"I've always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do."
For a long time, most people writing about Steve Jobs have taken the comments like the one he made above, along with the actions that cost him the computer software wars to Microsoft, and have written them off as a huge mistake.
And yet here we are years later, and Apple (AAPL) and Jobs continue to churn out products that they basically keep control over. It still works for him.
Why does it still work, when it seems from the software debacle that it answered the question permanently? I think it's because Jobs and Apple are able to come up with new products and services that propel the company forward no matter what happened in the past.
If we see iTunes start to falter, and eventually the iPhone, you can be sure there will be something new coming out of the innovative culture of the company.
Now if Jobs and Apple had kept on with their software and computer focus, they would have pretty much been an irrelevant company catering to a pretty small, niche consumer base. Overall they would have remained irrelevant to the industry. Even today many companies aren't very quick to include Mac users as a thrust of their business creations offered to the computer user.
Jobs went past that, even saying recently that Microsoft (MSFT) won the computer wars a long time ago.
Ownership and control haven't had as strong an impact on Apple because they are able to come up with unique products that consumers are glad to buy in droves. Once the industry catches up with them, they have something else in the pipeline that puts them right back into the lead in another category.
This is the reason why it's not as important to Apple to license and syndicate as much as other companies do. Their market leadership affords them the chance to walk with a swagger in whatever they decide to focus their attention on next.
Other Steve Jobs Resources:
You've got to find what you love
Steve Jobs, Business Personality
Steve Jobs' Greatest Presentation
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