfivebilliondollarsonre-
searchanddevelopmentand
all
theyseemtodoiscopyGoogle
andApple.”
—OnMicrosoft,AppleWorldwideDeveloper’sConference,2006
“Japan’s
very
interesting.
Somepeoplethinkitcopies
things.Idon’tthinkthatanymore.
Ithinkwhattheydoisreinvent
things.Theywillgetsomething
that’salreadybeeninvented
and
studyituntiltheythoroughlyun-
derstandit.Insomecases,they
understanditbetterthantheori-
ginalinventor.”
“Microsofthashadtwogoals
inthelast10years.Onewasto
copytheMac,andtheotherwas
tocopyLotus’successinthe
spreadsheet—basically,theap-
plicationsbusiness.Andoverthe
courseofthelast10years,Mi-
crosoftaccomplishedbothof
thosegoals.Andnowtheyare
completelylost.”
“Billbuiltthefirstsoftware
companyintheindustryandI
thinkhebuiltthefirstsoftware
companybeforeanybodyreallyin
ourindustryknewwhatasoftware
companywas,exceptforthese
guys.Andthatwashuge.That
wasreallyhuge.”
—OnBillGates,AllThingsDigitalD5conference
“YouthinkI’manarrogant
[expletive]whothinkshe’sabove
thelaw,andIthinkyou’reaslime
bucketwhogetsmostofhis
facts
wrong.”
—ToNewYorkTimesreporterwhoaskedaboutJobs’health,2008
“It’slikewhenIBMdrovea
lotofinnovationoutofthecom-
puterindustrybeforethe
micro-
processorcamealong.Eventually,
Microsoftwillcrumblebecauseof
complacency,andmaybesome
newthingswillgrow.Butuntil
thathappens,untilthere’ssome
fundamentaltechnologyshift,it’s
justover.”
—Wired,1996
OnTechnology
“TheWebisnotgoingto
changetheworld,certainlynotin
thenext10years.It’sgoingto
augmenttheworld.”
—Wired,1996
“Forme,themostexciting
thinginthesoftwareareaistheIn-
ternet,andpartofthereasonfor
thatisnooneownsit.It’safree
forall,it’smuchliketheearly
daysofthepersonalcomputer.”
—Wall$treetWeek,1995
“It’llmakeyourjawdrop.”
—OnthefirstNeXTcomputer,TheNewYorkTimes,1989
“Computersarethefirstthing
tocomealongsincebooksthat
willsitthereandinteractwithyou
endlessly,withoutjudgment.”
—Playboy,1985
“Ithinkhumansarebasically
toolbuilders,andthecomputeris
themostremarkabletoolwe’ve
everbuilt.”
—Inc.,1989
“Ilovethingsthatlevelhier-
archy,thatbringtheindividualup
tothesamelevelasanorganiz-
ation,orasmallgroupuptothe
samelevelasalargegroup
with
muchgreaterresources.Andthe
WebandtheInternetdothat.It’sa
veryprofoundthing.”
—Wired,1996
“Acomputeristhemostin-
credibletoolwe’veeverseen.It
canbeawritingtool,acommu-
nicationscenter,asupercalculator,
aplanner,afilerandanartisticin-
strumentallinone,justbybeing
givennewinstructions,orsoft-
ware,toworkfrom.Thereareno
othertoolsthathavethepower
andversatilityofacomputer.”
—Playboy,1985
“Olderpeoplesitdownand
ask,‘Whatisit?’buttheboyasks,
‘WhatcanIdowithit?’”
“Ithinkhumansarebasically
toolbuilders,andthecomputeris
themostremarkabletoolwe’ve
everbuilt.Thebiginsightalotof
ushadinthe1970shadtodowith
theimportanceofputtingthattool
inthehandsofindividuals.”
—Inc.,1989
“We’regettingtothepoint
whereeverything’sacomputerin
adifferentformfactor.Sowhat,
right?Sowhatifit’sbuiltwitha
computerinsideit?Itdoesn’tmat-
ter.It’s,whatisit?Howdoyou
useit?Youknow,howdoesthe
consumerapproachit?Andso
whocareswhat’sinsideitany-
more?”
