in

15 Inspiring Steve Jobs Quotes for FOSS Developers to Ponder

- - 10 comments
Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and CEO, is the genius behind some of the most innovative and influential tech products in history. His great accomplishments truly speak volumes about his character.

It's a known fact that Free and Open Source software developers are inspired by the words of Stallman and Torvalds, but I think it won't hurt if they will also reflect on some of these great quotes by Steve Jobs:

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

* "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me."

* "We've gone through the operating system and looked at everything and asked how can we simplify this and make it more powerful at the same time."

* "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."

* "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."

* "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."

* "Real artists ship."

* "It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much."

* "We are very careful about what features we add because we can't take them away."

* "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."

* "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."

* "You know, we don't grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved... I mean, we're constantly taking things. It's a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge."

* "Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."

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

If you know of other inspiring quotes by Steve Jobs, please share it with us via comment.

10 comments

  1. Those were inspiring words indeed.

    "We are very careful about what features we add because we can't take them away."

    Call it perfectionism, but this kind of thinking helped made Apple really successful.

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

    Uh, then explain the Lisa.

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

    Hmmm. Then why the high return rate for the iPhone?

    * "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."

    My. Where is Next now. Right, in the graveyard.

    * "You know, we don't grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved... I mean, we're constantly taking things. It's a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge."

    Gee. Then why did Apple sue Microsoft over Windows?

    * "Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."

    And might I add, whether you had been to Xerox PARC the 3 years before Mac's introduction.

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

    Hmm. Fermi, Oppenheimer, Einstein, ShoeMaker, Picasso artists all might tend to disagree. Besides he's 53, why quote him?

    And the one thing I do agree with him on --

    * "Real artists ship."

    Sorry, but I am not a fan of Jobs. He is the classic opportunist with a knack to suck the air out of the room. He'll tell you flat out he knows what he likes but lacks the technical savvy to achieve it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is the reason I feel, despite all the negative press, KDE4 is a innovative technology.

    So far, KDE and GNOME, let's admit, have played "me too" to either Windows or Mac.

    No so with KDE4. However, since its open-source, it will take some time to see the final product (KDE 4.2 is that product for me!)

    Its time to recognize real innovation within the OSS community.

    ReplyDelete
  4. > My. Where is Next now. Right, in the graveyard.

    Not true. Next evolved into OS X, which is used by millions of people.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your comments remind me of so many silly bloggers out there, removed from reality and opines despite merit and go unchallenged as if axiomatic. I thought, I shouldn't let yours just pass for once.

    JohnMc said...

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

    Uh, then explain the Lisa.
    -------

    Mentioning Lisa didn't negate his quote, matter of fact underscored the point better. Lisa, unlike his daughter, was a failure. It pegged Apple back a few valuable years and resources. However, almost concurrently (from a side team), from the ashes, came the Mac. The world of personal computing changed forever. Also, Steve didn't say he didn't make a mistake or even that he always lived by his own quotes. He probably being reflective of that mistake and offered valuable insights to all who might hear. Think how long it took him to move on from the Cube or the even recent NDA on the AppStore. Really, thinking helps sometimes, before you wisecrack on other people.

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

    Hmmm. Then why the high return rate for the iPhone?

    -------
    Again, conjectures. What high return rates? Or you just feel like making stuff up to make a point. Go ahead, give us a link where iPhone return rate is higher than other phone makers today. While, you wonder aimlessly, and look for two 'blog posts' from the first few weeks of iPhone to cover your 'theory' - here's a real world quote and a link fresh from just today's headlines:
    "Research in Motion’s ubiqitous BlackBerry smart phone has more than twice the rate of malfunctions in its first year of ownership compared with Apple’s iPhone.

    That’s according to a study by SquareTrade Inc., a California-based online retailer of extended warranties for electronics and appliances, of 15,000 new phones produced by Apple Inc., Research in Motion and Palm Inc.

    The study examined failure rates in iPhones, BlackBerrys and Treos covered by SquareTrade “care plans.” It found the iPhone has a failure rate of 5.6% in its first year of ownership, compared with 11.9% for BlackBerry and 16.2% for the Treo.

    SquareTrade is an independent third party and has no affiliation with any of the handset manufacturers cited in the study."

    http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2008/11/24/daily18.html

    Uh, ignorance is a bliss. Don't let the facts get in the way of your fictions.

    -------
    * "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."

