Chủ Nhật, 7 tháng 10, 2012

Apple Says Greatest Tribute To Steve Jobs Is 'Dreaming Up' New Products

Apple posted a video tribute to Steve Jobs today, commemorating the one-year anniversary of his death by saying that his legacy of creativity and high standards continues to inspire the company.
“Our values originated from Steve and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple,” CEO Tim Cook said in a “message” that appears at the close of the black-and-white video called “Remembering Steve,” which runs for a minute and 45 seconds on Apple’s website. It  features outtakes from Jobs’ presentations over the years in which he talks about the “cool” and “amazing” products Apple  ushered to market and his philosophy about technology.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work we are doing, delivering products that our customers love and dreaming up new ones that will delight them down the road,” Cook wrote in his 132-word note. “It’s a wonderful tribute to Steve’s memory and everything he stood for.”
Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976 with Steve Wozniak, helping to popularize the personal computer with the Apple II and then going on to redefine the industry with 1984’s Macintosh computer. He was fired by his handpicked CEO John Sculley and the board in 1985 and started a rival computing company called NeXT, which struggled to win over customers. Apple bought NeXT in December 1996, a move that prompted Jobs’ return to the company, then on the brink of bankruptcy, and led to the greatest turnaround in business history.
Under his second turn as CEO, Jobs oversaw the reinvention of the Mac product line, starting with the candy colored iMac in 1998. He moved Apple beyond personal computers into the digital media device market with the iPod music player in 2001, the smartphone market in 2007 with the iPhone and the tablet market with the iPad in 2010.
To reflect his ambition to transform Apple from a computer maker into a consumer electronics company, Jobs announced a name change from Apple Computer Inc. to simply Apple Inc. in January 2007after introducing the iPhone.
Today, Apple is the world’s most valuable company, with a market value of about $616 billion. No. 2 ranked Exxon Mobile is valued at nearly $428 billion. Google and Microsoft have been trading off for the No. 3 spot, with a market capitalization of about $251 billion each.
“One of the greatest gifts Steve gave to the world is Apple,” Cook wrote. “I hope that today everyone will reflect on his extraordinary life and the many ways he made the world a better place.”
 Reflections on Steve
Here are some of those reflections from  CEOs and tech executives who offered up their thoughts on what Jobs meant to them and to the industry.
• User experience matters. “He was just so focused. For him, the user experience was the main thing that mattered, the only thing that mattered. I think that there’s a lot every company can learn from that.”  Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, talking about Jobs in an interview with NBC  yesterday 
• Thing big, think simple and never give up. “Three days in my life stand out, thanks to Steve Jobs. One, that day in third grade I met my first Apple computer and started dreaming big. Two, that day in college I was asked to design a bike radio Steve would love, and learned how difficult simple really is. Three, that day Steve was named CEO of Apple again, and proved relentless perseverance pays off. Think big, think simple and never give up. Thank you, Steve.” – Damon Schechter, CEO of Shipwire  
• Like Elvis. “Steve Jobs is the Elvis Presley of the technology industry, he will never die. Even today, his revolutionary ideas are being built upon and he continues to be a business, market and technology disruptor as well as inspiration to the start-up community and Fortune 500 companies alike. Looking back, it’s hard to believe just how much Apple got right in original iPhone and the way it set a new bar for everyone.” – Dave Fraser, CEO of Devicescape 
• Assembling an A-Team. “You have to ‘think different’ to enact profound change. Steve had an innate ability to assemble an ‘A-team’ of the best engineering and creative talent in the world — and yet he was able to get them to work collaboratively toward one common goal: a product that redefines the way human beings interact. Steve Jobs will have a lasting legacy of leading and executing launch of a series of products that changed how society interacts with each other — enabling Apple to emerge as one of the most powerful and profitable companies the world has ever seen.” – Greg Peters, CEO of Zilliant 

• Fight the good fight. “Steve Jobs taught us all that a vision can be realized even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The game is never over. The battle never lost. Fight for what you believe until you can fight no longer.” – Billy Bosworth, CEO of DataStax  
• When good design connects. “Steve Jobs reminded Silicon Valley that design is more than an afterthought. He showed how good design flows through product, marketing, packaging, and even the buying experience. So now we have a generation of marketers trying to ‘think different’. Perhaps the most lasting legacy is a recognition that products succeed when the design connects on an emotional level, and every week I see our team drawing inspiration from the lessons of Apple’s success.” – Jacob Shama, CEO of Mintigo  
• Beyond politics, social class. “Steve Jobs sparked a technology revolution in the sense that entrepreneurs from all over the country – and around the world – aim to replicate the success he built. Because his vision and leadership extended beyond political parties, social class and our own thought limitations, this inspires us to hope that we, too, might also be capable of some fraction of the same creativity and drive.” – Julie Huls, president of the Austin Technology Council  

• Demanding the best from people. “I’ve heard people look back at working for Steve Jobs and comment that in their career, they never had a more difficult boss, yet they never did better work. Getting that balance right when demanding the best from people is a challenge for any CEO, manager or coach. Of course, Steve also had tremendously good taste in product design. The end goal of any great leader is to make technology disappear into engaging daily use, much as great musicians make technique disappear into engaging performances.” – Larry Lang, CEO of Quorom 
• Never without purpose. ‘You can change the world’” are words often uttered to young children during a warm afternoon walk or when reading a bedtime story. And for most of us, those thoughts live and die in those moments and are seldom recaptured throughout our lifetime. This cannot be said of Steve Jobs. He had a tremendous drive and will that was at times overbearing and reckless yet never without purpose. He conducted his life ‘differently’ – on his own terms. And in so doing achieved what so many of us aspire; Steve Jobs changed the world.” – Ethan Oberman, CEO of  SpiderOak 
• The quest for perfection. “Even after his death, Steve Jobs’ influence continues throughout Silicon Valley. Companies more than ever strive for the perfection that Jobs demanded at Apple. He showed all of us as leaders and entrepreneurs to never settle for anything less than building truly great products, and as a result I believe technology is now being pushed harder than ever before. The picture I have of Steve Jobs in my office serves as a daily reminder of the great man that he was and the profound influence he continues to have ever after his death.” – Scott Sellers, CEO of Azul Systems 
• Design and user experience matters. “Steve Jobs made technology an intrinsic part of our daily lives. He understood that design and user experience make all the difference between a product that fails and one that transforms. Mr. Jobs also had the foresight to ensure Apple’s continued leadership. One year after his passing, the legacy of Steve Jobs lives on as people continue to line up around the block to be a proud owner of the next iPhone or iPad.” – Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData 
• Simple and beautiful. “Steve Jobs taught two lessons I think about virtually every day. First, the power of simplification and strategic clarity. Second, the aesthetic dimension to technology. My sense is that, before the ascendance of Apple, technology companies tended to valorize complexity.These days we all strive to make something simple and beautiful. I don’t think that’s a temporary phenomenon — it’s here to stay, and the world will be a better place for it.” – Marcus Ryu, CEO of Guidewire Software 

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