“This is what customers pay us for – to sweat all these details so it’s easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We’re supposed to be really good at this. That doesn’t mean we don’t listen to customers, but it’s hard for them to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it.”
- February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011
- American
- Entrepreneur, businessman, industrial designer
- He brought to the world revolutionary products that combined technology and design at a high level, such as the personal computer Macintosh, iPhone, and iPad, and also revolutionized the music industry with the iPod, iTunes, and iTunes Store.
Quote
“This is what customers pay us for – to sweat all these details so it’s easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We’re supposed to be really good at this. That doesn’t mean we don’t listen to customers, but it’s hard for them to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it.”
Explanation
In this quote, Steve Jobs emphasizes that Apple’s role is to anticipate and solve problems for customers by focusing on the details that make products easy and enjoyable to use. He acknowledges that while customer feedback is important, it can be difficult for users to express their needs when they haven’t experienced the innovation that Apple is creating. Apple’s strength lies in designing products that surprise and delight users, often by offering solutions to problems that customers may not even know they had.
This approach reflects Jobs’ belief that innovation comes not just from listening to customers, but from being able to anticipate what they will need in the future. It’s about creating something so intuitive and well-designed that users are immediately able to recognize its value, even if they didn’t know they wanted it. This is a key part of Apple’s success, as they’ve often created products that didn’t exist in the market but quickly became indispensable to users, like the iPhone or the MacBook Air.
In today’s tech industry, the idea of creating products based on intuitive design and user experience remains central. Companies that innovate by anticipating customer needs, rather than simply reacting to them, are able to drive the next wave of technological change. Jobs’ philosophy reminds us that great products often come from visionary thinking—not just responding to existing demand but shaping what the future could look like.