—AllThingsDigitalD5conference
“Therearenoothertoolsthat
havethepowerandversatilityof
acomputer.Wehavenoideahow
farit’sgoingtogo.”
—Playboy,1985
“Ithinkit’sbroughttheworld
alotclosertogether,andwillcon-
tinuetodothat.Therearedown-
sidestoeverything;thereareun-
intended
consequences
to
everything.Themostcorrosive
pieceoftechnologythatI’veever
seeniscalledtelevision—but
then,again,television,atitsbest,
ismagnificent.”
—RollingStone,2003
“Themostexcitingthings
happeningtodayareobjectsand
theWeb.TheWebisexcitingfor
tworeasons.One,it’subiquitous.
TherewillbeWebdialtoneevery-
where.Andanythingthat’subi-
quitousgetsinteresting.Two,I
don’tthinkMicrosoftwillfigure
outawaytoownit.There’sgoing
tobealotmoreinnovation,and
thatwillcreateaplacewhere
thereisn’tthisdarkcloudofdom-
inance.”
—Wired,1996
“IfyoulookatthingsI’ve
doneinmylife,theyhaveanele-
mentofdemocratizing.TheWeb
isanincredibledemocratizer.A
smallcompanycanlookaslarge
asabigcompanyandbeasac-
cessibleasabigcompanyonthe
Web.Bigcompaniesspendhun-
dredsofmillionsofdollarsbuild-
ingtheirdistributionchannels.
AndtheWebisgoingtocom-
pletelyneutralizethatadvantage.”
—Wired,1996
“TheAppleIIpeeledoffthe
hardwarelayer.Youdidn’tneedto
knowaboutthehardwaretousea
computer.Thenextstepwasthe
transitionfromtheAppleII
tothe
Macintosh,whichpeeledoffthe
computer-literacylayer,ifyou
will.Inotherwords,youdidn’t
havetobeahackeroracomputer
scientisttouseoneofthese.”
—Inc.,1989
“Wethinkbasicallyyouwatch
televisiontoturnyourbrainoff,
andyouworkonyourcomputer
whenyouwanttoturnyour
brain
on.”
—Macworld,2004
“Whatwecanputinacom-
puterfor$1000isjustmind-blow-
ing.”
“Computersthemselves,and
softwareyettobedeveloped,will
revolutionizethewaywelearn.”
“Ittakestheseverysimple-
mindedinstructions—Gofetcha
number,addittothisnumber,put
theresultthere,perceiveifit’s
greaterthanthisothernum-
ber’—butexecutesthematarate
of,let’ssay,1,000,000persecond.
At1,000,000persecond,theres-
ultsappeartobemagic.”
—Explainingthefirstcomputers
“Whatacomputeristomeis
themostremarkabletoolthatwe
haveevercomeupwith.It’sthe
equivalentofabicyclefor
our
minds.”
—MemoryandImagination:NewPathwaystotheLibraryofCongress(1991)
“You’llseemoreandmore
perfectionofthat—computeras
servant.Butthenextthingis
go-
ingtobecomputerasaguideor
agent.”
“Themostcompellingreason
formostpeopletobuyacomputer
forthehomewillbetolinkitinto
anationwidecommunications
network.We’rejustinthebegin-
ningstagesofwhatwillbeatruly
remarkablebreakthroughformost
people-—asremarkableasthe
telephone.”
“Thesetechnologiescanmake
lifeeasier,canletustouchpeople
wemightnototherwise.Youmay
haveachildwithabirthdefect
andbeabletogetintouchwith
otherparentsandsupportgroups,
getmedicalinformation,thelatest
experimentaldrugs.Thesethings
canprofoundlyinfluencelife.I’m
notdownplayingthat.”
OnDrive
“There’saverystrongDNA
withinApple,andthat’sabout
takingstate-of-the-arttechnology
andmakingiteasyforpeople.”
—TheGuardian,2005
“BecauseI’mtheCEO,andI
thinkitcanbedone.”
