In a rare interview from what you might call his "blue period," the 10 year stretch spent exiled from Apple and heading up Pixar and NeXT, Steve Jobs gave an interview with PBS where he was asked about his old company. At the time, Apple was in shambles -- the interviewer flatly refers to it as "a failure on Wall Street" -- but Jobs revealed that he still had faith in the company, quickly spelling out the two qualities that would eventually return it to its glory days and beyond: loyal customers and innovation.
"I think Apple still has a future; there are some awfully good people there and there is tremendous brand loyalty to that company — I think the way out is not to slash and burn, it’s to innovate. That’s how Apple got to its glory, and that’s how Apple could return to it.'"
At the top of the interview, Jobs talks about Pixar and Toy Story with the same kind of bullish fervor with which he used to brag about Apple, but you can tell it's just not the same for him. Within a year, he would return to Apple and get to work making his vision a reality. Again.
[Fortune]
