Besides the amazing products and incredible company that Steve Jobs has built, he is also a man with many wonderful quotes to his name. As an industry titan that coined terms like Android’s “fragmentation,” and famously called 2011 the “year of the copycats,” Steve Jobs has enough memorable moments at Apple to last a lifetime.
We’ve collected some of Steve Jobs’ best quotes on technology and innovation. He’s a man that’s always told it like it is, and hopefully you’ll be inspired by what he’s had to say over the years…
“I want to put a ding in the universe.” – 1997
“I’ll always stay connected with Apple. I hope that throughout my life I’ll sort of have the thread of my life and the thread of Apple weave in and out of each other, like a tapestry. There may be a few years when I’m not there, but I’ll always come back.” – 1985
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me… Saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.” – 1993
“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.” – 1996
“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.” – 2000
“There are sneakers that cost more than an iPod.” – 2003
“The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.” – 2004
“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.” – 2006
“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. … One is very fortunate if you get to work on just one of these in your career. Apple’s been very fortunate it’s been able to introduce a few of these into the world.” – 2007
“It is worthwhile to remember that open systems don’t always win. Open versus closed is a smokescreen. Google likes to characterize Android as open and iOS as closed. We think this is disingenuous.” – 2010
“Well, let me say something about Apple. We didn’t want to get into any business where we didn’t own or control the primary tech, because if you don’t the people who do own it will beat you. Our big insight about 8 years ago was that it was going to shift from big displays or optical pickup heads, or radios being the most important component, we thought it was going to be software. And we’re pretty good at making software, we showed that in the iPod… other people are good at it too, like Palm, but we brought great software to the smartphone space.” – 2010
“Don’t be evil is a load of crap.” – 2010
“Do we have what it takes to establish a third category of products? The bar is pretty high. It has to be far better at doing some key things. We think we have the goods. Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.” – 2010
“What about 2011? Is it going to be the year of the copycats?” – 2011
One More Thing…
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Here’s to the crazy ones, Steve.