—Onwhyhechosetooverrideengineers
whothoughttheiMacwasn’tfeasible,TIME,2005
“Wheneveryoudoanyone
thingintenselyoveraperiodof
time,youhavetogiveupother
livesyoucouldbeliving.You
havetohavearealsingle-minded
kindoftunnelvisionifyouwant
togetanythingsignificantaccom-
plished.Especiallyifthedesireis
nottobeabusinessman,buttobe
acreativeperson.”
—Esquire,1986
“We’rethelastguysleftin
this
industrywhocandoit,andthat’s
whatwe’reabout.”
“Ourgoalistomakethebest
devicesintheworld,nottobethe
biggest.”
—Conferencecallwithanalysts,2010
“OurDNAisasaconsumer
company—for
that
individual
customerwho’svotingthumbsup
orthumbsdown.That’swhowe
thinkabout.Andwethinkthatour
jobistotakeresponsibilityforthe
completeuserexperience.Andif
it’snotuptopar,it’sourfault,
plainandsimply.”
“Webelievethatcustomers
aresmart,andwantobjectswhich
arewellthoughtthrough.”
“Rememberingthatyouare
goingtodieisthebestwayIknow
toavoidthetrapofthinkingyou
havesomethingtolose.Youare
alreadynaked.Thereisnoreason
nottofollowyourheart.”
“I’mconvincedthatabouthalf
ofwhatseparatesthesuccessful
entrepreneursfromthenon-suc-
cessfulonesispurepersever-
ance.”
“Iftheykeeponriskingfail-
ure,they’restillartists.Dylanand
Picassowerealwaysriskingfail-
ure.”
“LeonardodaVinciwasa
greatartistandagreatscientist.
Michelangeloknewatremendous
amountabouthowtocut
stoneat
thequarry.Thefinestdozencom-
puterscientistsIknowareallmu-
sicians.”
“Ihaveagreatrespectforin-
crementalimprovement,andI’ve
donethatsortofthinginmylife,
butI’vealwaysbeenattractedto
themorerevolutionarychanges.I
don’tknowwhy.Becausethey’re
harder.They’remuchmorestress-
fulemotionally.Andyouusually
gothroughaperiodwhereevery-
bodytellsyouthatyou’vecom-
pletelyfailed.”
“Wedon’tgetachancetodo
thatmanythings,andevery
one
shouldbereallyexcellent.Be-
causethisisourlife.Lifeisbrief,
andthenyoudie…Andwe’veall
chosentodothiswithourlives.
Soitbetterbedamngood.Itbetter
beworthit.”
—Fortune
“Wewanttostandattheinter-
sectionofcomputersandhuman-
ism”
“Whymusic?Well,welove
musicandit’salwaysgoodtodo
somethingyoulove.”
—IntroducingthefirstiPod,2001
“WethinktheMacwillsell
zillions,butwedidn’tbuildthe
Macforanybodyelse.Webuiltit
forourselves.”
“We’restillheavilyintothe
box.Welovethebox.[…]Istill
spendalotofmytimeworking
onnewcomputers,anditwill
al-
waysbeaprimalthingforApple.
Buttheuserexperienceiswhat
wecareaboutmost,andwe’reex-
pandingthatexperiencebeyond
theboxbymakingbetteruseof
theInternet.”
—Fortune,2000
“Theworstthingthatcould
possiblyhappenaswegetbigand
wegetalittlebitmoreinfluence
intheworldisifwechangeour
corevaluesandstartlettingit
slide.Ican’tdothat.I’drather
quit.Wehavethesamevalues
nowaswehadthen.”
—Onwhetherthecompany
shouldhave
goneafterGizmodo,AllThingsDigital,2010
“Mypositioncomingbackto
Applewasthatourindustrywas
inacoma.Itremindedmeof
Detroitinthe70s,whenAmerican
carswereboatsonwheels.”
“IthinkIhavefivemoregreat
productsinme.”
—Esquire,1986
“Everyoneherehasthesense
thatrightnowisoneofthosemo-
mentswhenweareinfluencing
thefuture.”
