Quotable Quotes--Steve Jobs Edition

Apple's goal isn't to make money. Our goal is to design and develop and bring to market good products... We trust as a consequence of that, people will like them, and as another consequence, we'll make some money. But we're really clear about what our goals are.



We're gambling on our vision, and we would rather do that than make 'me too' products. Let some other companies do that. For us, it's always the next dream.



On getting fired:



[It] was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.[...] It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.



On his $1 a year salary:



I make 50 cents for showing up ... and the other 50 cents is based on my performance.



A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.



Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?



Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.



Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.



I want to put a ding in the universe.



Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.



Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation.



Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.



The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay.



You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.



We think the Mac will sell zillions, but we didn’t build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves. We were the group of people who were going to judge whether it was great or not. We weren’t going to go out and do market research. We just wanted to build the best thing we could build.



Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me… Saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.



Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.



For something this complicated, it’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.



The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.



I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.



Don’t be evil is a load of crap.



I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as CEO of Apple.

Posted in: