Galileo's Sky

轉載 Engadget 的文章


原始來源
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/05/steve-jobs-in-his-own-words/

I'll always stay connected with Apple. I hope that throughout my life I'll sort of have the thread of my life and the thread of Apple weave in and out of each other, like a tapestry. There may be a few years when I'm not there, but I'll always come back

-- Steve Jobs, 1985

That's a quote from a Playboy interview Steve Jobs gave back in 1985. February of 1985, to be specific, right before Steve would be ousted from the company that he co-founded with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. Apple of course famously grew out of a garage, the brains of Woz, the drive of Jobs building the company over the next nine years into a powerhouse in the burgeoning home computer market.

Join us for a look back at the life of Steve Jobs. 

Steve has always had his own way of doing things, a famous temper that left many engineers crying. When things were going well, he was worshipped. But, when things started turning sour, that unique way didn't earn him so many fans. In May of 1985 Jobs was effectively fired by John Sculley, who'd joined Apple from Pepsi as CEO. Steve Jobs was free to do his own thing.

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

-- Steve Jobs, 2005

Steve went on to found NeXT Computer, a highly advanced (and highly expensive) desktop computer that won favor among developers for its object-oriented foundations. But, it never found financial success. His other main diversion, however, would find plenty.

There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I've ever seen is called television - but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent.

-- Steve Jobs, 2003

In 1986 Jobs bought a company called Graphics Group, a small firm that was responsible for visuals like the Genesis effect in Star Trek II. Jobs paid $5 million for the company. In 2006, 20 years after Jobs acquired it, Disney purchased that company (now called Pixar) for $7.4 billion.

A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

-- Steve Jobs, 1998

Apple acquired Steve's NeXT in 1996, bringing the man back into the fold and, before long, bumping him back up to the CEO position. From here, Steve went on a spree of killing off unsuccessful projects (like Newton) before ushering in many of the changes that would, ultimately, turn Apple into the company we know today.

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.

-- Steve Jobs, 2006

Steve would come up with many, many elegant solutions to problems that many people didn't know they had over his next 15 years at Apple. The iMac would be released in 1998 under his watch, a device that he said marries "the excitement of the internet with the simplicity of Macintosh." But, in 2001, Apple would really hit its stride.

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.

-- Steve Jobs

It would be in 2001 that Apple really turned into the company that we know today. It re-invented the Mac operating system with OS X (built from NeXT foundations), launched its own retail chain of Apple stores, and launched both the iPod and the accompanying iTunes. At first, these were curiosities. They'd soon become unshakable industry behemoths.

We're just enthusiastic about what we do.

-- Steve Jobs, 1985

From here Apple would launch the iPhone in 2007, the App Store in 2008, and the iPad in 2010. All three launched as curiosities, all three having their doubters, and all three following the (ever-expanding) iPod line to heights that nobody could have foreseen -- surely even Jobs himself. People may have been a little disappointed with the iPhone 4S recently, but that's only because Apple has impressed everyone so much in the past.

I'm sorry, it's true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We're born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It's been happening for a long time.

-- Steve Jobs, 1993

Steve Jobs has had a remarkable effect on the industry as a whole. His impact on the progression of personal electronics cannot be overstated and his swift departure leaves a hole none could fill, but he has built a legacy that few could ever hope rival. Apple computer now stands firmly as a leader in consumer electronics, and for many it will always be known as The House that Steve Built.