“Peoplesayyouhavetohave
alotofpassionforwhatyou’re
doingandit’stotallytrue.Andthe
reasonisbecauseit’ssohard
that
ifyoudon’t,anyrationalperson
wouldgiveup.”
—AllThingsDigitalD5conference,2007
“I’mconvincedthatabouthalf
ofwhatseparatesthe
successful
entrepreneursfromthenon-suc-
cessfulonesispureperseverance.
Itissohard.Youputsomuchof
yourlifeintothisthing.”
—Computerworld
SmithsonianAwards,1995
“You’vegottobecareful
choosingwhatyou’regoingtodo.
Onceyoupicksomethingyou
reallycareabout,andit’saworth-
whilethingtodo,thenyoucan
kindofforgetaboutitandjust
workatit.Thededicationcomes
naturally.”
—Fortune,1998
“We’rejustenthusiasticabout
whatwedo.”
“It’shardtotellwiththeseIn-
ternetstartupsifthey’rereallyin-
terestedinbuildingcompaniesor
ifthey’rejustinterestedinthe
money.Icantellyou,though:If
theydon’treallywanttobuilda
company,theywon’tluckintoit.
That’sbecauseit’ssohardthatif
youdon’thaveapassion,you’ll
giveup.”
—Fortune,2000
OnLegacy
“Itwillgodowninhistoryas
aturningpointforthemusicin-
dustry.Thisislandmarkstuff.I
can’toverestimateit!”
—OntheiPodandtheiTunesmusicstore,
Fortune,2003
“Pixarismakingartforthe
ages.KidswillbewatchingToySt-
oryinthefuture.AndAppleis
muchmoreofaconstantrace
to
continuallyimprovethingsand
stayaheadofthecompetition.”
—TIME,1999
“Beingtherichestmaninthe
cemeterydoesn’tmattertome…
Goingtobedatnightsaying
we’vedonesomethingwonderful
…that’swhatmatterstome.”
—TheWallStreetJournal,1993
“Eachyearhasbeensorobust
withproblemsandsuccessesand
learningexperiencesandhuman
experiencesthatayearisalife-
timeatApple.”
“Pixaristhemosttechnically
advanced
creative
company;
Appleisthemostcreativelyad-
vancedtechnicalcompany.”
—Fortune,2005
“That’swhyIlovewhatwe
do—wemakethesetoolsand
they’reconstantlysurprisingus.”
—AllThingsDigital,2007
“Weusedtodreamaboutthis
stuff.Nowwegettobuildit.It’s
prettygreat.”
—Keynoteaddress,AppleWorldwideDevelopment
Conference,2004
“Thingsdon’thavetochange
theworldtobeimportant.”
—Wired,2006
“Andno,wedon’tknow
whereitwilllead.Wejustknow
there’ssomethingmuch
bigger
thananyofushere.”
“Applereallybeatstoadif-
ferentdrummer.Iusedtosaythat
AppleshouldbetheSonyofthis
business,butinreality,Ithink
AppleshouldbetheAppleofthis
business.”
—BusinessWeek,1998
“Weareguiltyaschargedof
making
mistakes,
because
nobody’severdonethisbefore.”
—OnApple’sAppStore’spolicyforrejec-
tion,AllThingsDigitalD8interview
“Appleisa$30billioncom-
pany,yetwe’vegotlessthan30
majorproducts.Idon’tknowif
that’severbeendonebefore.”
“Ifyougooutandaskpeople
what’swrongwithcomputers
today,they’lltellyouthey’re
reallycomplicated,theyhavea
zillioncablescomingoutofthe
back,they’rereallybigandnoisy,
they’rereallyugly,andtheytake
forevertogetontheInternet.And
sowetriedtosetouttofixthose
problemswithproductslikethe
iMac.”
—CNA,1999
“Thebuyingexperienceand
ownershipexperienceofowning
aMacismaybethebestofany
productIknow.”
