All of which would make the iPod…

All of which would make the iPod a contender for the biggest consumer electronics hit of all time. The current record holder, Sony’s Walkman, sold 350 million units during its fifteen-year reign in the 1980s and early 1990s. Perhaps the most important aspect of the iPod’s success is that the iPod doesn’t have a sole progenitor: there’s no single ‘Podfather.’ It’s never just one person–success always has many fathers.

–Leander Kahney

Innovation has nothing to do with how many…

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBA was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about the money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.

–Leander Kahney

It seems to take a very unique combination of technology…

It seems to take a very unique combination of technology, talent, business and marketing and good luck to make significant change in our industry. It doesn’t happen that often.

–Leander Kahney

Jobs’s insistence on excellence sometimes…

Jobs’s insistence on excellence sometimes delays products: and he’s quite willing to kill projects the team has worked on for years. But his unwillingness to compromise ensures that Apple products are never rushed out of the door until they are polished to his satisfaction.

–Leander Kahney

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used…

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.

–Leander Kahney