Steve Jobs Quotes (150 quotes, page 2) | Quotes of famous people

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Steve Jobs Quotes

“The Japanese have hit the shores like dead fish. They're just like dead fish washing up on the shores.”

As quoted in Playboy (February 1985)
1980s

“There are sneakers that cost more than an iPod.”

On the iPod's $300 price tag, as quoted in Newsweek (27 October 2003)
2000s

“Jobs: Most people have no concept of how an automatic transmission works, yet they know how to drive a car. You don't have to study physics to understand the laws of motion to drive a car. You don't have to understand any of this stuff to use Macintosh.”

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, Playboy, Feb 1985, by Philip Elmer-Dewitt, “Steve-Jobs The Playboy Interview” http://fortune.com/2010/11/20/steve-jobs-the-playboy-interview/, Fortune.com, November 20, 2010. 1980s

“When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.
That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.”

Steve Jobs

Interview Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur by Santa Clara Valley Historical Association (1994) Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur http://www.siliconvalleyhistorical.org/#!steve-jobs-film/c1x1c, Silicon Valley Historical Association] Steve Jobs: Secrets of Life quote http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfNvmF0Bqw, Santa Clara Valley Historical Association, YouTube] 1990s

“Rolling Stone: It's been 10 years since the PC revolution started. Rational people can debate about whether technology has made the world a better place –
Jobs: The world's clearly a better place. Individuals can now do things that only large groups of people with lots of money could do before. What that means is, we have much more opportunity for people to get to the marketplace — not just the marketplace of commerce but the marketplace of ideas. The marketplace of publications, the marketplace of public policy. You name it. We've given individuals and small groups equally powerful tools to what the largest, most heavily funded organizations in the world have. And that trend is going to continue. You can buy for under $10,000 today a computer that is just as powerful, basically, as one anyone in the world can get their hands on.”

Steve Jobs

1990s

“Yes, it's true.”

Steve Jobs

On the plans for Apple Computer, Inc. to begin using Intel processors in its Macintosh computers during 2006 and 2007. About twenty two minutes into his address. Rumors of such plans had existed for years, but had been growing more credible and prolific for about a week before his announcement.
2005-09, WWDC 2005

“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.”

Steve Jobs

Interview with the New York Times (5 June 2007)
2000s

“Jobs: Part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, poets, and artists, and zoologists, and historians. They also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world. But if it hadn’t been computer science, these people would have been doing amazing things in other fields. We all brought to this a sort of “liberal arts” air, an attitude that we wanted to pull the best that we saw into this field. You don’t get that if you are very narrow.
Cringley: How does the Web affect the economy?
Jobs: We live in an information economy. The problem is that information's usually impossible to get, at least in the right place, at the right time. The reason Federal Express won over its competitors was its package-tracking system. For the company to bring that package-tracking system onto the Web is phenomenal. I use it all the time to track my packages. It's incredibly great. Incredibly reassuring. And getting that information out of most companies is usually impossible.
But it's also incredibly difficult to give information. Take auto dealerships. So much money is spent on inventory—billions and billions of dollars. Inventory is not a good thing. Inventory ties up a ton of cash, it's open to vandalism, it becomes obsolete. It takes a tremendous amount of time to manage. And, usually, the car you want, in the color you want, isn't there anyway, so they've got to horse-trade around. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of all that inventory? Just have one white car to drive and maybe a laserdisc so you can look at the other colors. Then you order your car and you get it in a week.”

Steve Jobs

Robert X. Cringley for a Public Broadcasting System [PBS] television series, “Triumph of the Nerds” (1995), “The Lost Interview: Steve Jobs Tells Us What Really Matters” https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/11/17/the-lost-interview-steve-jobs-tells-us-what-really-matters/#5cb0fc8e6c3a, Forbes, Steve Denning, Nov 17, 2011, 1990s

“If you want it, you can fly, you just have to trust you a lot.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in El Mundo (2011) http://www.elmundo.es/especiales/tecnologia/steve-jobs/frases.html 2010s

“Pixar is the most technically advanced creative company; Apple is the most creatively advanced technical company.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in Fortune (21 February 2005)
2000s

“It's rare that you see an artist in his 30s or 40s able to really contribute something amazing.”

Steve Jobs

At age 29, as quoted in Playboy (February 1985)
1980s, Playboy interview (1985)

“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.”

Steve Jobs

Interview with Inc. Magazine for its "The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award" (1 April 1989) http://www.inc.com/magazine/19890401/5602.html 1980s Variant: 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.

“Last quarter alone we hosted 17 million visitors throughout our stores.”

