Quotes About Innovation

The first half of the twentieth century, beginning with Albert Einstein's 1905 papers on relativity and quantum theory, featured a revolution driven by physics.

But then he paused to recognize the role Jobs in fact played. "In so many other companies, ideas and great design get lost in the process," he said. "The ideas that come from me and my team would have been completely irrelevant, nowhere, if Steve hadn't been here to push us, work with us, and drive through all the resistance to turn

The second half of the twentieth century was an information-technology era, based on the idea that all information could be encoded by binary digits—known as bits—and all logical processes could be performed by circuits with on-off switches.

More than anyone else of his time, he made products that were completely innovative, combining the power of poetry and processors. With a ferocity that could make working with him as unsettling as it was inspiring, he also built the world's most creative company. And he was able to infuse into its DNA the design sensibilities, perfectionism, and imagination that make it likely to be, even decades from now, the company that thrives best at the intersection of artistry and technology.

you are interested in the history of the digital age and the emergence of digital culture, Isaacson's book is a must read." —

One of the basic lessons for innovation is to stay focused.

until 1992, it was illegal to connect a commercial service like AOL to the Internet," Steve Case said.37

The Innovator's Dilemma.)

Skill without imagination is barren. Leonardo knew how to marry observation and imagination, which made him history's consummate innovator.

launched the Web in 1991, Tim Berners-Lee

The reason Apple resonates with people is that there's a deep current of humanity in our innovation. I think great artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have a desire to express themselves. In fact some of the best people working on the original Mac were poets and musicians on the side.

The sixties produced an anarchic mind-set that is great for imagining a world not yet in existence.

there's a deep current of humanity in our innovation.

So starting in 1999 Apple began to produce application software for the Mac, with a focus

playing juvenile pranks. In twelfth grade he built an electronic metronome—one of those tick-tick-tick devices that keep time in music class—and realized it sounded like a bomb. So he took the labels off some big batteries, taped them together, and put it in a school locker; he rigged

a leader is either very inclusive or a passionate visionary. But the best leaders could be both.

He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology, so he built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

was the result of government policies, carefully crafted in a thoughtful and bipartisan atmosphere, that assured America's lead in building an information-age economy. The most influential person in this process, which may come as a surprise to those who know of his role only as a punch line to jokes, was Senator Al Gore Jr. of Tennessee.

The Los Altos house with the garage where Apple was born

the key to innovation is connecting a curiosity about basic science to the practical work of devising tools that can be applied to our lives—moving discoveries from lab bench to bedside.

I have my own theory about why decline happens at companies like IBM or Microsoft. The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important.

J. C. R. LICKLIDER

If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.

great innovations are usually the result of ideas that flow from a large