—CNBC,2006
“Ittookusthreeyearstobuild
theNeXTcomputer.Ifwe’dgiven
customerswhattheysaidthey
wanted,we’dhavebuilta
com-
puterthey’dhavebeenhappywith
ayearafterwespoketo
them—notsomethingthey’dwant
now.”
“Thatsameinnovation,that
sameengineering,thatsametalent
appliedwherewedon’trunup
againstthefactthatMicrosoftgot
thismonopoly,andboom!We
have75percentmarketshare.”
—OntheiPod’ssuccess
“Idon’tthinkthatpeoplehave
specialresponsibilitiesjustbe-
causethey’vedonesomethingthat
otherpeoplelikeordon’tlike.I
thinktheworkspeaksforitself.”
—SmithsonianInstitution,1995
“Apple’smarketshareisbig-
gerthanBMW’sorMercedes’sor
Porsche’sintheautomotivemar-
ket.What’swrongwithbeing
BMWorMercedes?”
“IgetaskedalotwhyApple’s
customersaresoloyal.It’snotbe-
causetheybelongtotheChurch
ofMac!That’sridiculous.”
“I’masproudofwhatwe
don’tdoasIamofwhatwedo.”
—BusinessWeek
“Mostpeoplehavenoconcept
ofhowanautomatictransmission
works,yettheyknowhowto
drive
acar.Youdon’thavetostudy
physicstounderstandthelawsof
motiontodriveacar.Youdon’t
havetounderstandanyofthis
stufftouseMacintosh.”
“Now,wearesellingover5
millionsongsadaynow.Isn’tthat
unbelievable?That’s58songs
everysecondofeveryminuteof
everyhourofeveryday.”
“Solet’snotuseastylus.
We’regoingtousethebestpoint-
ingdeviceintheworld.We’rego-
ingtouseapointingdevicethat
we’reallbornwith—bornwith
tenofthem.We’regoingtouse
ourfingers.We’regoingtotouch
thiswithourfingers.Andwehave
inventedanewtechnologycalled
multi-touch,whichisphenomen-
al.Itworkslikemagic.”
“Picassohadasaying:‘Good
artistscopy,greatartistssteal.’We
havealwaysbeenshamelessabout
stealinggreatideas…Ithinkpart
ofwhatmadetheMacintosh
great
wasthatthepeopleworkingonit
weremusicians,poets,artists,zo-
ologistsandhistorianswhoalso
happenedtobethebestcomputer
scientistsintheworld.”
—Interview,1994
“There’snothingthatmakes
mydaymorethangettingane-
mailfromsomerandompersonin
theuniversewhojustboughtan
iPadoverintheUKandtellsme
thestoryabouthowit’sthe
coolestproductthey’veever
broughthomeintheirlives.That’s
whatkeepsmegoing.”
“Apple
turns
out
many
products—adozenayear;ifyou
countalltheminorones,probably
ahundred.Pixarisstrivingtoturn
outoneayear.Buttheconverse
ofthatisthatPixar’sproductswill
stillbeusedfiftyyearsfromnow,
whereasIdon’tthinkyou’llbeus-
inganyproductApplebringsto
marketthisyearfiftyyearsfrom
now.”
—TIME,1999
“JohnSculleyruinedApple
andheruineditbybringingaset
ofvaluestothetopofApple
whichwerecorruptandcorrupted
someofthetoppeoplewhowere
there,droveoutsomeoftheones
whowerenotcorruptible,and
broughtinmorecorruptonesand
paidthemselvescollectivelytens
ofmillionsofdollarsandcared
moreabouttheirowngloryand
wealththantheydidaboutwhat
built
Apple
in
the
first
place—whichwasmakinggreat
computersforpeopletouse.”
—Computerworld
SmithsonianAwardsProgram,1995
“We’vegonethroughtheop-
eratingsystemandlookedat
everythingandaskedhowcanwe
simplifythisandmakeitmore
powerfulatthesametime.”
“Wemadethebuttonsonthe
screenlooksogoodyou’llwantto
lickthem.”
—Fortune,2000
“Click.Boom.Amazing!”