「因為唯有瘋狂到認為自己能改變世界的人，才能改變世界。」

賈伯斯在科技界是個特別的人物，也是少數能讓人立即地把人和他所創立的公司聯想起來的人物。在 1976 年時，他與 Steve Wozniak 和 Ronald Wayne 合組了蘋果電腦公司，推動了當時剛起步的個人電腦產業進入主流。接下來的九年裡他帶著蘋果電腦一步步成長，當公司情況好的時候他被膜拜，但當情況轉差的時候，他特別的行事方式和壞脾氣害他被當時的 CEO John Sculley 開除。對 Steve 來說，這只是他大展拳腳的開始。

「成功的重擔轉變成了新手的輕鬆，對一切都不再那麼肯定。這使我得以進入人生中最有創意的一段日子。」
－Steve Jobs, 2005

離開了蘋果電腦，賈伯斯首先創立了 NeXT Computer，一間專門提供高階（而且高「貴」）電腦的公司。NeXT 在開發者中頗受好評，但卻沒能賺錢，反而是他私底下的另一個投資，報酬豐厚。

「一切事物皆有不好的一面；一切事物皆有無意的後果。我所見過最有侵蝕性的科技名為電視 -- 但不得不說，電視最好的一面，是華麗無比的。」
－Steve Jobs, 2003

在 1986 年時，Steve 以 500 萬美元買下了一間名為 Graphics Group 的小公司，當時以做 Star Wars 第二集的特效出名。二十年後，賈伯斯以 74 億美元的天價，將這個已改名為 Pixar 的公司轉賣給了 Disney。

「很多時候，唯有展示給人們看，人們才知道自己要的是什麼。」
－Steve Jobs, 1996

蘋果在 1998 年時回頭買下了賈伯斯 的 NeXT，賈伯斯也從此回到了蘋果的家族，不久再度升到 CEO 的位置。他砍了許多不成功的計畫（例如 Newton），並讓許多改變世界的產品登上舞台，造就了今日的蘋果。

「當你剛開始解決一個問題的時候，找到的第一個解決方案會非常複雜，大部份的人也就因此放棄了。但如果你繼續下去，一層層如同剝洋蔥皮一般找到問題的核心，你往往便能找到非常優雅而簡單的解決方案。」
－Steve Jobs, 2006

賈伯斯在接下來的 15 年間，優雅而簡單地解決了許多人們根本不知道存在的需求。全新設計的 iMac 在 1998 年發表，這個融合了「網路的刺激感與麥金塔的簡潔」的產品，開始了蘋果的新時代。

「創意其實只是連結事物而已。當你問有創意的人他們是如何做到的，他們會覺得有些內疚，因為他們並沒有真的做到什麼，他們只是看到了而已。注視一段時間之後，對他們來說一切都變得顯而易見。」
－Steve Jobs

2001 年是蘋果真正發光發熱的一年，在這一年蘋果靠 OSX（以 NeXT 為基礎）重新發明了 Mac 作業系統、開幕了第一間蘋果直營的 Apple Store，並推出了 iPod 和 iTunes 的黃金組合。起初，這些產品只是令人感興趣，但不久之後，它們都成為了不可動搖的業界霸主。

「我們只是對我們所做的事展現熱情。」
－Steve Jobs, 1985

蘋果近年來的進展更是勢不可擋，先是在 2007 年推出 iPhone，2008 年推出 App Store，2010 年推出了 iPad。三個產品發表的時候都看似特立獨行，當時也都有懷疑的聲音，但最終三個產品都追隨著 iPod 的腳步，來到無人可預見的高度。或許有人對 iPhone 4S 感到失望，但那只是因為蘋果一而再，再而三地推出讓我們驚奇的產品，使我們的胃口被養太大了而已。

「我很抱歉，但是是真的。一旦有了小孩之後，你對人生的觀感會改變。我們出生，我們活短暫的一段時光，然後我們離開人世。事情如此進展已經很久了。」
－Steve Jobs, 1993

賈伯斯對整個產業的影響無與倫比。他在個人電子產業發展的歷程上，留下了重重的足跡；他所留下來的空位，無人可以填補；他為我們留下的遺產，無人可以抗衡。因為有賈伯斯，蘋果電腦如今站在消費性電子產業的第一線，而 iPod、iPhone、iPad 這些名字，只會讓我們更加懷念這位備受爭議的科技界巨人。