• 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?

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Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

  • 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 think we're having fun. I think our customers really like our products. And we're always trying to do better.

  • I want to put a ding in the universe.

  • Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

  • It is piracy, not overt online music stores, which is our main competitor.

  • It took us three years to build the NeXT computer. If we'd given customers what they said they wanted, we'd have built a computer they'd have been happy with a year after we spoke to them - not something they'd want now.

  • 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.

  • To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines.

  • Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?

  • 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.