—Macworldkeynoteaddress,2006
“I’vehadlotsofgirlfriends.
Butthegreatesthighinmylife
wasthedayweintroducedthe
Macintosh.”
—Esquire,1986
OnLife
“Iwouldtradeallofmytech-
nologyforanafternoonwithSo-
crates.”
—Newsweek,2001
“Yourtimeislimited,sodon’t
wasteitlivingsomeoneelse’slife
…Don’tletthenoiseofother’s
opinionsdrownoutyourownin-
nervoice.Andmostimportant,
havethecouragetofollowyour
heartandintuition.Theysome-
howalreadyknowwhatyoutruly
wanttobecome.”
—StanfordUniversitycommencementad-
dress,2005
“It’smorefuntobeapirate
thantojointhenavy.”
—Odyssey:PepsitoApple,1982
“Youcantellalotaboutaper-
sonbywhohisorherheroesare.”
—BusinessWeek,2004
“…theoneswhoarecrazy
enoughtothinkthattheycan
changetheworld,aretheones
whodo.”
—“ThinkDifferent”promotionalvideoby
Apple,1997
“I’mtheonlypersonIknow
that’slostaquarterofabillion
dollarsinoneyear….It’svery
character-building.”
—AppleConfidential2.0:TheDefinitiveHistoryoftheWorld’sMostColorfulCompany(2004)byOwenW.Linzmayer
“Sometimeslifehitsyouin
theheadwithabrick.Don’t
lose
faith.”
‘’Justtotrytobeasgooda
fathertothemasmyfatherwasto
me.Ithinkaboutthateverydayof
mylife.’’
—Onraisinghischildren,TheNewYorkTimes,1997
“Imakefiftycentsforshow-
ingup…andtheotherfiftycents
isbasedonmyperformance.”
—Appleshareholdermeeting,2007,onhis
annualsalaryof$1
“Youhavenoreasonnotto
followyourheart.”
“WhenIstandbeforeGodat
theendofmylifeIwouldhope
thatIwouldnothaveasinglebit
oftalentleft,andcouldsay,Iused
everythingyougaveme.”
“Iwasworthaboutoveramil-
liondollarswhenIwastwenty-
threeandovertenmilliondollars
whenIwastwenty-four,andover
ahundredmilliondollarswhenI
wastwenty-fiveanditwasn’tthat
importantbecauseIneverdidit
forthemoney.”
—TriumphoftheNerds,1996
“Theonlywaytodogreat
workistolovewhatyoudo.If
youhaven’tfoundityet,keep
looking.Don’tsettle.Aswithall
mattersoftheheart,you’llknow
whenyoufindit.”
—StanfordUniversitycommencementad-
dress,2005
“Ithinkofmostthingsinlife
aseitheraBobDylanoraBeatles
song.”
—AllThingsDigitalD5conference
“I’manoptimistinthesense
thatIbelievehumansarenoble
andhonorable,andsomeofthem
arereallysmart.Ihavea
veryop-
timisticviewofindividuals.As
individuals,peopleareinherently
good.Ihaveasomewhatmore
pessimisticviewofpeoplein
groups.”
—Wired,1996
“Thatwasoneofthethings
thatcameoutmostclearlyfrom
thiswholeexperience.Irealized
thatIlovemylife.Ireallydo.
I’vegotthegreatestfamily
inthe
world,andI’vegotmywork.And
that’sprettymuchallIdo.Idon’t
socializemuchorgotoconferen-
ces.Ilovemyfamily,andIlove
runningApple,andIlovePixar.
AndIgettodothat.I’mvery
lucky.”
—Onlivingwithcancer,BusinessWeek,2004
“Youcan’tconnectthedots
lookingforward;youcanonly
connectthemlookingbackwards.
Soyouhavetotrustthatthedots
willsomehowconnectinyourfu-
ture.Youhavetotrustin
something—yourgut,destiny,
life,karma,whatever.Thisap-
proachhasneverletmedown,and
ithasmadeallthedifferencein
mylife.”
