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.
Interpretation
Steve Jobs emphasizes the importance of innovation over simply competing on price.
In this quote, Steve Jobs highlights the contrast between companies like Apple and Dell, which focus on profitability through efficient pricing strategies, similar to retail giants like Wal-Mart, and his own company's approach, which is rooted in innovation and creativity. Jobs advocates for a business model centered around groundbreaking ideas and technological advancements, rather than merely undercutting competitors on price.
In practice
In a business seminar discussing competitive strategies.
Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. The iMac is not just the color or translucence or the shape of the shell. The essence of the iMac is to be the finest possible consumer computer in which each element plays together.
It is piracy, not overt online music stores, which is our main competitor.
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.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
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.
For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
If the employees come first, then they're happy. A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy so they keep coming back, which pleases the shareholders. It's not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time, it is just the way it works.
Almost all decisions based on cost accounting are utterly wrong.
I'd rather Apple cannibalize Apple than somebody else cannibalize Apple.
I think I've realized that business and being polite [don't] match. You can be fair, but me being polite was not me being fair to myself.
Be influenced by nothing but your clients' interests. Tell them the truth.
It is very difficult to get people to focus on the most important things when you're in boom times.
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