    My. Where is Next now. Right, in the graveyard.
    --------

    NeXT was/is a ground breaking computer solution. If you know your history, you'd know Apple stipulated that Jobs couldn't build a machine that would be in the same price range of Apple computers. He was forced to build non-cosumer models and couldn't compete fairly as a new player. What he did however, offered a platform for Tim Barnes Lee to develop html and the rich www we're all sharing right now. Isn't that great. Many other great applications were created/inspired by NeXT, like the game Doom for example.

    Also, as someone already mentioned, part of the NeXT OS lives inside every mac and iPhone today as OSX. It was a decade ahead of its time, as it still stands on its own head-to head against Vista et al.
    As for what it could do then, just watch this for a bit and remember to pick up your jaw from the floor on your way out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j02b8Fuz73A

    ------------

    * "You know, we don't grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved... I mean, we're constantly taking things. It's a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge."

    Gee. Then why did Apple sue Microsoft over Windows?

    -------

    First off, Jobs didn't sue, Apple did, just a few years after Jobs was fired. And we're quoting Jobs here. So, you're off the trajectory with your wisdom again.
    Second of all, your 'wisdom' had nothing to do with the actual quote (really, read it again), you're just a one liner, thinking yourself wise.
    Thirdly, Apple sued Microsoft to protect their intellectual property that they felt was infringed upon by misusing a licensing clause. In Jobs' quote up there, he was referring to people contributing to advance the human evolution, not stealing to make profit for themselves, which is what Microsoft apparently did or so how Apple felt.
    I'll address Apple's and the Xerox Parc position on this, in answering your next quote.

    ----------
    * "Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."

    And might I add, whether you had been to Xerox PARC the 3 years before Mac's introduction.

    --------
    You may not know, Xerox PARC management invited Steve and his engineers and showed off their development as a business deal. Jobs and his team visited the place a few times, and reverse engineered some of the ideas but added a lot of (a whole lot as a matter of fact, as Xerox didn't even have a commerically feasible product in their hand which would have been credited as an engineering feat) on top it themselves. Nothing illegal took place, as also evidenced by the fact that Xerox never landed a lawsuit. You may feel snooty by mentioning Xerox PARC and feel that that was that is to mention and people will just cower away like a great piece of wisdom against Apple was imparted, like so many do from time to time and go unchallenged. Instead, it only showcases your own ignorance.

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

    Hmm. Fermi, Oppenheimer, Einstein, ShoeMaker, Picasso artists all might tend to disagree. Besides he's 53, why quote him?
    --------
    You got me there. Except, he is entitled to his opinion and you yours. You can cite 10 examples, and so can he and maybe more. Like, I can mention the Fields Medal rules for ineligibility for all over the age of 40 etc. Whatever that would prove or disprove.

    --------
    And the one thing I do agree with him on --

    * "Real artists ship."
    --------
    Good. I thought it was quite succinct and profound myself.

    -------
    Sorry, but I am not a fan of Jobs. He is the classic opportunist with a knack to suck the air out of the room. He'll tell you flat out he knows what he likes but lacks the technical savvy to achieve it.
    ------
    I'm not going to stoop to a low level and call you being jealous of his achievements against yours etc. As I don't know you and I don't like to theorise on things I can't know about. But as an engineer on a few fortune 25 companies myself for quite a few years, and having being exposed to some great engineering minds as my colleagues, I can tell you this:
    Great engineers are not the ones in cubicles writing up codes all night or designing wingspans. Or even coming up with innovative solutions for problems at hand. Writing the greatest and most obscure codes in C++ or Assembly likely not get you there either. However, shipping an actual product with great functionality that'll be used and enjoyed by real people gets you closer. Serisouly, some of the best project managers in many engineering teams, are not even geeks. If you worked in the industry, you might understand. It took me a bit of effort to bust your myths here, however, I do hope some of this helped you gain a better understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Indeed very inspiring words, but in the mouth of $tive Jobs they sound so poor.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi is the best designer and visionary person in computer industry. Some times I hear that about Bill Gates which make me laughing 

    ReplyDelete
  8. the come-back to JohnMc's 'i'm so full of myself' comment is fantastic.

    Thanks for taking the time to write that so that others don't have to.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJuly 29, 2010

    "Stay hungry, stay foolish"

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

    Yep. Because by this age, they've finally either figured out how to make something that someone actually wants, or have gotten a real job.

    ReplyDelete