—StanfordUniversitycommencementad-
dress,2005
“MuchofwhatIstumbledin-
to,byfollowingmycuriosityand
intuition,turnedouttobeprice-
lesslateron.”
“Equalopportunitytome
morethananythingmeansagreat
education.”
“Idon’tthinkmuchaboutmy
timeoflife.Ijustgetupinthe
morningandit’sanewday.”
“Think
about
yesterday,
dreamabouttomorrow,butlive
today.”
“I’msorry,it’strue.Having
childrenreallychangesyourview
onthesethings.We’reborn,we
liveforabriefinstant,andwedie.
It’sbeenhappeningforalong
time.Technologyisnotchanging
itmuch—ifatall.”
—Wired,1996
“Ididn’tseeitthen,butit
turnedoutthatgettingfiredfrom
Applewasthebestthingthat
couldhaveeverhappenedtome.
Theheavinessofbeingsuccessful
wasreplacedbythelightnessof
beingabeginneragain,lesssure
abouteverything.Itfreedmeto
enteroneofthemostcreative
periodsofmylife.”
—StanfordUniversity
commencementad-
dress,2005
“Ithinkoneofthemostpre-
ciousresourcesweallhavethese
daysisfreetime.”
—ABCNews,2005
“I’llalwaysstayconnected
withApple.”
—Playboy,1985
“Bottomlineis,Ididn’treturn
toAppletomakeafortune.I’ve
beenveryluckyinmylifeand
alreadyhaveone.WhenI
was25,
mynetworthwas$100millionor
so.IdecidedthenthatIwasn’tgo-
ingtoletitruinmylife.There’s
nowayyoucouldeverspendit
all,andIdon’tviewwealthas
somethingthatvalidatesmyintel-
ligence.”
“Youknow,mymainreaction
tothismoneythingisthatit’shu-
morous,alltheattentiontoit,be-
causeit’shardlythemostinsight-
fulorvaluablethingthat’s
happenedtome.”
—Playboy,1985
“Iremainextremelycon-
cernedwhenIseewhat’shappen-
inginourcountry,whichisin
manywaystheluckiestplacein
theworld.Wedon’tseemtobe
excitedaboutmakingourcountry
abetterplaceforourkids”
—Wired,1996
“Myself-identitydoesnotre-
volvearoundbeingabusiness-
man,thoughIrecognizethatis
whatIdo.Ithinkofmyself
more
asapersonwhobuildsneat
things.Ilikebuildingneatthings.
Ilikemakingtoolsthatareuseful
topeople.”
—Esquire,1986
“Ifeellikesomebodyjust
punchedmeinthestomachand
knockedallmywindout.I’monly
30yearsoldandIwanttohave
achancetocontinuecreating
things.IknowI’vegotat
leastone
moregreatcomputerinme.And
Appleisnotgoingtogivemea
chancetodothat.”
—Playboy,1987
“Ihavealwayssaidifthere
evercameadaywhenIcouldno
longermeetmydutiesandexpect-
ationsasApple’sCEO,Iwouldbe
thefirsttoletyouknow.Unfortu-
nately,thatdayhascome.”
—MemotoAppleemployees,2011
“Noonewantstodie.Even
peoplewhowanttogotoheaven
don’twanttodietogetthere.And
yetdeathisthedestinationweall
share.Noonehaseverescapedit.
Andthatisasitshouldbe,be-
causeDeathisverylikelythe
singlebestinventionofLife.”
—StanfordUniversitycommencementad-
dress,2005
“Andonemorething…”
—Anoft-usedphraseusedtounveil
productstowardstheendofApplepresent-
ations
“RememberTheWholeEarth
Catalog?Thelasteditionhada
photoonthebackcoverofare-
motecountryroadyoumightfind
yourselfonwhilehitchhikingup
toOregon.Itwasabeautifulshot,
andithadacaptionthatreally
grabbedme.Itsaid:‘Stayhungry.
Stayfoolish.’Itwasn’tanadfor
anything—justoneofStewart
Brand’sprofoundstatements.It’s
wisdom.”Stayhungry.Stayfool-
ish.’
—Fortune,1998
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