Steve Jobs

2000s, WWDC 2006

“And boy, have we patented it.”

Steve Jobs

First announcement of the iPhone, at Macworld 2006. http://www.businessinsider.com/and-boy-have-we-patented-it-2010-3 2000s

“I was worth about over a million dollars when I was twenty-three and over ten million dollars when I was twenty-four, and over a hundred million dollars when I was twenty-five and it wasn't that important because I never did it for the money.”

Steve Jobs

Interview in the PBS documentary Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires (1996)
1990s

“Our friends up north spend over five billion dollars on research and development and all they seem to do is copy Google and Apple.”

Steve Jobs

On Microsoft, at the Worldwide Developer's Conference (August 2006)
2000s

“I feel like somebody just punched me in the stomach and knocked all my wind out. I'm only 30 years old and I want to have a chance to continue creating things. I know I've got at least one more great computer in me. And Apple is not going to give me a chance to do that.”

Steve Jobs

On his expulsion from any position of authority at Apple, after having invited John Sculley to become CEO, as quoted in Playboy (September 1987)
1980s

“Because I'm the CEO, and I think it can be done.”

Steve Jobs

On why he chose to override engineers who thought the iMac wasn't feasible, as quoted in TIME magazine (24 October 2005)
2000s

“They're babes in the woods. I think I can help turn Alvy and Ed into businessmen.”

Steve Jobs

On Pixar co-founders Alvy Ray Smith and Edwin Catmull, as quoted in TIME magazine (1 September 1986)
1980s

“We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash.”

Steve Jobs Thoughts on Flash

As he has written in his "Thoughts on Flash" open letter (20 April 2010) http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/ 2010s

“My girlfriend always laughs during sex — no matter what she's reading.”

Steve Jobs

This has appeared rather prominently on the internet, usually without indications of a source, and is often attributed to Jobs, but it was actually part of the comedy routines of Emo Philips, who used "giggles" rather than "laughs" on his comedy album Emo.
Misattributed

“Unfortunately, people are not rebelling against Microsoft. They don’t know any better.”

Steve Jobs

Interview in Rolling Stone magazine, no. 684 (16 June 1994)
1990s, Rolling Stone interview (1994)

“[Miele] really thought the process through. They did such a great job designing these washers and dryers. I got more thrill out of them than I have out of any piece of high tech in years.”

Steve Jobs

On design excellence, in WIRED magazine (February 1996)
1990s

“Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Steve Jobs

This favorite phrase of Jobs is from the final edition of the Whole Earth Catalog, entitled Whole Earth Epilog (1974), as he acknowledged in his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address http://www.applematters.com/article/steve_jobs_standford_commencement_address/. Misattributed

“It will go down in history as a turning point for the music industry. This is landmark stuff. I can't overestimate it!”

Steve Jobs

On the iPod and the iTunes Music Store, as quoted in Fortune magazine (12 May 2003)
2000s

“We used to dream about this stuff. Now we get to build it. It's pretty great.”

Steve Jobs

Keynote address http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/wwdc04/ at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (June 2004) 2000s

“I am saddened, not by Microsoft's success — I have no problem with their success. They've earned their success, for the most part. I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products.”

Steve Jobs

Triumph of the Nerds (1996)
1990s

“I wanted to meet my biological mother mostly to see if she was OK and to thank her, because I'm glad I didn't end up as an abortion. She was twenty-three and she went through a lot to have me.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in Steve Jobs (2011) by Walter Isaacson, p. 254
2010s

“The desktop computer industry is dead. Innovation has virtually ceased. Microsoft dominates with very little innovation. That's over. Apple lost. The desktop market has entered the dark ages, and it's going to be in the dark ages for the next 10 years, or certainly for the rest of this decade.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in "Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing" in WIRED magazine (February 1996) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/jobs_pr.html 1990s

“I've always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in "The Seed of Apple's Innovation" in BusinessWeek (12 October 2004)
2000s

“They are shamelessly copying us.”

Steve Jobs

About Microsoft and the operating system which would be released as Vista, as quoted in "Apple's Jobs swipes at Longhorn" om cNet News (21 April 2005)
2000s

“Look at the design of a lot of consumer products — they're really complicated surfaces. We tried to make something much more holistic and simple. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don't put in the time or energy to get there. We believe that customers are smart, and want objects which are well thought through.”

Steve Jobs

On the design of the iPod, as quoted in Newsweek (14 October 2006)
2000s

“It wasn't that Microsoft was so brilliant or clever in copying the Mac, it's that the Mac was a sitting duck for 10 years. That's Apple's problem: Their differentiation evaporated.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company (2004) by Owen W. Linzmayer
2000s

“Apple has some tremendous assets, but I believe without some attention, the company could, could, could — I'm searching for the right word — could, could die.”

