iOS vs. Microsoft: Comparing the bottom lines | asymco: This… chart shows that iOS products combined are more profitable than Microsoft as a whole. Microsoft invented the software business and built it to become the world’s most valuable business by the year 2000. It’s still been growing since and after 35 years it is reaching a profit of $27 billion per year. It did this while maintaining enormous margins and a highly disruptive monopoly business model the likes of which the world had never seen before. It is scarcely believable then that a device business has been created to overtake it in four years.

iOS vs. Microsoft: Comparing the bottom lines | asymco:

This… chart shows that iOS products combined are more profitable than Microsoft as a whole.

Microsoft invented the software business and built it to become the world’s most valuable business by the year 2000. It’s still been growing since and after 35 years it is reaching a profit of $27 billion per year. It did this while maintaining enormous margins and a highly disruptive monopoly business model the likes of which the world had never seen before.

It is scarcely believable then that a device business has been created to overtake it in four years.

“Well I was a super brilliant engineer. HP turned down my idea for the personal computer five times. Then later when they saw the Apple II they said it was the best product they had ever seen. I was highly regarded for my engineering skills. But I never wanted money. I would have been a bad person to run a company. I wanted to be a nice guy. I wanted to make friends with everybody. Yes I came up with the idea for the personal computer but I don’t want to be known as a guy who changed the world. I want to be known as an engineer who connected chips in a really efficient way or wrote code that is unbelievable. I want to be known as a great engineer. I’m thankful Steve Jobs was there. You need someone who has a spirit for the marketplace. Who has the spirit for who computers change humanity. I didn’t design the Apple II for a company. I designed it for myself, to show off. I look at all the recent Apple products, like the iPhone, the iPad, and even Pixar, and it was like everything Steve worked on had to be perfect. Because it was him. Every product he created was Steve Jobs. You’re not going to let an imperfect you go out. That’s why he was so tight and controlling of the quality of things.”

Woz

Great interview: A conversation with Woz | Real Dan Lyons Web Site

“When engineers working on the very first iPod completed the prototype, they presented their work to Steve Jobs for his approval. Jobs played with the device, scrutinized it, weighed it in his hands, and promptly rejected it. It was too big. The engineers explained that they had to reinvent inventing to create the iPod, and that it was simply impossible to make it any smaller. Jobs was quiet for a moment. Finally he stood, walked over to an aquarium, and dropped the iPod in the tank. After it touched bottom, bubbles floated to the top. “Those are air bubbles,” he snapped. “That means there’s space in there. Make it smaller.”

Steve Jobs: What are some great stories about Steve Jobs? - Quora

Hat tip to spytap for finding this.

(via evangotlib)

Gangster.

John's Tumblr: Steve Jobs

lilly:

Like many of us, I’ve been thinking a lot about Steve Jobs the last few days — thinking about the man and his legacy. I’ve been having some trouble even understanding the way I feel, let alone being able to put it into words. Lots of folks have asked me what I think, and have been surprised that I…

Steve Jobs 1955-2011 - Mint Digital: Our tribute, made from the parts of a MacBook Pro, by Mint Foundry via @fromedome.

Steve Jobs 1955-2011 - Mint Digital: Our tribute, made from the parts of a MacBook Pro, by Mint Foundry via @fromedome.

Amazon’s business model evolution?

Why do people say that Amazon is getting into Apple’s business now (tablets, hardware) but didn’t say that Apple was getting into Amazon’s business with the launch of the App Store and iTunes store (selling other people’s content)? Amazon is still in the same business as always: selling and delivering content. They just need to make sure that their customers can buy new forms of content and they are making that as painless as possible. I love what they’re doing.

“Perhaps the coolest aspect of Assistant is its integration with Wolfram Alpha. For those unfamiliar with Wolfram Alpha, it is an online computational knowledge system. With its integration into the new iPhone and Assistant, one could essentially ask their iPhone facts or questions of all types and get an instant response. For example, you can ask your iPhone a math problem or ask how many feet are there in 12.75 meters, and get an instant answer.”

The new iPhone… | 9to5Mac

Yes, please.