What Steve Jobs thinks about innovation

@steve-jobs · 40 positions · 0 changes of mind

American entrepreneur (1955 to 2011); co-founded Apple in 1976 and led it again from 1997 to 2011; ran Pixar from 1986 to 2006.

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Steve Jobs did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Steve Jobs on innovation. See everyone on innovation

6 dated positions, 1995 to 2010, in their own words. Our reading of what Steve Jobs has said — not written or endorsed by them.

1. by 1 May 2010

   Our readingA third-party layer of software between a platform and its developers ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the platform’s progress.

   Their wordsWe know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform.

   ↗Thoughts on Flash, by Steve Jobs (apple.com, April 2010)web.archive.org 4th of 5 in this piece

2. 14 years earlier

3. 1 Feb 1996

   Our readingThe desktop computer industry had stopped innovating, with Microsoft dominating, and had entered a dark age.

   AppleMicrosoft

   Their wordsThe 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: The Next Insanely Great Thing (Wired, February 1996), interview by Gary Wolfwired.com 1st of 9 in this piece

5. 1 Feb 1996

   Our readingOnce objects are understood, it is clear that all software will eventually be written using them; the timing and the winners can be argued, the inevitability cannot.

   Their wordsOnce you understand objects, it's clear that all software will eventually be written using objects. Again, you can argue about how many years it will take, and who the winners and losers will be during this transition, but you can't argue about the inevitability of this transition.

   ↗Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing (Wired, February 1996), interview by Gary Wolfwired.com 3rd of 9 in this piece

7. 1 Feb 1996

   Our readingThe Web is an incredible democratizer: a small company can look as large and be as accessible as a big company, neutralizing the advantage of costly distribution channels.

   Their wordsIf you look at things I've done in my life, they have an element of democratizing. The Web is an incredible democratizer. A small company can look as large as a big company and be as accessible as a big company on the Web. Big companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars building their distribution channels. And the Web is going to completely neutralize that advantage.

   ↗Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing (Wired, February 1996), interview by Gary Wolfwired.com 4th of 9 in this piece

8. 9 months earlier

9. 20 Apr 1995

   Our readingWhen computing becomes a monopoly, the industry’s ability to innovate is sucked dry.

   Microsoft

   Their wordsThey're being driven out because the computer business is becoming a monopoly with Microsoft. Without getting into whether Microsoft gained its position legally or not--who cares? The end product of the position is that the ability to innovate in the industry is being sucked dry.

   ↗Steve Jobs oral history interview with Daniel Morrow (Smithsonian, 20 April 1995): excerptsweb.archive.org 7th of 11 in this piece

11. 20 Apr 1995

    Our readingThe Web will radically change how goods and services are discovered, sold and delivered, levelling big and small and near and distant.

    Their wordsIt is going radically change the way goods and services are discovered, sold and delivered, not only in this country but eventually all over the world. As you know, electrons travel at the speed of light and so it tends to bring the world much closer together in terms of providers and customers. That's pretty exciting. The levelling of big and small. The levelling of near and distant.

    ↗Steve Jobs oral history interview with Daniel Morrow (Smithsonian, 20 April 1995): excerptsweb.archive.org 10th of 11 in this piece