Steve Jobs

On his return as interim CEO of Apple, as quoted in TIME magazine (18 August 1997)
1990s

“It looks like it's from another planet. A good planet. A planet with better designers”

Steve Jobs

Introduction of the first iMac computer in Cupertino, California, (6 May 1998)
1990s

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs

2000s, Address at Stanford University (2005)

“It is hard to think that a $2 billion company with 4,300-plus people couldn't compete with six people in blue jeans.”

Steve Jobs

On Apple's lawsuit against him, following his resignation to form NeXT, as quoted in Newsweek (30 September 1985)
1980s

“Why would I ever want to run Disney? Wouldn't it make more sense just to sell them Pixar and retire?”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in Fortune (23 February 2004)
2000s

“John Sculley ruined Apple and he ruined it by bringing a set of values to the top of Apple which were corrupt and corrupted some of the top people who were there, drove out some of the ones who were not corruptible, and brought in more corrupt ones and paid themselves collectively tens of millions of dollars and cared more about their own glory and wealth than they did about what built Apple in the first place — which was making great computers for people to use.”

Steve Jobs

"Statement in The Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program oral history" (20 April 1995) http://americanhistory.si.edu/comphist/sj1.html 1990s

“The HD revolution is over, it happened. HD won. Everybody wants HD.”

Steve Jobs

Apple Special Event Keynote (1 September 2010)
2010s

“If it could save a person’s life, could you find a way to save ten seconds off the boot time? If there were five million people using the Mac, and it took ten seconds extra to turn it on every day, that added up to three hundred million or so hours per year people would save, which was the equivalent of at least one hundred lifetimes saved per year.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in Steve Jobs (2011) by Walter Isaacson, p. 123
2010s

“I get asked a lot why Apple's customers are so loyal. It's not because they belong to the Church of Mac! That's ridiculous.”

Steve Jobs

As quoted in "The Seed of Apple's Innovation" in BusinessWeek (12 October 2004) http://www.businessweek.com/print/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2004/nf20041012_4018_db083.htm?chan=gl 2000s

“There are folks here from 48 different countries.”

Steve Jobs

2000s, WWDC 2006

“I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn [the art of decorative or hand lettering]. I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful. Historical. Artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture. And I found it fascinating. None of this had any hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.”

Steve Jobs

2000s, Address at Stanford University (2005)

“iMac is next year's computer for $1,299, not last year's computer for $999.”

Steve Jobs

Introduction of the first iMac computer in Cupertino, California, (6 May 1998)
1990s

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

Steve Jobs

On his famous $1 annual salary, at the annual Apple shareholder meeting in 2007, as quoted in "Jobs: 'I make fifty cents just for showing up'" in AppleInsider (10 May 2007) http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/05/10/jobs_i_make_fifty_cents_just_for_showing_up.html 2000s

“Mac OS X Tiger will come out long before Longhorn.”

Steve Jobs

Comparing the progress of Mac OS X and what would eventually become known as Microsoft's Vista, at the MacWorld San Francisco keynote address (January 2005) http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/mwsf05/ 2000s

“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. It's very fortunate if you can work on just one of these in your career. … Apple's been very fortunate in that it's introduced a few of these.”

Steve Jobs

Announcing the introduction of the iPhone, as quoted in Apple unveils cell phone, Apple TV http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16542805/ (9 January 2007) 2000s

“Jobs: Computers are actually pretty simple. We’re sitting here on a bench in this cafe [for this part of the Interview]. Let’s assume that you understood only the most rudimentary of directions and you asked how to find the rest room. I would have to describe it to you in very specific and precise instructions. I might say, “Scoot sideways two meters off the bench. Stand erect. Lift left foot. Bend left knee until it is horizontal. Extend left foot and shift weight 300 centimeters forward …” and on and on. If you could interpret all those instructions 100 times faster than any other person in this cafe, you would appear to be a magician: You could run over and grab a milk shake and bring it back and set it on the table and snap your fingers, and I’d think you made the milk shake appear, because it was so fast relative to my perception. That’s exactly what a computer does. It takes these very, very simple-minded instructions—”Go fetch a number, add it to this number, put the result there, perceive if it’s greater than this other number”—but executes them at a rate of, let’s say, 1,000,000 per second. At 1,000,000 per second, the results appear to be magic.”

Steve Jobs

1980s

“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.”

Steve Jobs

Source: "Jobs: Iconoclast and salesman" by Brian Williams, at MSNBC http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12974884/ (25 May 2006)